Recap: Caught in a trap devised by Lord Dessler, leader of the Gamillan Empire, the Yamato must devise a plan to escape both the sentient devouring cloud and the local star that stands in their way.

Gee’s Thoughts:

With this episode we go back to your regularly scheduled battle for survival. Lord Dessler sets a trap for the Yamato, ensnaring them in some sort of plasma field. Then he ups the ante in the form of a goddamn sentient smoke monster. Yeah, I know. As if to make things even more ridiculously bad for our crew, Schultz and his ship are in hot pursuit, and the Yamato’s only chance of escape requires them to sail into a fucking star. Thankfully, Captain Okita is a resourceful man and manages to escape by punching a hole in a solar flare with the wave motion gun. Yeah, things are getting pretty insane in Yamato 2199 and I’m loving every second of it. Driving through a sun is the kind of solution I would probably come up with, which is why I would never be qualified to be a spaceship captain, but apparently that’s kosher on the Yamato.

In other news, our friend Schultz finally meets his end, as his ship is caught in a solar flare, melting it in seconds. It’s a little tragic when you consider that Schultz basically spent most of this show being kicked around by his superiors, despite being a loyal soldier to the very end. It gets especially gratuitous with the scenes showing his daughter, which just makes the whole affair even more bittersweet. It’s even worse when you realize that Lord Dessler basically set this whole thing up as entertainment. Sure, he gives the fallen crews’ families full honors and citizenship, but that’s a cold comfort compared to to the fact that they’re all dead because he wanted to play cat and mouse with the Yamato. This is a guy who’s very comfortable with his power and is going to take his time dealing with the Yamato. Should be interesting to see when and how the Yamato manages to smash that smug face in.