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| All that remains of a fallen soldier. |
Genesis Climber Mospeada: Jonathan's Elegy.
Original Air Date - Genesis Climber Mospeada: Nov. 20, 1983. Writer: Ryo Yasumura. Director: Mari Kobayashi.
Robotech: Eulogy.
Original Air Date - Robotech: June 5, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MOSPEADA:
Stig and his friends arrive in a town filled with human soldiers, survivors of the previous expedition. This is a town in which soldiers are able to live out in the open, under the legendary Lt. Commander Jonathan. One of Mars's greatest military heroes, Jonathan inspired a young Stig to join the military. He was believed lost in the first attempt to take back Earth, and Stig is overwhelmed to discover his idol alive and well on Earth.
He volunteers to join Jonathan on a raid of a nearby Inbit warehouse. But the warehouse is better defended than expected, and Jonathan orders Stig to flee, promising rescue. When Stig fails to return, Ray goes in search of him - only to make a horrible discovery...
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Scott and his friends arrive in a town filled with human soldiers. This is a town in which soldiers are able to live out in the open, under the legendary Col. Jonathan Wolfe. One of the Robotech Forces' greatest military heroes, Wolfe inspired a generation of young soldiers. He was believed lost to the Invid, and Scott is overwhelmed to discover his idol alive and well on Earth.
He volunteers to join Wolfe on a raid of a nearby Invid warehouse. But the warehouse is better defended than expected, and Wolfe orders Scott to flee. When Scott fails to return, Rand goes in search of him - only to make a horrible discovery...
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| Lt. Commander Jonathan, in a moment of contemplation. |
CHARACTERS:
After spending the last two episodes on the periphery, Stig returns to the foreground. He is excited to discover that Jonathan is still alive, so much so that he stops asking the questions that he had upon arriving in the town. He hopes to enlist Jonathan for his own mission to Reflex Point, and he seems eager at the thought of surrendering his command (such as it is) to the veteran.
Ray, unsurprisingly, is given the strongest dramatic scene of the episode. Unburdened by Stig's hero worship, he doesn't hesitate to confront Jonathan when Stig fails to return. The relationship between him and Houquet continues to develop in the background. Ray leaves her in the town when he goes to look for Stig, telling her not to worry; she angrily snaps that she isn't worried, only to show up to rescue him a few minutes later.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
Robotech is restrained in its direct narration, but it makes up for this with internal monologues. Wolfe basically tells us his motivations through this device, while the Invid Regess distracts viewers from the implications of the final shots by foreshadowing future events. The original version allows events to play out directly, which grants more immediacy - and also makes that ending a lot more memorable.
Advantage: Mospeada.
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| A young Stig idolizes Jonathan, named a hero for defeating pirates. In Robotech, Col. Wolfe defeated enemy aliens for Admiral Hunter. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
The Invid Regess: In Mospeada, the Inbit calls to, "delete the soldiers from Mars base... Delete all the soldiers who are extremely dangerous to us." This is specific foreshadowing for this episode's twist. Robotech changes the scene so that the Invid Regess is instead discussing the aliens' ultimate goal: "(The humans) must not discover the Genesis Pits before our work is completed on this planet and we evolve into our ultimate form.".
Col. Wolfe's Backstory: Lt. Commander Jonathan made his name defeating rebel humans and pirates on Mars. Robotech's Col. Jonathan Wolfe instead became a hero defeating enemies for Admiral Rick Hunter (because this is absolutely the same show as The Macross Saga, honest!) before going to Earth to fight the Robotech Masters. In both series, he's been presumed dead since the first attempt to reclaim Earth (even though prior to this episode, Robotech presented the attempt Scott was part of as the first one. Oopsie).
The Group's Reaction: Mospeada's Stig is lost in hero worship, fully buying into the notion that Lt. Commander Jonathan has been able to keep the Inbit away. The others don't argue, with Yellow and Jim deciding to hold a concert here. Robotech's Scott is more suspicious, stating that the town feels "too relaxed" and that it's ridiculous to think that Col. Wolfe can hold the Invid at bay simply by virtue of his heroic presence. Both are valid approaches: Mospeada emphasizes Stig's hero worship, building up the later plot twist, while Robotech tells us up front that something is "off" in order to create suspense.
Internal Voice Over During the Mission: Robotech adds voice overs to the mission, first with Col. Wolfe reflecting that what he's doing is "rotten" but if he didn't do it, someone else would, and then Scott telling himself to stay calm while working with his personal hero. Mospeada lets all this play out with us just observing events.
The Confrontation with Jonathan: Mospeada's Ray confronts Jonathan with what he's done, telling him that nothing will wash clean the blood on his hands. Robotech's Rand instead harps on how much the soldiers worshipped Col. Wolfe, which diminishes the impact of Wolfe staring at his open palms a few minutes later.
Wolfe Tells Rand to Follow Him Back: Lt. Commander Jonathan leaves Ray to find his own way back to town. His parting shot - wishing him luck in getting through the forest - makes clear that he's deliberately leaving Ray to die. Robotech's Wolfe reacts more immediately with guilt after Rand confronts him and offers to take the young man back to safety.
The Colonel's Motives: Lt. Commander Jonathan explains that he wanted one more chance to defeat the Inbit, and that he hoped to buy time for an opportunity through his actions. By contrast, Robotech's Wolfe has grown tired of war: "There are no winners or losers here, only survivors." His primary motive seems to be to prevent the Invid from attacking the town.
Voice Over Added to Final Shots: Mospeada presents a bleak but effective ending, as a series of well edited final shots point to the town's inevitable fate. Robotech tries to distract from this with voice over from the Invid Regess. She gloats about how the humans may have won this round (they really didn't), but they will certainly be defeated by what's coming next.
Advantage: Mospeada.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
Both versions use their scores in predictable ways. Mospeada gets a few points from Yellow's concert, with Yellow's song making for a good transition to Ray's attempt to rescue Stig. Robotech makes up the difference in the end battle, though, with its combat music lending additional tension to the battle.
Advantage: Robotech.
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| Stig and Jonathan, under enemy fire. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - MOSPEADA:
The two versions take different, equally valid, approaches. Mospeada preserves the twist about Jonathan's actions as long as it can, even though it really isn't hard to guess. Robotech apparently agrees with me that this "twist" is obvious, because it chooses to tip its hand early on. The Americanized version instead tries to build suspense by watching the characters grapple with the sense that something's not right.
Robotech's success here is limited because it's stuck following the original episode's structure. I like Scott feeling something is "off" about the town - but since there are no follow up scenes with the team talking to the locals, this doesn't actually lead to anything. While I think the Robotech approach to a fairly transparent reveal is more interesting, the episode has already been built a certain way, and there's only so much the writers can do to change that.
That makes the original version more effective, even with a big reveal that most will see coming right away.
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| The Inbit warehouse: a harder target than expected. |
OTHER MUSINGS:
Jonathan's Elegy is yet another "town with a secret" episode, a setup that Mospeada seems far too fond of. This one is a lot sharper than most, however. It may be easy to guess the broad strokes of Lt. Commander Jonathan's activities. Still, the script does a good job of selling Stig's personal admiration, which lends a bit more weight to the betrayal. Also, Jonathan's actions genuinely have kept the town safe, which lends a hint of gray to the story - something that the final shots bring home.
The episode gets a full point boost from those final shots, by the way. As the story was winding down, I found myself wondering what happens to the town now... and just as I was reflecting on that, the ending addressed it to excellent effect.
Overall Rating - Mospeada: 8/10.
Overall Rating - Robotech: 7/10.
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