After 3 gut-wrenching episodes, the conflict of Tekkadan's Earth Branch has finally come to a close. The ruse was discovered, the culprits taken care of, and the alliance between Tekkadan and McGillis Fareed's Gjallarhorn remains intact. It wasn't without casualties and it was a heavy price to pay.
Aston Altland, who I will dare say was on the verge of being Takaki's soul mate, was killed by McGillis from the confusion seeded by Galan Mossa. To be frank, Aston's death was entirely on Takaki's hands, because he was so eager to finish the conflict once-and-for-all by going head-to-head with McGillis. It's true Takaki was unaware of how capable McGillis is as a pilot, but it was still reckless of him to attack head-on, which ultimately led to Aston's death, and just moments before Mikazuki and the gang finally arrived.
There is a bit of silver lining for Takaki, as he gets to decide the fate of Radice, the man who sold Tekkadan's Earth Branch out and started the conflict in the first place. Takaki, for once, made the right decision on what to do with Radice. He still has to live with the fact that Aston is gone, though the preview of the next episode suggests he and his sister Fuka got through with it rather quickly.
But none is more pissed off of Aston's death as Akihiro, who adopted Aston as one of his brothers, and as a fellow Human Debris, thus Aston was given the surname Altland. And Akihiro, a very underrated character in Iron-Blooded Orphans, gets his chance to shine when he takes on Galan Mossa himself in a one-on-one battle. It was satisfying to see Akihiro in full Rage Mode and laying it on Galan before the latter decides to commit suicide by self-destructing his Mobile Suit (which surprisingly wasn't charred or into pieces when Tekkadan searched the wreckage).
The episode further implies that Lafter has feelings for Akihiro. I actually saw this one coming from Season 1 when Akihiro began training with Lafter and Azee. It's still to be seen if Lafter will leave Naze and if she will confess her feelings to Akihiro.
We also get to see briefly Hush's first battle as a Mobile Suit pilot, which was a total fail for him. I would think at this point, Hush would show total resentment against Mikazuki after the latter scolds him for getting in the way. Instead, Hush acknowledges the huge difference in pilot skills between him and Mika, and it had nothing to do with the latter's Alaya-Vijnana system. It's safe to say, least for now, Hush will continue to be Mikazuki's apprentice and likely be his successor, rather than to turn heel.
As the episode is titled "My Friend", we also see that Rustal and Galon are revealed to be friends before the latter took the oath of being totally invisible up until his death. There is also a weird moment where McGillis and Mikazuki have a conversation of the incident and Mika takes McGillis's small offer of chocolates. Truly, the two show virtually no ill-will towards one another and are working together very well. So my prediction stands that McGillis will not likely be the main antagonist of the second season at least until he has control of the Seven Stars, which makes it still a possibility that this series will get a third season - a feat never done before in an Another Gundam/Alternate Universe series.
As for Takaki, likely he will go back to being a minor character, but I am glad his arc has ended and that he lives. Changed, yes. But still alive and with his sister as well.
Given the pattern in Tekkadan ally deaths. This is chaulked up as shaken morale as the leading cause to his death. Over the last two weeks Aston's old instincts kicked in. The bad memories of living under the Brewers and feeling like there is no hope at all. Galan reopened the mental wounds in Aston and Aston died from them. If he had lived he would had wanted the honor of killing the man before Takaki wanted to do it himself. But alas that is not meant to be. RIP Aston
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