The Desertion of Athrun Zala and Meyrin Hawke is a conflict of the Second Alliance-PLANT War, featured in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny.
Prelude[]
Following the end of the First Alliance-PLANT War, former ZAFT ace pilot and son of then-PLANT Supreme Chairman, Patrick Zala, Athrun Zala had emigrated to the Orb Union but struggled to see the declining power of Cagalli Yula Athha in keeping the nation's neutrality from the more Alliance-friendly Seiran family. This confusion was used by current Chairman Gilbert Durandal to help bring Athrun back to ZAFT and Athrun's return was cemented when Cagalli had been kidnapped, and Orb's border patrol no longer allowed Athrun to come back. By this point, however, Athrun had met Meer Campbell, who served as Durandal's public image whilst stealing the image and voice of Lacus Clyne, who had also emigrated to Orb in secret after the first war.
Despite the use of Meer to impersonate Lacus, Athrun initially served loyally as a member of the battleship, Minerva throughout their early campaigns on Earth, but his first set of doubts towards the Chairman appeared when he met up with his former allies of the Three Ships Alliance following the Battle of Dardanelles, and they revealed an assassination attempt on Lacus by a ZAFT commando team. This created heavy personal doubts that reached a boiling point during Operation Angel Down, which targeted Athrun's former ally and founding Three Ships Alliance member, the battleship Archangel. Not only did Athrun find it strange to scrub any evidence of the ship's integral participation during the Battle of Berlin, but found it excessive to eliminate the ship before going after Logos, especially due to it never targeting ZAFT specifically.
The supposed death of Athrun's personal friend, Kira Yamato and the destruction of the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, left an immediate hole in Athrun, and he proceeded to ask Durandal during the Minerva's stop at the Gibraltar Base over the reasons regarding Operation Angel Down. Athrun's fears were only further aggravated when Durandal correctly deduced this to be about Kira, but began to comment that Kira would not have suffered such a fate had he been raised properly in accordance with his genetics.
In the manga Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge, part of Athrun's concerns was Lacus Clyne's supposed death as he believed she was in the Archangel during Operation: Angel Down. Meer Campbell accidentally revealed to Athrun that Lacus was most likely in space as an impostor had hijacked her shuttle previously. The fact that this was concealed from him increases Athrun's apprehension on the Chairman's deception.
Incident[]
Dissatisfied with his talk with Durandal, Athrun returned to his room, but Durandal contacted his personal aide, and fellow Minerva pilot, Rey Za Burrel, regarding Athrun's utility. The pair concluded that Athrun's personal emotions for Kira would never recover from the latter's death, and they schemed to use pictures of Athrun's meeting with the Three Ships Alliance to try him for treason. Meer had overheard this conversation and slipped into Athrun's room to inform him. In contrast to her hopes of him simply reaffirming his loyalty, Athrun believed he would only be thrown into a kangaroo court and was being eliminated for not being a blind puppet to the chairman. After knocking out the first set of guards attempting to arrest him, Athrun descended through his quarters' fire exit, but Meer refused to accompany him as he made his escape.
By coincidence, Athrun broke into the room of Minerva's CIC officer, Meyrin Hawke. Athrun informed her of what was happening and asked Meyrin to act as a hostage to not be held as an accomplice, but Meyrin faked a bath to distract and stop an attempted search of her room. Afterwards, Meyrin hacked into Gibraltar's security to trigger several false alarms before obtaining a car that she and Athrun could use. The pair would make it to the base's mobile suit hangars, but were stopped by Rey. After a brief firefight, Athrun disarmed Rey, allowing him and Meyrin quickly enter a ZGMF-2000 GOUF Ignited and escape. By this point, Durandal and other major ZAFT figures, including Minerva Captain Talia Gladys, were in the meeting room in uproar after learning that someone was attempting to leak the plans for Operation Ragnarök. In the meantime, Rey also informed Minerva pilot Shinn Asuka that a traitor had escaped, and the pair entered the ZGMF-X666S Legend Gundam and ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam respectively to give chase.
Midway, Durandal learned that Meyrin had accompanied Athrun, and Rey confirmed that she had willingly entered the unit and was not a hostage. While Gladys wished to bring them back alive for interrogation, Durandal denied this and authorized Rey's request to eliminate the two. Eventually, the two units caught up to Athrun as he attempted to search for any trace of the Archangel following Operation Angel Down, and briefly battled. Athrun managed to destroy the Destiny's beam rifle, while rejecting attempts to surrender, although he did plead to release Meyrin, but this was refused by Rey as she was now deemed a traitor. Pushed to emotions' limits, Shinn finally entered SEED mode before violently destroying the GOUF Ignited's heat rod with the Destiny's palm cannons. Shinn then sliced off the GOUF Ignited's right arm and glider before driving his beam sword through the unit's torso and leaving it to plummet. Shinn and Rey then returned back to Gibraltar to report their success as Operation Ragnarök could continue as planned.
Unbeknownst to the pair, however, was that the GOUF Ignited's cockpit was damaged but salvageable. Ledonir Kisaka, a former Three Ships Alliance member and currently a spy on the Earth Alliance, watched the battle from afar and managed to rescue Athrun and Meyrin from their cockpit before ZAFT's reconnaissance arrived. The pair were subsequently sent to the Archangel, which had indeed faked its demise at Operation Angel Down.
Aftermath[]
Following the loss of its designated pilot, the Legend Gundam was instead given over to Rey Za Burrel, who would pilot the unit for the rest of the war. Athrun's reasons for desertion would publicly be labeled as him being cohorts with the Archangel against ZAFT, and that the ship's supposed destruction left him isolated in enemy territory. ZAFT's plans with Logos would continue forward unimpeded as they would successfully defeat the Alliance during the Battle of Heaven's Base.
In the meanwhile, Athrun and Meyrin would recover, and the former would recount Durandal's treachery as well as confirm that he likely had some hidden agenda that required puppets. The pair would end up joining the Three Ships Alliance as Athrun continued as an ace pilot with the ZGMF-X19A ∞ Justice Gundam while Meyrin became a CIC officer for the FFMH-Y101 Eternal.
Gallery[]
.png "Athrun & Meyrin 03 (GSD HD Ep36).png (2.67 MB)")
.png "Gilbert on Screen 01 (GSD HD Ep37).png (2.35 MB)")
.png "Destiny Gundam Stabs GOUF Ignited 01 (GSD HD Ep37).png (4.2 MB)")
.png "GOUF Ignited Wreckage 02 (GSD HD Ep37).png (2.03 MB)")
.png "Athrun Injured 04 (GSD HD Ep37).png (2.78 MB)")
.png "Serious Ledonir 03 (GSD HD Ep37).png (2.72 MB)")
.png "False Evidence 01 (GSD HD Ep37).png (3.17 MB)")
Notes & Trivia[]
- In the manga Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge, the events of the incident are slightly different as Meer actually accompanies Athrun to the mobile suit hangars before choosing to remain with Durandal. The pair also separate in more cordial terms than in the anime.
Appearances[]
- Television Series
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
- PHASE-36, Athrun on the Run
- First Appearance
- PHASE-37, Thunder in the Dark
- Conclusion
- PHASE-38, A New Flag
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-36, Athrun on the Run
References[]
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Project Leader: User:CD Freedom
| Cosmic Era Conflicts and Events | |
| Pre C.E. - C.E. 9 | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction War | |
| C.E. 15 | |
| Coordinator Revelation | Jupiter Exploration Mission | |
| C.E. 30’s - C.E. 50 | |
| Coordinator Boom | |
| C.E. 50’s - C.E. 60’s | |
| Assassination of George Glenn | Flaga Estate Burning | Blue Cosmos Attack on Mendel | |
| C.E. 60’s - C.E. 69 | |
| Mandelbrot Incident | Attack on the Junius Colonies | Mendel Accident | |
| C.E. 70 | |
| First Alliance-PLANT War Tragedy of Copernicus | Bloody Valentine Incident | Invasion of South America | Battle of Yggdrasil | First Battle of Victoria | Operation Uroboros | Battle of Carpentaria | Battle of Coral Sea | First Battle of Jachin Due | Grimaldi Front (Battle of Endymion Crater) | First Battle of Casablanca | Battle of El Alamein | Battle of Nova | First Nova Recapture Operation | October Talks | |
| Unrelated Conflicts First Attack on the Graveyard | |
| C.E. 71 | |
| First Alliance-PLANT War Battle of Kaohsiung | Battle of Heliopolis | Skirmish near Artemis | Battle of Artemis | Second Nova Recapture Operation | Clash at Junius Seven | Skirmish in the Debris Belt | Battle near Junius Seven | Skirmish in the North African Desert | Skirmish towards Earth | Battle of Orbit | Second Battle of Victoria | Blue Cosmos Attack on PLANT | Desert Dawn Campaign (Attack on the Archangel | Attack on Tassil | Retaliation of the Desert Dawn | Blue Cosmos Attack in Banadiya | Battle of Talbadiya) | First Equatorial Skirmish | Second Equatorial Skirmish | Skirmish on an Uninhabited Island | Strait of Malacca Breakthrough | First Battle near Orb | Orb Infiltration Mission | Second Battle near Orb | Battle of the Marshall Islands | Theft of the Freedom Gundam | Operation Spitbreak | Shoot Out at White Symphony | Mission to Recapture the Freedom Gundam | Battle of Porta Panama | Battle of Orb | Assassination of Siegel Clyne | Third Battle of Victoria | Attack on a ZAFT Fleet | Theft of the Eternal | Battle of Mendel | Second Battle of Casablanca | Operation 8.8 (Ayers Rock Landing Operation) | Operation Elvis (Battle of Boaz | Second Battle of Jachin Due) | |
| South American War for Independence Attack on South American Forces Base 12 | Duel at the South American Shore | Battle in the USSA Neutral Zone | Ambush in Low Orbit | |
| Unrelated Conflicts Campaign on the ZAFT Supply Route (Attack on a ZAFT Supply Station | Battle at ZAFT Supply Station 4) | Skirmish at Heliopolis | Pirate Attack on the H.O.M.E. | Recapture of Artemis | Skirmish at Artemis | Second Attack on the Graveyard | Actaeon Hostage Incident | Skirmish at Liteiria | Barnacle Incident | First Attack by the Gundam Astray Gold Frame | First Attack on the Lesseps | Second Attack on the Lesseps | Confrontation in the Deep Sea | Infiltration of the Lesseps | First Battle of the Giga-Float | Second Battle of the Giga-Float | Battle of Ame-No-Mihashira | Battle of the Gundam Astrays | Third Attack on the Graveyard | Find Kira Yamato Operation | Skirmish at Mendel | Raid on the Dreadnaught Gundam’s Transport | Attack on the Serpent Tail Transport | First Attack on the Re.H.O.M.E. | Attack on Supply Station 15B | Escape from Artemis | Assault on Ptolemaeus Port Seven | Attack on the Ortygia | Attack on Ame-No-Mihashira | Battle at the Abandon Colony Zone | Battle at the Mobile Suit Auction | Clash at Mendel | Second Attack on the Re.H.O.M.E. | Assault on the Sahaku Force | Erudou Breakthrough | Third Attack on the Re.H.O.M.E. | First Battle of GENESIS Alpha | First Attack on GENESIS Alpha | |
| C.E. 72 | |
| First Alliance-PLANT War Nairobi Peace Conference (Attack on the Junius Treaty Ceremony) | |
| South American War for Independence Battle for South America | |
| Unrelated Conflicts Battle of the Blue Cosmos Asteroid Factory | |
| C.E. 73 | |
| Second Alliance-PLANT War Attack on Armory One | Battle of the Debris Belt | "Break The World" Incident | Battle of Aprilius One | Operation Spear of Twilight | Ambush of the Minerva | Assassination Attempt of Lacus Clyne | Kidnapping of Orb's Chief Representative | Battle of the Indian Ocean | Attack on Lohengrin Gate | Battle of Gulnahan | Battle in Lunar Orbit | Battle of Dardanelles | Skirmish at Lodonia Lab | Lacus Clyne Shuttle Hijacking | Battle of Crete | |
| Unrelated Conflicts Second Attack on GENESIS Alpha | Third Attack on GENESIS Alpha | Second Battle of Genesis Alpha | Attack on Ed the Ripper’s Shuttle |Attack in Fortaleza | Attack on Kirgitz | Declaration of the Sky | Attack on The Clan Space Station | Assault on the Coordinator Refugee Camp | |
| C.E. 74 | |
| Second Alliance-PLANT War Minerva Breakout | Attack on the Bonaparte | Destroy Crisis (First Attack on Eurasia | Second Attack on Eurasia | Third Attack on Eurasia | Battle of Berlin) | Campaign Against Logos | Operation Angel Down | Desertion of Athrun Zala and Meyrin Hawke | Operation Ragnarök | Eternal Chase | Operation Fury | Battle of Requiem Station Gounod | Battle of Daedalus | Assassination Attempt in Copernicus City | Proclamation of the Destiny Plan | Attack on Requiem Station One | Battle of Messiah | |
| Unrelated Conflicts Attack on Toroya Station | Foundation Shock | Freedom Hijacking Incident | |
| C.E. 75 | |
| Blue Cosmos Campaign Battle of Aldrin City | |
| Foundation Conflict Eldore Incident | Moscow Tragedy | PLANT Coup d'état | Millennium Hijacking | Lacus Clyne Rescue Operation | Battle of Requiem | |