Major Spoilers for Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicornis as dense and compelling of a political thriller as the best of the franchise’s stories, and its whirlwind of a narrative all centers around the hunt for something called “Laplace’s Box.” But by the end, when its nature is revealed, it turns out to be far different from what anyone could have predicted, and much to the benefit of the story.
Unicornwas a series of seven OVAsreleased between 2010 and 2014 and is set sixteen years after the events of the One Year War, following a new protagonist named Banagher Links. After meeting a mysterious girl, Banagher gets wrapped up in a new conflict in search of Laplace’s Box and becomes the pilot of the Unicorn, a new Gundam that holds the key to finding the box.
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What People Think The Box Is
Everyone wants Laplace’s box, but very few know for sure what it really is. When it’s introduced, it’s spoken of much like a weapon and one that could bring down the Earth Federation Government.Gundam’s central conflict -at least in the Universal Century Timeline- is between the Earth government and those who live in space.
With not enough room on Earth, the growing population expanded to space, but as generations passed, the spacenoids who grew up among the stars wished to be independent. Why obey the government of a planet many of them have never been to and may never see? This tension is the basis of the originalMobile Suit Gundam, andUnicorntells of another in a long line of conflicts stemming from it.
Spacenoids continue to rebel as a part of the armed factions of Neo Zeon, named after the fallen Principality of Zeon. Rumor has it that whatever Laplace’s Box is could destroy the Federation. Across the series, Banagherwitnesses the lengths that people are willing to goto find the box, including the devastating assault on his home that sets the story in motion.
What The Box Actually Is
In the first episode, viewers witness the very beginning of the Universal Century, aboard the space colony Laplace, where the Prime Minister of the Federation is giving a speech. He ushers in the Universal Century with a charter signed by the United Nations. That speech is promptly interrupted by a terrorist attack by an anti-federation group.
The significance of this moment does not truly hituntil episode 7 when Banagher and Mineva finally reach the end of the line and find the box along with its owner, Syam Vist. Laplace’s Box is not a weapon at all. It is the charter seen during the opening sequence - theoriginalone, which included a clause ensuring more freedoms to those living in space.
This reveal rocks the very foundation ofGundam’s conflict, implying that the Universal Century’s many wars could have been avoided had this clause not been buried. In truth, the attack on Laplace in U.C. 0001 wasn’t merely an attack by anti-federation forces, but an attack carried out by a right-wing political faction that didn’t want spacenoids to have more freedom.
The Power of Words
A less intelligent series might have made Laplace’s Boxout to be a weapon after all. Considering the bloodshed that occurred to reach the ending, it would have made sense. However,Unicorntakes a different approach and makes the box something far more symbolic of a weapon, but no less powerful. It dares to ask what kind of symbol would be powerful enough to destroy an empire by its very existence.
The answer - asUnicornsuggests - is a symbol that reveals that empire’s legitimacy to be a complete farce. After so many wars fought in the name of freedom, it serves as some validation for the anger and resentment felt by the underprivileged in space. It might just be words carved into stone, but the power behind those words is self-evident.
It is a genius twist that simultaneously hurts as it touches upon this idea thatthe life that so many characters died forwas not only possible from the beginning, but tacitly approved by the nations of Earth. At the dawn of humanity’s ascension to the stars, no less. The box, which could have been a run-of-the-mill MacGuffin, turns out to be one of the most important pieces ofGundam’s Universal Century timeline.
It is said that history is written by the victor and throughout our real history, it is not uncommon for entire stories to be erased by those in power. Perhaps that is whyUnicorn, like so much ofGundam, hits so hard for so many. In its most important moments, it manages to ground itself fairly well, creating drama unlike anything else in the mecha genre.
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