cycles: gwing commentary - ep5
14 Apr 2005 02:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaigouI'm going to bounce around a bit in this one, but we'll start with the G-boys, and a few parallels. In the past few episodes, we got to see Gundams in battle, and Gundams post-battle, with the clear idea that they can take a lot of damage but they do suffer damage, and must be repaired.
Each pilot seems to have his own means of doing so, except for Wufei, whose post-battle agenda has been reduced to snarling at hyenas in the African savannah. Hyenas, I would suggest – intead of lions, or some other African animal – because they're known for being bullies who gang up together on the weaker prey. Wufei's dismissal isn't just of those weaker than him, but of those who must fight as a pack to have any strength. Already we've got implications that he seeks a single opponent, one strong enough to take him on without a passel of syncophants at the opponent's side.
Both Heero and Trowa have their Gundams repaired by someone else, essentially. Heero repairs Wing by stealing parts from Deathscythe; Heavyarms is repaired by the Maganacs, with the assumption it's Quatre's personal obligation footing the bill (since he's apparently without a source of income). Oddly, the only pilot shown paying for his repair is Duo, of whom Howard says, "you're my best customer." It's not said, but I would figure that Duo ended up paying a good deal more than he expected, once Heero was done with stripping Deathscythe. Both Heero and Trowa leave, with fixed and loaded Gundams, and both leave with little intention of looking back. But the dynamics run parallel: we see Duo talking animatedly to Heero, who shuts him out (albeit with a subtle jab). We don't see Quatre talking to Trowa. Instead, we see Quatre minding his own business – playing the violin – and Trowa comes to him, instead. Rampant shonen-ai hints aside, the two pairs follow a similar pattern: rescue, spend time together, repair, depart, but the dynamics are quite different, as is the reaction from the two left behind. Where Duo is furious, cussing a blue streak at Heero, Quatre looks forward to seeing Trowa again.
I must note that again fanon seems to have taken the letter of the law, such as Quatre's words at Trowa's departure, and completely missed the spirit of it. When Trowa leaves, Rashid mentions to Quatre that it's worrisome that Ttowa knows their location. Quatre's assurance is calm, confident, and unquestionably firm. He's taken Trowa's measure, and while I wouldn't say he trusts Trowa, Quatre certainly seems to understand Trowa, and thus has reasonably decided what Trowa will, or will not, do. And then, when he declares that he wouldn't mind seeing Trowa again, it's not with the hearts-and-flowers simpering tone so often ascribed, but a firm, almost...calculating tone. There's a dry wit, as if he's halfway between teasing Rashid, and almost stating a fact, and finds this somewhat amusing. In short, Quatre comes across as someone capable of regret for those he's killed, but a ruthlessness in battle despite that; in his personal dealings, he's confident, capable, and there's no doubt the Maganacs answer to him, not the other way around. There's also no doubt, re-watching, that Quatre is not a fool, either. Not with that tone of voice.
G-Wing is full of parallels. One of the oddest things that I realized this time is what the writers decided to show us. We see Howard, coming to tell Duo that Deathscythe is ready; Duo is sitting at the edge of the ship, looking out across the water. It's the first hint we get that he's not necessarily a social person: he's not hanging with the mechanics, and he's not even assisting with his own Gundam, for that matter. Duo announces with relief that they fixed it in time for his next mission (which gives me the impression, based on both Heero and Duo so far, that the missions may have a small margin for error, but that they're in control of the timing, to some extent).
In another scene, we see Heero's legs hanging off a bed; he's lying in a darkened room, not even asleep but more a pose of someone who'd been sitting and has laid back while he waits. When the laptop beeps, Heero's socked feet come up, knees jerking up to raise himself to a sitting position. It's a momentary thing, but it had a puppyish, awkward quality, echoed by the fact that Heero when Heero looks at the laptop, he's not sitting up straight, but a little slumped. He's alone, and he's somewhat relaxed, even has his shoes off.
My point is that Trowa staying with Quatre stretches over the same time period, and the only bit we see of that visit is with them together (but not talking). During that same stretch, Duo and Heero are both shown alone and waiting (presumably for the next mission or the readiness to leave on that mission). I'm not sure entirely what it means, but it's an interesting characterization detail: Quatre and Trowa, in their downtime, have downtime, while Duo and Heero both occupy waiting-mindset, hopping up quickly when a mission comes in.
The pairs (no, not pairings) are mirrors, but I think the series is more based on trianges of tension. After episode 5, I contemplated a visual diagram of how I'd connect character to character. Starting with Treize, as the one who effectively sets so much in motion (especially with his history as laid out in the past few episodes), and put Zechs and Une below him. A line from each of them, counter-balancing under Treize, with a dashed line between them, indicating competition. Moving to Zechs, he parallels Treize by having Relena and Noin stand at angles to him, with a solid line between Relena and Noin for their later alliance.
Relena, of course, has Heero and Zechs at her counterpoints, which also creates a line between Zechs and Heero, of competition. Heero has Duo and Relena at his counterpoints, and Duo has Hilde (as his female parallel) and I'd suggest Quatre, given the two's friendship during the series yet their distinct backgrounds. I could visualize working my way all the way around back to Wufei, who stands with Treize at one point (competition) and Heero at the other (also competition). The idea of connecting a massive web of characters isn't new, granted, but I'd just never thought of it in terms of G-Wing. It's part of the reason that shaking Relena will cause a ripple effect down through all the characters; doing that affects Heero, Noin, and Zechs, and in turn affects Duo, Sally, Treize, Dorothy...and so on.
This episode, really, focuses on Relena, but there's also a strong feeling of deja vu, or of cycles coming around again. Three times it's mentioned that Tallgeese is twenty years old, whether by direct reference or by a statement about it being archaic, out-of-date. Dr. J uses the same age – twenty years – when speaking of the original Heero Yuy's assassination. At the first Heero Yuy's death, the original Gundam was born; at the second Heero Yuy's birth (being given his code name), the new Gundams arrive.
The first assassination marks a time of martial law and military strength over the colonies; the second assassination could go either way. Relena, in effect, is just playing out a repetition; if Pilot 01 is the psychological inheritor of the first Heero Yuy's role (as protector of the peace), then Relena is the same of her father's diplomacy role, and both are begun via assassination. The issue of balance between Relena, as a daughter of Earth, and Heero (via J's words), as a son of space first shows up in J's words. Both are impulsive, dedicated, and even a bit obstinate, but they're two sides of the same coin.
And Darlian's diplomacy, yet again, leaves a great deal to be desired. When travelling with a military attache, it's not wise to piss off the attache, unless this is to indicate that Darlian feels himself beyond threat. He's definitely wealthy enough to have the aristocratic attitude; he arrives at the colony in his own chartered shuttle. His words and actions indicate a stronger alliance with the colonies than earth, in some ways; Relena echoes this with her confusion over how anyone could think the "peaceful, courteous" colonies would want to engage in war.
Her views are as idealistic and innocent as her father's are somewhat pigheaded – in that he brazenly acts without seeming to care about repercussions. Meanwhile, we get several seconds of Relena's friends pining away over Relena's absence, and remarking the colonies should sparkle brightly because she's up there, and not on Earth; I think we're supposed to catch onto her charisma (whether she intends it or not), and the fact that she's also someone, like Heero, who is noticeable even if she doesn't realize it.
Another side point: we've now seen Relena with her father at least four times: on the shuttle, coming down the escalator, at the birthday party, and again on the shuttle. They don't appear to be having a lengthy conversation of any sort. Most of the time there are long shots where they're sitting, quietly, saying little, broken only with what seems to be more of a surface conversation. Only in the last scene does Darlian say anything that might carry more meaning, in telling her to look upon earth and never forget how beautiful it is. For someone from earth, who seems to be leaning quite close to allying himself with rebel attitudes, this is an important detail: he's drawing a line in the sand that being a colonist sympathizer is not mutually exclusive to also loving the earth.
Back to the triangular connections, with Zechs and Une bookending Treize. Up until now, we've seen Zechs doing his best, with limited power, to manipulate circumstances to his (and Treize's) ends. He tells a naval general that his submarine needs repairs in order to secure a favor; he's essentially acting with the savoir faire of a born diplomat if for somewhat shady ends. Une, on the other hand, isn't just a hammer, she's a flippin' sledgehammer. Instead of keeping her ears to the ground and using the colony's situation to her advantage, she essentially storms her way through with explosives.
The minor note – another echo of the Heero/Relena dynamic – is that Relena unwittingly again moves from death-causing to life-saving, but in this case, it's the opposite direction. She saves her father's life by taking the explosive device away from the meeting room, and promptly ends her father's life by delivering the device to Une, who tosses it back at the building. At no point has Relena willfully tried to hurt anyone, but her life-death consequences continue to grow in scale.
Une's actions with the explosives device reveals her essential un-ease with the finer touches. It makes good storytelling, and hypes the tension, to have Relena find the device and walk off with it. (And Relena, while on the colonies, is a more active, less demure, and far less wary/watchful character than she was on earth; the illustration is clear that she's possibly more comfortable in the colonies, away from the admiring eyes and the trappings of her family's title.) But Une tosses the explosives at the window, instead of disarming it and saying, "thanks," while thinking, "hmm, I must try again later." No, she impulsively sets it off, even with Relena as witness.
This speaks not only of arrogance – what will Relena do against her, anyway? – but also a lack of judgment, an inability to see the eventual consequences of her actions. She's risking her own credibility and that of Treize by extension. We're basically seeing Une's character, laid out in broad sketches: as imperious as Treize (or even Heero), with all the subtlety of a large rock.
The colonists who appear, carting off Relena and her father, work straight into Une's attempt to shift blame, but it's not clear whether they'd planned to show up (and whether she was aware of this). I think it's important that we're not told whether the colonist rebels were being manipulated by Une, because without such concrete evidence (that I can recall), we're left to assume that Une acts first, and covers afterwards, in direct contrast to Treize, who manipulates for long before he finally acts, and then he does so decisively.
Dr. J, the first of the Mad Five, appears in this episode, and while in fanon he's often shown as gruff, annoying, overbearing, and even cruel, his appearance here is more of a slightly bonkers old man who's getting the biggest kick out of his protoge's actions on earth.
J also calls Heero a kind-hearted boy, and Relena seems surprised at first, then agrees. I think part of the reason she's surprised is because so far, she's only seen J in the company of men-with-guns, so from her perspective, J doesn't exactly seem like the voice of authority. But as evidenced by Relena's reaction to Sally, in the hospital episode – "you mean [Heero's] not with the Alliance?" – she's been assuming that Heero is working for someone; accepting orders doesn't mean that's how he truly feels. She, after all, is more than familiar with political and diplomatic appearances not necessarily matching up to the inner reality. Remember also that although he promised to kill her, he had his chance and didn't. With the little information she has, that seems to be enough to convince her he's a good person under his harsh words.
J states more pragmatic observations in the series so far: "only people can start a war, and only people can stop it" (the fansub is slightly different: 'only people can stop the war from starting'). Heero's mission, we learn, is to kill those people who would start the war. What J doesn't answer is whether he knows who these people are, or whether that's been left up to Heero to determine. (The tie-in, timewise, between Tallgeese's creation and Heero Yuy's death, though, leads me to think he's fully aware of the players.)
He does, however, know the name: OZ. It may seem convenient that J just 'happens' to mention that OZ are the bad guys, but remember that Darlian gave Relena the warning about OZ while the rebel colonists (who work for J) were standing right there. If J wants Relena to butt out, telling her not only that there are bad guys but who they are is not the way to do that. The fact that her father was right (possibly, assuming J is aware of OZ's existence) only lends creedence to what may seem to be a striking coincidence from Relena's perspective. In effect, he's using her father's dying warning to manipulate her – and his sole intention, I'd hazard, appears to be to get her to support Heero.
And now, back around again to Heero. One of the more chilling aspects of J's speech is that it's intercut with Heero's actions on the battlefield. This is the first time we've really seen him in action, not counting his run-in with Zechs and a few seconds' screen time of his successful mission after fixing Wing. J speaks of Heero as a rascal, a kind young man with determined, hopeful eyes – and meanwhile, we see Heero leveling an entire base.
What's also interesting are the parallels with Trowa and Quatre, again. Quatre rescued Trowa (much as Duo had for Heero), but Trowa's immediate response is to attack. Quatre talks him down, quasi-surrenders, and they meet. Duo saves Heero, and the tension rides; their showdown isn't until they meet for the second time. Granted, Heero (in another purposeful jibe) trains his beam cannon on Duo, and Duo – understandably – freaks. Heero's expression is intent, as it has been through the battle, but his eyebrows are raised just a bit more, his eyes open a hair wider – 'eyes wide' is Heero's subtle (or not-so-subtle) version of wonder, shading into surprise. Here it's just a barest bit of delight. He's enjoying Duo's reaction, which is to freak out (before buckling down and getting ready for a fight).
This would be the pissing contest between two alphas, really (compared to Trowa and Quatre, who discovered quickly they're equal in Gundam-strength, and form an alliance). When Heero fires, taking out the suit sneaking up behind Duo, it doesn't exactly improve Duo's attitude. He's both astonished and a bit pissed off; Heero taunts him, saying, "now we're even," and laughs, while Duo just grumbles.
Earlier in the scene, Heero takes out two mobile suits but doesn't laugh. He made more of a half-laugh, somewhere between an amused, perhaps even bemused, grunt-laugh. It's only once he's essentially scared the living bejabbers out of Duo that we once again get Heero's version of yelling "PWNED!" This is the point that Heero finally slots Duo into a unique category: rival-ally. It may be the shorter grunt-laugh indicated a mild, passing, pleasure at his successful work. Duo's appearance startles Heero, and Heero's ability to startle Duo right back (but more so) is a type of challenge that is probably all-new to Heero. Getting the upper hand appears to delight Heero far more, in contrast.
J may mean to warn Relena, but all he really does is hand her a boatload of questions and no one to answer them. One of the things that sticks in my head is that in J's later appearances, he seems much stricter, a bit more impersonal towards Heero. His light-hearted and even absent-minded conversation with Relena appears out-of-character in contrast (if way creepy, with the close-ups on the clacking metallic claw). He may sum everything up by telling Relena to stay away from Heero, but this is a girl who'd been holding a gun on three grown men when he met her.
I really doubt J is stupid enough to think she'd be scared off; in fact, I think he's counting on her not following his advice. He simply gives her way too much information not to be leading her down a path. What's most interesting, though, is that J is a parallel to Treize, in this case: like Treize, he's maneuvering two people – Heero, and now Relena – with just enough information to push them in the right direction. J, though, seems less interested in the final goal, and a bit more curious about the means they'll use, but that may be the difference in personality between J and Treize.
J is also delighted that Heero just happened to end up at school with Relena, and asks after "that rascal." It's very much someone who carries both pride, and a twisted sense of possessiveness over his student, and Relena is understandably freaked and a bit dismayed by his attitude. J's veneer of good humor is not stripped at the end, I think, because his warning – stay away from him if you value your life – is said kindly, and with a bit of regret.
Which brings us to Relena's parallel with Heero. In the last episode, she yelled for him to come and kill her (and I doubt it's pure chance that this segment was in the 'previously on' section of this episode). In ep5, she says at least three times that she doesn't care if she lives or dies; her own life isn't at the top of the list. It doesn't even seem to register on her radar that she was holding an explosive device that might have killed her instead, had she not been dashing out of the building to catch Une.
She's as impulsive as Une (and in some ways, as Heero), by getting away from the soldiers to run back into the building to find her father. Even colonist rebels with guns can't dissuade her, and she's quick-witted enough despite having been drugged to grab one man's gun, yank it free, and hold them all at bay. So when J warns her, "if you value your life..." it stands in stark relief against Relena's insistence through the episode that she doesn't. It's therefore no surprise that her expression – at first a bit lost – turns calculating as J drives away; she's already trying to puzzle out what she's learned, and put it all together – not the least of which is the news that she's not her father's daughter.
Each pilot seems to have his own means of doing so, except for Wufei, whose post-battle agenda has been reduced to snarling at hyenas in the African savannah. Hyenas, I would suggest – intead of lions, or some other African animal – because they're known for being bullies who gang up together on the weaker prey. Wufei's dismissal isn't just of those weaker than him, but of those who must fight as a pack to have any strength. Already we've got implications that he seeks a single opponent, one strong enough to take him on without a passel of syncophants at the opponent's side.
Both Heero and Trowa have their Gundams repaired by someone else, essentially. Heero repairs Wing by stealing parts from Deathscythe; Heavyarms is repaired by the Maganacs, with the assumption it's Quatre's personal obligation footing the bill (since he's apparently without a source of income). Oddly, the only pilot shown paying for his repair is Duo, of whom Howard says, "you're my best customer." It's not said, but I would figure that Duo ended up paying a good deal more than he expected, once Heero was done with stripping Deathscythe. Both Heero and Trowa leave, with fixed and loaded Gundams, and both leave with little intention of looking back. But the dynamics run parallel: we see Duo talking animatedly to Heero, who shuts him out (albeit with a subtle jab). We don't see Quatre talking to Trowa. Instead, we see Quatre minding his own business – playing the violin – and Trowa comes to him, instead. Rampant shonen-ai hints aside, the two pairs follow a similar pattern: rescue, spend time together, repair, depart, but the dynamics are quite different, as is the reaction from the two left behind. Where Duo is furious, cussing a blue streak at Heero, Quatre looks forward to seeing Trowa again.
I must note that again fanon seems to have taken the letter of the law, such as Quatre's words at Trowa's departure, and completely missed the spirit of it. When Trowa leaves, Rashid mentions to Quatre that it's worrisome that Ttowa knows their location. Quatre's assurance is calm, confident, and unquestionably firm. He's taken Trowa's measure, and while I wouldn't say he trusts Trowa, Quatre certainly seems to understand Trowa, and thus has reasonably decided what Trowa will, or will not, do. And then, when he declares that he wouldn't mind seeing Trowa again, it's not with the hearts-and-flowers simpering tone so often ascribed, but a firm, almost...calculating tone. There's a dry wit, as if he's halfway between teasing Rashid, and almost stating a fact, and finds this somewhat amusing. In short, Quatre comes across as someone capable of regret for those he's killed, but a ruthlessness in battle despite that; in his personal dealings, he's confident, capable, and there's no doubt the Maganacs answer to him, not the other way around. There's also no doubt, re-watching, that Quatre is not a fool, either. Not with that tone of voice.
G-Wing is full of parallels. One of the oddest things that I realized this time is what the writers decided to show us. We see Howard, coming to tell Duo that Deathscythe is ready; Duo is sitting at the edge of the ship, looking out across the water. It's the first hint we get that he's not necessarily a social person: he's not hanging with the mechanics, and he's not even assisting with his own Gundam, for that matter. Duo announces with relief that they fixed it in time for his next mission (which gives me the impression, based on both Heero and Duo so far, that the missions may have a small margin for error, but that they're in control of the timing, to some extent).
In another scene, we see Heero's legs hanging off a bed; he's lying in a darkened room, not even asleep but more a pose of someone who'd been sitting and has laid back while he waits. When the laptop beeps, Heero's socked feet come up, knees jerking up to raise himself to a sitting position. It's a momentary thing, but it had a puppyish, awkward quality, echoed by the fact that Heero when Heero looks at the laptop, he's not sitting up straight, but a little slumped. He's alone, and he's somewhat relaxed, even has his shoes off.
My point is that Trowa staying with Quatre stretches over the same time period, and the only bit we see of that visit is with them together (but not talking). During that same stretch, Duo and Heero are both shown alone and waiting (presumably for the next mission or the readiness to leave on that mission). I'm not sure entirely what it means, but it's an interesting characterization detail: Quatre and Trowa, in their downtime, have downtime, while Duo and Heero both occupy waiting-mindset, hopping up quickly when a mission comes in.
The pairs (no, not pairings) are mirrors, but I think the series is more based on trianges of tension. After episode 5, I contemplated a visual diagram of how I'd connect character to character. Starting with Treize, as the one who effectively sets so much in motion (especially with his history as laid out in the past few episodes), and put Zechs and Une below him. A line from each of them, counter-balancing under Treize, with a dashed line between them, indicating competition. Moving to Zechs, he parallels Treize by having Relena and Noin stand at angles to him, with a solid line between Relena and Noin for their later alliance.
Relena, of course, has Heero and Zechs at her counterpoints, which also creates a line between Zechs and Heero, of competition. Heero has Duo and Relena at his counterpoints, and Duo has Hilde (as his female parallel) and I'd suggest Quatre, given the two's friendship during the series yet their distinct backgrounds. I could visualize working my way all the way around back to Wufei, who stands with Treize at one point (competition) and Heero at the other (also competition). The idea of connecting a massive web of characters isn't new, granted, but I'd just never thought of it in terms of G-Wing. It's part of the reason that shaking Relena will cause a ripple effect down through all the characters; doing that affects Heero, Noin, and Zechs, and in turn affects Duo, Sally, Treize, Dorothy...and so on.
This episode, really, focuses on Relena, but there's also a strong feeling of deja vu, or of cycles coming around again. Three times it's mentioned that Tallgeese is twenty years old, whether by direct reference or by a statement about it being archaic, out-of-date. Dr. J uses the same age – twenty years – when speaking of the original Heero Yuy's assassination. At the first Heero Yuy's death, the original Gundam was born; at the second Heero Yuy's birth (being given his code name), the new Gundams arrive.
The first assassination marks a time of martial law and military strength over the colonies; the second assassination could go either way. Relena, in effect, is just playing out a repetition; if Pilot 01 is the psychological inheritor of the first Heero Yuy's role (as protector of the peace), then Relena is the same of her father's diplomacy role, and both are begun via assassination. The issue of balance between Relena, as a daughter of Earth, and Heero (via J's words), as a son of space first shows up in J's words. Both are impulsive, dedicated, and even a bit obstinate, but they're two sides of the same coin.
And Darlian's diplomacy, yet again, leaves a great deal to be desired. When travelling with a military attache, it's not wise to piss off the attache, unless this is to indicate that Darlian feels himself beyond threat. He's definitely wealthy enough to have the aristocratic attitude; he arrives at the colony in his own chartered shuttle. His words and actions indicate a stronger alliance with the colonies than earth, in some ways; Relena echoes this with her confusion over how anyone could think the "peaceful, courteous" colonies would want to engage in war.
Her views are as idealistic and innocent as her father's are somewhat pigheaded – in that he brazenly acts without seeming to care about repercussions. Meanwhile, we get several seconds of Relena's friends pining away over Relena's absence, and remarking the colonies should sparkle brightly because she's up there, and not on Earth; I think we're supposed to catch onto her charisma (whether she intends it or not), and the fact that she's also someone, like Heero, who is noticeable even if she doesn't realize it.
Another side point: we've now seen Relena with her father at least four times: on the shuttle, coming down the escalator, at the birthday party, and again on the shuttle. They don't appear to be having a lengthy conversation of any sort. Most of the time there are long shots where they're sitting, quietly, saying little, broken only with what seems to be more of a surface conversation. Only in the last scene does Darlian say anything that might carry more meaning, in telling her to look upon earth and never forget how beautiful it is. For someone from earth, who seems to be leaning quite close to allying himself with rebel attitudes, this is an important detail: he's drawing a line in the sand that being a colonist sympathizer is not mutually exclusive to also loving the earth.
Back to the triangular connections, with Zechs and Une bookending Treize. Up until now, we've seen Zechs doing his best, with limited power, to manipulate circumstances to his (and Treize's) ends. He tells a naval general that his submarine needs repairs in order to secure a favor; he's essentially acting with the savoir faire of a born diplomat if for somewhat shady ends. Une, on the other hand, isn't just a hammer, she's a flippin' sledgehammer. Instead of keeping her ears to the ground and using the colony's situation to her advantage, she essentially storms her way through with explosives.
The minor note – another echo of the Heero/Relena dynamic – is that Relena unwittingly again moves from death-causing to life-saving, but in this case, it's the opposite direction. She saves her father's life by taking the explosive device away from the meeting room, and promptly ends her father's life by delivering the device to Une, who tosses it back at the building. At no point has Relena willfully tried to hurt anyone, but her life-death consequences continue to grow in scale.
Une's actions with the explosives device reveals her essential un-ease with the finer touches. It makes good storytelling, and hypes the tension, to have Relena find the device and walk off with it. (And Relena, while on the colonies, is a more active, less demure, and far less wary/watchful character than she was on earth; the illustration is clear that she's possibly more comfortable in the colonies, away from the admiring eyes and the trappings of her family's title.) But Une tosses the explosives at the window, instead of disarming it and saying, "thanks," while thinking, "hmm, I must try again later." No, she impulsively sets it off, even with Relena as witness.
This speaks not only of arrogance – what will Relena do against her, anyway? – but also a lack of judgment, an inability to see the eventual consequences of her actions. She's risking her own credibility and that of Treize by extension. We're basically seeing Une's character, laid out in broad sketches: as imperious as Treize (or even Heero), with all the subtlety of a large rock.
The colonists who appear, carting off Relena and her father, work straight into Une's attempt to shift blame, but it's not clear whether they'd planned to show up (and whether she was aware of this). I think it's important that we're not told whether the colonist rebels were being manipulated by Une, because without such concrete evidence (that I can recall), we're left to assume that Une acts first, and covers afterwards, in direct contrast to Treize, who manipulates for long before he finally acts, and then he does so decisively.
Dr. J, the first of the Mad Five, appears in this episode, and while in fanon he's often shown as gruff, annoying, overbearing, and even cruel, his appearance here is more of a slightly bonkers old man who's getting the biggest kick out of his protoge's actions on earth.
J also calls Heero a kind-hearted boy, and Relena seems surprised at first, then agrees. I think part of the reason she's surprised is because so far, she's only seen J in the company of men-with-guns, so from her perspective, J doesn't exactly seem like the voice of authority. But as evidenced by Relena's reaction to Sally, in the hospital episode – "you mean [Heero's] not with the Alliance?" – she's been assuming that Heero is working for someone; accepting orders doesn't mean that's how he truly feels. She, after all, is more than familiar with political and diplomatic appearances not necessarily matching up to the inner reality. Remember also that although he promised to kill her, he had his chance and didn't. With the little information she has, that seems to be enough to convince her he's a good person under his harsh words.
J states more pragmatic observations in the series so far: "only people can start a war, and only people can stop it" (the fansub is slightly different: 'only people can stop the war from starting'). Heero's mission, we learn, is to kill those people who would start the war. What J doesn't answer is whether he knows who these people are, or whether that's been left up to Heero to determine. (The tie-in, timewise, between Tallgeese's creation and Heero Yuy's death, though, leads me to think he's fully aware of the players.)
He does, however, know the name: OZ. It may seem convenient that J just 'happens' to mention that OZ are the bad guys, but remember that Darlian gave Relena the warning about OZ while the rebel colonists (who work for J) were standing right there. If J wants Relena to butt out, telling her not only that there are bad guys but who they are is not the way to do that. The fact that her father was right (possibly, assuming J is aware of OZ's existence) only lends creedence to what may seem to be a striking coincidence from Relena's perspective. In effect, he's using her father's dying warning to manipulate her – and his sole intention, I'd hazard, appears to be to get her to support Heero.
And now, back around again to Heero. One of the more chilling aspects of J's speech is that it's intercut with Heero's actions on the battlefield. This is the first time we've really seen him in action, not counting his run-in with Zechs and a few seconds' screen time of his successful mission after fixing Wing. J speaks of Heero as a rascal, a kind young man with determined, hopeful eyes – and meanwhile, we see Heero leveling an entire base.
What's also interesting are the parallels with Trowa and Quatre, again. Quatre rescued Trowa (much as Duo had for Heero), but Trowa's immediate response is to attack. Quatre talks him down, quasi-surrenders, and they meet. Duo saves Heero, and the tension rides; their showdown isn't until they meet for the second time. Granted, Heero (in another purposeful jibe) trains his beam cannon on Duo, and Duo – understandably – freaks. Heero's expression is intent, as it has been through the battle, but his eyebrows are raised just a bit more, his eyes open a hair wider – 'eyes wide' is Heero's subtle (or not-so-subtle) version of wonder, shading into surprise. Here it's just a barest bit of delight. He's enjoying Duo's reaction, which is to freak out (before buckling down and getting ready for a fight).
This would be the pissing contest between two alphas, really (compared to Trowa and Quatre, who discovered quickly they're equal in Gundam-strength, and form an alliance). When Heero fires, taking out the suit sneaking up behind Duo, it doesn't exactly improve Duo's attitude. He's both astonished and a bit pissed off; Heero taunts him, saying, "now we're even," and laughs, while Duo just grumbles.
Earlier in the scene, Heero takes out two mobile suits but doesn't laugh. He made more of a half-laugh, somewhere between an amused, perhaps even bemused, grunt-laugh. It's only once he's essentially scared the living bejabbers out of Duo that we once again get Heero's version of yelling "PWNED!" This is the point that Heero finally slots Duo into a unique category: rival-ally. It may be the shorter grunt-laugh indicated a mild, passing, pleasure at his successful work. Duo's appearance startles Heero, and Heero's ability to startle Duo right back (but more so) is a type of challenge that is probably all-new to Heero. Getting the upper hand appears to delight Heero far more, in contrast.
J may mean to warn Relena, but all he really does is hand her a boatload of questions and no one to answer them. One of the things that sticks in my head is that in J's later appearances, he seems much stricter, a bit more impersonal towards Heero. His light-hearted and even absent-minded conversation with Relena appears out-of-character in contrast (if way creepy, with the close-ups on the clacking metallic claw). He may sum everything up by telling Relena to stay away from Heero, but this is a girl who'd been holding a gun on three grown men when he met her.
I really doubt J is stupid enough to think she'd be scared off; in fact, I think he's counting on her not following his advice. He simply gives her way too much information not to be leading her down a path. What's most interesting, though, is that J is a parallel to Treize, in this case: like Treize, he's maneuvering two people – Heero, and now Relena – with just enough information to push them in the right direction. J, though, seems less interested in the final goal, and a bit more curious about the means they'll use, but that may be the difference in personality between J and Treize.
J is also delighted that Heero just happened to end up at school with Relena, and asks after "that rascal." It's very much someone who carries both pride, and a twisted sense of possessiveness over his student, and Relena is understandably freaked and a bit dismayed by his attitude. J's veneer of good humor is not stripped at the end, I think, because his warning – stay away from him if you value your life – is said kindly, and with a bit of regret.
Which brings us to Relena's parallel with Heero. In the last episode, she yelled for him to come and kill her (and I doubt it's pure chance that this segment was in the 'previously on' section of this episode). In ep5, she says at least three times that she doesn't care if she lives or dies; her own life isn't at the top of the list. It doesn't even seem to register on her radar that she was holding an explosive device that might have killed her instead, had she not been dashing out of the building to catch Une.
She's as impulsive as Une (and in some ways, as Heero), by getting away from the soldiers to run back into the building to find her father. Even colonist rebels with guns can't dissuade her, and she's quick-witted enough despite having been drugged to grab one man's gun, yank it free, and hold them all at bay. So when J warns her, "if you value your life..." it stands in stark relief against Relena's insistence through the episode that she doesn't. It's therefore no surprise that her expression – at first a bit lost – turns calculating as J drives away; she's already trying to puzzle out what she's learned, and put it all together – not the least of which is the news that she's not her father's daughter.