# Space Nazis (Gundam Seed 08) A hard episode to watch, particularly given what I wrote about Flay last time. I had hoped to see her more fully characterized, rehabilitated even, before her final turn to evil. But instead it seems the show is determined to paint her that way from the start. It's a curious decision, and one seemingly at odds with the wider narrative that *SEED* is trying to push: that people are fundamentally good, and need only to understand each other. Or maybe that's not the message at all. The brief cut to Rau near the end - while elegantly developing him a little more - served to emphasise that, perhaps, evil can be found on both sides of this conflict, and bad people do exist - just not in the place you'd expect to find them. AIUI Gundam's racism traditionally lies in the coordinator-like faction, so Blue Cosmos - who I'm sure we'll meet again - is a new side on that story. I still don't know if Haro is another Gundam tradition - it's not something I've seen in another show - but it's remarkably out of place in this one, and adds an extra layer of irritation to what's already an annoyingly perfect character (at least in theory - I happen to quite like Lacus myself). Intellectually, I can maybe see how Flay's actions would be sympathetic - Lacus is so inherently superior that the only way to fight her is brutality. But as actually played out, she comes across as purely unreasonable; the rest of the crew is unwilling to openly contradict her, but see how they all find reasons to leave the room shortly after. From what I recall at the time, many fans felt the same - and so the mention of her father at the end is oddly disonnant. If the message is meant to be that racists are people too, true as that may be it's a bit heavy going, even for Gundam. Flay's not a character anyone can have sympathy for - but nor is she (yet, at least) a cartoon villain we can love to hate. That makes for some uncomfortable viewing. [Home](/) <div id="disqus_thread"></div> comments powered by Disqus