Anew Returns (アニュー·リターン Anyū Ritān?) is the 45th episode of Mobile Suit Gundam 00.
Plot
When questioned about the whereabouts of Veda, Revive claims not to know, and he chuckles at the idea that Celestial Being is going to recapture it because Veda was originally created for the Innovators to use. That leads to Sumeragi asking what the Innovators plan to do with Veda, so Revive replies mysteriously that it’s for the upcoming dialogue. He comments on the limit of humans when the others don’t understand him, and that prompts Lockon to say that Revive doesn’t seem omnipotent since he got caught. Revive surprises everyone by revealing that he got caught on purpose, and as if on cue, Feldt suddenly informs them over the com system that Anew shot Lasse and took Mileina hostage. Everyone is surprised to hear that Anew is an Innovator, and Revive takes it as his cue to leave. Setsuna tries to stop him, but Revive explains that he and Anew are of the same type, so their thoughts can be connected via quantum brain waves, and if something happened to him, then the hostage’s safety could not be guaranteed. Sumeragi and the others thus have no choice but to let Revive go, and moments later, the ship’s systems go offline thanks to a virus.
Anew is currently forcing Mileina to bring out the 00 Gundam, but as they then move towards the hanger, they are stopped by Soma. Soma sees the Innovators as being behind everything and blames them for Sergei’s death, however before she can do anything, Setsuna and Lockon find them. Lockon immediately makes a plea for Anew to stop, and he surprisingly accepts her offer to come with her. Setsuna takes the cue to shoot Lockon, and Anew’s genuine concern for him opens up an opportunity for him to grab Mileina. Anew is forced to run, and instead of immediately pursuing, Setsuna first checks up on Lockon who turns out to just have a bruise on his shoulder from where the bullet grazed him. Revive meanwhile makes his way into the hanger and launches with the 0 Raiser. Unable to get the 00 Gundam, Anew has to settle for just a shuttle. Lockon and Setsuna pursue in their respective Gundams, and they’re able to catch up easily by using the Cherudim’s Trans-Am. They also have an additional trump card: Saji's red Haro inside the 0 Raiser that initiates the docking sequence with the 00 Gundam.
Revive has no control over the 00 Raiser and realizes that he has to give up on the 0 Raiser. He does, however, use a rifle that he brought along to shoot up the cockpit and make his escape, and Anew subsequently rescues him in the shuttle. Lockon points the Cherudim’s gun at the shuttle, but in his head, he suddenly hears Anew ask if he’s going to shoot her. He tries to tell himself to fire, but after remembering all of the memories he had with her, Lockon is unable. Unbeknownst to him, as Anew flies away, she notes that she really does love him. At around this same time, Ribbons is meeting with Louise onboard one of the A-Laws ships and asks about her health. He thinks that they should prescribe her a new medicine, and before she can really respond, he reminds her that he gave her the medicine to control the cell abnormality that’s eating away at her body because she wanted a unified world without strife and because she wanted to avenge her parents. He also points out that he brought her a mobile armor called the Regnant, and he wants her to become the first Innovator in the human race and lead this world. Louise, with her eyes glowing now, tells him that she understands.
Back on the Ptolemaios, Feldt updates Sumeragi on the status of the ship and on how some data was taken and deleted. Sumeragi knows that the enemy will attack soon, but Ian needs more time to work on the 0 Raiser. Setsuna meanwhile finds Lockon frustrated over Anew’s betrayal, and he tells him that Anew will show up on the battlefield. Lockon claims that he understands that their enemies are the Innovators and that he’ll do what he needs to, but Setsuna tells him not to try to act tough. Feeling that Lockon doesn’t have any reason to fight Anew, Setsuna vows to pull the trigger if that time comes, and he doesn’t mind if Lockon resents him afterward. As expected, the Innovators do attack, and they bring along Louise on board the Regnant and Anew onboard her own mobile suit Gaddess. Hiling isn’t expecting a hard fight because of the conditions the Ptolemaios and the 00 Gundam are in, and their goal is still to capture the latter. Celestial Being faces them with only the Cherudim, the Archer, Arios, and the Seravee Gundams. What surprises the Gundam Meisters is that the Regnant’s main cannon beams are able to bend at sharp angles, making them very hard to avoid.
Not concerned about the mobile armor, Lockon is instead looking for Anew, and he soon finds himself clashing with her. Though not afraid to shoot at each other, neither of them do much damage to each other’s mobile suits at first. With Lockon occupied, Allelujah, Tieria, and Soma struggle against their opponents, and when Tieria fires a massive blast with the Seravee, Louise easily blocks it with the Regnant’s GN field. The Arios then gets hit and suffers quite a bit of damage. Lockon meanwhile combats Anew’s GN Fangs with his own Shield Bits, and he questions why they have to fight. Anew’s answer is that it’s because he’s a human and she’s an Innovator. When Lyle wonders if their feelings for each other were lies, Anew doesn’t answer him, so he initiates the Cherudim’s Trans-Am and pounds her mobile suit with beam fire. Instead of finishing her off though, he rips open the front of her mobile suit and tells her that he’s making her his woman again, even if she’s an Innovator. Moved to tears, Anew almost gets out of her cockpit, but at the last moment, Ribbons takes over and has her strike him back while he’s most vulnerable. Ribbons has her destroys most of the Cherudim’s Shield Bits, all while saying that the Innovators are the ones who will lead mankind. Ribbons believes that Innovators are the superior species, and he can’t stand them being thought of as equal to humans.
Lyle begs for Anew to stop, but she doesn’t let up and finally charges at him to finish him off. Before she can reach him though, a beam suddenly pierces through her mobile suit. It came from the just-arrived 00 Raiser in Trans-Am mode, and the particles it spreads as it passes them sends Lyle and Anew into the dream-like world. In each other’s arms, Anew tells Lyle that she’s glad she was an Innovator because otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to meet him, and without him, she feels that she wouldn’t have had the will power to live. She’s also glad to hear Lyle confirm to her that they understood each other, and moments later, her mobile suit explodes. Sometime later, once the attack is over and they’re all back on the Ptolemaios, Lyle punches Setsuna repeatedly for killing Anew. Lyle believes that she was trying to return not as an Innovator, but as a human, however he soon loses the strength to hit Setsuna and just cries for Anew. The person this has the most effect on is Saji who realizes that this happened even though Lyle and Anew understood each other, and he knows that he and Louise will go through this some day. Watching Lyle cry, Setsuna hears Marina’s voice and song echo.