We begin this episode with Alto and Ranka exploring closer to the downed Macross-class ship. The jamming that dropped Alto’s Valkyrie out of the sky continues to be an intermittent issue, but it seems it’s only affecting the navigation and radar systems. If Alto really wanted to fly, it seems he could do so on manual or maybe some sort of more limited emergency mode. Alto and Ranka walk on foot to a nearby spring where Alto washes his hair. He and Ranka recall their first meeting where Ranka saw Alto with his hair down and where she was the one who had gotten soaked. 

Back at the Zentradi base, Sheryl continues to recover but is putting up a fuss about taking the medicine Grace gives her. In just a few hours, Sheryl is back on her feet and demanding that Michael take her with him to go looking for Alto and Ranka. Michael agrees, but while Sheryl is out of the room changing into a flight suit, Michael finds one of the pills Sheryl was supposed to have taken. It is a little unclear, but it seems like Sheryl not taking the medicine is what has let her recover so quickly. Michael is amused at how Alto seems to have somehow found himself surrounded by stubborn women, but then an image of an angry Klan comes to mind and he has to admit to himself that maybe his position is no better. 

Back on Frontier, Luca has a tense meeting with Leon. It seems that Luca has provided the Frontier government with some technology or possibly a weapon that could get his company, L.A.I., in trouble, but Luca thinks it is the best way to protect those he cares about. 

Alto and Ranka continue exploring closer to the Macross and share more tender moments, but then Ranka excuses herself into the woods and is almost immediately captured. Alto chases after her towards the Macross and follows her signal inside. Within the Macross, Alto is surprised to find some sort of research lab where they were researching or maybe even experimenting on Vajra. Alto soon discovers that this Macross was attached to the 117 Large Exploration Fleet. The fleet that Ranka and her family were once a part of. The same one that Ozma rescued Ranka from when it was destroyed by the Vajra! 

We find Grace far from the Zentradi base with some piece of technology called a Dimension Eater that has L.A.I. markings on it. She orders Brera to rescue Ranka if possible, but warns him she will soon detonate the Dimension Eater and that retrieving Ranka cannot interfere with their primary mission. Both Brera and Alto trace Ranka’s signal to a large cavern where a Vajra queen is laying eggs. Alto tries to rescue Ranka, but she is encased in some sort of shell. Brera meanwhile fights off a small swarm of Vajra only to hit one of the many glowing crystals on the queen which causes it, and Ranka, a great deal of pain. The queen, or at least part of it, explodes throwing both Brera and Alto clear. 

To Alto’s horror, the remains of the Macross crumble as some sort of large Vajra command ship emerges and leads a fleet of carriers skyward. When Alto returns to his Valkyrie in an  attempt to go after Ranka once more, Brera stops him almost as if he is protecting the Vajra ships. Fortunately Michael and Sheryl arrive just in time to save Alto. The two SMS pilots are ready to take on Brera once more, but then Grace does the unthinkable. Her cybernetic arm rips apart to form cables that connect to multiple ports on the Dimension Eater, activating it. It creates an expanding sphere of what seems to be fold energy that literally eats Grace, the Zentradi base, and a significant part of Gallia 4. 

Michael and Sheryl barely escape the dimension eater’s rapidly expanding blast radius by grabbing hold of one of the Vajra carriers as it folds away. Alto is forced to watch the as a good third of the planet below him is consumed as he barely outruns the blast radius. And that’s how the episode ends! 

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

  • Alto and Brera’s battle after the Vajra fleet launches. It reminds me a little of Shin Kudo and Nora Polyansky’s very high speed battle near the end of Macross Zero. 
  • The Zentradi yelling “Yak! Deculture!” as the artificial fold fault destroys him and his ship. This is the true, classic, original use of “yak deculture” as seen in SDF Macross.
  • That last, impressive shot of the dimension eater’s blast consuming a third of Gallia 4. That’s not bad for something only a couple of times larger than a human! 

Episode Impressions: 

I’m not going to lie, this episode felt like it came out of nowhere the first time I watched it. Grace killing herself and everyone at the Zentradi base, and presumably some Vajra as well was very much a LOLWTFBBQ moment. Based on her final words, it seems like her plan was to enrage the Vajra and point them toward the Frontier fleet? 

Compared to the end, the rest of the episode is of pretty minor importance. Alto and Ranka got some quality time together, Sheryl is back to her old self, we again see that the Vajra tend to build nests in the ruins of ships they have destroyed, but without knowing the implications of the Vajra fleet or the dimension eater, it’s hard to say how much of any of those events even matter. This is one of those times I’m glad I can just skip straight to the next episode instead of having to wait a week. I guess, if nothing else, this episode ends on one heck of a cliffhanger! 

The medicine that Sheryl is reluctant to take and her rapid recovery are both important. It will be a while before we learn about either, however. 

Interestingly, the Vajra’s ability to jam a Valkyrie out of the sky is not really ever seen again. 

Grace sacrificing herself to send the Vajra on their way is very important and we will begin to see why within just a couple of episodes. There is actually a plan and reasoning here, it’s just very little of it has been revealed at this point. It is interesting that Grace told Brera to wait for further instructions. From her.

Moment to Moment Notes: 

This episode’s title is a reference to Captain Global, the captain of the SDF Macross. 

10:55 – Here we learn that the Macross-class ship’s name actually is Global. 

12:13 – Um… Grace just jumped like 50 feet into the air. 

13:06 – Someone erased the memory of the ship recently. It seems the conspiracy is bigger than just freeing a few Zentradi from military service.

13:21 – If you look closely, the boy beside Ranka is wearing a harmonica around his neck.

17:36 – That bomb had LAI written on the side of it. Is this what Luca and Leon were talking about? 

19:22 – That’s cool. Brera appears to be wearing a helmet that is then drawn invisible by his fighter’s holographic cockpit. 

20:10 – Sheryl almost declared that she had control of the plane. Fortunately, Michael wisely denied her. He is surely the much better pilot between the two of them! 

20:33 – Oh, what in the world! We’ve known that Grace had some cybernetic implants, but this is far more than has been let on so far! 

21:17 – There’s “Yak! Deculture!” being used as an expletive like back in “Do You Remember Love?”. 

21:49 – That is one heck of a bomb! And Grace told Brera to wait for further orders from her?! How is she planning to survive when it is eating a significant portion of the planet?!

Next Episode: Mother’s Lullaby

Wow! Looks like we’re getting a major fleet battle next episode!