Might as well followup one awesome GWitch kit with another. Let’s build the Dailbalde:

But of course, our courtesy warning:

Spoiler Preface!!!

This post contains spoilers for Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. You may want to skip it if you haven’t watched the show.

About the Mobile Suit

Here’s what the model’s instruction manual has to say about the Darilbalde:

Developed as a proof-of-concept for Jeturk Heavy Machinery's 5th generation of mobile suits, the Darilbalde was produced prioritizing adaptation of next-gen military drone technology to a mobile suit. When adapting a drone equipped with Decision Making Extension AI capable of self-learning and autonomous operation to a humanoid mobile suit, the team attempted to add fundamental kinesthetic integration to the Unit. The Darilbalde does not feature the revolutionary technology of the GUND FORMAT in its design. However, unlike the Gundams that utilize "cursed" technology, this unit pride itself as a legitimate evolution of the mobile suit as a platform.

There’s a bunch to unpack here.

First, we need to talk about the AI drones. We know that at some point in the past, the Ad Stella universe experienced something called a “Drone War”. But like so many bits of worldbuilding in GWitch, we never learn much about it. We can probably assume that during the war, drones were not used as part of mobile suits (since the description above makes it pretty clear that adding them to an MS is a novel idea).

We can also assume that those old drones were remotely operated, since the description implies that adding AI to them is also a new idea.

I bring all of this up because it seems hypocritical for Jeturk Heavy Machinery to be proud of not using “cursed” Gundam technology, while using a beefed up version of a technology that (seemingly) became taboo after the last war. Which is … actually an example of consistent writing, considering that Jeturk and other companies act similarly hypocritical about embracing Gundam technology once Suletta and Aerial arrive on the scene.

Similarly, it is a bit ironic that Jeturk came to the idea of using autonomous AI-driven drones when you consider that Aerial’s power comes from the fact that it wields a bunch of drone-like GUND Bits and has an “AI” that is a literal Ghost in the Machine. They came a lot closer to embracing that “cursed” technology than they could have ever imagined.

Thirdly, the description above makes it sound as if the Darilbalde was designed as a reaction to Aerial, but that simply cannot be true. The former is unveiled very soon after the latter reveals itself, meaning it had to already be in development. The fact that it is used as an attempted counter to Aerial is pure coincidence.

Weapons and Stuff

The best way to describe the Darilbalde’s capabilities is as follows:

What if you had a melee-oriented mobile suit, where its sword(s) and shield(s) could move and attack independently of the MS itself?

To enable this, the MS is equipped with four remote drones. All four are shaped like forearms, but only one pair includes hands; the other pair swaps out hands for built-in beam sabers. All four drones can either attach to the Darilbalde’s arms, or slot into its backpack rack, or they can fly around and attack.

It also has two shields, which can either mount to its shoulders, or can also fly around independently.

These two images together are the clearest demonstration I could find of what all these weapons look like:

So that’s the drones, but what about the actual weapons? The Darilbalde has a few.

First, it has its main melee weapon, the Beam Javelin. It’s double bladed, and can be separated into two individual weapons (the larger “Beam Anchor” and the smaller “Beam Kunai”).

Next, it has “pellet mine” launchers built into its knees. I don’t have a screenshot of these in action, but to be fair they’re only used once during the show.

Of course, it has the beam sabers built into two of its drones. While these can fly around and attack, they can also attach to the arms to give the Darilbalde a set of knife hands.

Lastly, we have the shackle claw. Basically, it can launch its feet like grappling hooks at the enemy:

And while it isn’t a weapon perse, it has what appears to be an extremely powerful set of thrusters:

Presumably this helps it get in close to fight with its melee weapons, in addition to allowing it to push its opponents around.

“B-Type” Configuration

Later in the show, the Darilbalde gets an alternate configuration. It’s shields become slightly bigger, it gets a additional pair of drones, and it trades the Beam Javelin for a sword and rifle combo:

In a way, the Darilbalde is the inverse of the Aerial. While they both rely heavily on independently moving “bits”, Aerial’s are mostly meant for long range attacks, while the Darilbalde’s are for close range. There is an argument to be made that the latter is both more “honorable” and more foolish. It’s certainly the more challenging style of the two.

Appearances

Surprisingly, the Darilbalde is first teased in only the second episode of GWitch, where we see it excel at some field tests:

It then shows up again in the very next episode for its first battle …

First Battle

The Darilbalde’s first battle is a rematch between Guel Jeturk and Suletta Mercury. The latter beat the former in episode 1 by cutting Guel’s Dilanza to pieces, and it wasn’t just him who wanted a rematch. Guel’s father, Vim Jeturk, felt as if the honor of his entire company was at stake. This is why he gives his son the Darilbalde, and more importantly, this is why he forces the use of the full onboard AI, which can control not only the drones, but the mobile suit itself. In other words, he doesn’t trust his son to win on his own, and would rather he just sit there soak in the unearned glory.

Initially the Darilbalde performs fairly well, but that’s really only because of some foul play; a pair of Jeturk-friendly students activate the sprinkler system in the battle arena, which renders beam weapons ineffective. This prevents Aerial from using her GUND Bits and rifle, which gives the close-quarters Darilbalde a major advantage.

But the sprinklers are then disabled, and once the GUND Bits are flying again, the Darilbalde’s AI is unable to keep up, and it takes some major damage. This leads to a major character moment for Guel, as he decides that, win or lose, he’s going to take control of his mobile suit and show everyone what he’s made of. It’s at this point he launches an aggressive attack, using the Shackle Claws to take Aerial for a ride (as seen in the animated GIF above).

In the end, however, it isn’t enough. Suletta performs a desperate (but very clever) maneuver to win, launching Aerial right at the Darilbalde and using its chest of all things to sheer off her opponent’s antenna blade to secure the win:

This loss is bittersweet (mostly bitter). It is yet another in a long trail of unfortunate events that befalls Guel on the path toward his emotional low point. But on the other hand, this duel is like a certain kind of wrestling match, in which losing to the champ actually makes you look even better and tougher than before. We now know that Guel is actually a good pilot - and we also know that beneath his jerkass exterior lies an emotionally broken, lonely young man. Many a Guel fan was coined after this episode, which is a good thing considering how important he becomes by the end of the show.

Second Battle

As punishment for the loss, Guel loses access to the Darilbalde for a very, very long time. In fact, he doesn’t get back again until the second cour, and only then because his father is now dead (with Guel himself taking on the job of CEO).

Anyway, in Episode 17 Miorine goads Guel into having yet another rematch with Suletta (don’t ask - it’s complicated). This time the Darilbalde has the second loadout that I described earlier.

(and of course, Aerial is in her Rebuild form during this fight, so both suits have seen some upgrades)

Just like in the first battle, this isn’t much of a clean fight. Guel suffers from major PTSD at this point in the story, and it affects his performance in combat. He squanders a chance to land a decisive blow on Aerial, and almost fails to block a similarly decisive attack against him. But despite this seeming disadvantage, the Darilbalde manages to hold its own, as the two sides trade heavy blows.

But as good of a showing as it may be, the Darilbalde is unable to do anything against Aerial’s cheat code-like ability to raise its Permet level high enough to shut down - and even take control of - enemy mobile suits.

At this point it looks like the end of the fight, and possibly even the end of Guel himself, as Suletta and Aerial target him with their Mega Beam Cannon.

Ultimately Guel is saved by the timely intervention of Miorine, who (again, for reasons beyond the scope of this post) betrays Suletta by activating a killswitch in Aerial, shutting it down and allowing Guel to win:

While it’s an extremely entertaining fight, the ending leaves no one feeling happy.

Third Battle

In a way, this is the only battle that really matters, since it’s the only one that has any real stakes. Guel learns that Shaddiq Zenelli was the mastermind behind a whole bunch of the awful things that happen in the show, and sets out to confront him.

There’s an interesting debate as to whether or not this is a good thing within the text of the show, as Guel’s actions have other indirect consequences. But there’s no doubt that the battle itself is a blast to watch. The Darilbalde is running with its school limiters still in place, while Shaddiq’s mobile suit is at full, lethal strength. And on top of that, he has the help of some of his henchwomen during the battle.

But despite these two disadvantages, Guel not only wins the fight, but manages keeps Shaddiq alive so he can be brought to justice.

If the previous fights didn’t convince you that this mobile suit is a force to be reckoned with, then this final battle should.

Unfortunately, this comes at a cost, as the Darilbalde is ultimately destroyed (with Guel ejecting to safety at the very last moment).

Visual Design

I’m not going to go to in depth until after the build, but for now I’ll say that the Darilbalde has some serious Sazabi/Sinanju/Epyon energy.

It’s big, it’s mean, and it’s extremely red. Furthermore, it’s very “knightly”, both in its appearance and its fighting style. If this were any other Gundam story, this would be the final mobile suit given to the series antagonist near the very end of the story. The fact that this isn’t the case for the Darilbalde is interesting to say the least. Props to GWitch for playing around a bit with this classic trope.

Other Thoughts

• This model kit only lets you build the Darilbalde in its initial configuration; as of now, there is no way to build it in it's second loadout. I'm curious if they'll ever get around to it, either as a separate model, or as some (likely Premium Bandai) accessory pack.

  Considering the MS seems fairly popular, and considering it fights two of its three fights in this configuration, you'd think we'd see something.

• The Darilbalde’s mecha designer, Ippei Gyoubu, posted the following illustration to social media after the end of the show: Immediately I saw English language fans imagining this as some sort of “what if?” future scenario, where Guel salvages his mobile suit, and works on rebuilding it as a some sort side project when he needs to blow off steam.
• The Darilbalde comes with a stand, the same kind that came with the [Engage Zero](/posts/2023/04/gunpla-build---high-grade-gundam-engage-zero-final/). That destroys my theory that only High Grades from Premium Bandai come with stands. Now I don't know _what_ kind of logic Bandai uses.