I recently responded to a post about someone asking if “Anyone is rooting for M6?”. I wrote how both sides in season 5 are doing some things wrong and used a comparison of my other favorite show, the 1978 anime Mobile Suit Gundam. While writing that paragraph I really noticed the similarities more and more to the point of where I wanted to do this write up and deep dive of For All Mankind Season 5, Mobile Suit Gundam, what is similar, what it means and ultimately how an almost 50 year series might predict the ending of the newest season!
What is Gundam?
Since I am not sure how much of the Venn Diagram crosses between Mobile Suit Gundam fans and For All Mankind fans. I think giving a short explanation and summary will help understanding the relations and view points made later on. Airing in 1978 Mobile Suit Gundam, a mecha anime by Japanese studio Sunrise is about a boy named Amuro Ray. In this universe in the future Earth runs into the issue of overpopulation. To alleviate this problem, mankind created space colonies for humanity to live comfortably and continue their survival.
At the time of the beginning of the series there has been a massive conflict between the Earth Federation: the world government coalition, and the Principality of Zeon: an army of colonists who are rebelling against the Earth Federation (which I will call the Federation from now on)for freedom and autonomy. This conflict would be known as the One Year War. During this war many lives are lost and homes are destroyed on both sides.
Amuro lives on Side-7, one of the space colonies. He lives a peaceful life until one day it is attacked by Zeon forces due to intel about a secret Federation weapon under development. Ultimately the colony is destroyed and Amuro is thrusted into the conflict in said special weapon, the mobile suit known as Gundam. I won't be going too much into the plot from here but instead into the backstory of Principality of Zeon.
What is the Principality of Zeon?
The Principality of Zeon is like I said, an armed force consisting of colonists. Their mission is to win the war and bring freedom to the space colonies. Their history is where we begin to see some similarities between them and The Sons and Daughters of Mars.
The Principality began as a movement by a man named Zeon Zum Deikun. Deikun, an eager politician of the space colony Side-3 believed that the space colonies should have rights and autonomy from the Federation, who treats the colonists (known as Spacenoids) as lesser beings. They have no rights or say in their own affairs. Only to listen to the Federation. Deikun began a movement to push for talks. He would invest his entire life on this mission, not sleeping and being away from his wife and children. He speaks all over Side-3 and begins getting a following. Eventually he would begin the groundwork to leave the Federation and create a republic.
During a passionate speech Deikun would suddenly become ill, collapse and die. His confidant Degwin Zabi takes over and creates the Principality of Zeon, named after its founder. But unlike his predecessor, who just wanted to leave in a peaceful way, Zabi wanted to make sure the Federation would never try to take control again. He begins escalating, first with mass protests, then violent riots, finally war. This conflict would cover both Earth and colonies. This war had been going on for 11 months leading up to the beginning of the series. Eventually a little over a month later the war would come to the end with both sides choosing peace.
Now that we have covered the brief history of Zeon. Let's look at the similarities between M6 with the Earth Federation and the Sons and Daughters of Mars with the Principality of Zeon.
The Similarities!
Let's start with the M6 and the Earth Federation. Much like the Federation, the M6 is a global coalition that controls the colony, in this case Mars. They provide support and supplies to Mars, but they are the sole controllers of the colony. They do not hold elections for their officials, they rule Mars with a peacekeeping force to keep order. The Federation has military forces on the colonies and uses them to keep order in space. They view Spacenoids as lesser beings, much like how Earth is treating the people of Mars.
The refusal to recognize them as equals with their own rights and ambitions in their ignorance. When asked diplomatically they ignore it. They are Earth, their home world. They are the ones who created their homes, so it's their right to own and control it from a far distance. It's the Wild West out there, there is no order without them. At this point you can no longer tell which one I am talking about.
Next is the Sons and Daughters of Mars and the Principality of Zeon. After years of being under the thumb of earth. One man begins a movement for the rights and freedom for the people of space. It starts small but eventually it grows. He sadly dies suddenly, leaving a hole in the leadership which begins causing the balance to tip. It begins with protests, then riots and finally war.
I view Ed Baldwin as our Deikun, yeah he wasn't a politician, and he was kind of a selfish prick as many described. But he is the one to organize and begin the movement. He was viewed as its guiding light. Without him, the movement became disorganized, with no clear next step in sight. And when the news of the automation with no one to look to, the loudest voice won. Now they have made steps that can not be reversed. Leading to what could possibly be an escalation to war.
Now let's cover…
The Future?
Now of course this is all speculative, so please take this with a grain of salt. With the latest episode’s cliffhanger I see conflict between the M6 and Mars being inevitable. In this case we will see the M6 sending troops to Mars to take it by force. Alex is the facsimile of Amuro, he is the young man who will decide the fate of this conflict he has been thrust into. It will end with people dying, not everyone, but there will be bloodshed. Eventually both sides will reach a conclusion and there will be peace. Will this end with Mars getting freedom, or will it end with an even tighter grip around them by the M6? No one knows.
Conclusion.
The conclusion to this and the whole reason for this was to answer a simple question. Who is right in this whole thing, the Sons and Daughters of Mars or the M6? The answer sadly is not. Both sides have their own reasons to be right, and both have their reasons they are wrong. One side is vying for freedom, the other control. They are both morally grey. But their fates are intertwined, and what will come out of it will not be for one side or the other, but for all mankind.