This Side of Paradise

This Side of Paradise (眠れる月の少女) is the thirteenth episode of ALDNOAH.ZERO, it first aired on January 10, 2015, in Japan and on March 1, 2016, on Netflix in North America.

Synopsis
It's been 19 months and the Terrans are in bad shape as the Martians have claimed most of Earth. The latest threat is an enemy whose powers allow him to freeze anything within a certain area.

Plot
Act One

The Princess helps Inaho out of the cockpit. But a gunshot from afar hits her back hood (some of her blood splatters on Inaho too). A second gunshot makes her fall over while the airbags in her pilot suit activate, she also drops the necklace. Slaine clears his gun and raises it against Inaho, ordering "Orange" not to approach the body. Inaho remembers the voice. It is "Bat," and he draws his gun on him too, but Slaine quickly shoots him in the head.

19 months after the assault on United Forces of Earth Headquarters, in the satellite belt, the leader of the Andalusia Platoon commands his pilots to target a Martian transport. However, they shouldn't engage in combat even if they launch Kataphrakt's.

They sight the targets but their shots "drift" because of "wind", the Martians cannot shoot back at their range either. Andalusia 33 decides to move closer to the target. Still, he is attacked by Sir Slaine Troyard in his Tharsis. Andalusia 11 tries to avenge his fallen comrades, but the Tharsis magnificently dodges the shots fired. Slaine declares the blessings of his lady, Princess Royal Asseylum are upon him and that he has come.

Later, the apparently recovered Princess Asseylum appears in a propaganda broadcast across Martian occupied Earth. She says she believes Martians deserve the bountiful Earth more than the Terran's.

Nina Klein, who is on shore leave sunbathing with Rayet Areash and Inko Amifumi, watches the forced broadcast on her phone. She is curious as Asseylum was on Earth's side, Rayet suggests that Asseylum may have lost hope in there being peaceful resolution and has sided with Mars as she is Martian.

Nina asks Inko what is up; Inko thinks this may be their last chance to relax (because they are lifting off the day following tomorrow, as Nina adds). Rayet asks Inko if she is thinking about "him" but Inko says it is not like that.

Meanwhile, on the Deucalion, Calm Craftman supervises Kataphaktos maintenance crew in training, and on the bridge; XO Mizusaki tells the Captain that troops who are preparing to arrive may be delayed. The Captain finds it hard to believe they will be fighting side by side again, they are glad he made it back alive.

Sir Slaine lands his Tharsis in a Vers moon-base, Count Saazbaum praises his landing as skill-full so much that one would never guess they are in an unveven gravitational field. Sir Slaine's new manservant, Harklight, also praises him. Slaine is modest and requests Harlkight to stop calling him "Milord", for he is both a Terran and younger than Harklight. Sir Slaine, Harklight, and Count Saazbaum report to Princess Lemrina, Asseylum's sister, she is with Eddelrittuo. Count Saazbaum says the invasions of North and South America are complete, and their takeover is underway. Still, in Eurasia and the Far East, UFE counterattacks continue as the Landing Castles have surrendered.

Princess Lemrina wishes to go down to Earth to which Count Saazbaum says they will wait until United Earth are exhausted. When that happens, she, who inherits the bloodline of the Emperor of Vers will be installed as.... Still, Princess Lemrina interrupts his sentence as she knows that they are just using her for the value of her blood to be a mere tool to activate Aldnoah. Still, she is grateful to Saazbaum for extended his hand in friendship. Princess Lemrina then asks Sir Slaine to teach her of Earth again.

Inko, Nina, and Rayet walk through the Deucalion, wondering about how they would die. Rayet declares they will not die and vows to defeat the Martians and restore peace to Earth, they have no time to die. Suddenly, Kisaki and Yutaro detect a Martian Kataphraktos, closing it at 50 kilometers per hour. The Captain orders all hands to battle stations despite protests from Shigo, who says the anti-gravity control is still being serviced. Nina arrives on to the bridge. XO Mizusaki complains about her clothes. She hasn't worn her uniform as an enlisted soldier, as she thought it wasn't cute.

Still, the Captain authorizes it as it won't hinder her ability to helm the ship. With continuing protest from XO Mizusaki, the Captain reminds her why she cannot get a date and thus blushes. Outside, the new Kataphraktos freezes nearby objects in surrounding it, everything from grass to wind turbines. Act Two Rayet and Inko are in their KG-7 Areions, on a U.E. Amphibious Landing Craft approaching the Kataphraktos. Rayet identifies it as Count Yacoym's Frozen Elysium; its Aldnoah Drive's unique capability is Entropy Dilution, it can sap the molecular motion of all matter inside a field 1km in radius. With the Frozen Elysium reaching the Deucalion's dock within 15 minutes, Inko suggests they most slow it down somehow. But Rayet believes it is futile and suggests to destroy it.

The Harbinger Platoon fire at the Frozen Elysium with de-icers, but they are helpless before it. The pilots in their Kataphrakts freeze. Rayet and Inko's shots are deflected even though Frozen Elysium has no shield, according to Rayet's data. Inaho Kaizuka steps out of a Humvee as Rayet and Inko fire while backing away. Rayet suggests Inko's earlier point to slow it down, but Inko retorts as they agree.d to destroy it.

Inaho measures the bullet trajectory and tells the two to fall back. Inaho realizes that the warheads entered a superconductive state and were deflected by the Meissner Effect, he tests if air-burst mode works when he fires his KG-6 Sleipnir 's gun at the Frozen Eleysium, but all shots miss because the battery n the warhead froze so the processor locked up. He monitors the Frozen Elysium's temperature to see where it is shunting molecular movement, possibly to somewhere else in their dimension. He proceeds to charge at the Frozen Elysium, while launching grenades 50m away from his position timed to explode at specific intervals to allow him to approach Frozen Elysium without freezing. With his gun pointed to Frozen Elysium's head, Count Yacoym says, "well done".

But after he destroys the Frozen Elysium, it does more damage than expected, and the formerly frozen battlefield bursts into flames. Later, he lowers himself from the cockpit of his KG-6, reporting to Inko and Rayet as Ensign Inaho Kaizuka. Per orders from General Headquarters, he has been assigned to their ship, the Deucalion. Inko says he has not changed, and Inaho says neither has she. Rayet says he has changed as he is now capable of polite small-talk, Inaho is not sure whether to take that as a compliment. Inko hugs Inaho tightly, welcoming him back, Inaho smiles.

In December 2015, right after shooting Inaho, Slaine approached Count Saazbaum. Count Saazbaum tells him to shoot, but Slaine says he has finished off the Terran soldier who has been a thorn in their side. He has finally made up his mind and asks Count Saazbaum to forgive him for all the wrongs he has done in the past and those he is sure to do in the future. He aims his gun at Count Saazbaum while telling him many Terran troops have already breached the castle and suggests to escape in the Tharsis...and take Princess Asseylum with them. Slaine proclaims he is the only one who can save the Count. Slaine asks the Count if he would die with his ambitions unrealized or choose to live with Princess Asseylum. Count Saazbaum smiles.

Just as Warrant Officer Kaizuka comes into the room to find Inaho, Slaine, Count Saazbaum, and the Princess escape in the Tharsis together through the roof Castle Saazbaum. Inko screams loudly as she discovers Inaho's body with his head surrounded with a puddle of blood.

They both carry Inaho's body to the Deucalion, which is still embedded in the Landing Castle. On the bridge, the rest of the crew are barely conscious while Dr. Yagarai tends to Lt. Marito's head. Warrant Officer Kaizuka and Inko arrive on the bridge with Inaho's body. She says the Bullet went through the temporal region via the left eye socket. They need three cc'sccs of adrenaline administered as emergency treatment. Dr. Yagarai is horrified, and Inko continually asks if he can save Inaho. Dr. Yagarai says he needs immediate surgical procedure and the transfusion.

Warrant Officer Kaizuka says they have tools and facilities in the underground shelter, so she asks Capt. Magbaredge to order the Deucalion to lift off, but it appears the hope is lost because the Aldnoah Drive is offline. Capt. Magbaredge asks Warrant Officer Kaizuka where Princess Asseylum is. Warrant Officer Kaizuka stares at her brother's body and sees the bookmark she gave him on his chest stained with blood, and begins to cry. Inko cries loudly at the possible death of her close friend. Warrant Officer Kaizuka sees that some of the blood does not belong to Inaho, but is in fact, blood splatter (from Asseylum).

Some of the tears that have fallen onto Inaho's body run into his mouth, bringing Asseylum's blood. The light of Aldnoah begins to shine from Inaho's body and Capt. Magbaredge realizes that Princess Asseylum had given Inaho the activation factor via blood and the saliva from when Inaho gave Asseylum mouth-to-mouth. Warrant Officer Kaizuka raises her brother's hand, so it touches the Aldnoah Drive.

In the present, the Deucalion engines are now powered up and Capt. Magbaredge orders lift off. They head up from the Ocean into through atmosphere into Earth's orbit. They listen to the fake Princess Asseylum's propaganda broadcast, who says the Vers Empire must exterminate the Terrans out of mercy. Inko asks Inaho if it is alright that they will be fighting the Princess. But Inaho listens intently to the broadcast saying, "It's wrong" because Princess Lemrina spouts Slaine's misconception that the sky and Ocean are blue. After all, air and water in large quantities diffract light. Rayleigh scattering makes the sky blue, as Inaho corrects once more.

On the Vers moon base, Princess Lemrina asks Eddelrittuo for water. She asks Count Saazbaum what he thought of her broadcast. He says it was excellent and that she was the very image of Princess Asseylum so no one would ever suspect her true identity. As Princess Lemrina removes her disguise, she says that is the problem with them. Sir Slaine congratulates Princess Lemrina, stating her words are sure to have left an impression on the Orbital Knights. Princess Lemrina is more than grateful for such concern than any compliments on her performance. Sir Slaine is extremely and humbly delighted. Eddelrittuo arrives with the water.

Harklight bows to Sir Slaine. Sir Slaine enters a dark room where a heart monitor is beeping. He kneels before a giant tank where the real and unconscious Princess Asseylum is being kept. Sir Slaine says he has returned and says he sees that she is good spirits today.

Quotes
"Inaho after the Frozen Elysium explodes."

- I took more damage than expected. I wonder if Calm will be mad...

Songs

 * &Z (ED)

Trivia

 * "Sleeping Girl of the Moon" (眠れる月の少女) is a reference to "Sleeping Beauty" which is "Sleeping Princess of the Forest" (眠れる森の姫) in Japanese, the sleeping girl in question being Asseylum Vers Allusia who is in stasis on the moon.
 * "This Side of Paradise" is a reference to F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel of the same name, which examines the lives and morality of post World War I youth.