REVIEW: ‘Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury,’ Episode 14 – “What They Wish For”

The Rumble Ring has begun and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 14 wastes no time getting into the action. Life for Suletta and the other students at the Asticassia School of Technology will never be the same.

At the start of the Rumble Ring event, the contestants are mostly encouraged and excited to battle it out. While Suletta and her friends seemed reluctant to join the fray, before finding out they were required to, others are itching at the chance to take her on. I particularly liked Lauda Neill’s motivation. His desire to get revenge for his brother Guel Jeturk’s disgraceful defeat that forced him to leave Jeturk House. It would have been easy to have Lauda write off his brother in the name of what’s best for business, but Lauda has empathy and it’s a very human moment before a brutal fight.

Thanks to some truly excellent animation, I was on the edge of my seat all throughout Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 14. The various Gundam battles are some of the best action sequences I have seen in quite some time. There are also some brutal defeats in the Rumble Ring that caught me off guard with how they ended, and it’s clear to me that this season is not going to hold back on the emotional damage. The Rumble Ring is not just some friendly competition this time, there are real stakes involved that we are already seeing this early on.

I do wish Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 14 didn’t rush so quickly from dealing with the trauma of the first season. Jumping straight into the action by the second episode was certainly a choice, and it is not a bad one, it just did not feel as rewarding as it could have. Some of the personal relationships needed a little bit more time to grow and develop before reaching the moments they did here. A particular character’s death didn’t have the emotional impact it could have had if there had been more time to flesh out the relationships. It’s not that there wasn’t substantial emotional weight, there just could have been more.

The real jaw-dropping moment of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 14 comes when Prospera Mercury, Suletta’s mother, confirms a theory that fans have had since the start of the show. It changed the way I see Prospera completely. Her motivations now come into question, and it’s fair to wonder just how far she is willing to go to achieve her goals. And, more importantly, who she is willing to crush to get there. I can’t wait to see how this story thread unravels, since it will have a massive impact on every other facet of the story.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 14 may have felt a little rushed at first, but some important reveals towards the end of the episode made it clear why the stakes needed to be raised so quickly. Suletta is no longer a sweet innocent kid and she likely will never be able to get back to being that again. Things are only going to get crazier from here, and I can’t wait.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 14 is available to stream on Crunchyroll. New episodes premiere on Sundays.