GATES SPOILER!
GA
Gates is an Amalgam officer created for The Second Raid and one of the series' most openly unstable villains. He commands an execution squad equipped with Codarl Arm Slaves and treats both enemies and subordinates with the same casual cruelty whenever his mood shifts. The absurdity of his behavior does not make him harmless. Gates is capable of reading a battlefield, recognizing Mithril tactics and using civilians or local conflicts as cover for Amalgam operations. His violence becomes especially visible around the Xia sisters, whose refusal to follow Amalgam's orders turns them from assets into targets. Gates ultimately confronts Sosuke in Hong Kong, where the Arbalest's restored Lambda Driver overwhelms his Codarl. For once, Sosuke's control is stronger than the chaos an enemy is trying to impose on him.
GATES THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
AMALGAM OPERATIONS //
Open page →What TSR Actually Establishes About Amalgam
Open →Bruno's Leak · Gates · Leonard · Gauron's Explanation
The Second Raid finally gives the enemy organization a name: Amalgam. Bruno's betrayal proves it can penetrate MITHRIL's information network, Gates gives it a visible field commander and Leonard shows that its access to Black Technology goes well beyond stolen conventional weapons.
Gauron later tells Sousuke that Amalgam has influence reaching into governments and the military-industrial world, and that conflict itself can be useful to the organization.
Gauron later tells Sousuke that Amalgam has influence reaching into governments and the military-industrial world, and that conflict itself can be useful to the organization.
The Breakdown
That explanation comes from Gauron. TSR does not hand the viewer a complete Amalgam organization chart, budget or neutral history.
Why it matters
The threat is larger than Gates, but the series intentionally leaves its exact size blurry. What matters here is that MITHRIL has discovered an opponent capable of matching its technology, compromising its intelligence and operating across national boundaries.
Gates is ridiculous right up until the moment he becomes terrifying. He jokes, sings, changes moods without warning and kills subordinates with the same casual energy he brings to conversation.
The Breakdown
The performance hides genuine competence. Gates engineers the Nanjing trap, pilots a Lambda Driver-equipped Codarl-i well enough to pressure Sousuke and later arrives in Hong Kong with an Amalgam force capable of ending Yu Fan's rampage.
Why it matters
Gates is not dangerous because he is random. He is dangerous because the random behavior sits on top of enough authority, technology and combat skill to make every impulse somebody else's problem.
ARMAMENT INDEX //
Open page →Monomolecular cutters are Arm Slave close-combat weapons designed to cut through armored opponents at ranges where rifles stop deciding the fight.
How you can tell
Clouseau's M9D Falke makes the point in Episode 8. He does not need a Lambda Driver to put the Arbalest in trouble. Positioning, timing and a pilot who trusts his machine are still enough to win a close fight.
Why it matters
The Second Raid never lets Black Technology completely replace ordinary combat skill. A Lambda Driver is an enormous advantage, but it does not automatically make its pilot better.
COMBAT LEDGER //
Open page →Episodes 3-4 · Nanjing Tunnels · Gates Forces the Arbalest Back
The Nanjing rescue operation turns into an Amalgam trap, and Gates enters the fight in a Plan-1058 Codarl-i equipped with a Lambda Driver.
The Breakdown
Sousuke has the more famous Lambda Driver machine, but that does not make him the stronger Lambda Driver pilot. His ability to activate the Arbalest remains inconsistent, while Gates can bring the Codarl-i's system into the fight with far less hesitation.
Gates gains the upper hand, but the Codarl-i cannot sustain the engagement indefinitely and overheating becomes part of the escape window.
Gates gains the upper hand, but the Codarl-i cannot sustain the engagement indefinitely and overheating becomes part of the escape window.
Why it matters
This is the moment The Second Raid proves the Arbalest is no longer a unique trump card. Amalgam has comparable technology and pilots who can use it more reliably.
Episode 13 · Hong Kong · Result: Decisive Sousuke Victory
After Kaname reaches Hong Kong and tears through the lie Gauron left behind, Sousuke returns to the Arbalest with a clarity he has been missing for most of the series.
The Breakdown
The difference is immediate. Sousuke stops fighting Al, stops treating the Lambda Driver as unreliable equipment and starts giving the machine the certainty it requires. Gates and the accompanying Lambda Driver-equipped Codarls suddenly face the version of the Arbalest everyone had been waiting for.
Why it matters
The finale is not a new upgrade. Sousuke wins with the machine he already had. What changed was the pilot.
LAMBDA DRIVER MECHANICS //
Open page →The Second Raid does not solve the origin of the Lambda Driver. What it does is make its operating problem much clearer.
The system turns the pilot's mental intent into physical force. That can produce barriers or attacks ordinary Arm Slaves cannot reproduce, but only when the pilot can form and sustain the required image.
The system turns the pilot's mental intent into physical force. That can produce barriers or attacks ordinary Arm Slaves cannot reproduce, but only when the pilot can form and sustain the required image.
The Breakdown
Gates can use his system aggressively. Sousuke cannot reliably use his at all. Clouseau can beat Sousuke without a Lambda Driver because Sousuke's machine cannot compensate for a pilot whose attention and confidence are falling apart.
Why it matters
TSR turns the Lambda Driver from a mysterious superweapon into a brutally visible measure of Sousuke's mental state.
THE HONG KONG ESCALATION //
Open page →The Second Raid shows that the Codarl family has moved beyond the single prototype threat Sosuke once associated with Gauron.
Gates pilots the improved Plan-1058 Codarl-i in Nanjing and Hong Kong. Xia Yu Fan later uses a stolen Plan-1059 Codarl-m, a model that demonstrates something even more worrying: Lambda Driver-equipped enemy Arm Slaves are becoming repeatable hardware rather than one-off monsters.
Gates pilots the improved Plan-1058 Codarl-i in Nanjing and Hong Kong. Xia Yu Fan later uses a stolen Plan-1059 Codarl-m, a model that demonstrates something even more worrying: Lambda Driver-equipped enemy Arm Slaves are becoming repeatable hardware rather than one-off monsters.
Why it matters
MITHRIL still has one Arbalest. Amalgam can put multiple Lambda Driver machines into the field. That is the technological imbalance TSR wants the viewer to notice.
