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| The Zor stand at the cusp of victory. |
Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross: Genesis.
Original Air Date - Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross: Sept. 30, 1984. Writer: Jinzou Toriumi. Director: Yasuo Hasegawa.
Robotech: Catastrophe.
Original Air Date - Robotech: May 24, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - SOUTHERN CROSS
The 15th Squadron escapes from the Zor trap, but Seifriet isn't with them. Realizing that he intends to kill the Zor leaders, particularly Dess, Jeanne puts Andrzej in charge and then goes after him.
The Zor have become desperate, the energy depletion among their forces harming their offensive. Dess orders the abandonment of any affected Zor so that they can focus on getting to the flower. Musica senses the oncoming threat to her sisters, and she and the other members of the 15th launch a rescue mission to save them.
All the while, the battle for Gloire rages on, with the outcome for the colony's human settlers looking increasingly grim...
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
The 15th Squadron escapes from the Masters' trap, but Zor isn't with them. Realizing that he intends to kill the Robotech Masters, Jeanne goes after him.
The Masters have become desperate, the energy depletion among their forces harming their offensive. The leaders order the abandonment of anyone affected so that they can focus on recovering the protoculture from Earth. Musica senses the oncoming threat to her sisters, and she and the other members of the 15th launch a rescue mission to save them.
All the while, the battle for Earth rages on, as the threat of the Invid grows ever closer...
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| Seifriet seeks revenge. In Robotech, Zor's motives are a little more interesting. |
CHARACTERS:
Southern Cross is sprinting to wrap up its storyline, which leaves little room for characterization. Jeanne and Seifriet get a couple of moments: Seifriet with his drive for vegneance, and Jeanne in rejecting the "eternal life" offered by the Zor flower. Claude Leon also gets a moment of dignity when he refuses to evacuate, but I'd honestly prefer he didn't. He's done nothing to warrant even a semi-heroic moment; given my druthers, I'd have him die while cowering beneath a desk with a growing brown stain on the seat of his trousers.
Robotech adds a bit more to the characterizations of Dana and Zor. With his memories restored, Zor is furious at the Masters for perverting the protoculture the original Zor had discovered, which is just a little more interesting than Seifriet living out a Charles Bronson fantasy. Robotech's writers also make use of Dana's half-Zentraedi background, with it being her alien blood that leads the Flower of Life to call to her.
Advantage: Robotech.
NARRATION:
Normally, I would give the advantage to the version without narration. This episode is the exception. Southern Cross's finale is a rushed mess. It never slows down... but that actually becomes a problem given all the information it throws out between explosions.
The Robotech narration helps to slow things down a bit, organizing what we've learned in between scenes and forcing more of a shape onto the story. In most episodes, I get annoyed when the narrator insists on taking us from one scene to the next. Here, that same tendency helps to keep things feeling focused.
Advantage: Robotech.
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| The Zor flower tries to tempt Jeanne. In Robotech, the Invid Flower of Life calls out to Dana's Zentraedi blood. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
Bioroid Sluggishness vs. Corridors: The episode opens with the 15th fleeing from enemy bioroids. In Southern Cross, Louis notices that the bioroids are sluggish, a reference to the dwindling Zor energy supplies. In Robotech, Louis just says something about how the corridors all look the same.
Jeanne Puts Andrzej in Charge: Once Jeanne gets her squad safely to a potential exit, she goes back for Seifriet. Southern Cross sees her pausing to specifically put Andrzej in charge. Robotech's Dana seems to give no thought to this and just rushes off. I'm not sure this works either way, since Marie, Lt. Brown, and Nova all outrank Angelo. Still, at least Southern Cross pauses to consider the issue.
Angelo Declares, "I'm in Charge!": Because unlike Andrzej, Angelo is an idiot. As a wise man once said, "Any man who must say I am the king is no true king."
Seifriet Warns Jeanne They Are Unlikely to Survive: In Southern Cross, when Jeanne joins Seifriet, he sternly tells her not to expect to survive a confrontation with the Zor leaders. Robotech's exchange is the reverse of this: When Zor tries to warn Dana, she tells him that she intends to make sure that he survives.
Anatole Orders "No Prisoners!": Southern Cross's Claude Leon has, by this point, realized that he's engaging in a battle that's unlikely to end well. Robotech's Anatole Leonard is delusional enough to think that his sparse and outgunned forces are in any position to have to worry about taking prisoners.
Zor's Motives Run Deeper than Seifriet's: Seifriet, a human who was brainwashed by the Zor, simply wants to kill his tormenters. Zor's motivations in Robotech are more interesting (if a bit convoluted). He's a clone of the original Zor, who created the Zentraedi as soldiers and who also created protoculture. When he confronts the Masters, they are certain that he will not be willing to destroy the greatest creation of his civilization. Zor cries that the Masters are not his people, that his civilization is already dead. Though this exposition is rushed, it's still more interesting than what Southern Cross offers.
Dana's Vision: When Jeanne touches the canister holding the flower, she has a vision. The flower attempts to lure her into serving it the way the Zor do, something she angrily rejects. Robotech uses Dana's background (finally!) to improve upon this. The protoculture is now calling to her Zentraedi side when it presents her with an image of a triumverate of Danas. She rejects that, insisting that she is "a human being!" The subsequent interaction, with a little girl and two obscured figures, is transformed into Dana touching her sister's consciousness while the voices of her parents warn her of the Invid. The very literal accounting of each vision means that some atmosphere is lost - but I find that the more interesting story material makes up for it.
Zor Accuses the Masters of Misusing the Protoculture: Southern Cross's Seifriet continues pursuing revenge for his brainwashing. Robotech's Zor presents this as a matter of justice: "Your misuse of the protoculture shall not go unpunished!"
Zor Attempts to Stop the Invid Invasion: In the closing minutes of Southern Cross, Seifriet attempts to stop the destruction of Gloire's capital city and end the war. Robotech adjusts this so that Zor's goal is to destroy the protoculture so that the Invid will have no reason to invade.
Epilogue: Both versions feature a brief epilogue. Southern Cross plays its closing theme over images of the survivors with the petals of the Zor flowers falling over all of them. The visual and tonal implication is that this marks the end of the conflict. Robotech changes the context entirely. Now, a horrified Dana watches as the flowers are spread everywhere. Far from indicating peace, the narrator informs us that Zor's actions backfired, trasnforming Earth into a "fertile garden, awaiting cultivation" - the catastrophe of the Robotech episode's title.
Advantage: Robotech. Most of the changes for the worse are small, while most of the more significant changes make the story more interesting.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
Southern Cross has two effective musical moments. During Jeanne's vision, the flowers sing to her, which heightens the surreal atmosphere; and the end credits song plays over the final images, seeming to promise an end to the conflict. Robotech uses its tracks well, and its "ominous" music takes the same ending images and makes them a harbinger of doom - but Robotech also completely flattens the atmosphere of the mid-episode vision, leaving me giving this category to Southern Cross
Advantage: Southern Cross.
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| Zor civilians, left abandoned by their leaders. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - ROBOTECH:
Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross was originally intended to run almost twice as long as it did. Weak ratings, combined with circumstances that kept it from getting its own toy line, led to an early cancellation. The writers were forced to throw together an ending in a hurry... and I'm afraid it shows.
The experience of watching Southern Cross's Genesis could be summarized as: infodumps, explosions, and more infodumps. It's not necessarily hard to follow, but it feels like at least four episodes' worth of material was crammed rather artlessly into a single installment.
The Robotech episode still provides a lot of information, specifically about the origins of protoculture. But the narrator helps it to feel more organized and better paced, which makes it more enjoyable overall.
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| The war ends... though in Robotech, it's made clear that a new war is on its way. |
OTHER MUSINGS:
I'll save my overall thoughts on Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Robotech: The Masters for my overview. Genesis was, overall, a disappointing series finale. It's easy enough to understand why - the show was canceled, and the writers were left to scramble. But just because I understand why this final episode isn't very good, that doesn't change that it's mostly unsatisfying.
The Robotech version, Catastrophe, has a huge advantage over Southern Cross: Namely, that it isn't the finale. It's still densely packed; but since its role is as much to set up the next arc as to close out this one, it comes across as less of a jumble. Both endings feel inconclusive - but in Robotech's case, that isn't really a problem. After all, there are still 25 episodes left to go.
Overall Rating - Southern Cross: 5/10.
Overall Rating - Robotech: 7/10.
Southern Cross/The Masters Overview
Previous Episode: Catastrophe/The Invid Connection
Next Episode: Prelude to the Offensive/The Invid Invasion
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