ZECHS MERQUISE SPOILER!
ZM
Zechs Merquise enters Gundam Wing as OZ's masked ace, the Lightning Count, and one of the first pilots able to meet a Gundam on anything close to equal terms. The Tallgeese is so demanding that simply surviving it becomes part of his reputation. Behind the mask is Milliardo Peacecraft, the lost prince of the pacifist Sanc Kingdom and Relena's older brother. That identity pulls Zechs in opposite directions. He admires the Peacecraft ideal, excels at war and becomes increasingly convinced that forcing humanity to confront war directly may be the only way to end it. His rivalry with Heero grows through the Tallgeese, Wing Zero and Gundam Epyon until both men are carrying machines that show them futures they may not want to see. Zechs works because hero, rival and antagonist all fit him at different points.
ZECHS THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
SHIFTING FACTIONS & THE POLITICAL BOARD //
Open page →The masked rival stops standing outside the political war
Zechs is not content to remain only a dueling ace orbiting Heero. Once he re-emerges fully as Milliardo Peacecraft and takes command of White Fang, he becomes one of the people capable of defining what the colony cause looks like militarily.
What changed
A character who once embodied elegant personal rivalry now helps push the entire Earth Sphere toward the final confrontation. White Fang turns the colony question into a fleet, a fortress and a willingness to use overwhelming force.
THE EVE WARS & LIBRA //
Open page →The colony cause stops looking like scattered resistance
With White Fang and Libra in play, the colonies are no longer represented only by scattered pilots in exceptional machines. They now have a military movement capable of speaking for them through force.
What changed
The scale of the conflict jumps again. The end of Gundam Wing is not five Gundams harassing Earth bases. It is a struggle over who gets to define the political future of the Earth Sphere after armies and symbols have both escalated.
