The last two volumes of Gundam SEED wrap up the series in true Gundam fashion: with weapons of mass special effects. Our little Soldiers Against War clan teams up with Pink-Haired Princess for Peace to stop the warring nations from launching pretty computer graphics at each other. Things get a little silly at the end, but all is not lost! The final episodes provide plenty of excitement, and throw in some good music too.

Plot-wise, the remainder of the series is all about Char -- excuse me, Rau Le Cruezet -- playing double agent so as to cause mayhem. Like a good master antagonist, he announces his plans to the opposition before setting them in motion, with the requisite explanation of why the universe has done him wrong and deserves extinction. Whereas Char at least had a believable motive for his actions, Le Cruezet's character doesn't enjoy any such luxury. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Kira and friends are reduced to reacting to Le Cruezet's handiwork, when they're not pondering the evils of war and bigotry and deforestation. In kinder words, the initiative they showed during the flight from Orb was short-lived. It's not a shortcoming of the plot per se, just an observation.

Yep. I'm a pimp.	Retreat! ..I mean, get me a sandwich!

The final episodes of Gundam SEED borrow some elements from your standard hero tale. The valiant hero brandishing a family name same as the old Japanese state travels to the colony Mendel (aptly named due to its acres of hybrid peas disguised as failed human genome experiments) to be tempted by the devil, or the "dark side of The Force (TM)," if you prefer. When he emerges from the Death (TM) Star (TM) as a slightly-less-whiny teen prodigy, Kira is bestowed the Kusanagi by the bishounen sun-god Amaterasu, who had just bred with all of the three fates to bring feta cheese to the remote corners of space and was feeling especially generous. With his newly-aquired divine providence and Korean-made weaponry, he rids space of infidels that publish inappropriate cartoons.

Maybe it wasn't exactly like that, but, you get the idea.

Lacus Clyne has one more trick up her sleeve, which she pulls out quickly so that the teenage viewers can't see what else is in there. She then slowly devolves into something like a drunken philosopher, sharing such gems as whether war is part of the human soul. And I really liked her. She does retain many of her maternal qualities that endeared the audience to her, so not all of her integrity is forsaken in the end; just the parts where she looked smart.

Who builds a pink warship? Seriously.	Captain Lacus greets a surprised Athrun...in a kimono?

I mention Lacus because she's one of the few characters that actually did anything surprising throughout the whole show, making it a tragedy that they've started deflating her character. She was out of place in a Gundam series, with her Macross-like "music to save the universe" aura about her. That makes her special, and makes Gundam SEED worth experiencing. Although her basic service to the plot was being a counter weight for Rau Le Cruezet's scheming, she makes out slightly better than he does, due to believable motives and a hot-pink spaceship. Le Cruezet held a certain mystique until his Master Plan (TM) came to light, at which point he imploded. Very sad.

Most of what I haven't talked about can be chalked up to a modern production of the original UC Gundam ending, with a few elements mixed up so as to not thoroughly bore the Gundam-otaku base. There's the requisite battle between the prodigy and the masked guy, there's the big armies pulling out their big guns to kill each other off, and everybody does the "Newtype" thing where they take hallucinogens and pretend to be telepathic. The main difference this time around is the really nice music that comes with the package. One piece I particularly like plays whenever a battle ends, and has a moving, operatic sound that expresses relief. Overall, I'd say Gundam SEED is pretty enjoyable. The level of melodrama makes it a lousy candidate for repeat views, but it's worth experiencing at least once.