REVIEW: ‘Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury,’ Episode 17 — “Precious Things”

Guel is back at school, Miorine has confronted Prospera about how she is using Suletta, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 17 starts to tie these plots together. Suletta is blind to her mother’s plans, but Miorine is determined to help her find true freedom.

Right off the bat, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 17 shows Miorine and Prospera making a questionable deal. Prospera says she will stop using Suletta if Miorine runs for president of the Benerit Company. Prospera wants Miorine to take over the Quiet Zero program but tells her she does need Suletta to participate in one more duel before she grants her any freedom. It is clear that Prospera has no intention of actually letting Suletta be free, because it isn’t possible for her to be. Her mother’s will is so ingrained in her that even if she is told she has freedom, it’s highly unlikely she would ever accept it. It’s a great way to show how Prospera has control throughout all of this, and everything that has and will happen is according to her plans.

Still, Miorine agrees to the deal and sets up a duel between Suletta and the newly returned Guel, who confesses his love for Suletta but is politely rejected. Miorine tells Guel she believes that Suletta “needs a world where she can be free from Gundams or anything else.” Guel agrees since the duel will give him an opportunity to rebuild Jeturk Heavy Machinery after his father’s death. His experience in previous episodes has him believe there is no such thing as freedom from any of this, but he cares for Suletta and the memory of his father, so he is determined to try.

Guel agreeing to a duel really surprised me, given what he has been through. The second he gets back in his mobile suit Darilbalde, the PTSD hits him hard. It didn’t stop affecting him throughout the entire battle, which was a really important approach. There is no way anyone could go through all of the trauma that Guel has and still jump straight back into the fight like nothing ever happened. It helps that Sunrise so beautifully animated the fight sequences that the juxtaposed PTSD flashbacks had such a powerful impact.

Suletta has yet to lose a duel, and she is up against an opponent in Guel, who is hampered by his PTSD. It should be an easy win, but Miorine can’t have that. She has a plan, because of course she does, but in the process ends up breaking Suletta’s heart in a way that I don’t know the two of them can ever come back from. Even worse is that this all centers around Miorine’s birthday, with a musical callback to the previous episodes driving the knife further into Suletta and the viewer’s hearts.

Throughout all of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 17, it feels like Prospera is the only one who will come away satisfied. Suletta and Miorine have a seemingly irreparable relationship now, which Miorine knowingly sacrificed in order to try to save Suletta, but I don’t see it working out that way. Instead, it looks like Prospera is going to get what she wants while also seeing a lonely and heartbroken Suletta driven back into her arms, ready to serve. I don’t think it will end that way, surely there will be some sort of reconciliation or Suletta will finally realize her mother’s true intentions, but for now, it’s hard to see how any of this has a happy ending.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 17 hits, and it hits hard. The emotional toll is devastating for Suletta, Miorine, and Guel, and there is a lot that each of them will have to work through if they eventually want to stop Prospera. The emotional damage dial remains set to 10 and doesn’t look like letting up anytime soon.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 17 is available to stream on Crunchyroll. New episodes premiere on Sundays.