Episode 29, “The Robotech Masters”

Ok, so right away the show is introducing a new concept and characters, The Robotech Masters. Clearly the second and most unpopular section of Robotech is being set up. Let me go on a little rant here for a minute. I’ve always hated how Harmony Gold, the owners of Robotech have called the second part The Masters Saga. Equally as lame is the third which they called The New Generation. It just sounds so generic to me. I prefer to call the second part Southern Cross rather than The Master Saga, while The New Generation I always call it The Invid Invasion. Getting back to the story, the Robotech Masters on their home planet that’s across the galaxy from Earth have detected a large discharge of Protoculture. They suspect that their enemies the Invid have either taken control of the SDF-1 thus the mass production of Protoculture or that the disciples of Zor, the scientist who discovered Protoculture have managed to defeat their warriors the Zentraedi. See how they’re now putting in new concepts?

Back on Earth we hear the narrator pointing out the obvious that many Zentraedi warriors died holding onto Minmei dolls, case in point we see the rotting carcass of one soldier leaning against a downed Tri Thruster in the middle of the wastelands.

At some factory a Zentraedi starts to kick the shit out of a bunch of trucks, making them explode and says that he’s had enough of just doing menial labor. After he kicks a bunch of steel beams he tells another fellow Zentraedi that he’s leaving. And that’s what he does, huffing and puffing away. In New Macross City Admiral Gloval walks in for a meeting with Exedore and a couple of higher ups.

At some shitty supper club Minmei just finished a performance. Kyle being his usual self tells her that she gave a God awful performance. Not giving a shit, she just says sorry. She points out that there was hardly anyone out there and she was taken by surprise. Like I’ve said before, she’s like an addict when it comes to attention and she’s craving it bad! Once again they have another argument about giving all their money away to the poor people. Same stuff as the previous episode. After being all gruff with her, he makes her go out for dinner. Clearly Kyle becoming a raging alcoholic has made him into more of an asshole. I didn’t think it was possible, but there you go.

He pulls up in some futuristic sports car with six wheels and Minmei says that she wants to go to his dad’s restaurant because they haven’t been there in a while. Of course he knows that his dad hates his guts and says that he doesn’t want to go there. Minmei once again just thinking about herself says that she’ll go there herself and opens the door, almost making them crash. After they calm down he says that he’ll take her as far as the city line. Which is hilarious, if you think about it.

In this scene Exedore begins his report and drops the bomb that the people of Earth and the Zentraedi may have the same ancestors. Everyone is shocked to hear this. Exedore goes on to say that Humans and Zentraedi have many common traits but the main one is that both races seem to love making war. This creates a big shit fire storm with Rick getting all pissed off and resents Exedore’s notion. Some other officer that looks like Dr Lang but isn’t agrees with Exedore and cites all the wars before the invasion from space as prime examples.

Exedore tells the both of them to calm their tits and that it’s just their findings and to reserve judgement until the report is finished. Gloval says that he wonders where both races are headed. Rick in his mind angerly says that the people of Earth should never become like the Zentraedi, no better then robots he says.

Oh God, Minmei arrives at the Chinese restaurant and get’s what she was craving. Attention! They all love the fact that she’s gracing them with her presence. After she basks in her glory she asks her aunt and uncle if she could stay in her old room. Inside she notices that the corner of the wall is all messed up and she starts to have flashbacks when Rick broke through the wall with the Battloid he didn’t know how to use. With that memory she opens up the drawer and finds the medal that Rick gave to her for her birthday. I love how it was just in there the whole time collecting dust. With all these memories she starts to cry and says, “Oh Rick what have I done?” I’ll tell you what you did. You friend zoned him you stupid bitch!

The next morning Minmei walks out and the paper boy notices her and says hi. But of course her being self absorbed and thinking of her own problems, she doesn’t say hi back or even acknowledges him. In the other side of town Rick is running like he’s Jessie Owens.

At some laundry place it seems like Rico, Konda and Bron have taken a job delivering dry cleaning. Rico tells the other two that they missed Minmei at the Chinese restaurant the other night. Bron starts to give the other two shit, but that’s when he notices Minmei. They all go crazy for her and they ask her if she could sign some person’s bath towel. Of course she delights being in their spotlight.

Uh oh, in another part of town two Zentraedi are going ape shit, just causing a bunch of property damage. The mayor tries to reason with them but one of them says, “Be quiet fatso or I’ll squash you.” He literally said that. Inside their home the Mayor’s prudish wife is calling the authorities but she’s discovered and she’s man handled by her neck and put on the ground all roughly.

As Rick is continuing his jog, Lisa dressed like someone from the 50’s spots him and they have a little chat. He goes on to mention that he put the pictures she gave him in the previous episode in his photo album. Just as he’s telling her that, that’s when Minmei spots them and instantly bursts into tears and goes running away like a big drama queen. I love how Rick is way too apologetic to her, he doesn’t owe her a goddamn explanation. Especially after how she’s treated him the whole time. She rounds a corner and they lose her. But they can’t wonder where she got to because that’s when they hear the commotion with the Zentraedi.

Seems like another Zentraedi came around and told them to stop their shit, but he’s only getting his ass kicked now. Rick comes upon them and tells them to stop fighting. Just as it seems like the Zentraedi wants to hurt them all, four Destroids come along blocking both sides of the street. Some pilot named Dan tells them to stop and Rick tells him that he’ll handle it. Rick goes on to have a stern talk with them. He says that he knows that life is hard with them but that the authorities want to help them with their problem if they only gave them a chance. But the Zentraedi are fed up with a boring life of not fighting. Minmei comes along just in time to see Rick get flicked by the Zentraedi and he goes flying right at the feet of one of the Destroids.

At that Dan tells everyone in his command to prepare to fire their weapons on his order. The Zentraedi shit their pants and begs him not to shoot. Rick get’s back up, bleeding from his mouth and tells Dan to hold his fire. Rick now pissed off points out how they’ve done everything to help them and that’s how they repay them. All full of shame now, the two Zentraedi just leave to wander out in the wastelands. The Zentraedi who got his ass kicked tells them to give it another chance especially how they were all amazed at Minmei and their way of life. He calls them stupid cowards when they don’t listen to him. Rick tells Lisa that they’re going to have to do something with the Zentraedi because the problem is getting worse and worse. The mayor chimes in with saying that they’re responsible for the Zentraedi’s problems and they haven’t heard the last of this shit.

In another part of the planet, that asshole Khyron is hearing a report from Geraro that their spies are reporting thousands of dissatisfied Zentraedi are leaving town after town. Geraro estimates there’s probably around 10,000 of them. Khyron is happier than a pig in shit hearing this news. Seems like Khyron and Azonia survived the big battle and have now joined forces. He goes on to address his troops saying that they are to lead all of the Zentraedi to him and that all the micronized Zentraedi will once again walk proud and tall.

At Minmei’s gig, her agent is pissed because Minmei is nowhere to be found. Kyle instead points out what a shitty promoter he is because the crowd outside is small as hell. Just then a stage hand comes in and says that Minmei finally arrived and she’s getting ready. Kyle bursts in all pissed off and they have yet another argument. You cannot know how tired I am of the both of them already. She shuts him up by saying that she’ll go on singing her songs all for herself. Which pretty much says it all about her because it’s the most selfish thing ever uttered in this show.

She goes into another song called It’s You and we cut to Admiral Gloval and Exedore giving Rick, Lisa, Max and Miriya a very top secret briefing about the fact that they’ve now found the Robotech Factory Satellite being guarded by the last remaining Zentraedi fleet. Exedore scares all of them by saying that inside the factory satellite are being constructed ships that can destroy the Earth with a single blast. Their mission is to capture it intact because they have no idea when the other Zentraedi will arrive to attack them again, so they need as many ships and weapons that they can get their hands on.

The episode ends with Minmei singing her downer of a song and a shot of the dead Zentraedi wasting away in the wastelands.

Eh, this episode was ok. It was basically used to set up future episodes and that was about it. I didn’t know it was possible, but I hate Minmei even more now.

Firsts: The Robotech Masters.

Robotech Death Count: Zero.

Episode 28, “Reconstruction Blues”

As the title would suggest, this one is kind of a downer and it’s setting up the last part of the Macross Saga.

Our always present narrator immediately tells us that only a handful of survivors are scattered through out the Earth and two years have now passed since the war ended. Everything is still in ruins and we see Rick flying his Veritech fighter while he’s on patrol. He lands it in a field of wild flowers because no one has seen anything growing for years. We then get a flash back of a big headed little Rick running after Roy flying away in a bi plane while he’s running through a field of flowers. He spots the wreckage of a shot down Veritech and getting everyone depressed Rick goes over how the war went and more importantly how it ended. He mentions that Exedore thinks with the Zentraedi fleet getting destroyed, they may have lost all of the reserve supplies of Protoculture in the whole universe and Rick holds the people of Earth accountable for it. But I don’t know why he’s bitching about it for. The Zentraedi had to be taken down.

Else where over the wastelands a team of Veritech fighters are desperately trying to radio Rick. One of the pilots is extremely nervous because Rick hasn’t been in touch with them for a while. This pilot named Bobby basically tells us what’s happened with the remaining Zentraedi after the war and most of them have been assimilated. But a lot of them are out there and they’re hostile as hell still.

We cut to the SDF-1 and it’s now resting in a lake where New Macross City has been built around it. The narrator let’s us all know that people have spent the last two years rebuilding with a lot of the crew having started families. The military seems to be in charge of civil defense, so it’s not all bleak. In Rick’s apartment stupid Lisa is cleaning his place and doing the dishes. I swear she’s making a fool of herself because you only do that for someone that you’re dating or possibly banging. But Lisa is doing neither of these things with Rick. She get’s all nosy and heads into his bedroom. She spots a photo album and not respecting his privacy, she goes through it. Surprise, surprise. It’s more of a stalker scrapbook more than anything because it’s picture after picture of Minmei. Lisa and I are both disappointed to see that after all of those years, he’s still hung up on her. Lisa get’s depressed and puts herself down saying that she can’t compete with a glamorous star like Minmei. So just to stick it to her, she puts Minmei’s poster upside down.

We cut back to Rick still being a huge downer asking Roy and himself what he should do next because the war is over and there’s no more flying circuses. We get another flashback when Rick first enlisted in the service. Roy tells him that there’s no more flying for fun. This time he’ll by flying for the safety of his home and for his loved ones. Rick takes this memory to heart and decides that he still wants to be in the RDF. He takes off and we see with the huge wash of his engines he’s spreading more of the spores of the flowers to go flying everywhere.

Now that he’s airborne he hears Minmei singing a very depressing song and then that douchebag Kyle comes on telling the people listening in that she’s performing in some nearby city called Granite. He’s then promoting his next stupid bullshit, a people helping people tour. Kyle starts to go on about not needing the help of the military and the people there can take care of themselves. But it’s obvious that the city is a huge shit hole. It’s completely in ruins and it seems like it was built around a huge Zentraedi cruiser that drove itself into the ground.

Minmei obviously looks much older with a new hair style and finally she’s singing a completely new song for the people and Zentraedi who are listening to her. The Veritech pilot from eariler finally get’s through to Rick and he tells him that he’s been trying to reach him for hours. He mentions the field of flowers to the pilot and he get’s excited, especially since it was not in the expected recovery zone. Rick tells him to resume their patrol, he mentions that he’s going to Granite City to stalk Minmei some more. Back at the Minmei concert Rick almost get’s flatten by a Zentraedi who shifted his weight. Rick doesn’t give it a second thought and he goes on to admire Minmei again.

Outside some cafe Lisa is sitting there at a table listening to some fat guy telling his friend that women have been given all the aces in life. She says, “That’s what you think my fat friend. Here’s one woman who would trade every ace in the deck for one Rick Hunter.” So yeah, you can tell that she’s love sick for him and she didn’t take Claudia’s advice of going after him. She get’s even more depressed as she spots Max and Miriya and their baby daughter Dana. Who is going to grow up and kick as much ass as her parents in The Army of the Southern Cross. But that’s not going to happen until the 2nd part of the series. Lisa then hallucinates that it’s her and Rick, but she then snaps back to reality by Minmei singing on a boombox.

Out in the ruins of Granite City Kyle seems to have developed a drinking problem and is complaining about what a shit hole the place is. Minmei mentions why he has to drink so much, but he goes on a rant how they weren’t even paid because all they received was a welfare crate of canned food. Minmei get’s pissed off at him and tells him that it was supposed to be a benefit for the poor people that are left. He then goes on a rant about the military and how it was their fault for leaving the Earth like it is. Minmei tells him that truth that the Earth was attacked and they had no choice but to fight back. If it wasn’t for them, then he wouldn’t even be alive.

Rick meanwhile is peeping on them from behind a wall and he see’s Kyle getting more and more drunk. He even Karate kicks the bottle in a fit of rage. Minmei brings up another good point that all those men that he despises are actually doing something to rebuild the Earth while all he can do is get drunk and feel sorry for himself. I think he’s just pissed because he wanted to start a stupid movement that no one followed. She then threatens him that maybe they should split up, at that he get’s all scared because she’s obviously his meal ticket. Mercifully Rick is called away on an emergency because a few Zentraedi in a couple of Battlepods are attacking New Portland.

In her quarters Lisa is admiring the view of the SDF-1 and she get’s the same call and message as Rick did. She says to herself that she should have known that the Zentraedi wouldn’t be able to lead a peaceful life. Then for some reason we get a shot of her changing and can see her bra.

In New Portland the Zentraedi are going crazy just shooting everything that they see. The pilots in Rick’s Squadron show up and engage them. One of the Guardians losing one of it’s arms in the process. Rick meanwhile is flying there as fast as he can and that’s when Lisa comes up on his screen. She starts to give him shit for not being with his group. She then alludes to the fact that she knows that he was at Minmei’s concert. Rick tells her, “What’s your problem Lisa?” She then ends her transmission all pissed off saying, “Oh that man!” The bridge bunnies then start to gossip about how stupid Lisa is for doing all of his house work and they even mention how Rick doesn’t even take her out places.

Back to the skirmish Rick finally arrives and proceeds to kick the Zentraedi’s asses. He easily takes out all three of the Battlepods. But for some reason doesn’t kill the pilots, he just let’s them run away.

Seems like Rick has been out all night because it’s day time once he lands at the base. As soon as he get’s out of the cockpit he spots Lisa waiting for him. He’s expecting a fight, but she tells him that now Admiral Gloval wants to speak to him on the bridge. Rick wonders what’s up. But all Lisa does is bring up Minmei, hurting the both of them in the process. Before another fight can begin she gives Rick pictures of herself so that he can put them in his photo album.

In Admiral Gloval’s quarters Gloval tells him that his worst fears are starting to happen because the Zentraedi are starting to revert back to their former war like ways. He goes on to say that he’s decided to assign some of the Zentraedi on board the SDF-1 where they can keep an eye on them. Rick tells him that he hopes that he’s wrong, but he and the rest of the crew will continue to give him their complete support.

Back to the wastelands of Granite Minmei is talking to herself talking about all the needless destruction and bitterness. Of course she wonders out loud where Rick can be. The narrator comes back on and says that in the wake of a universal holocaust a lot of people like Rick and Lisa are condemned to be alone because of the nature of their work to help the helpless few that remain.

So this was an alright episode. It gives us a lot of background info for the last few episodes of the Macross Saga. But this one sure was a downer.

Firsts: Dana is introduced in this episode as a baby. New Macross City.

Robotech Death Count: I’m guessing maybe 2 to 300 hundred people in New Portland.

Episode 27, “Force Of Arms”

Ok, this one right here in my opinion is the best episode of Robotech.

We start off with everyone getting out of their shock at seeing the massive Zentraedi grand fleet and they all move out to their battle stations. The only one’s left in the room are Kyle and Minmei because they have no where else to go to. Rick takes this opportunity to tell her that he loves her. She acts all shocked, but come on. She had to have known that since they were castaways. He runs off to suit up and she tries to run after her but Kyle won’t let her because he’s a possessive asshole, but she breaks away and follows Rick out the door.

Else where on the ship everyone is scrambling to arm all the weapons systems that they have on board, including all Destroid’s for the big fight. We see the massive Monster Destroid powering on and this thing is so huge and heavy, it takes one step and makes a giant hole in the flight deck. In the bridge Gloval asks for a status update and this chick who looks like Lisa but has brownish redish hair tells him that Robotech Armament is at 85 % ready. Exedore is with him on the bridge and Gloval can’t believe that the situation is happening. Especially since they were planning on using the Reflex Warheads on them instead.

Back on Earth we can see Veritech’s scrambling into the air while some tech gives a report that they’ve now calculated that the Enemy fleet is at an excess of four million. A couple of high ranked officers, clearly shitting their pants tell Lisa’s father that with a force that big they couldn’t hope to win, even if they fired the Grand Cannon. Lisa must be telling everyone, “I told you so!” Admiral Hayes asks another tech if their message got through to the Zentraedi, but the tech says that it has, but they’re not getting a response back. Which says it all right there. All Lisa’s dad says is, “There’s nothing left to do but fight.”  In the novelization it said what that message was and it was that the UEDC was already offering a full unconditional surrender and that to me is always the scariest notion especially since it’s clear that they won’t accept one. Lisa is relaying orders and she can’t help thinking about the crew of the SDF-1, especially Rick.

We see Rick getting his flight suit on and Minmei walks in through his door. Of course this being Rick, he’s glad that she’s there. In space the final ships appear including Dolza’s main base ship. He tells all the commanders of his fleet that his first attack is going to be the planet. With that all the Zentraedi ships open up their main guns, ready for the order to attack.

We cut back to Rick in his room and he’s acting all hostile with Minmei. Who can blame him, after all the shit she put him through. He goes on to say that since he’s a pilot and she’s such a big star, they wouldn’t have worked out anyways. He really hurts her by saying that basically knowing her was such a big waste of time. And that’s when the Zentraedi attack on Earth starts.

The first to go in the massive volley are the worthless orbital space platforms. They just come apart like they were nothing. We then get scene after scene of Earth cities being annihilated. We even see children and people get vaporized by each gargantuan hit. In Alaska Base Admiral Hayes hears a report that 90% of the planet is getting rocked by all those explosions. Meaning that most of humanity has just died. On the bridge of the SDF-1 one of the techs just says that they’re all gone, while in his HQ Dolza is laughing like an asshole. I was going to post screen caps for this scene, but thankfully someone put it on Youtube. Check out the devastation.

In his quarters Rick and Minmei are shocked to see that the planet is literally engulfed in flames. Minmei starts to cry over the fact that her parents just died. While Rick is assuming the same for Lisa. We get a quick montage of the time Rick and her went to Japan and then we get a shot that nothing is left of the surface except smoldering craters. She starts to cry even more and says, “So this is how we end. First the Earth then the rest of us!” But Rick says that he has a plan and her shitty singing is a part of it.

Back in Alaska base Admiral Hayes receives a report that the Grand Cannon survived the attack and so he orders it to be prepared to be fired. On the SDF-1 bridge Captain Gloval is talking to Breetai on his monitors. Actually I think this is the first time they’ve seen each other. Anyways, he goes on to say that their plan is for them to broadcast Minmei’s singing on all their channels and comm lines. Breetai asks him why and they figure that Minmei’s singing will give the Zentraedi who haven’t been exposed to her a great big shock. Giving them their only chance to win the fight. Breetai agrees to it and that’s when Minmei walks in. Exedore asks her if she could do that thing that she did in her movie and is shocked to hear that he wants her to kiss. After they explain everything to her she just says, “Well if it’ll help.” I love how easy it was to convince her.

Back in Alaska Base the Grand Cannon is now ready to fire and we can tell by the hellish looking energy that’s just waiting to be released. In his flagship Dolza hears a report about a huge energy reading coming from the Earth. He can’t react though because that’s when the Grand Cannon fires and it’s this massive wide shot of energy and it’s just destroying thousands of Zentraedi ships. In the novelization it said that this was the most ships that the Zentraedi have lost in all of their wars combined. Gloval and everyone else sees the shot, but then it dies off. Gloval and bridge crew are ecstatic to realize that Alaska Base survived.

In her dressing room Minmei is getting ready for her concert and that’s when the three spies come in to wish her luck. She thanks them and heads off to her position. You know, I’ve always wondered why the three of them never fought in this battle because I figured they needed every swinging dick for the fight. Out in space the SDF-1 has now launched every single piece of Mecha that they had on board it seems like. Gloval once again tells everyone their plan and that’s when Minmei starts singing a new song called We Will Win. I have to admit, it’s very catchy. As on cue Rick and the rest of the fighters launch ahead of the SDF-1 and the Zentraedi forces. We can tell that she’s having the effect that they wanted because the Zentraedi grand fleet is just floating there, not even firing at them.

Just then Kyle walks into the frame dressed like the fucking Joker and he kisses her. So they couldn’t get anyone else to do that huh. I would assume that thousands of Zentraedi died gawking at Kyle and Minmei kissing, while making disgusting throw up sounds because that was the point where the SDF-1 and Breetai’s fleet opened fire on them. Rick orders all of their fighters to attack and the killing begins amongst all the mecha. We get our first look at Male Zentraedi Power Armor in this battle. Max and Miriya are even in the fight. Any Zentraedi that went up against their Blue and Red trimmed Veritech’s were instantly killed.

Rick goes after a battle wagon and actually manages to destroy it, But he can’t celebrate because he see’s an incredibly massive amount of missiles heading his way and he’s just engulfed in them. Taking hit after hit. That’s one of the things I’ve noticed about this show is that it takes about 30 missiles to take out a target. Back in Alaska Base Lisa is desperately trying to get into contact with anyone, but she realizes that everyone’s dead. Just then Admiral Hayes comes on her screen and he mentions that the Grand Cannon is now too damaged to fire again. Too late he tells her that she was right all along and they should have listened to her. He tries to tell her to escape but that’s when his section of the base explodes and Lisa horrified see’s Admiral Hayes die a gruesome fiery death as he’s literally destroyed by the explosion.

In space Rick some how again evaded death and we see that his Veritech is just heavily damaged. I assume that the armor of the Super Veritech helped save his life. He comes to and it’s clear that the battle has moved away from him. He ejects all the armor and we can see that one of the arms of the fighter has been blown off. He changes into fighter mode and goes into reentry. While he’s entering Earth we get a flash back where Rick and Minmei both said that they love each other, then start to make out while the Earth is smoldering behind them. Rick seems to want to cry from the memory. But he’s shocked by the devastation that’s been left on the surface. Suddenly unbelievably he’s pick’s up Lisa transmitting if there’s anyone out there still alive. He tells her that it’s him and that he’s on his way to rescue her. She tells him that he shouldn’t do it because it’s too risky. Which makes no sense to me. If she doesn’t want him to rescue her, then why the hell is she broadcasting that she needs help. Anyways Rick ignores her as usual and makes his way down the shaft of the now heavily damaged Grand Cannon.

In space Khyron is watching Minmei sing and it seems like he’s admiring her legs. Grel asks him what his plan is now and that’s when he tells him that he wants Breetai’s position because he’s going to join in attacking him. Grel can’t believe his ears and blurts out that Breetai is one of them and he can’t do that. Khyron get’s all crazy and tells him, “How dare you! You will follow my orders, or else.” So with that Khyron and his forces join Dolza’s. Man what a piece of shit.

On the SDF-1 all the Destroids are firing all the ordinance that they can. Breetai in his flagship is telling his forces to fire at will as they’re making their way closer and closer to the Zentraedi home base. Azonia in her ship says, “Hail to our success.” Both forces are just wiping each other out and we see the fountain where Rick and Minmei had their picture taken take a direct hit as well as other parts of Macross city. This is like the third or fourth time that Macross has been destroyed already.

Finally Rick manages to make it where Lisa is stuck deep in the bowels of Alaska Base. He cuts right through the door and Rick and Lisa have a happy reunion. This scene always reminds me of the video for Take On Me because it looks very similar. They board Roy’s fighter and the canopy of the fighter is shattered by an explosion and they just manage to get out of Alaska base before it goes.

In the bridge Vanessa informs Captain Gloval that their objective is now approaching. Claudia tells all their forces to pull back. Gloval orders the SDF-1 to fire with even more fire power and that’s when we see that it’s going to ram the massive HQ. It goes right through the hull of the ship like it was tin foil and we can see that they’re going through a corridor where Zentraedi ships travel through. As Minmei is singing the Destroids are just shooting at everything that they see until it puncture’s it’s way into the huge docking station of the base. Dolza can’t believe what they’re doing and says, “What are they doing, they’ll destroy us both!” Gloval then orders all the Destroids to stand by and then they fire all of their ordinance. We see all these explosions around the inside of the base. Gloval then orders the barrier system activated, all of a sudden we see Dolza yell and then dies in one of the explosions.

Outside the ship we see that it’s getting ready to implode. We then see this bright flash of light as the massive base completely explodes and it takes the entire Zentraedi grand fleet with it. So with that, the first Robotech war is over with a victory for the Earth.

Back on the charred surface of the planet Rick lands Skull 1 and Lisa thanks him for rescuing her. After a while it seems like the fighting has finally stopped and she wonders if they might be the only one’s left. Rick says that the thought isn’t so bad. I thought he was going to suggest that they restart humanity. But that’s when they hear Minmei still singing on the radio. You’d think that someone would tell her that she should stop singing already. They’re happy to see the SDF-1 returning to Earth damaged but ok. They can’t believe that they actually defeated the Zentraedi armada, but that price that they paid was way too high.

I know I went a little crazy with the screen caps in this one, but goddamn it! This episode had a lot going on in it. Like I said before, this is my favorite episode of Robotech ever. It was action packed and the animation was just amazing.

Firsts: Breetai and Captain Gloval see each other. Miriya’s red trimmed Veritech. Zentraedi Power Armor. Grand Cannon Fires.

Robotech Death Count: Admiral Hayes, Commander in Chief Dolza. Shit, Billions of People on Earth and I would estimate that Billions of Zentraedi died in this final battle. Thus making both species go nearly extinct.

Episode 26, “The Messenger”

The SDF-1 now in attack mode is in orbit and it seems like the main gun is operational again. Vanessa tells Captain Gloval that an alien battleship is approaching. Gloval orders the main gun to stand by to fire. Sammy tells Kim her stupid idea that she think it’s some sort of trick because that’s how it always happens in the movies. Kim just says, “Oh brother.” Because it is a dumbass idea.They start to bicker but Vanessa interrupts them by saying that she’s getting an incoming message and she patches it through the speakers. The Zentraedi voice says, “I repeat, we’re approaching unarmed, please cease cessation of hostilities. Please hold your fire, we are approaching unarmed.”

Just then we see a bunch of Zentraedi tri thruster fighters flying by Breetai’s flagship and all of a sudden the ship starts firing on it’s own fighters. Khyron immediately comes on Breetai’s monitors asking if he’s lost his fucking mind. All Breetai says that they’re interfering with a diplomatic mission, so he disposed of them. Man that’s pretty cold blooded. Khyron for about the 100th time is pissed off and tells him that he refuses to let the Micronians go. All Breetai says is that he has his orders and he doesn’t want to hear another thing about it.

Out in space the flagship is just sitting out there. Gloval orders a team of Veritech fighters to escort the Zentraedi envoy who’s in a Battlepod back to the ship. Inside the hanger bay two Battloids are standing guard while a Zentraedi pilot steps out of the hatch. We then hear Exedore asking him if he’s forgotten something and the Zentraedi is way too apologetic about it. So yeah, Exedore has now been micronized and he’s the Zentraedi’s ambassador. Just then Colonel Maistroff comes in a convoy and welcomes him on board the ship. He has to explain to Exedore that shaking hands means that they’re friends. As they’re leaving he tells a couple of aides to see if they can find the Zentraedi something to eat. As they leave they say that he’s crazy because there is literally nothing that could fill up that huge behemoth.

As they’re driving through Macross City Exedore can’t help taking in all the sights and sounds. He get’s uncomfortable though when he see’s a billboard with a woman in a bikini. He asks Col. Maistroff what it means. But Maistroff is embarrassed to explain for some reason. Exedore thinks that the Humans are cleaver and just assumes that it’s another military secret. In the bridge, Gloval is informed that Exedore has now arrived and he’ll be right along. Before he leaves he tells Claudia that if the ship takes any hostile action she’s to fire on it right away. That would sure put a damper on peace talks.

In this huge conference room Exedore has been given and RDF (Robotech Defense Force) uniform and he tells Gloval, “At last we meet captain.” Gloval just mutters yes. Some lady who I’ll call Lt. Waitress offers Exedore a glass of orange juice and since he’s never tasted anything like that in his life, he finds it very refreshing. So much so that he takes another one. Gloval tells Maistroff that they seem to be missing some people and just then Max and Miriya walk in. Exedore tells her hello and she’s shocked to see him there. Rick walks in and Exedore recognizes Rick from when they interrogated him when they were captured. Rick wants to know what the fuck is going on there. Exedore asks him how they escaped and was it because of some secret Micronian power. I can’t wait until they tell him that they have no such things.

Rico, Bron and Konda walk in and they panic at the sight of him, they probably think that he’s going to kill them or something. But he tells them to relax. Finally the big meeting begins and Gloval wants to know what he’s even doing there. But Exedore then tells him that not everyone is there yet and he’s still waiting on Minmei and Kyle to show up. Exedore mentions Kyle’s supposed super Karate powers. Right away they realize that they think that their stupid ass movie is real. Exedore goes on to say that Minmei is at the center of their psychological assault. He confirms that he’s talking about her shitty singing and even starts singing Stage Fright, much to the embarrassment of everyone in the room.

Moments later Minmei and Kyle show up due to Gloval’s orders. Kyle just can’t help acting like a complete dick saying that he’s getting tired of being pushed around from the military. She asks why they were summoned there and in typical douchebag fashion he says, “Don’t expect any answers from them Minmei, they have no concern at all with what we want.” Gloval thank God is not putting up with his bullshit and he tells his hostile ass that he’ll cooperate because it’s very important to the peace process. You’d think he’d be all for it since that’s all he’s talked about since he arrived. Minmei now embarrassed asks him why he’s being a difficult dickhead for. Ok, so finally, the meeting begins.

Back on Earth in Alaska Base everyone is waiting to hear news on how the peace negotiations are going on the SDF-1. Deep in the bowels of the Grand Cannon Lisa seems to be stationed in a radio room. Her father Admiral Hayes walks in and asks her how she likes her new job. You can tell that she hates it. She mentions the cease fire agreement happening in space and she hopes that it means that the firing of the Grand Cannon will be postponed. But spoken like a true asshole Admiral Hayes says that he doubts it because the Zentraedi are completely untrustworthy. Some people just never learn.

Back to the conference room Exedore asks Kyle what his military rank is and Kyle all disgusted tells him that he’s actually a civilian. Exedore can’t believe it, especially since he’s shown some Karate mutant powers in the transmission they all saw. Gloval confirms that Kyle or anyone else in the room has any powers that he’s mentioned. Gloval goes on to explain that it was all fake because of special effect tricks. Exedore all embarrassed admits that they’ve made a big mistake. But he mentions that Minmei does have real power and it’s the power to disgust and make Zentraedi’s uncomfortable.

Exedore tells them a little of their past history and mentions that many years ago they were exposed to a society much like their’s and it nearly destroyed them. He goes on to say that to a Zentraedi fighting is a way of life and that Dolza won’t let the same mistake happen again. Exedore then drops the bomb that when Dolza reads his report, most likely he’s going to send his main Grand Fleet to Earth space and launch an all out attack on the people of Earth. But more importantly, he wants the Protoculture factory that’s on board the SDF-1.

In Breetai’s flagship Azonia comes on his monitor and asks him how long he’s going to let the current situation continue. He says that he’s not going to attack due to the peace conference taking place. Azonia all smug and full of herself tells him that she expects a different solution once the main fleet arrives. Apparently stupid Azonia went over Breetai’s back and reported to Dolza all of her findings. So reading her report he’s decided to send the main fleet into motion. Breetai talking out loud says that Dolza now finds the Micronian society a threat to him. He goes on to mention that they’re doomed along with them because they’ve all been exposed to Earth culture. Plus they need the SDF-1’s Protoculture because they’re supply is exhausted. Azonia is scared shitless because this means that they’ll all be killed now.

Back in the conference room Exedore get’s off the phone with Breetai and he tells Gloval that they have to prepare to escape the solar system, leaving the Earth defenseless. Gloval tells him hell no because they’ve sworn to protect mother Earth no matter what. Exedore says that he understands and they wouldn’t act any differently. They’re shocked to hear that they’ll soon be fighting a common enemy. Maistroff wonders what he means by that and Exedore tells him that the Zentraedi Grand Fleet consisting of 4 million 800 thousand ready battleships are one their way.

Gloval and Maistroff say that they’ll give it their best shot. But Kyle being negative and all full of despair tells them that they’re fucking crazy and they have no chance to win that fight. Max and Miriya figure that this is the end and they’re glad they were able to find each other before they all die. But Exedore tells everyone that the SDF-1 appear’s indestructible, he’s not sure how, but he thinks that there has to be a way to win.

Back on Earth Lisa is listening to a Earth wide broadcast that all military personnel are to return back to their bases and report for 24 hour emergency duty immediately. Once she’s inside the UEDC HQ everyone is hearing the grim reports that they’re picking up massive gravity distortions meaning that a huge Fold Operation is in the works, but they can’t get an accurate measurement of it’s magnitude.

Lisa walks into the command center and Admiral Hayes is over heard telling an officer that it doesn’t look good. They go to talk in some empty room and she asks him what’s going to happen to the SDF-1. Her father all cold blooded says that it’s going to be destroyed and they’re hoping that they’ll draw their fire away from the Earth and the rest of their forces. Lisa is shocked to hear this and then stupidly begs him to send her back to the Battle fortress because she wants to be with the people she cares about the most. But of course he’s not going to let her because she’s his only daughter. He makes her cry by saying, “Even though you’re my daughter, if you try to leave I’ll have you thrown in the brig.”

Back to Breetai both Khyron and Azonia are talking to him and she tells him that she plans on staying with the fleet and that it should be a glorious battle to die in. Breetai wishes her luck and she signs off. He then asks Khyron what he’s planning and he says, “The odds are too great, why fight if you can’t win Breetai.” I always laugh at this part because Breetai says that that was what he expected and he wasn’t depending on him anyways. Khyron goes into another rage and just yells, “You will be destroyed!” On his ship Grel asks him what they’re going to do and mentions that they can’t run. Khyron just says, “Think not, watch.” And his fleet moves away from Breetai’s. In his bridge Breetai is also fully expecting to die and says that it’s going to be his final battle.

Exedore tells Gloval of his battle plan. He mentions that Dolza is going to completely surround them and that their only chance is going to be to take out the main Zentraedi base. He goes on to say that their only chance is that once it’s destroy the combined forces of the SDF-1 and their battle fleet of 1 million should be able to fight off the rest of Dolza’s fleet. Exedore tells Minmei that thanks to her singing their military alliance wouldn’t have been possible. Shit, she must love all the attention she’s getting from everyone. Especially since Exedore asks her if she can sing one of her songs. She goes into To Be In Love and we get a montage of everyone looking at her performance. Rick more depressed then ever. Meanwhile on the flight deck the SDF-1 is launching all of it’s fighters for the final battle.

Suddenly this greenish cloud seems to appear in space and Vanessa in a panic tells Claudia that there are too many ships appearing out of nowhere and the ships sensors can’t keep up count. Back on Earth this voice all panicked on the PA says, “Main sensors now picking up immeasurable hyperspace defold activity. Battle stations all personnel Battle stations.” Right away you can tell that Admiral Hayes has just shit his pants because he just realized how fucked they all are now. Claudia interrupts Minmei’s annoying performance and reports that the main fleet is now defolding into Earth space. Exedore says, “Well, I’m afraid this is it.” Everyone, including the Zentraedi are shocked to see all the ships appearing in orbit. We get some shots at a city where the ships are clearly visible and the people must be in a huge panic. So much for the UEDC bullshit lies now. Rick is just standing there scared out of his mind.

So yeah, this was a good episode, especially how it’s mostly to build up the tension for the next climatic episode.

Robotech Death Count: Zero.

Episode 25, “Wedding Bells”

Well the episode title is a big give away. But yes, we get the first wedding in outer space in this episode.

The narrator comes on and explains how mechanics are working around the clock to keep the Veritech’s air worthy because man and machine are being put to the test thanks to the constant attacks by the Zentraedi.

Max goes to the park and is waiting for Miriya to show up and he’s actually berating himself for asking her to come meet him there alone when it’s night time. She comes out of the bushes with a dagger and yells out, “Maximilian prepare for you doom.” She throws it at him and it barely misses his head. He asks her what the fuck her problem is and she gives herself away that she’s a Zentraedi ace and she won’t be humiliated in battle by a Micronian. She pulls out another dagger and so they have their selves an old fashioned knife fight. After a while Max get’s the better of her. In defeat she’s in tears from her shame and she begs him to kill her because she can’t take the constant humiliation. Max tells her that he can’t because she’s so beautiful. He drops his knife and picks her up and kisses her. Max jumping the gun then asks her to marry him. Man that was fast! She asks him what Marry means and he explains to her that its Love and it’s the most beautiful thing there is. Again, that is some deep shit for a kids TV show.

In the lounge the Bridge Bunnies are having dinner with the three spies and they wonder if the Canadians will give them political asylum but Konda doesn’t think so and he’s afraid that they’ll be doomed to remain in space forever. Max walks on by and spots Rick having a coffee by himself. Max sits down and just blurts out that he’s going to get married. Rick reacting like anyone else would tells Max that he’s out of his fucking mind, especially since he’s only been out on one date with her. Max goes on to say that they’re in love and he tells him all nervously that she’s confessed that she’s a Zentraedi. Rick looses his mind again and can’t believe that Max wants to marry the enemy, giving him shit for it. But he quickly changes his mind once she comes by to introduce herself. Rick finds her to be absolutely beautiful and he encourages the marriage now, saying that he wants to be there to help him kiss the bride. That’s some bi polar shit right there with how fast he changed his tune. The smug look on Max’s face is priceless too.

Out in space the SDF-1 is firing fire works and launching all of it’s Veritech’s to mark the occasion. The narrator mentions that the people hope that a marriage between the two species will help mark the end for this costly Robotech War. They get into a line of two as Max flies his Veritech from space and fly in between the fighters. To salute them even more all the Veritech’s change into Battloid mode and start firing these beams as Max makes his way to the Prometheus. Both he and Miriya seem to be high on happiness.

The people on board the ship seem to have nothing else better to do so everyone is watching the broadcast on TV. Even the Zentraedi. Breetai asks Exedore what Marriage means and he’s shocked to find out that it means that they’ll be living together. Especially with a lowly Human like Max. Breetai notices that Miriya seems to be a little too happy and wonders out loud to Exedore that maybe even she has found the Micronian way of life too enjoyable to resist. Exedore continues to say that this love business can potentially put their troops at risk and that they must beware of Human cultural contact.

Back to the wedding the MC welcomes Captain Gloval and he gives a speech to the happy couple. It looks like he’s going to go on a drunken tirade about how Miriya and her people have killed scores of people and have put them in their current situation. But he continues to say that he brings up all this old shit because they all have to learn how to forgive their enemies. All over the ship the people of Macross city are listening to his speech. Some are in tears with what he has to say about reaching a peace agreement with them, while others are pissed because they’re so consumed with hatred and can’t stand the thought of peace.

He continues to say that he knows that almost everyone on the ship has lost loved ones to the Zentraedi but they have to make an effort to let all that go and stop the senseless destruction. Back on Earth Admiral Hayes is pissed that Captain Gloval is talking about peace at a time like that. Lisa tells him that he’s only saying that because it’ll help them avoid their own destruction because if they don’t start talking peace then it’ll mean the end of the world. But of course her father doesn’t want to listen to her and he stands by their decision to fire the Grand Cannon at them because it’s too late.

He turns on the TV again and Gloval is winding up his speech about the prospects of universal peace. He calls Max and Miriya the heroes of today and the crowd goes crazy. Rico tells Sammy, “Peace between our people.”

Uh oh. We cut to Zentraedi HQ and Dolza is telling his flag officers that they seemed to have underestimated the strength of the Micronians and that the battle fortress has become a nuisance. With that he orders the fleet to completely destroy it and that they’re fleet will soon be assembled. But he’s not done yet, in his head he says, “And then we shall incinerate the planet Earth.” That murdering bastard!

Oh God, who invited her? Minmei is introduced and she sings Max and Miriya a love song just for them. It sounds like kind of a downer, but everyone seems to like it. Including Claudia as she’s near tears remembering Roy and Ben.

Out in space Breetai is still watching the transmission and he mentions to Exedore that Minmei has a voice that can make a man feel sorrow. If he only knew what a terrible person she really is. Anyways, the transmission is cut short and he receives his orders that he is to completely destroy the battle fortress and there’s to be no survivors. Breetai probably doesn’t even know it, but he’s infected with Human emotion’s himself because he says to Exedore, “It grieves me that the time has finally come. I do not look forward to this task at all. It may sound strange but it’s true.”

In his ship a few Zentraedi soldiers are out right saying that they don’t want to fight because they feel that they’ll be fighting against their own people. But some are still afraid of going against imperial orders because it means death for them if they do.

On the SDF-1 the air raid siren sounds and everyone scrambles for either their Veritech’s or the shelters. An officer tells Max that he’s excused from battle but Max tells Miriya that he can’t let everyone down. Miriya insists on coming with because now that they’re married they’re going to be doing everything together. Geez Max, you better not let her comb your ass hairs for you later on. The MC meanwhile is crying and praying to please save them all because they know that this is a full scale attack with the likes they’ve never seen before.

Rick launches Skull wing and tells his pilots that they’re going to do this for the Captain. In his ready room Captain Gloval is also praying that they all come back safely. But who is he kidding? A lot of them are going to their deaths.

With hatred Rick growls and opens fire on a Battlepod nailing it. The SDF-1 seems to be surrounded by a bunch of enemy fighters. In his fighter Miriya tells Max not to fire at a Battlepod until he targets an area under the cockpit which only disables it. She goes on to say they have to do more then just talk, they have to act as well. With that Max agrees with her and disables a bunch more Battlepods. Rick asks him what the fuck is going on with him and Max just says that they were off target. Rick knows he’s bullshitting him, but he agrees with his line of thinking saying, “The time has come for peace.” Meanwhile the SDF-1 is taking even more damage.

In Breetai’s flagship an officer comes yelling at the Zentraedi pilots who are still there to scramble to their fighters but they pull their rifles out at him. They tell him that they’ve decided that they’re not going to fight anymore because they have friends on board the ship. Breetai hear’s this news and get’s so pissed off that he’s shaking. Exedore explains that a large number of their best pilots have refused the order to attack and that this has never happened in Zentraedi history. He goes on to explain that it actually goes against their code to fire on their own people. Even though Khyron has the reputation for doing just that. He tells Exedore that there’s no justification for mutiny. He tries to continue his explanation but Breetai has had enough. He orders all of his forces to be recalled. As he’s walking away Exedore shouts out that that’s going against the orders from the high command.

In the bridge Gloval is relieved to see that the Enemy has broken off it’s attack and are retreating. He wonders if it had anything to do with the wedding. The remaining Veritech’s get their orders to return to base and that’s where we see Rick woken up from a sound sleep. Apparently Miriya doesn’t know how to use jack shit that we Humans use. She used some cooking oil on a coffee pot and lit it on fire like a dumbass. Rick speaking to himself still can’t belive that Max is married to an alien, but hopes that they’ll be happy. He then talks to Roy and mentions that he once told him that in order to love someone you have to like them first. Rick says that he likes Lisa, but he can’t finish his thoughts because he’s so damn exhausted, so he falls asleep.

The narrator closes off this episode by stating the obvious that turmoil continues to surround the SDF-1, but for now all is well.

I’ve always remembered this episode and it’s one of my favorites. In the next episode things are going to escalate even more and the people of Earth are going to find out that they’re now in major deep shit.

Robotech Death Count: I don’t know, maybe 20 to 30 pilots and who knows how many Zentraedi because the battle was so brief.

Episode 24, “Showdown”

We begin with a brief recap of how a number of Zentraedi have defected over to the SDF-1 and Lisa is determined to plead a case for peace with the United Earth Defense Council.

In an elevator Claudia is riding along with Lisa to see her off to Earth. Claudia asks her if she’s told Rick about the trip and of course she hasn’t. Because Lisa has to make every difficult she tells Claudia that she’s planning on talking to him once she’s on board the shuttle. In the bridge Captain Gloval asks for a status report on the enemy and Vanessa gives him the all clear on her scopes. Gloval doesn’t like it because it’s a bit too quiet. That paranoid Russian.

In the hanger deck Max and some unknown Veritech pilot are admiring a new type of aircraft. Well actually it’s just a Veritech but with armor on it. Some people called it an Armored Veritech while others call it a Super Veritech, or Super VT. Whatever you want to call it, it looks even more bad ass with the suped up engines it has on top of the fuselage. This means that it’s bigger, faster and more heavily armed. Oh we get another first as it seems that Max has been given an officer’s Veritech and now his fighter is completely blue. Instead of it just being blue on the arms and legs.

Anyways, in the hatch way of the shuttle Lisa and Claudia are having some final goodbyes because Lisa doesn’t think that her father will let her come back up to the SDF-1. Lisa get’s on the phone and yup, Rick get’s a page to use a public pay phone. He’s surprised that it’s Lisa and she basically tells him that she’s leaving to go down to Earth to plead their case to the UEDC. She goes on to say that she’s enjoyed all the time they’ve spent together. Max meanwhile is preparing to fly escort duty for Lisa. Rick then blurts out that he doesn’t care about her report if it means that she can’t come back. With that Lisa cuts their phone call short because they’re about to launch. All Rick can do is watch helplessly as the shuttle takes off.

Back on the bridge Vanessa reports to Captain Gloval that a part of the enemy fleet has broken off and it’s pretty clear they want to intercept the Shuttle before it reaches Earth. Inside the shuttle Lisa’s seat changes over her and she’s encased in some kind of protective metal cocoon. Max tells his air group to prepare to engage and yeah. Big surprise it’s Khyron launching the attack on them. I think whenever a surprise attack happens, we should just assume that it’s him, because it’s always him. Anyways, Khyron orders the attack and right away Max and his group are being overwhelmed.

I just want to point out that this episode is beautifully animated. The Mecha and the characters are amazingly awesome. On the bridge Vanessa and Kim report that the escort is now completely overrunned while the rest of the Battlepods are blocking the reentry window for the shuttle. At that Captain Gloval orders Rick to fly out there in the Super Veritech to help them out.

On the flight deck Rick rogers that he’s ready to go, but stupid Sammy gives him the wrong coordinates because she didn’t give him the updated code book since she figured he wasn’t supposed to be on duty till the next day. After she rights that fuck up, she gives him the older codes and Rick launches the Super VT and this thing just hauls ass.

He get’s there almost immediately and see’s the fire fight going on with Max barely being able to hold back all the Battlepods. Rick engages and holy shit. He let’s loose with a shit load of missiles and basically wipes out Khyron’s attacking force like they were nothing. And just like that the battle is over and Max radios that he’s heading back with the survivors while Rick escorts the shuttle to Earth. Gloval remarks that the new Super Veritech’s are as powerful as ten regular fighters.

Now that they’ve gotten the all clear Rick and Lisa start having a conversation on the comm line. Rick takes the time to ask her what all her crazy talk is of not coming back. Lisa starts to go on that her father isn’t going to let her come back because that’s what he’s wanted for a while now. Plus she doesn’t really think that they’ll believe her report about how close Zentraedi’s are to Human’s in a genetic way. Rick wants to keep the next part of their convo private so he message’s her in Morse Code. Lisa read’s out loud and she’s all, “I complain about things, but I believe in you. I’ve grown to like you very much and would miss you if you couldn’t come back. Make the trip, but please hurry back home.” Lisa tells him so long and they both break off and head away from each other.

In an arcade Miriya is mistaking video games for Humans to train for warfare while they’re very young. She’s all thinking to herself that no wonder Humans are so good at fighting. Back in Alaska Base Admiral Hayes get’s a message that Lisa’s shuttle is now approaching. I guess a few minutes later outside in the fucking cold Lisa’s father is waiting for her and his aide tells him that her shuttle has been delayed for 20 minutes. He asks him if he wants to go back inside, but Admiral Hayes tells him that he’s perfectly fine freezing his ass off while he’s waiting.

In the mess hall Max notices that Rick is completely depressed about Lisa leaving. Funny how he now he appreciates her now that she’s gone. Max heads over and tells him that it’s still too early to be depressed and he’s pretty sure that Lisa will make it back up some how. Rick tries to bullshit Max by telling him that it’s not about Lisa, but he couldn’t be more obvious. Max being a big nerd, suggests that they go play some video games at the local arcade. They walk in and Max right away notices Miriya.

Finally Lisa’s shot up shuttle has arrived at Alaska Base and her dad tells her how happy he is to finally have her back home. But this time it’s Lisa’s turn to be cold towards him and reports for duty and gives him a salute. Take that! Inside Admiral Haye’s quarters Lisa is finishing up showing him the data on the Zentraedi and how much they’re similar to Humans at the genetic level. He picks up on the fact that she’s hoping that this information will persuade the UEDC to seek out peace talks with the aliens. After Lisa pleads her case for about the fifth time he promises that he’ll present her findings to them.

After kicking ass at some video games Max tells Rick that he’s been seeing her everyone where and is completely obsessed because he thinks that she’s so hot. He get’s the balls to go up to Miriya and talk to her. But he challenges her to a match in the video game instead. I gotta say, Max may be an ace Veritech pilot, but he has no idea how to talk to women. They start to play a game and Max manages to beat her. They go on to play another game which is two Veritech’s fighting it out in a hologram. Max of course chooses the blue one. Miriya notices how good he is and once again they can’t hit each other. But after a while Max manages to get the better of her and he completely humiliates her again by kicking her ass not once, but twice. With that she’s convinced that he’s the ace Micronian pilot that she’s been looking for. He’s so busy falling in love with her that he doesn’t notice the hatred she has in her eyes. She tries to leave in a huff and Max goes for it and asks her out for a date later on that night. She says sure and then runs away all pissed off.

Back at Alaska base Lisa’s father finally comes out of the meeting that he had with the other higher up’s and he tells her that it seems like they do seem to be ready for the idea of peace talks. Lisa is thrilled but it doesn’t last long. He shows her the shaft of the Grand Cannon and he tells her that they plan on firing it on the Zentraedi. Of course this pisses her off big time  and she points out that it wouldn’t even take out their fighter’s let alone their big flagships. Admiral Hayes goes on to say that it will show the Zentraedi that they’re in a position of power and that they’ll enter negotiations in good faith once they see it demonstrated. Which is a completely stupid argument because even if they managed to take out a large number of ships the Zentraedi still have about 4 to 5 million ships out numbering them. Plus I would think that that would completely piss them off, having the opposite effect. So yeah, Lisa has completely wasted her time going down to Earth to plead her case because her father tells her that they’ve already set a date for firing of the weapon. Talk about a big time escalation.

Oh lord Minmei and Kyle are having a press conference from the hospital. The press are asking them a bunch of personal questions. Including the one of marriage between the two of them. Shit she confirms that Rick has always been in the friendzone because a reporter asks her what her ex boyfriend thinks of all this and she says, “Oh you must mean Rick Hunter, he was just a friend.” What a way to publicly humiliate him. She denies the rumors, but that sick fuck Kyle admits to everyone that he’s actually thought about marrying her. Everyone is shocked including Rick and Minmei.

Out in the officer’s lounge Claudia notices that Rick is super depressed about the press conference and Claudia being Claudia tells him that she doesn’t think that Minmei is all that and she mentions that he should be with someone older who has some experience in being in a big romance. Rick picks up on her hint and tells her that she’s talking about Lisa. But Claudia acts all coy and says that she didn’t say anything. Leaving him even more confused.

This was a good episode of the show. Again the animation was superb and things are definitely escalating between the people of Earth and the Zentraedi.

Firsts: The Super Veritech makes it’s first appearance as does Max’s all blue officer’s Veritech that he’ll fly for the rest of the series.

Robotech Death Count: I would say maybe 4 to 5 Veritech pilots and Khyron’s assault group.

Episode 23, “Reckless”

We now conclude this two part episode.

Rick is continuing his bloody quest to get to Minmei, taking out Battlepod after Battlepod. In another part of the city Khyron’s forces have now completely destroyed the Civil Defense patrols and they’re just going crazy killing everything in sight. You can tell that all this is just pent up rage from being constantly humiliated by the Micronians. But oh shit. He spots a couple of Battlepods up ahead of him and he asks them what the hell do they think they’re doing, because they’re not busy killing people like he is. This soldier tells him that he hopes to find Minmei. Khyron says, “Minmei? I’ve never heard of it. What are it’s ballistic capabilities?” Which is hilarious to hear. The soldier tells him that it’s not a missile, it’s a person and they desperately want to meet her.

This one moron starts to laugh and Khryon asks him what he’s laughing about. The Zentraedi tells him that he can’t help it because he’s so happy to be amongst the Micronians an that’s when Khyron just executes him. This pretty much puts an end to his offensive inside of the ship because now all of his Battlepods run away from him in fear. While he’s chasing one of his troops Khyron asks him what’s wrong with him and the soldier can’t explain the effect Humans are having on him. Khyron going through another one of his rages can’t believe that they’d rather live with the Humans then fight.

On the bridge Vanessa tells Gloval how strange the enemy units are behaving inside of the ship. Gloval takes this as an opportunity to send in reinforcements. Rick then comes upon Minmei and Kyle and he’s right in time to see Kyle kiss her. That sick fuck. Rick can’t take it and goes away depressed. Too bad he didn’t see that she really wasn’t into it, not that it would matter to him. Lisa comes on his comms and wants to know how Kyle is and almost goes into a panic when he tells her that he’s been injured. Rick doesn’t bother to respond back to her and he then goes all Khyron and get’s battle lust. He goes ape shit killing every Zentraedi that he see’s. So yeah, he’s totally taking his anger and emotional anguish out on them.

In another part of the city all of the micronized Zentraedi have assembled and are now making their way out of their Battlepods. All of them are disappointed to see that most of the city is destroyed.

In Breetai’s ship, Exedore is telling him that Khyron has reported some desertions on board the SDF-1. Breetai can’t believe his ears because this is completely unheard of with the Zentraedi. Exedore then mentions for the very first time their overlords, The Robotech Masters. He continues to tell Breetai that they’ve warned the Zentraedi time and again that they’re to have no contact with any micronian species. Because these are the results. So with his plan completely gone to shit thanks to Khyron mostly, he orders his forces to be recalled.

In space Khyron is still executing all the Battlepods that are running away from him. On his comms Exedore tells him that he wants the deserters alive because they want them to be interrogated. But Khyron doesn’t see the use in that because he’s a demented psychopath. To prove the point he get’s pissed off and says that they might as well surrender to the Micronians.

Now that the battle is over Rick reports to Gloval in his office and he’s very surprised to see the three Zentraedi spies that he remembers were in the room while he, Lisa and Ben were being interrogated by Dolza. Gloval tells him to relax because they came in peace and are unarmed. If Rick were still angry he would have said, “And they’ll go in pieces.” and start killing them. But no. Lisa tells Rick that the three spies have decided to defect and they now want political asylum. Rick is super pissed off at this and says, “So what, all is forgiven?” Rick then asks them why they even want to live with them. The three spies tell him that they’ve found happiness on board the ship, but more importantly Minmei. Rick I guess can’t argue with that because she’s had him wrapped around her finger since episode 1.

Rick doesn’t think that that’s enough for political asylum and that’s when Konda says that it also has to do with the fact that they now possess the secrets of Protoculture. They’re all shocked to hear this because they obviously don’t know jack shit about Protoculture. Gloval asks Rick what his opinion is on the subject is because Colonel Maistroff is acting like a dick again because he doesn’t believe the three spies. Rick now having completely changed his mind is all for them staying on board the ship, saying that they should take the first step towards universal peace. The three spies cheer in joy because they now get to hear Minmei whenever they want.

Col Maistroff still doesn’t want them on board and Gloval takes the time to ask Rick why he’s changed his mind all of a sudden. Which is a good question because he was all against them two minutes ago. Rick explains that since the aliens are bred for only warfare and conquest it says a lot about these Zentraedi that they were able to overcome this indoctrination. So with that, it means that maybe they can be reasoned with and peace can be achieved. The three spies then say how much they love living amongst the Humans and they actually liked the thought of no more war. Rick goes on to say what harm it would do to let them stay since that’s what they want. With more bitching from Maistroff and some other officers, Lisa now explains that they have to teach the Zentraedi other alternatives to war.

Wow this scene is running long. A scientist walks into the room and some of the officers get pissed at him for just barging in and Gloval tells him that he asked him to come with his report. Gloval reads the report and tells everyone inside the room that genetically their DNA is the same as Humans. Maistroff can’t believe what he’s read and is hella pissed off at these results. Gloval then says since they’re so similar he now considers them to be Human and he offers them political asylum. Maistroff and some other officer think this is major bullshit and they vow to get Gloval’s decision over turned by running and crying to the United Earth Defense Council.

In Macross it’s clear that the battle has leveled most of the city. Especially when powerful Robotech weapons were used. Lisa and Rick are wondering around the city surveying the damage and that’s when they run into Uncle Max and Aunt Lena. Funny how Rick obviously took them by the Chinese restaurant. Rick tells Max that Minmei and Kyle are at the hospital and that Kyle was hurt, but not badly. They leave while Rick and Lisa volunteer to clean up and take care of the joint while they’re gone.

After they clean up the mess, Lisa goes and makes them some tea so that they could relax. Rick see’s a picture of Minmei and he flash’s back to Kyle and Minmei macking over and over in his minds eye. He tells himself that it’s over now. Shit, it’s about time that he realized that. Lisa tells Rick that simple activities like cleaning up after yourself is no big deal to them, but to the Zentraedi cleaning up dog shit is exciting for them because they’ve never known another way of life.

Rick then changes the subject and asks her if she wants to go see Kyle at the hospital. She tells him no and that the whole asylum thing got her to forget. She reminds us all how much Kyle reminds her of Carl. She continues to say how Kyle’s anti war sentiments are making more sense to her and she doesn’t like how the UEG is handling the war with one hand tied around their balls. She then brings up Minmei and Rick get’s all surly.

Uh oh, an alert is sounded and thankfully ends this dull conversation. Rick and Skull Squadron are launched to to engage the Zentraedi again. Finally Lisa get’s to the bridge and Vanessa reports that it’s only a small group. Probably left over’s from the last attack. After a brief fire fight the Zentraedi break off and head for home. Rick and Lisa then have some small talk on the comms and they talk about that they have to find a way to get them to stop fighting. What they don’t realize is what if they don’t want to stop fighting? Damn you Robotech for being so deep and making me think!

In Gloval’s room Lisa is explaining to him how she wants to go back down to Earth and try to plead their case for getting some peace talks between the Earth and the Zentraedi. Gloval’s not so sure that she can convince them, but she says that they have to at least try something. She thinks that they can get her dad behind them, but what is she thinking? He was only antagonistic with her the entire time he talked to her. Gloval then tells her that they might not let her come back to the SDF-1 but she’s willing to take the chance. Gloval grants her permission and she’s going back the next day.

In an elevator Rick talking to himself wonders where she went off to because he wanted to ask her out the following day. Lisa having just missed Rick wonder’s how he would feel knowing that she’s going back to Earth. Maybe not ever seeing each other again.

So this episode was just alright. Nothing too exciting. But it’s funny how they add all this political intrigue in a kid’s show. When I first saw this I probably was saying, “Come on! Enough talk, where’s the action?!”

Robotech Death Count: I would add an additional 50 to 75 people being killed from the previous episode. No wonder the population of the city is going down thanks to all the pilots getting constantly killed.

Episode 22, “Battle Hymn”

So apparently it seems like Breetai has folded back to where Dolza currently has the Zentraedi Grand Fleet in another part of the galaxy. The narrator tells us that Khyron was just waiting for Breetai not to be around in order to launch another attack. Meanwhile Dolza is watching footage from Minmei’s stupid Kung Fu movie and is deeply concerned with Kyle’s Karate powers and the fact that Toronto was wiped off the face of the Earth.

On board Breetai’s flagship. Minmei is continuing to get more and more Zentraedi fans. We then get a montage of the plague called Minmei being spread throughout the fleet. The thing that’s getting to them is the two songs that’s inside the doll. That doll must be 6 feet tall if it’s that big to a Zentraedi.

On Khyron’s cruiser, Grel is telling him all about the chaos that the doll is causing on Breetai’s ship. Khyron doesn’t seem too concerned about it, until Grel tells him that a lot of the soldiers are talking about defecting to the SDF-1 and leading the Human way of life. Holy shit, he goes insane with anger again. But what else is new with him right? He vows that it’s not going to spread onto his ship because he’s going to destroy the SDF-1 once and for all.

At Zentraedi HQ Breetai is surprised to hear that Dolza wants more Humans to be captured. Because of Minmei’s God awful movie, Dolza is now convinced that the Micronians have now discovered the secrets of Protoculture. He consider’s Humans extremely dangerous so he wants them brought back to fleet HQ in order to be evaluated scientifically. Dolza goes on to say that after they find out what they can from the captured Humans they can then move on to the next stage in his plan and that plan is to completely destroy Humanity because he can’t have them contaminating their troops. But of course as we all know, it’s too late for that. It’s already happening.

With the lower ranks of the Zentraedi war machine the virus that is Minmei is continuing to spread like a wild fire. Rico doesn’t help matters by fanning the flames and telling everyone how awesome it is to be in Macross city. They get a message on the PA and the announcement tells them that they’ll be attacking the SDF-1 soon. This get’s them down because they’ll probably end up killing her. That’s when Rico comes up with the idea that they should Micronize themselves and sneak on board the ship while the assault is taking place. Someone mentions that if they get caught then they’ll be summarily executed, but they figure that it’s worth the risk. Especially if they want to hear Minmei sing in person. So they enlist this Zentraedi named Kurita and he’s as timid as they come. He’s scared to death to go along with the plan, but like they say, peer pressure is a motherfucker and he agrees to do it.

On the SDF-1 life continues to go on. Rick seems to be deeply depressed and is wondering to himself what he’s doing with his life. He particularly hates the thought of going out like Roy and Ben did. To make matters worse, Minmei seems to be tormenting him where ever he goes. He see’s a poster of her while listening to her song, “To Be In Love”. He get’s infatuated with her again, right when we thought he was over her and he vows to keep fighting for her. What an idiot Rick can be at times. Especially when it comes to this annoying self centered bitch.

We cut to a Minmei concert and she starts to sing To Be In Love again. Kyle out in the wings is acting like a huge creep. Talking to Minmei in his mind and telling her how beautiful she’s looking. I guess everyone is tuning into the concert. The Bridge bunnies seem to notice how depressing the song is to Claudia and Lisa. Claudia can’t help having flashbacks when she was with Roy back on Earth. Lisa on the other hand is an idiot just like Rick and she’s all into Kyle again. She tells herself that even his bullshit peace movement is making more and more sense to her.

Minmei finishes her song and she throws up Westside at the crowd. It’s hilarious to see that Kyle seems to be jealous of her because no one is giving two fucks about him or what he has to say about the war.

It seems like Breetai and his Imperial class fleet is back around the dark side of the moon. He and Exedore come up with a daring plan and that plan is to attack the SDF-1 head on. Let them do a Daedalus attack on them and then board the ship through the aircraft carrier before the Destroids are able to fire off their ordinance. It’s risky because if they act late then Breetai and Exedore are going to be just as dead as Julius Caesar. They decide it’s worth the risk because they’ll be able to capture all the Micronians on board and also take control of the Protoculture generator they believe is on board the ship.

It seems like all the Battlepods are waiting for the attack maneuver to happen. Inside one of them Konda, Bron, Rico and the other Zentraedi are now micronized and are just waiting for the chance to sneak on board once the attack happens. But shit, they get nervous because Khyron is the one leading the attack. Again, why the hell would Breetai put him in charge, especially since he’s shown since day one that he arrived that he just wants the SDF-1 destroyed.

On the bridge Gloval receives a report that there are about 30 ships coming up to attack them. They sound an alert and Gloval has all the Veritech air wings to scramble and attack the Zentraedi. Lisa tells Rick to be careful because it seems like a big attack is under way. He tells her, “You don’t have to worry about me!” Then to himself he’s all, ” Well Minmei here I go.” How annoying is that?!

We get another big space dog fight with Khyron and Rick leading their attacking forces. On his bridge Breetai is telling Exedore that the Humans are following their usual attack pattern. He then orders his other ships back while his is going to charge forward by itself. Again he stresses that he wants the SDF-1 captured intact. Funny because he said that but the SDF-1 is taking round after round. Gloval tells Lisa that they’ll have to destroy each ship at a time, starting with Breetai’s ship.

Minmei is still in the middle of her concert but she and all the other people get scared because a massive explosion rocked the ship. Kyle acting like a white knight goes on to tell her to continue singing because it gives hope to all the people there. Even though some have fled in fear and yeah, he’s out of his fucking mind. I would have ran to a shelter instead of listening to his annoying cousin sing Stage Fright while a huge battle is taking place.

Back to the battle Lisa reports to Gloval that it appears that the Zentraedi flagship seems like they want to ram them. So they’ve fallen for the trap and they do the Daedalus attack. It rips through the bow of Breetai’s ship and the ramp goes down on the Daedalus. Before they can fire their ordinance all the Destroids are destroyed by the Battlepods. So yeah, it seems like the people on the ship are pretty fucked now because the Zentraedi just storm the carrier with Rico and his Zentraedi defectors among them.

Along the arm of the ship the Zentraedi start to fire at any Humans they see. Claudia get’s a report from a guy who’s obviously dying and Gloval is shocked to hear that the enemy has now boarded the ship. Rico and the other Zentraedi meanwhile have separated themselves from the main attack force.

Macross city is being destroyed once again because the civil defense force of Destroids can’t out fight the many Battlepods that came on board. On his comms Lisa tells Rick that they’ve been boarded and he needs to return right away. Stupid Rick seems to be more concerned about Minmei then anything else. With that Rick and Max break off their attack and go inside the SDF-1 through an open bay door. But they’re not alone. That asshole Khyron has followed them inside. Which is the worst thing that could have happen for both sides.

You’ve got to be kidding me?! Lisa is hearing reports from Civil defense chief’s who are either being overrunned or are getting killed and all she can think about is whether that giant douche Kyle is alright. The both of them have screwed up priorities.

It’s hilarious the city in the distance is engulfed in flames and Minmei is singing To Be In Love for the third time in this episode. Two Battlepods come up and Minmei stops in mid song because she’s scared shitless. But Kyle tells her again that she has to keep singing. Just as Kyle is telling her that they’re not going to hurt them a stray shot from the battle hits above the stage and huge light from above falls down on top of Kyle while he was shielding Minmei. I was all, YAY!! But no, he’s still alive.

These two Battlepods are looking for any signs of life so that they can continue to kill even more people. But they’re interrupted by Rick as he changes his Veritech from Fighter to Battloid mode. Rick just knocks them down like he’s a football player. Max comes up on his Comms and he’s killing Zentraedi after Zentraedi. Miriya, who I forgot was even on board spot’s his blue trimmed Veritech and she’s sure it’s the same pilot who defeated her in battle.

Back at the destroyed Macross amphitheater Minmei is nursing Kyle because his head seems to be bleeding from the hit that he took. The episode ends with Rick fighting his way to Minmei yelling,”I’m coming for you Minmei!”

So yeah, clearly this is a cliff hanger two parter. This was a good action packed episode, but Rick and Lisa are annoying as hell when it comes to the people that they’re into. Especially since the two cousins are into each other.

Robotech Death Count: Oh boy, I would estimate that maybe 2 to 300 people may have been killed so far. Remember this battle isn’t over with yet.

Episode 21, “A New Dawn”

Oh lord, Minmei has her stupid movie debut. Plus this is pretty much a Zentraedi less episode except for a few scenes.

We start off with the narrator letting us know how the SDF-1 has been ordered to leave the Earth in order to draw away the Zentraedi. Despite Minmei’s attempt at being a cheerleader the citizen’s of Macross city are severely depressed at not being allowed to disembark. He then says that there’s a party being thrown in honor of Minmei’s first movie called Little White Dragon. Too bad it also stars her douchebag cousin Kyle.

Minmei’s out in the balcony and her agent tells her that she should be inside celebrating because she’ll be a big star once the movie comes out. But like I’ve said before, just a big star on board the SDF-1. No one on Earth has any idea who she is. Anyways, she tells her agent that she wants him to make a front seat reservation for Rick at the big premiere of her film. Because he’s a big kiss ass , he says sure. Minmei then has a drunken encounter with aging movie star Jan Morris, who we last saw competing in the Miss Macross Pageant. Kyle tells her that her manager got her the seat reserved for Rick.

At the RDF base this guy who is completely incompetent answers the phone and it’s Minmei wanting to talk to Rick, but he tells her that Rick is on duty at the moment. She leaves him the message that seat number A5 has been reserved for him, but you can tell that this guy is barely even paying attention to her because he’s busy reading a magazine. He asks her who it is that’s calling but she just says to tell him that it’s his little lost friend. Even she wonders if Rick will get the message because the guy sounded like a major dumb ass.

Later on Rick comes back to base all exhausted and the guy tells him about the phone call and that a little lost friend called for him. Rick leaves all excited without the guy telling him all about the seat reservation. Rick calls her hotel, but she was no where to be found because she was with her manager for some reason.

Meanwhile Miriya is wondering around Macross city just taking it all in. Of course she’s consumed with finding Max, even though she has no idea what he looks like. But she’s sure she’ll be able to find him. All of a sudden she notices the big line for Minmei’s stupid movie. I love how she’s sure that the crowd is gathered because they want to honor the pilot who actually managed to get a hit on her.

Minmei and Kyle then arrive in a limo and they act like they’re king and queen of Macross. It’s so annoying. Man, that movie theater is bigger than an IMAX theater. Everyone is crowded in there, including Max and Miriya who are only seats apart. Rick meanwhile is standing all the way in the back because that ass clown never gave him the reservation. Minmei notices the empty seat and is bummed and says to herself that he didn’t even bother to call her back.

Mimmei and Kyle are introduced and Rick can’t help over hearing the conversation that Minmei and Kyle are boning. There’s even a rumor that they’re going to get married. Man they are sick! Minmei meanwhile says that she’s going to sing her newest song which is also the theme song to her movie, but it’s just Stage Fright. AGAIN!!

The movie begins and it’s this bizarre Kung Fu movie with Kyle having martial arts super powers. He’s zapping a bunch of giant mutants with a bolt of lightning from his hands. For some reason, the Zentraedi out in the fleet can pick up the movie on their screens. So I guess it’s being shown through a wifi point? I don’t know. But they don’t like what they see because they don’t understand that it’s a movie and think that it’s a battle recording of Kyle killing those things with his mutant powers. Breetai and Exedore think that they’ve now mastered the secrets of Robotechnology and their troops can’t stand up to such power. Breetai then decides to immediately report these findings to Commander in Chief Dolza. The three spies are also watching the movie with their Zentraedi friends and they bullshit them by saying that they were constantly hanging out with Minmei.

Back to the movie Kyle and Minmei start to have a make out session of their own. The Zentraedi asks the spies what they’re doing and they say that they’re kissing. They lie their asses off agian and tell the other troops that they made out with Minmei all the time. Rick meanwhile can’t stands no more. I guess it’s tough seeing the girl you’re in love with making out with her cousin. Seriously, what the fuck was Minmei thinking? Especially when she wanted him to have a front row seat.

Anyways, he leaves the theater all depressed and runs into Lisa. Well, he trips and uses her ass to steady himself. Of course they get into a big argument with the people in the crowd enjoying their little spat. Lisa drags him off and they both start to talk about the movie, but they’re interrupted by a red alert and that the ship will be under going another transformation. Rick makes the awful decision of asking Lisa where the nearest shelter is at. Lisa rightly so tells him that he can’t go to a shelter since he’s the SDF-1’s CAG or Commander of Air Group. But they’re not going anywhere because the part of the ground that they’re standing on rises up to the ceiling of the ship. Minmei meanwhile almost dies again by falling into yet another chasm. But Kyle’s there to save the day. Except she keeps hallucinating Rick’s face on his own.

Max is seen complaining to another Veritech pilot that the alert just had to happen in the middle of the movie and that’s when he notices Miriya. Right away he’s taken by her beauty. I wonder why Max isn’t scrambling to his aircraft? In the Zentraedi fleet, Breetai is nervous about any attack because he now fears that the Micronians have a power more powerful than Robotech.

Rick and Lisa are lost in the upper bowels of the ship and they get enclosed by four walls so they’re even more boned now. They then take the time to bicker for a bit and blame each other for being stuck there. We can hear all the fighting in space but we’re not seeing shit. Sammy on the bridge is screwing things up majorly because Lisa isn’t there to do her job.

Back to Rick and Lisa, they fight some more. Then they talk about the most random of things. Including how much Max kicks ass when he’s in his Veritech fighter. They then start to talk about their feelings. Lisa is super insecure and Rick is still hopelessly in love with Minmei. That’s what the last ten minutes are about in this episode. The subject of Kyle then comes up and Rick makes fun of her for it, but she brings up Minmei and that shuts him up real quick. Especially since it seems that she’s doing Kyle now. Lisa then starts to cry because Kyle reminds her of Carl her dead pedo boyfriend. Even though they look nothing alike. It’s funny but Rick seems to delight in her sorrow. What’s up with that?

Finally on the bridge they sound the all clear because the Zentraedi are pulling back. Rick and Lisa seem like they’re about to kiss but that’s when the walls around them retract and they’re finally free to leave. As they round a corner they see Minmei and Kyle going up to a hotel and they both get depressed because they’re stupid and into these obnoxious asshole cousins. As the episode ends they both go walking off holding hands. Why they don’t realize they like each other is annoying as hell!

So yeah, this episode sucked. Clearly it’s setting up all sorts of love triangles and drama. It’s a shame because it was beautifully animated. But I think this is the last bad one. They only get better and better from here.

Firsts: Minmei’s Little White Dragon movie.

Robotech Death Count: Zero since we saw none of the battle, even though probably a few pilots and Zentraedi were killed.

Episode 20 “Paradise Lost”

We open up with the narrator telling us that the people of Earth have no idea why there was a massive explosion and Toronto was wiped off the face of the Earth. That damn United Earth Government and it’s censorship!

At Zentraedi HQ Commander in Chief Dolza is watching video of the battle that took place in Ontario and is shocked because he thinks that the Humans are cold blooded as hell and they sacrificed an entire city just to take out three vessels and attacking Battlepods. He tells Breetai that he’s not acting like he’s surprised since he’s been dealing with them since the beginning. Dolza then says that Commander Azonia’s inexperience with the Micronians is a liability so he’s reinstating Breetai’s command. Man that sure didn’t last long. I love the smug look on his face, like I told you so. Breetai is willing to accept his reinstatement, but he wants the Imperial class fleet in his command. I do believe that the number of ships in that fleet is about a million. Dolza asks him why he wants that many ships at his disposal and Breetai says because he’s dealing with a species who is unpredictable and potentially explosive, so he’s going to need the extra firepower. Breetai get’s up to leave, but Dolza says one more thing to him and he basically threaten’s him with death if he screws up again.

Exedore like a good lap dog is waiting for Breetai and wants to know what’s going on. Breetai tells him that he now has command of the Imperial class fleet and they’re going to head back to Earth space. The both of them are worried because it’s been nothing but defeat for the Zentraedi war machine. Funny thing is, they’ve been the cause of their own defeat this entire time.

Back on Earth the SDF-1 seems to have changed back into cruiser mode and are being resupplied. Inside the ship the people on board now know that they’re screwed because they’re seeing a big convoy of supply trucks and that pretty much means that they’re no longer welcomed on the planet.

In his quarters Rick is writing a letter to Ben’s parents, telling them that he’s been killed in action. He can’t seem to get it right because he feels guilty about his death. He even imagines that Ben is there telling him that he knows that he feels bad, but it couldn’t be helped since it was just his time to go. Max knocks on his door and they both head out to the flight deck. Rick tells him about the helpless feeling he get’s whenever they lose someone. Geez these past couple of episodes have been depressing as hell. Anyways, they go outside to take in the view since they figure it’s going to be their last sunset that they’ll get to watch for a while. They notice this futuristic helo coming in and Rick figures that it must be a big shot from command. Max is afraid that it’s going to be their orders to go back to space.

Some where in the bowels of the SDF-1 the three spies are getting a Battlepod ready to launch and enjoying their last meal since they’ll be heading back to the fleet with their report later on that night. They enjoy their beef stew with a Minmei CD playing in the background from a radio they probably stole. They start to talk about the bridge bunnies and other things that they’ll miss while living on board the battle fortress. So yeah, it’s pretty clear that they’ve taken a liking to living with Humans and they really don’t want to go back.

We see the hatch from Gloval’s quarters open up and female officers steps out telling him that she’ll let headquarters know that he received his orders. They probably sent her there personally so he wouldn’t claim that he didn’t get them thanks to radio interference. Gloval in his head says that he accepted the orders under protest. You can tell he’s stressing out big time because he has a drink and a bunch of stubbed cigarettes in an ashtray. He’s livid at command because they obviously don’t give a shit about the crew or the people living in the ship. Lisa comes in and he tells her that they’ve been ordered to leave the Earth and the people are to stay on board. What’s really making him go Rasputin is the thought of the 56,000 people have now become refugees from their own planet. They both drink a toast to the civilians. I love how they show alcohol consumption in a kid’s show. Gloval then tells Lisa that he’ll address the people himself, he then orders Claudia to prepare the ship to move out.

In Lunar orbit we get the old familiar flash of light from a Fold Operation and yup, it’s Breetai with his fleet of a million ships. The three spies take this as a signal to move out so they blow a hole through the hull and drop down into the ocean. Funny, this is the first and only time that the cockpit compartment of the Battlepod ejects itself from the leg part and off they go into outer space.

In the radar room they report to the bridge the massive fold operation around Lunar orbit. Vanessa then tells Gloval that they’re now detecting Fold after Fold maneuvers. They then detect the three spies going into a rendezvous with an alien ship. It’s at that moment that Vanessa estimates that the alien armada is now close to a million vessels. Claudia tries to act all tough and says that they’ve beat them before and they’ll do it again. Gloval figures that HQ is probably shitting their pants with what their radar is telling them. He then goes on to tell them that HQ wants them off of the planet because they’re all now considered to be expendable.

Out in Lunar orbit Breetai is waiting for the three spies to be enlarged again and he can’t wait for their report. Azonia then comes in with a transmission and she’s hella pissed that she lost her command to him. She mocks him for having a massive fleet for just one small Robotech ship. But he points out to her that she failed miserably too. It’s hilarious, she wants to give him her report but he doesn’t have time for her and just shuts her transmission off.

It’s finally time for the three spies report and Breetai is curious as hell with all the junk they managed to smuggle out. Like a huge piano, a TV and a fridge. They go on to say that Humans are really good at repairing things and spend a lot of time basically not doing anything that’s military related. He becomes really uncomfortable of their findings of females and males living together. They go on to say that they actually were with a lot of females, namely the bridge bunnies and they don’t seem to see any side effects to that kind of exposure. They talk and talk for a few hours and he’s had enough of their jabber. Exedore is so damn curious he wants to go down there himself in order to experience all these strange things but Breetai denies him permission.

Once they leave the three spies tell each other that they held out with a lot of “artifacts” Namely a bunch of Minmei merchandise including some Minmei dolls and some of her records. So in this scene they start a plague in the Zentraedi fleet and that plague is called Lynn Minmei. Every Zentraedi that see’s and hears her becomes mesmerized with her. So from ship to ship this sick, annoying virus spreads like a wild fire.

Back on Earth, the SDF-1 is ready for take off, but Gloval first has to address the citizens of the ship. But why the hell are Minmei and Kyle there? Anyways, this fruity looking guy tells Gloval that he’s on and Gloval begins to tell the people that they’ve basically been kicked off of the planet and they won’t be allowed to disembark. Because if they don’t then they’ll be under attack from their own forces. All over the ship people are getting pissed off but more so, depressed. Suddenly Gloval turns into a blubbering mess and can’t help crying because he feels so bad for them.

That’s when Minmei decides to become a cheerleader and her annoyingly perky personality comes out ten fold. She tells the people that the Captain needs their support more then ever and that she now thinks of the ship as her home. The people of Macross are easily swayed idiots and they all embrace this idea and are actually cheering this news on. Minmei always seeing a way to make it about herself, then starts singing Stage Fright for the people of the ship. As we listen to the song Lisa orders the SDF-1 launched and the last we see image we see is the battle fortress heading out into space again.

I enjoyed this episode. It’s nice to see Breetai back in his command. In the next couple of episodes we’re going to see Human culture spread amongst the Zentraedi fleet. Goddamn I love this show, because it’s so deep for a children’s after school television program. Even though when I first saw it as a kid, it probably went right over my head. But I sure appreciate it now.

Firsts: Battlepod ejection.

Robotech Death Count: Zero.