The target audience for these summmaries are those people who haven't seen it all, but are so hooked they have-to-have-it-all-NOW. You know who you are. Don't mind my dry sarcasm, and I'll try to keep my personal comments separate.
Please note that more often than not, all 'quotes' are paraphrases- not exact quotes.
*Boy Meets Girl*
Five enemies as taken care of- a blond streak on a monitor alerts Sousuke to the silver AS's presence.
ponytails on mechs. uh huh.
The battle is tough, as the silver as is incredibly agile.
As Kurtz and Kaname watch from the cliff, Kurtz says the battle *should* be equal, but the silver as is special in some way. Almost as if it has magic...
Kaname tells him he's wrong- its science. Somethings disturbing her, and she feels Sousuke will lose, with the way the battle is going.
Lots of explosions among the trees.
Neither Arm-Slave can effectively can hit the other...
Until Sousuke gets off a direct hit, and watches as a mysterious force field around the Gaulun's AS acutally deflects it, and allows the silver as to get off a shot of...just power.
Now Kurtz sees how he lost earlier...
The ARx is down, and Sousuke is amazed that it's registering no damage. The articial intelligence system, AL, initates the 'Lambda Driver' on it's own. Sousuke has no idea what it is doing, and AL can't tell him, either.
Kurtz wonders how the ARX survived a blast his M9 didn't, and Kaname 'feels' the technology at work. She can understand it...somehow. She doesn't find the experience pleasant.
She understands that Sousuke can't use the function, but she's having trouble exactly figuring it out...
After some stressed muttering she suddenly slams her forehead into a nearby tree trunk, needing the mental clarification. Then she yells to (stunned) Kurtz for the comm unit.
Gaulun acts sumg...
With the comm unit, Kaname tries to explain the lambda driver to Sousuke as well as she can.
What she knows- both Arm-Slaves have it.
The driver acts on the pilot's emotions- the deepest, most instinctual gut emotions and desires.
Gaulun tries to attack Sousuke with his LD, and has to watch as it just blows right by the ARX with no effect.
Kaname explains the ARX's LD was effective in defense, because Sousuke had thought of protecting himself.
Having a better grasp of it, Sousuke and Gaulun close, and Gaulun realizes the ARX has been undamaged because it has the LD too. Of course, Gaulun thinks- Mithril has been protecting that knowledge.
The knife battle between them really lights up the night, but neither really getting anywhere. Kaname tries to goad Sousuke into the emotional place where he needs to be to make the most of the LD, but he initally resists, trying to hang on to his analytical, unemotional fighting style. He can maintain defense this way, but his attack attempts fail...
So Kaname finally gets real cruel, and tells him to think about what would happen to her if he was defeated. She's pretty brutal, and finally he's really, truely angry enough...
With Kaname coaching, Sousuke closes with Gaulun a last time, and in a huge blast, wins.
The huge resulting wall of fire isn't enough to damange the ARX or it's pilot, and there's not sign of Gaulun's AS.
Kaname asks Sousuke if he's alright- He replies, with closed eyes and a slight smile, with the affirmative.
Through the forest the victorious ARX runs, carrying Kurtz with the left hand and Kaname in the right. Kurtz finds the ride uncomfortable, but Kaname's pretty cheerful. She doesn't remember too much about what happened, and has recovered from the exposure to the Lambda Driver.
From behind the trees lifts an enemy helicopter- Sousuke doesn't have a whole lot of choice with both hands occupied- so he tosses Kaname into the air, flips out the AS's gun, takes out the chopper in one hit, and catches Kaname. She's unconcious but otherwise okay, and both guys know someone's probably gonna be in trouble later...
Later, the sun is rising, and they've reached the coast. All they have to do is get through the farewell party (an assortment of Savages and choppers), and leap off the cliff, to the deck of the Danaan, where Melissa, in her M9, waits to catch 'em. (amazing how far such a heavy machine can jump!)
The Danaan confirms the retrival, and Tessa orders a swift dive and retreat to avoid the approaching enemy.
Later, Sousuke's looking up at the ARX. Kalanin comes in, and expresses regret for not having been able to kill Gaulun himself.
Sousuke asks about the Lambda Driver. He's quite unsetteled about this sort of technology. Kalanin shares that he doesn't think this advanced technology should exist- technology like the Lambda Driver, the ECS system, stuff that Mithril has and is using...
Kalanin can't directly tell Sousuke that the Whispered are responsible for the new technology, but his manner of avoidance makes the answer clear.
And about Kaname, Kalanin says it's been determined that the danger to her should be over.
The leaking of a false report should get her name off of the worldwide lists of Whispered cannidates. (Sousuke's silent and downcast)
However...Kalanin thinks they need insurance...
Kaname wakes in a hospital room in Tokyo.
Melissa is there, dressed as a nurse. She explains that Kaname's been sleeping for a while, and that she is Sousuke's immediate superior. She gives Kaname a story to tell, when questions get asked about what happened to her...
And she explains to Kaname about a little about Mithril. An army to protect earth, is perhaps a way to think of them. She advises Kaname, that if she wants to stay out of trouble in the future, she should forget everything.
And, Melissa has to thank Kaname. She credits Kaname for saving Kurtz and Sousuke, and compliments her quite highly. Kaname's embrassed, but they shake hands...and Melissa goes to leave.
Kaname asks her about Sousuke, and Melissa tells her that he's already left on his next mission. Kaname is pretty sad, and after watching her a moment, Melissa takes her farewell.
Kaname sees Sousuke's old picture with her things next to her bed, and starts to cry a little over it, when the door is thrown open by a teary Kyouko, and a few other classmates. Kaname slips the picture under her pillow and Kyouko is hysterical and throws herself on Kaname's lap.
The others say it seems that UN rescue team had nothing to do with the UN after all....
The teacher shows up too, crying even louder than Kyouko. She feels responsible for Kaname's kidnap and can't stop herself from hysterically crying in Kaname's lap too. Seems the hopsital had called the school this morning (where the class was, as the field trip was ruined...).
Although she's the patient, Kaname tries to cheer Kyouko and the teacher up. Unknowing to Kaname, in walks Sousuke, and they exchange a few lines, before she realizes who she's talking to...he's in his school uniform, and bearing a gift, much to her astonishment.
Kyouko nudges Sousuke closer, and he leans in, offering dried fish, and tells her he's 'insurance'. For the 'present'.
Kaname's really really happy.
Later- at school...an explosion of sorts, which triggers the fire sprinklers...
Sousuke and Kaname flee a room, each carrying a huge stack of papers. She's yelling at him, because she thinks the smoke bomb he used was too much, while he insists it was perfectly logical. Typical squabbling, and she punches him before he can finish his explanation...
And this tough guy gets up, hand to cheek, and tells her, 'that hurt'. She yells a little more, he tries to reason with her, she tries to choke him, he stands there takes it...
End
Despite some strange plot holes that seem like they could have been fixed, a good episode. Finishes off this story arc- and some people have suggested the anime should have stopped here. Personally I think that these episodes had the best mix of humor, action, and drama, compared to the rest of the series. Too bad Gonzo couldn't commit more resources and effort to animating the rest as well, but that's not the say the rest of the series is terrible.