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| An emotional Musica refuses an arranged marriage. |
Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross: Iron Lady.
Original Air Date - Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross: July 22, 1984. Writer: Tadashi Terada. Director: Yoshihito Hata.
Robotech: Clone Chamber.
Original Air Date - Robotech: May 13, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - SOUTHERN CROSS
Supreme Commander Claude Leon's reckless assault has failed, with the survivors retreating to Aluce Base to regroup. Undeterred, Leon orders a new operation to reinforce the moon base, transforming it into a military outpost for future attacks. The plan is to move quickly and stealthily, so that there will be no chance for the Zor to realize what's happening. You know, unless someone who really should know better decides to start freely sharing classified information.
So on a date with Seifriet, the usually strait-laced Lana decides to talk about the operation in public with a man who, until recently, was acting as a Zor bioroid pilot. Fortunately, a jealous Jeanne interrupts before she can reveal every detail. Still, Seifriet reports enough for the Zor to locate and attack the human ships, leaving Marie rushing to save them with the already battered remnants of her squad.
All is not well among the Zor either. Seifriet's returning memories and the accompanying emotions keep interfering with his efficiency as a spy. At the same time, Musica's feelings toward Bowie cause her to refuse an arranged mating. This spurs the Zor leaders to authorize a new weapon from their scientists, in hopes of ending the war quickly and recovering their old home planet!
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Supreme Commander Anatole Leonard's reckless assault has failed, with the survivors retreating to Moonbase Luna to regroup. Leonard orders a new operation to reinforce the moon base, transforming it into a military outpost for future attacks. The plan is to move quickly and stealthily, so that there will be no chance for the Robotech Masters to realize what's happening. You know, unless someone who really should know better decides to start freely sharing classified information.
So on a date with Zor, the usually strait-laced Nova decides to talk about the operation in public with a man who, until recently, was acting as an enemy bioroid pilot. Fortunately, a jealous Dana interrupts before she can reveal every detail. Still, Zor reports enough to allow the Masters to locate and attack the human ships, leaving Marie rushing to save them with the already battered remnants of her squad.
All is not well among the Masters either. Zor's emotions keep interfering with his efficiency as a spy. At the same time, Musica's feelings toward Bowie cause her to refuse an arranged mating. This spurs the Masters' leading Triumverate to authorize a new weapon from their scientists, one that will not only be effective against the humans, but also against the imminent invasion of the Invid!
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| Andrzej has a little too good a time on his enforced "date" with Jeanne. |
CHARACTERS:
I hope the writers aren't planning to focus on a love triangle between Jeanne, Lana, and Seifriet - not least because these scenes are by far the most annoying parts of this episode. Jeanne at least gets one fun moment around the midpoint. After Seifriet stands her up, she petulantly orders Andrzej to accompany her to the movie she had bought tickets for. Andrzej ends up having a fantastic time while she doesn't, his raucous laughter irritating her.
That's more than can be said for Lana, who up until now has been characterized as responsible and duty-driven. This episode transforms her into a complete idiot, sharing classified intelligence with Seifriet for seemingly no reason other than to flirt. Never mind Seifriet being a security risk, she's discussing this information in a public restaurant! By all rights, that should earn her a swift court martial.
By contrast, the relationship between Marie and Charles is fairly well played here. I can't claim to be any more invested than I was last episode; but when Marie and Charles are reunited at the end, I believe their reactions in a way that I just don't in the scenes involving Jeanne, Lana, and Seifriet.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
Both versions open with narration that recaps the previous episode, including the flowers Jeanne and Seifriet discovered in the cave. This is a surprising detail to include, given that the flowers aren't relevant to this episode. The Southern Cross recap plays like a rushed addition overall.
Robotech's narrator also mentions the flowers in the recap, but this narration provides context to connect them to the episode. We're specifically told that the Robotech Masters know of the flower thanks to their connection with Zor, and that it makes their task more urgent because it's a sign that the Invid are soon to invade. This discovery helps push them to action, making it a motivator for their scenes.
Advantage: Robotech.
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| Marie and Charles reunite. Robotech adds dialogue and ruins a good scene. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
Jeanne Suggest Seifriet Not Force His Memories: When Jeanne asks Seifriet to the movie, he's fretting about his memory. She suggests that trying to force his memories back will just make them slip further away. In Robotech, the scene is shortened so that there's no productive discussion, just Dana asking Zor out.
Jeanne's Happy Dance: After Seifriet indicates that he will accompany Jeanne, she celebrates for a few seconds with a rather cute happy dance. Robotech cut the scene to the bare minimum, and the dance is one of the casualties... though it bizarrely gets put in as a flashback during the later conversation between Zor and Nova.
The Zor Energy Problem Becomes a Protoculture Problem: Southern Cross devotes some focus to a problem with low energy in the newest generation of clones, which heralds problems for the survival of the Zor. Robotech makes this part of the "protoculture shortage" that's been affecting the Masters from their very first appearance.
The Masters Approve an "Invid Fighter": The Zor leaders approve their scientists' suggestion of a more reliable fighter. Robotech keeps the basic idea of creating a unit more completely controlled by the Triumverate - but they develop it mainly to deal with the next threat, the Invid. I think this is a change for the better. The Zor/Masters are clearly winning the war against the humans. Worries about the obviously more formidable Invid give the Masters a stronger motivation to resort to an experimental solution.
Marie's Tears: When Charles comes to meet Marie at the end of Southern Cross, she begins crying as he reassures her. Southern Cross understands that Marie weeping silently is more effective than anything she might say... while Robotech blunts the emotion by having Marie tell Sean that she wasn't sure if he cared. In the first case, she's weeping for everything that's happened since she took off, from the devastating losses, to the fear of the death, to guilt at having survived when so many of her comrades died. With that one added line, Robotech reduces it to Marie focusing on the attentions of her sort-of boyfriend.
Advantage: Southern Cross. Mainly because of that last change, which sabotages a strong emotional moment.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
The Robotech theme kicks in when Marie rescues the relief force from the Masters' surprise attack. This just about fits the context... but apparently the theme doesn't quite match the length of the scene, so there's an extremely noticeable moment when part of the theme repeats itself.
The Southern Cross music is unexceptional, and its recycled tracks are growing about as wearisome as Robotech's by this point. But Southern Cross has the confidence to go silent during parts of the battle, while Robotech covers every second with music.
Advantage: Southern Cross.
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| Lana shares classified information with Seifriet. Because in this episode, Lana's an idiot. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - SOUTHERN CROSS:
This one was on track to being a case of "no advantage." Then Robotech added that one line for its Marie/Sean scene, wrecking one of Southern Cross's best emotional moments. If you take that away, the two versions are very close in both content and quality, with a few changes that even favor Robotech. But that late scene is enough to tip the scales toward the original version.
OTHER MUSINGS:
Iron Lady pushes the plot forward in potentially interesting ways, and it benefits from another pretty good action scene. It also offers one of the better comedic moments, with the art and animation of Andrzej howling in the movie theater as Jeanne scowls making for a genuinely funny moment.
I am really missing the way the Zor were portrayed in the early episodes: Not speaking, just reacting to each other's unheard telepathic communications. Now they're just as chatty in Southern Cross as in Robotech, and they are far less intriguing as a result. I'll allow that this makes it easier for the writers to have the aliens explain their motivations to each other, but I think a lot of atmosphere is lost as a result.
The episode is enjoyable enough. But while it moves the story forward, I can't make myself think it's particularly good. The strained love triangle and particularly the out-of-character behavior of Lana really soured me on this installment.
Overall Rating: 5/10.
Previous Episode: Triple Mirror/Triumvirate
Next Episode: Love Story/Love Song
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