| Battle to the Death: X-Bomber vs. the Imperial Alliance | |
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| Directed by |
Michio Mikami |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | |
| Air Date (JP) |
January 3, 1981 |
| Air Date (UK) |
January 29, 1983 |
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| Next episode | |
Battle to the Death: X-Bomber vs. the Imperial Alliance, or Battle To The Death: X Bomber Vs. the Gelma Army (激闘! Xボンバー対ゲルマ軍団 gekitō! X bonbā tai geruma gundan) in original Japanese, is the thirteenth episode of Star Fleet. It aired on January 3, 1981 on Fuji TV in Japan, and January 29, 1983 on ITV in the UK.
Plot Summary[]
 Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
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Shiro lays in his sleeping quarters and is distraught over having killed Captain Carter in a duel. Lee and Hercules enter the sleeping quarters, and try to cheer him up because it's New Years day (?-see below), and therefore a fresh start. Shiro begins recalling their past events.
General Kyle orders Lee, Hercules and Shiro to pilot the unfinished X-Bomber project after Pluto Base is attacked. X-Bomber engages the enemy but is shot down (Episode 1). Lamia meanwhile comes out, fearing their fate, but is attacked by the Alliance fighters. X-Bomber destroys the Carriers and Orion orders a retreat (Episode 2). Makara orders X-Bomber destroyed, but X-Bomber rises from the surface of the moon and blasts her battlecruiser with X-Impulse. (Episode 3)
Having saved Earth from destruction, EDF orders X-Bomber to aid the Transport craft for their repairs on Pluto Base. Upon arrival Shiro, Hercules and Lee set search for the missing Captain Carter. Meanwhile Lamia sets off in a shuttle craft to contact the mysterious ship the Skull, but her craft breaks down. As the boys rescue Lamia, the Alliance launches an attack against the Skull. X-Bomber defends the Skull with laser blast, giving Makara no option but to retreat, though. (Episode 5). As X-Bomber begins its search for the Skull, Makara had set a trap for them on their Jupiter base. The boys launch Dai-X and destroy the base (Episode 4). However X-Bomber gets lured into a black hole by Makara and gets sucked in, (Episode 6) she defends herself against Alliance attack, successfully damaging Makara's battlecruiser, eliciting a retreat. (Episode 7)
Requiring repairs, X-Bomber lands on the Planet Zenith, but the brainwashed Captain Carter takes command and launches attack on X-Bomber. The Sea of Trees tangles X-Bomber in weeds, trapping her from takeoff. Carter demands the handover of F-01, and fires a laser torpedo at the nearby volcano, causing an eruption (Episode 8). The lava approaches them, but X-Bomber cannot break loose from the Sea of Trees. Makara's battlecruiser opens fire, but this plays into X-Bomber's advantage, as the lasers weaken the Sea of Trees. (Episode 10) X-Bomber is able to escape and she fires laser torpedoes against the Imperial Cruiser.
Lee feels they have to face that the Carter the knew and loved died on Pluto Alpha Base. In their different ways, Shiro and Captain Carter were both victims of the Imperial Alliance. Shiro is now more determined than ever to resist the implacable enemy.
Voice Cast[]
Main Cast[]
Secondary Cast[]
| Character | Japanese Voice | English Voice | French Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Termoids | Masaharu Satō | Jacob Witkin | Jean-Paul Coquelin |
| EDF Communications Officer | Naoki Tatsuta | Jay Benedict | Marc François |
Equipment Used[]
Earth Defence Forces[]
- X-Bomber
- Dai-X (flashback only)
- Shuttle 07 (flashback only)
Imperial Alliance[]
- Imperial Battlecruiser (flashback only)
- Imperial Carrier Craft (flashback only)
- Imperial Fighters (flashback only)
Other[]
- The Skull (flashback only)
Trivia[]
- Excluding flashbacks, stock footage from the Pilot is used.
- Shiro's emotions about having killed Carter seem more prominent in Episode 14, where here he's more calm about it.
- Once again, the flashback scenes use redubbed dialogue and sound effects. Although General Kyle's one piece of dialogue is reused from Episode 1. Certain scenes also reuse some sound effect tracks, though with more sounds masked over them in some cases.
- Stock footage from the Pilot is reused during the flashback of the Attack on Pluto Base. Footage from Find F-01 of EDF's missile base being blown up is also unfittingly used (unfitting in that suddenly Pluto has grass...)
- The Episodes are scrambled in their continuity. Also episodes 8 and 10 are treated as if they were both the same occurance, merging Carter's attack on X-Bomber in the sea of trees with Makara's ship torpedoing the Volcano on the Planet Alloria.
- After the commercial transmission, Shiro, Hercules, Dr. Benn and Orion's dialogue all seem to be sped up by 4 octaves. This may be due to the footage being played back at the original speed (23.97fps) during the voice actors' dubbing session rather than the PAL standard speed (25fps).
- Shiro and Hercules' posters in their bunkroom include pictures of Thunderbird 2, The Fireflash, The Sidewinder and Skythrust from Thunderbirds.
- This is the first episode in France to have a (mostly) new voice cast after its hiatus.
- In addition, Shiro is voiced by Frédéric Pieretti in this episode instead of Éric Legrand. Though this was not a permanent change in the French cast.
Goofs[]
- This episode creates a major continuity error. It is stated this episode takes place on New Years day. The problem is the opening narration for Episode 1 makes it clear that the year then is 2999 and later episodes make it crystal clear that events of the closing episode is centered around the dawn of the year 3000. It would have made more sense if Lee had said it was someone's birthday.