Chapter 357 - 358: Athrun—A Revolutionary in the Process of Awakening

Chapter 357: Chapter 358: Athrun—A Revolutionary in the Process of Awakening

"They’re here..."

It was a CGUE.

Le Creuset had come in person.

Besides him, Duel, Buster, and Blitz had also arrived after receiving emergency resupply.

"Athrun!"

Yzak spotted Athrun immediately.

Athrun was standing together with Lacus on the Strike’s hand.

Lacus was wearing a strange spacesuit and holding her own voluminous dress in her arms.

"The Strike..."

Yzak saw the Strike, along with the Astray Blue Frame and Gold Frame beside it.

—Huh? Wasn’t that one red before?

"The Strike isn’t an enemy right now," Nicol hurriedly said. "Athrun was aboard the Strike earlier too."

"Not a single opening..."

Le Creuset had originally wanted to arrange a little "unexpected incident," but with three Gundams watching them like tigers eyeing prey, there was nothing he could do.

Still, once the Aegis was repaired and modified, it would be stronger than before. With Athrun there later, perhaps they would still be able to fight the other side.

"Let’s go." Athrun glanced at Lacus, then looked back at the Strike before pushing off and making his way over to Yzak.

Yzak opened the cockpit immediately.

"Yo, great hero. Back from rescuing the damsel in distress?" Yzak let both of them inside.

"That’s not what happened..."

Athrun denied it immediately.

"All right, let’s go. The Strike..."

Yzak looked toward the Strike.

He was extremely unwilling, but there was nothing they could do except withdraw now.

The Strike’s performance was actually slightly weaker than the other modified G-series machines at this point, but its pilot had simply crushed them through sheer skill.

Yzak hated admitting it.

But back in school, Athrun had basically always been a step ahead of him. In a sense, Yzak’s ability to handle pressure was first-rate too.

"Thank you very much~"

Yzak helped Lacus into the cockpit.

"You’re welcome, Your Highness. This truly has been quite a disaster." Aside from the Strike being rather nightmarish, the mission could still be considered a complete success.

"It was also a rather wondrous journey," Lacus said. "And I really did accomplish the purpose of this trip."

Lacus’s expression was calm—or rather, solemn.

From Junius Seven all the way to the Silver Wind, far too many unfortunate people had died.

Especially everyone aboard the Silver Wind. They had run into the Earth Alliance while trying to help her escape, and they were probably...

After Athrun entered, however, his gaze remained fixed on the Strike until the hatch finally closed.

"We’re leaving."

Yzak turned Duel around as well.

[I thought something unexpected was going to happen]

[Boring. Where’s the bloodbath?]

[Athrun never looked at Lacus the whole time. He was looking at Kira over there]

[Lacus was looking at Kira over there too]

[Three people, nine different relationships, huh?]

[Heard some expert posted a deep-dive on Athrun and Inori in the comments. Go check it out]

[No rush. The expert said he’ll make a video later]

"This is turning out pretty interesting."

Inori looked over the general situation.

The audience’s interaction was gradually increasing now as well.

Perfect. This episode was almost over anyway.

The Archangel was still undergoing repairs. Inori estimated that Murrue and the others would probably come looking for her soon.

"Let’s check the comments."

Other people were always watching her videos. It was about time she watched someone else’s video too.

[Gundam SEED Character Profile: A Character Like a Light-Novel Protagonist—Early Analysis of Athrun Zala]

Because time in the two worlds was not synchronized, by the time Inori started browsing the comments, that "expert" had already finished making the video.

It was only a character analysis, so Inori did not expect much. But she quickly discovered that this person really did know what he was talking about.

[Athrun Zala is the only guy among the main characters, yet he isn’t in the male-lead position]

[But Athrun is also different from the character Jeturk in The Witch from Mercury]

[Athrun’s experiences are extremely deceptive. He has Kira, the childhood friend who practically fell into his lap; Lacus, the true childhood betrothed promised to him; Cagalli, another girl who fell into his life; good friends at his side; and a life story that is itself legendary]

[Change the point of view and make Athrun the protagonist, and suddenly you realize—how is this Gundam SEED? This is straight out of a light novel]

[Athrun is something of a young-master character. He goes to war because of national hatred and family tragedy, but on the battlefield he gradually realizes the world is nowhere near as simple as it looks, and war certainly cannot be defined by revenge alone]

[That change reaches its peak when Athrun begins investigating the situation of the Naturals]

[No investigation, no right to speak. The moment Athrun begins investigating for himself, he has already pulled ahead of the other characters]

[...One point worth mentioning is Athrun’s name]

[Normally, when we interpret the name Athrun, we think it means "lion"]

[To understand Athrun as a character, we first have to start with his name]

[In Greek, the name carries the meaning of "soldier." Its English spelling, Athrun, derives from the Greek "Erythron," referring to soil with a reddish color]

[Athrun’s Aegis is red, which is probably related to that too]

[So red-coat elite Athrun Zala has the highest possible compatibility with his own name]

[Beyond that, as everyone knows, the name Athrun basically makes people think of a "lion"]

[But in Hebrew, Athrun also carries the meaning of dawn or daybreak]

[Red is a very special color. In many games, the Player 1 and Player 2 characters are red and blue. So Athrun is a protagonist—just the protagonist in second place]

[And in the real world, red usually means...]

The Soviet March began playing as the BGM.

Inori raised an eyebrow.

This guy really knew his stuff.

[In the world of Gundam SEED, the racial divide is extremely severe. But what lies behind such an extreme conflict?]

[That’s easy to see. The story has already hinted at it—no, it has already stated it outright. Inori’s piercing question in the story left Athrun questioning everything]

[The conflict between Naturals and Coordinators is real, but the fact that it has escalated this far is clearly also the result of deliberate manipulation]

[Blue Cosmos is helping drive the conflict, and so is PLANT—a PLANT with sixty million people claiming to represent hundreds of millions of Coordinators is honestly pretty absurd]

[And Athrun has already discovered this in the story. In the newest episode, Athrun has even made up his mind]

[So in my view, Athrun is more like a revolutionary who is still in the process of awakening]

Inori immediately long-pressed the Like button, triggering the full like/coin/favorite combo.

No wonder this guy was called an expert.

—All those hints she had planted had not gone to waste.

[...Next time, we’ll analyze another character: Kira. At first glance, Kira’s story may seem narrower in scope, but there is much deeper content beneath the surface. Her storyline carries every bit as much weight as Athrun’s...]

[All right, that’s it for this video. If you enjoyed it, please long-press for the full like/coin/favorite combo, then share and repost. I’m begging you—this really means a lot to me~]