Technology & Combat Characteristics
After its GN Drive was salvaged by Celestial Being and installed into GN-0000 00 Gundam, the GN-001RE Gundam Exia Repair was stored in one of their undisclosed asteroid bases. With the organization short on resources and in need of available units, Celestial Being engineers rebuilt Exia with the latest advancements in mobile suit technology as a reserve/spare Gundam.
A weaknesses of the original Gundam Exia was the abundant amount of exposed cables all over its body.[2] These cables are important as they are used for both GN Particle transfer as well as attitude control due to the particles' weight reducing effects.[2] The reason Exia had many exposed cables was for finer attitude control, but this setup was very risky as they were vulnerable to attacks.[2] To counter this weakness, the Exia R2's particle transfer system was redesigned[3] and the cables were internalized within the armor.[2] Another change is that a series of thrusters and exhaust ports are added onto the rear shoulder, torso, and calves for enhanced speed and maneuverability in combat. Like the original Exia, the Exia R2 has the "GN Drive Burst Mode" function that when activated temporarily boosts the performance of the suit. However, the burst function was found to be unstable and as a result, was rarely used.[2]
For weapons, Exia Repair's damaged GN Sword was refitted into the GN Sword Kai. The new sword was a cross between the former and the GN Sword III of 00 Gundam, its blade edge was lined with GN Condenser material. Like the former, the GN Sword Kai is foldable and equipped with a GN Beam Rifle for mid-ranged combat. Due to the improved power and effectiveness of the GN Sword Kai, Exia's original Seven Swords System is reduced to just three swords,[3] it still retains a pair of GN Beam Sabers (relocated from its back to the hips). The Exia R2 also retained the GN Vulcans and can optionally use the GN Shield. During emergency situations, the Trans-Am System can be activated to temporarily give R2 three times its combat capabilities.
Overall, these improvements allow Exia R2 to be on par with the current generation of GN Drive powered mobile suits. After the battle against GN-000 0 Gundam, Exia was salvaged once again, but its GN Drive was damaged beyond repair. With resources in short supply and MSs in high demand, Celestial Being engineers repaired Exia once more and supplemented its missing GN Drive with a particle storage tank and added a long range rifle for limited assignments and interventions. Celestial Being engineers re-dubbed Exia as GN-001REIII Gundam Exia Repair III.
Armaments
- GN Sword Kai
- The primary weapon of the Exia R2 is the GN Sword Kai. While virtually similar to Exia's original GN Sword, the new weapon incorporates the new green Condenser material edge technology that was seen on the GN Sword III.[3] As a result of the new blade, its offensive capacity has greatly increased.[3]
- GN Beam Saber
- The Exia R2 features two beam sabers stored on the hips (they can rotate a full 360 for quick access) where the GN Blades used to be stored. Unlike Exia's standard beam sabers, they can be adjusted to become GN Beam Daggers.[3] It is for this reason that the old GN Beam Daggers are no longer equipped.[3]
- GN Vulcan
- These weapons are smaller and weaker versions of GN Beam weaponry and are located on Exia R2's wrists. Purely secondary weapons, they are used to engage soft targets (missiles, GN Fangs, aircrafts, etc) and in a defensive capacity. Setsuna only fires one shot in the battle with Ribbons Almark piloting GN-000 0 Gundam.[4]
- GN Shield
- A shield made from E-Carbon and further enhanced with a GN Field.[3] As long as it receives power from Exia, it is impossible for it to be broken by conventional weapons.[3] However as Exia's main defense is already strong as well as the fact that the shield can get in the way of two handed melee combat, it is sometimes not brought along in combat.[3] This was the case during the R2's final battle againts 0 Gundam.[4]
Special Equipment & Features
- GN Drive Burst Mode
- A feature of the Exia that was inherited by the Exia R2. By releasing the limiter compartment, the GN Drive cone unlocks and a temporary increase in the output of the GN Drive is possible. This results in a release of a large amount of GN particles and improves Exia R2's performance. Since this ability was quite unstable, it was rarely activated.[2] While this feature was available on the Exia, it was only seen onscreen being used once with the R2.[2]
- The system is an advanced camouflage projection system that allows R2 to blend into its surroundings like a chameleon to evade enemy detection. However, it was never clear if Celestial Being engineers restored the system and/or enhance the system to modern capabilities.
- In emergency situations, R2 can activate Trans-Am to release all its particles for advanced combat for around three minutes. In this state, R2 has three times its combat capabilities and it is commonly used to quickly end a battle and/or used as a emergency escape measure. The downside to the system is that unit will suffer a sharp reduction of performance after complete usage until the GN Drive and the GN Condensers are recharged.
History
Setsuna spent the five years after Operation Fallen Angels independent of Celestial being. Both he and a crippled Exia returned to the fold in 2312. After its GN Drive was transferred to 00 Gundam, Exia was moved to an alternate location. Subsequent evaluation found that despite the serious damage inflicted by Graham Aker's GN Flag, wear and tear from nearly half a decade of improvised maintenance, and a crippling defeat at the hands of an A-Laws Ahead, the chassis was still structurally sound. The decision was made to repair and refit Exia for use as a second-line unit, either with a GN Particle storage tank, similar to 0 Gundam's configuration for its final combat sortie under Celestial Being's banner, or by swapping the GN Drive of a front-line Gundam that was too damaged for combat.
Eventually, Exia R2 was deployed under the second configuration. The 00 Raiser was severely damaged after battling Ribbons Almark's CB-0000G/C Reborns Gundam and left with only a single GN Drive. Sumeragi Lee Noriega ordered the remaining drive fitted to R2 so Setsuna could continue to fight. Together once again with his original Gundam, Setsuna faced Ribbons and GN-000 0 Gundam in one final battle. While the victory would go to Setsuna, R2 was severely damaged in battle when the cockpit was penetrated by 0 Gundam's beam saber and when 0 Gundam subsequently exploded, the GN Sword Kai was also destroyed. In this same battle, Exia's GN Drive also somehow got damaged to the point of destruction or non-working state.[5] The circumstances of how it got destroyed is not known nor elaborated, although speculatively it may be related to the usage of the unstable Burst Mode as well as the beam saber damage taken from 0 Gundam. Exia however was eventually repaired and was usable again in the future and was used by Setsuna during his ELS investigation before encountering Saji and Louise.[6]
Picture Gallery
.png "Gundam Exia Repair II - Ebikawa Artwork (Low-Quality).png (334 KB)")
Fan Art
Gunpla
Notes & Trivia
- In episode 25 of the first season, Graham's beam saber pierced Exia's right side, whereas in episode 25 of the second season the 0 Gundam pierced its left side.
- Along with the 0 Gundam, Exia R2 did not appear in Super Robot Wars Z2 Saisei-hen, included in the final scenario of Gundam 00 scenario, where they were supposed to replace the role of 00 Raiser and Reborns Gundam. According to the rumors, the lack of funds of the developer is the reason of their absence in the game. Another is that the director didn't want to take away a player's upgrade for a much weaker unit.
- In the recent G Generation video games (Wars, World, Overworld), as well as in SD Gundam Online, the R2 lacks any sort of Trans-Am mode and/or attack.
- The reason for this and the lack of Trans-Am in the final battle may pertain to the configuration used for the synchronization of the two drives, and the previous use of Trans-Am by the 00 Raiser just before the drive was refitted.
- In the PSP game Gundam Memories: Tatakai no Kioku, Season 2 Setsuna's first combat unit happens to be the Exia R2 instead of the GN-001RE Gundam Exia Repair or the 00 Gundam, later on skipping to the already stabilized 00-Raiser before finally returning for its final battle with the 0 Gundam.
- Tatakai no Kioku is the first game to feature the Trans-Am mode for both the R2 and the 0 Gundam, available to use even after they recover their respective drives from the battle-damaged 00-Raiser.
References
- ↑ Gundam 00V Weapons Development Chart
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 MG 1/100 GN-001 Gundam Exia manual
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 High Grade 1/144 GN-001REII Gundam Exia Repair II model kit manual
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 2 Episode 25
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam 00V Senki Chapter 10
- ↑ http://twitter.com/#!/veda2314/status/1199136737067010
External links
