Short answer: Although Gundam SEED Destiny has some interesting and likeable characters, the show does contain a significant number of problems that Gundam SEED fans can detect upon watching. These are the problems with Gundam SEED Destiny: One-dimensional characters, plot holes, and comically evil villains.
So what were the missteps that made Destiny lose some of its potential? Let’s talk about them!
Neo Roanoke
Background
Who is Neo Roanoke? It may come as a surprise if you have not watched Gundam SEED Destiny yet, but Neo Roanoke is actually Mu La Flaga. Although being the same person physically as Mu La Flaga, Neo Roanoke actually possesses no memory of being Mu La Flaga or any memories of Mu La Flaga. In Gundam SEED Destiny, Mu La Flaga or Neo Roanoke serves as the Captain of Phantom Pain, an group of extendeds used as a trump card of the Earth Forces agains the Coordinators.
Neo Roanoke could have been a character of his own
Neo Roanoke being Mu La Flaga brings up a plot hole on how he was able to survive a direct hit with a blast from positron cannon? Even if he was using the Strike Gundam, which has the ability to reflect beams, it was pretty clear from the animation that the Strike was destroyed and we can also see Mu La Flaga’s helmet floating in open space.
Checking the scene again, we can see that moments before the explosion of the Strike, Mu La Flaga is inside the Strike wearing his helmet. At no point before the explosion of the Strike does Mu La Flaga take off his helmet.
It’s also good to note that these helmets are air tight, they are locked in well. This means that even with the most vigorous shaking of the pilot’s head, the helmet would not fly off.
Naturally, the only logical conclusion when we see Mu La Flaga’s helmet in space is that Mu’s head has been severed from his body but he comes back in Gundam SEED Destiny as Neo Roanoke. He is truly a man who can make the impossible possible.
Despite having quite a bit of significance back in Gundam SEED, If you removed Neo Roanoke or Mu La Flaga in Gundam SEED Destiny, you would still have the same exact plot that Destiny has, with the exception of learning that Rey Za Burrel is a clone of Rau Le Creuset earlier on, due to his extrasensory link to his father’s clones.
Shinn Asuka
Background and Personality
Shinn Asuka is one of the main characters of Gundam SEED Destiny. In the early episodes of Gundam SEED Destiny, we learn that back in Gundam SEED, Shinn lost his family during the battle of ORB. This put Shinn in a state of anger, disbelief and depression. Unfortunately, this painful past only serves as a justification for his character to be hot-headed, impulsive, and arrogant.
While his abilities and combat prowess are indeed remarkable, as shown by the fact that he later made a member of F.A.I.T.H., he suffers from making a lot of awful decisions, most of which are when he lets his emotions get the best of him. Beyond Shinn’s impressive piloting ability, nothing about his character really grows up until the end of the show when Kira Yamato’s words and ideals get to him.
Kira Yamato
In Gundam SEED, Kira always seemed to have a lot of wisdom when the time needed it. He was always there to provide an answer when someone would ask. However, in Gundam SEED Destiny, on several occasions, Kira seems to have lost his wisdom.
One example of Kira’s lack of wisdom is when he seems pretty thoughtless when he talked to Athrun about his plans. Even if they were in hiding in the Archangel somewhere in the bottom of the sea, sending a message to Athrun and giving him a hint, an ideaof what his plan is like, would’ve been more than enough to set their plans of running a neutral superpower into motion earlier than intended.
Cagalli Yula Athha
Cagalli is also a victim of getting her common sense removed for the sake of plot drama. In SEED, Cagalli is a skilled pilot and a decent leader of Orb in her own right. In Destiny, she somehow flounders with getting a word in with her council members and can’t even pilot a Gundam to save her life. She turned from a powerful woman who can hold her own into a damsel in distress, just from hopping a series.
Crew of the Archangel
Just like Kira Yamato, the crew of the Archangel simply decided to not reveal their plans to their allies or people they trust for indiscernible reasons, causing unnecessary drama and guesswork from the party who isn’t in the Archangel at the moment Kira, Lacus, and the rest of the crew decided what they wanted to do. Just the act of reaching out and talking to your friends and family will save you a lot of trouble and headaches.
Interesting Note!
As the show ended, the story pretty much wrapped itself up for the most part, though we’re left with quite a few unanswered plot threads. Does Athrun go back to Orb, or did he stay in Zaft? We were never explicitly told or shown what happened between him and Cagalli, and last we see of Cagalli, she took off his ring, so nothing between them is crystal clear.
What happens to the PLANTs and Earth Federation after the second Alliance-PLANT war? Are we expected to believe that peace was automatically brokered because LOGOS/Blue Cosmos and the extremism of Gilbert Durandal no longer exist? Even Gundam SEED wrapped its story more neatly than Destiny did.
At the end of the day, Gundam SEED Destiny is a show made by humans, and as humans, we’re prone to making mistakes. Even Coordinators in the show, genetically modified humans that far surpass the natural abilities of their Natural counterparts, still make very human mistakes. The show’s themes all surround human error, whether a group of people are considered our betters or not. So it’s only fitting that we are allowed to experience the flaws of SEED and Destiny. They’re both good shows in their own right, but there’s no helping in noticing their flaws, and wondering what could’ve been done better to improve the overall experience.
Thank you for reading!
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