The world is thrown into chaos after the Break the World incident during the Second Bloody Valentine War. A ZGMF-1017 GINN attacks a city where DSSD members Selene McGriff and Edmond Du Clos are in and causes massive damage until it is stopped by a linear tank commanded by Edmond, who is mortally wounded in his attack. They will discover that the GINN was piloted by a little group of kids (it was not clear if they died in the final attack) who wanted revenge. Meanwhile Selene and another DSSD me
Sven Cal Bayan and his team are sent to eliminate a Coordinator refugee camp suspected of harboring terrorists. Sven has flashbacks of his military training and conditioning when he was a child. Sven with his GAT-X105E Strike Noir Gundam proceeds to massacre the camp without hesitation. In another battle, while defending the Earth Alliance Forces ground carrier, Bonaparte, Mudie Holcroft is killed and her GAT-X1022 Blu Duel Gundam is destroyed while fighting ZAFT forces. Meanwhile in space, Sele
Phantom Pain attacks the DSSD station to steal the AI data of the Stargazer. The brutal assault leaves many DSSD members and the Verde Buster pilot, Shams Couza, dead. To counter the attack, Selene and Sol launch in the Stargazer and use its unique features to destroy several enemy mobile suits. Lost in space, Selene captures the Strike Noir and uses the Stargazer's propulsion system to catapult themselves near Venus. Sven and Selene meet face to face and start their long journey home. Selene ad
Kira discovers a malfunctioning lifeboat and brings it aboard the Archangel. Everyone is surprised to find Flay Allster among the rescued civilians. The Archangel decides to head for the Eurasian Federation military satellite Artemis to seek help. Rau Le Creuset follows and plans an attack on the Archangel. Kira decides to continue piloting the Strike, and his friends volunteer to join the Archangel crew as his support.
Mu La Flaga and Kira launch a counteroffensive against the ZAFT ship Vesalius. The Aile Strike's Phase Shift Armor runs out of power in the middle of the battle, and Athrun in his GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam uses this moment to grab the Aile Strike so he can take Kira with him, but Kira frees himself with Mu's help.
The Archangel and its crew are held captive by the Artemis forces. Nicol Amalfi, in his GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam, attacks Artemis, using its Mirage Colloid stealth system to remain effectively invisible, and destroys the Umbrella of Artemis, which protects the asteroid fortress. During the attack, the Archangel is able to escape.
The Archangel forages for water in the Debris Belt. They are shocked to find themselves in the ruins of Junius Seven, destroyed a year earlier and whose destruction sparked the war, so the crew decides to hold a memorial service. As they are excavating ice found around the ruin, a ZAFT mobile suit attacks, but Kira dispatches it. Kira finds a floating lifepod and takes it aboard.
Lacus Clyne, the daughter of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne, is found within the lifepod. Her presence causes tension within the crew, but when they receive a message from the 8th Earth Alliance Space Fleet that they are being searched and rescued, they are overjoyed.
The Archangels escort to meet with the 8th Space Fleet is attacked by the Le Creuset Team. Flay witnesses the death of her father when Kira fails to protect the escort ships. In desperation, the Archangel reveals Lacus is on board the ship, causing the attackers to withdraw.
With everything that has happened, Kira becomes depressed. He is comforted by Lacus, who is strolling around the ship without permission. Kira returns Lacus to Athrun against orders, but refuses Athrun's invitation to change sides.
Le Creuset launches an attack on the Archangel. Kira's desire to protect his friends awakens an unknown, almost berserker ability—the SEED Mode. He single-handedly defeats the attacking Blitz, GAT-X103 Buster Gundam, and GAT-X102 Duel Gundam.
Kira and his friends are permitted to leave the Archangel, but after overcoming the initial shock of her father's death, Flay decides to enlist in the Earth Alliance Forces, prompting Sai Argyle, Kuzzey Buskirk, Miriallia Haw, and Tolle Koenig to do the same. Kira stays on board the Archangel as well to continue protecting his friends. The Duel is upgraded with the Assault Shroud armor.
Le Creuset attacks once again as the Archangel and the 8th Space Fleet approaches Earth. The Archangel is able to descend to Earth, but not without the loss of the entire fleet. Yzak Joule, the pilot of the Duel, vents his frustration against the Strike by destroying a spaceplane carrying Heliopolis refugees that Kira had rescued previously.
Rau Le Creuset reflects on the events that took place in episodes one to thirteen and the Coordinator's history starting from the birth of the first Coordinator, George Glenn (NOTE: This episode is omitted in the HD Remastered version, making "The Respective Solitudes" episode 14; Le Creuset's speech is included before the beginning of "The Respective Solitudes").
The Archangel is forced to alter its descent trajectory as they enter the Earth's atmosphere to save Kira and the Strike. As a result, they land in ZAFT-controlled territory in the Sahara in northern Africa, far from their intended target Alaska. Flay begins to take care of Kira and comforts him when he is tormented by memories of the spaceplane destroyed in the previous battle, culminating in the two having sex.
The Archangel is attacked by multiple TMF/A-802 BuCUE units which dominate the desert terrain. Kira hastily takes off in the Launcher Strike and fights the ZAFT forces, but he is unfamiliar with Earth's gravity and the desert environment. His ability to quickly adapt amazes ZAFT's commander Andrew Waltfeld, also known as the Desert Tiger. When the Launcher Strike is about to run out of power, a resistance group comes to his aid and lures the remaining BuCUE units into an explosive trap.
Murrue Ramius thanks the resistance group for their help and agrees to be allies. The resistance group introduces themselves as the Desert Dawn, who are fighting Andrew and the Lesseps. Kira once again meets with Cagalli Yula Athha, the mysterious young woman he first encountered at Heliopolis' Morgenroete factory, who is now part of Desert Dawn. Meanwhile, Andrew attacks the Desert Dawn's hometown, but evacuates the town first.
Though the Desert Tiger has spared the lives of civilians, Desert Dawn members brashly challenge the ZAFT forces because of the devastation they caused. While the attack fails, most are saved by Kira in the Strike.
Kira and Cagalli are sent into a nearby ZAFT-controlled city to gather supplies with Natarle and the Desert Dawn. The two teenagers are caught in an attack by the Blue Cosmos, a radical anti-Coordinator organization, and when Kira saves a man who turns out to be Andrew Waltfeld, they are invited to the ZAFT base. There, Andrew reveals that he knows Kira is the pilot of the Strike and a Coordinator, but lets them leave safely.
Athrun and Nicol are given the day off; Athrun spends the day with Lacus, and they talk about Kira, whom the latter has taken a liking to. The PLANT Supreme Council debates on whether the attack codenamed "Operation Spitbreak" should be executed.
A battle between the Lesseps and the Desert Dawn commences. Kira and the Desert Tiger fight a battle that reveals the pain of facing an enemy who is not an abstraction. With the Strike's power almost depleted, Kira has no choice but to destroy Andrew's TMF/A-803 LaGOWE or die himself.
The Archangel crew crosses the Red Sea to head towards the neutral Orb Union with Cagalli and Ledonir Kisaka on board. With the previous battle weighing heavily on him, Kira talks to Cagalli about his reasons for fighting, making Flay jealous. They are attacked by ZAFT's air and underwater-type mobile suits, but Kira and Mu take them out.
A battle with ZAFT aquatic forces led by commander Marco Morassim prevents Kira from fighting alongside Mu and Cagalli in their FX-550 Skygrasper units. Cagalli's Skygrasper sustains damage and is forced to turn back, but she encounters Athrun's transport plane; her Skygrasper is shot down, but not before shooting down his transport plane, forcing Athrun in his Aegis to eject from the transport plane. By chance, they are both stranded on the same deserted island.
Cagalli is surprised to find Athrun on the same deserted island. She attacks him, but she is overpowered and captured. When everything settles down, the two discuss the war and the reason why they are fighting. At sunrise, they are rescued by their respective comrades.
The Archangel is attacked by the Zala Team, now consisting of the Le Creuset Team members. They take heavy damage, but when they enter the waters of the neutral nation of Orb, ZAFT is chased away and is told that the Archangel is not at Orb. The Zala Team sneaks into Orb, believing their official statement is false.
A recap of the first 25 episodes. Narrated by Takanori Nishikawa, Miguel Aiman's voice actor (in the English version, it is narrated by Tony Sampson, Miguel's English voice actor) (NOTE: omitted in the HD Remastered version, making "Endless Rondo" episode 25).
Senior Engineer Erica Simmons of Morgenroete reviews the Strike's combat logs and theorizes that Kira might be superior to any other Coordinator and speculates on the "SEED factor" theory. She shows Kira the mobile suits Orb is developing and asks him to develop a mobile suit operating system that can be easily used by Naturals.
Kira and his friends are given the chance to meet with their parents, who have taken refuge in Orb. Kira refuses to go, but his parents meet with Orb Chief Representative Uzumi Nara Athha, who hints at a deeper connection between Kira and Cagalli than they might realize. Kira instead completes the OS for Orb's MBF-M1 Astray mobile suits. When Kira's mechanical bird flies off, Kira finds himself standing face to face with Athrun. They part ways, pretending not to know each other, but not without
The Archangel, without Cagalli and Ledonir on board, leaves Orb territory for Alaska. The Zala Team, who are patiently waiting on the outskirts of Orb, engages them in a battle. Kira grounds the Duel, Buster, and Blitz with the help of Mu and Tolle, who is now the second Skygrasper pilot. As Kira in the Sword Strike and Athrun in the Aegis fight, Nicol intervenes, but he steps into Kira's attack, getting himself killed in the process.
The Zala Team makes another effort to destroy the Archangel and the Strike. Dearka, in the Buster, is shot down by Mu and surrenders. Tolle attempts to aid Kira, but Athrun kills him. The grief Kira and Athrun suffer over their friends' deaths is enough for them to activate their SEED modes and try to kill each other. The Aegis grasps the Strike and Athrun self-destructs his Gundam to try and end his best friend.