Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

In year 72 of the Cosmic Era, the Junius Treaty brought the hostilities between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance to a formal conclusion. The treaty banned all military use of nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and placed strict limits on the size of the ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces. However, there are still tensions between the genetically enhanced Coordinators and the unmodified Naturals, and t...

With Armory One under attack, Athrun commandeers a ZAFT mobile suit to get Cagalli to safety. The three captured Gundams engage Athrun's ZAKU in combat, but he is rescued by the sudden appearance of the young ZAFT pilot Shinn Asuka and his Impulse Gundam.

Shinn and Rey struggle against the enemy commander Neo Roanoke. In order to help her pilots, ZAFT Captain Talia Gladys orders the newly constructed warship Minerva to launch from Armory One and join the battle. The enemy forces withdraw, and the Minerva gives chase.

The Minerva follows the Girty Lue into the debris belt that surrounds Earth, and sends Shinn and his comrade Lunamaria Hawke in pursuit of the enemy mothership. However, Neo has tricked the ZAFT pilots into following a decoy.

Aboard the Minerva, Chairman Durandal receives shocking news. The ruins of Junius Seven, the PLANT that was destroyed in the infamous Bloody Valentine incident and where the armistice treaty was later signed, have left their stable orbit and begun falling towards Earth.

The Minerva launches its mobile suits to support Yzak and his demolition crew. Shinn, Rey, Lunamaria, and Athrun join the battle against the mysterious group who have sent Junius Seven falling towards Earth.

Despite the heroic efforts of its crew, the Minerva has been unable to avert disaster, and the fragments of Junius Seven inflict terrible damage as they fall across Earth's surface. The Minerva retrieves Shinn and Athrun as they descend to Earth, then sets course for Orb in order to return Cagalli and repair the damage it has suffered in its space battles.

Once the Minerva arrives in Orb, Cagalli resumes her duties as Chief Representative. Her prime minister, Unato Ema Seiran, tells her of the damage caused by the fall of Junius Seven and urges her to approve an alliance with the Atlantic Federation.

The Atlantic Federation and its allies declare war on the PLANTs in response to the fall of Junius Seven. Although Chairman Durandal still hopes for a diplomatic solution, the ZAFT forces are mobilized to defend the PLANTs.

Chairman Durandal tells the horrified Athrun the details of the Earth Forces' latest attack on the PLANTs. Giving up his Alex Dino alias, Athrun admits his true identity and begs Durandal not to let this conflict escalate into another war.

The conflict continues to escalate as Earth Forces fleets encircle the ZAFT bases at Gibraltar and Carpentaria, and the PLANT Supreme Council decides to strike back in the name of self-defense. Despite her best intentions, Cagalli yields to her ministers' demands that Orb ally itself with the Atlantic Federation.

The Minerva crew find an Earth Forces fleet waiting for them outside Orb's territorial waters, leaving them no choice but to somehow break through the enemy lines. While Rey and Lunamaria guard the ship, Shinn fights an aerial battle against the Earth Forces mobile suits, but the tide turns against them as the enemy deploys a huge mobile armor whose positron deflector shield can withstand eve...

Thanks to Shinn's fighting prowess, the Minerva has overcome the Earth Forces fleet. As the ship continues on to Carpentaria, the Orb government concludes its alliance with the Atlantic Federation.

In the wake of the assassination attempt on Lacus, Kira and his friends realize that they have been targeted by the government of the PLANTs. Kira then receives a letter from his sister Cagalli, in which she tells him of her intention to marry Yuna and asks him to return Athrun's ring on her behalf.

Aboard the Archangel, Cagalli berates the crew for abducting her in the middle of her wedding ceremony. Kira gives Athrun's ring back to her, and gently asks Cagalli to join them in seeking a better answer to the world's problems.

As the Minerva makes its way through the Indian Ocean, it draws the attention of an old enemy, Neo Roanoke of the elite Phantom Pain taskforce. Neo calls in support from the nearby Earth Forces and launches an aerial assault on the Minerva.

The fugitive Archangel is now hiding underwater in the neutral Kingdom of Scandinavia. Aboard the ship, Kira and his friends ponder their future plans.

As the Minerva approaches the Lohengrin Gate, Athrun explains the battle plan to the other pilots. While the Minerva and the soldiers of the Mahamul base draw the attention of the Earth Forces, one pilot will attack the positron cannon via a hidden tunnel.

The Minerva continues on to the shore of the Black Sea and docks at the city of Diocuia. Recently liberated from the control of the Earth Forces, Diocuia is now the latest stop on Meer Campbell's morale-building concert tour.

This episode recounts Shinn's personal history. During the previous war, Shinn and his family lived peacefully in the neutral nation of Orb, but eventually even Orb was drawn into the conflict.

After their meeting with Chairman Durandal, the Minerva pilots are treated to a day of vacation and given rooms in one of Diocuia's hotels, and Athrun receives an unexpected guest. The pilots also make the acquaintance of Heine Westenfluss, a FAITH member who has been assigned to the Minerva as an additional pilot.

Yielding to pressure from the Earth Forces, the government of Orb has agreed to join the fight against ZAFT. An Orb expeditionary fleet commanded by Yuna Roma Seiran is dispatched to back up Neo Roanoke's Phantom Pain taskforce.

The battle between the Minerva and the Orb fleet has been disrupted by the sudden appearance of the Archangel and Kira's Freedom Gundam. Cagalli enters the battlefield and orders the Orb forces to cease fighting, but Neo pressures Yuna into continuing the battle, and the Orb fleet renews its attack on the damaged Minerva.

The battered Minerva retreats to a port on the Sea of Marmara to repair the damage it sustained in the Dardanelles battle. Troubled by the chaos his former comrades created during the fighting, Athrun decides to leave the Minerva and go in search of the Archangel so that he can talk to Kira and the others in person.

Athrun has arranged a meeting with Kira and Cagalli, but the old friends no longer see eye to eye. Even after hearing of the assassination attempt on Lacus, Athrun still believes in Chairman Durandal's good intentions, and he returns to the Minerva after urging his friends to keep Orb from participating in the war.