On a related note, more detail about the world of The Witch From Mercury is starting to dribble out. Between the first episode and the tie-in short story, we now know a few things:

 

• The GUND ARM technology was indeed suppressed after the events of the prologue and Gundam Aerial is an anomalous machine
• Gundam Aerial appears to host a self-aware AI
• At least within the colony where Suletta is going to school, there is a deeply entrenched dueling culture that's accepted and has legal force

 

The political structure in the solar system is still murky, but some material has suggested that corporate sovereignty, cyberpunk-style, exists in this time period and that traditional government is relatively weak. We haven't seen the living conditions on the Earth yet, which is an important clue about whether this occurs before or after the massive damage of the After War period, but I'm inclined to say that the Ad Stella period occurs either prior to the events of Gundam X, between Gundam X and Gundam G, or after G Gundam but before the Calamity War that exists in the backstory of Iron Blooded Orphans. As TWFM progresses, we should get more clues that'll help further localize this series within the span of Ɐ's so-called Black History.

Let's start by defining the timeline and how its components overlap. In the previous blog, we proposed a few connector points for the different calendars.

 

• UC 0001 maps to the completion of the first L1 colony cluster. This means that UC 0001 is the same as AC 102 or later. It's hard to push this very much later, however, because the further in the AC that UC 0001 happens, the earlier certain key events like militarized mobile suit development by OZ happen in the UC. While its possible that OZ was actually ahead of Zeon in this field, I think its more plausible that this was more akin to an arms race where both sides were simultaneously pushing to complete their programs first. So we'll stick with UC 0001 = AC 102 to avoid the "OZ had armed mobile suits first" scenario.
• We know that the UC still uses the same calendar structure as our modern calendar, that January 14, UC 0080 is a Monday, and that UC 0088 is a leap year. In our previous blog, we tentatively identified UC 0001 as happening in AD 2412. This also means that AC 102 happens in that year. 
• Based on these two conversions, we can reasonably say that... AC 1 = 2311. This conveniently means that the AC starts the same year the Earth Sphere Federation was established in Gundam 00

 

So when we talk about analyzing the overlaps between the Gundam Wing and the UC, we're also really talking about how Gundam 00 fits into the picture.

 

In the sections to follow, I'll color code the text to help identify which source information is coming from.

 

• Green is information from the Universal Century history
• Gold is information from the After Colony history
• Pink is information from the Anno Domini history
• White is my own commentary and analysis

 

 

AD 2311 - AC 1

 

 

The main member states of the United Nations form the Earth Sphere Federation. The major national militaries, which had already been operating under join U.N. command for several years at this point, are formally integrated into the Earth Federation Peacekeeping Force. Additionally, and separate from the EFPF, the ESF creates an autonomous force called the A-Laws under the sole authority of the Federation government. 

 

 

AD 2313 - AC 3

 

After an escalating series of excesses by the A-Laws, including serious damage to an orbital elevator, leads to renewed war in the Earth Sphere. After the end of the conflict, the ESF undergoes restructuring and decentralizes much of the ESF's authority; individual nations regain many of their sovereign rights.

 

AD 2314 - AC 4

 

By this time, workers from the middle east (among other locations) are working in space to construct colonies for human habitation. The Colony Public Corporation attempts to stage a false-flag terrorist attack to prevent inspectors from examining working conditions, but they are foiled by the vigilante group Celestial Being.

 

Following a series of strange events involving out of control machinery that is somehow connected with people who have heightened quantum brainwaves (so-called Innovators), the ESF discovers that wreckage of the lost exploration ship Europa contains a previously-unknown life form known as the Extraterrestrial Living-Metal Shape-Shifters, or ELS. Attempts to establish contact and dialogue fail, leading to a military confrontation. Fortunately, a Celestial Being agent is able to use quantum communication to finally open a dialogue, narrowly averting a full-scale attack on Earth. 

 

As a sign of goodwill, the ELS (who by this time have 'evolved' into a mirror-copies of the EFPF's warships and mobile suits) reshape themselves into an enormous flower at or near the L2 point.

 

This formation may be the Silver Chalice that the eponymous arms control treaty from Gundam AGE is named after (though only the edges are silver - the interior is golden colored). 

 

AD 2332 - AC 22

Space colony construction starts at the L1 Lagrange point; however, unexpected complications including difficult working conditions and health problems cause extensive delays.

 

Given the proximity of the ELS flower, its possible that at least some of these health problems are similar to the health problems caused by exposure to the waste emissions from GN Tau power plants. It's relevant to consider that colony A0206 was successfully completed at L5 two years earlier, so these problems might be unique to the L1 point. 

 

AD 2360 - AC 50

Many nations begin to lose interest in space colonization and start to withdraw their resources from the project. However, sensing an opportunity to fully free themselves from the energy industry, middle eastern nations fill the gap. Colony construction starts at other Lagrange points.

 

As we know from the events just before the ELS contact, the middle east was already a major source of labor for the colony construction project. 

 

AD 2364 - AC 54

 

By this time, 40% of the human population has "undergone innovation." At this time, the ELS flower was still visible in Lunar orbit, and in this period some seemingly human build structures are visibly attached to it. 

 

 

The implication is that these people have all become Innovators, with the ability to connect and communicate on a quantum level, though its possible the actual effect of the process is less dramatic for most people. We don't know when the appearance of Innovators peaks, but Innovators are no longer in evidence later in the timeline. If Innovation is tied to exposure to GN particle emissions, then it's possible the Innovators were all gone within a generation of abandoning GN power, which would have occurred roughly concurrently with the signing of the Silver Chalice treaty.

 

The Earth Federation builds at least two deep-space exploration ships, the Sumeragi and the Tieria, with Innovator crews and the ability to use quantum teleportation for faster-than-light travel.

 

 

The ultimate fate of these ships is unknown.

 

Over an unknown timespan but ending some time after AC 54, there were a series of conflicts between Innovators and the so-called Old Human Faction that rejected Innovation. Unfortunately, very limited English translated data about Gundam 00V: Battlefield Record, which tells these stories, is available, including dates.

 

The culmination of this conflict may have led to the ELS and the ELS-hybridized humans departing the solar system for parts unknown, removing the source of conflict from the Earth Sphere.

 

AD 2380 - AC 70

Disputes break out in each Lagrange point following resource shortages as Earth continues to fail to meet the requirements for the colony construction schedule. The middle eastern nations negotiate a resolution to the conflict.

 

In this period - and forward into the UC, it appears that the colonies broadly fall into three categories:

 

1. Colonies founded by Earth nations that are, to a greater or lesser extent, politically linked to their sponsor nations.
2. Colonies centrally founded and managed by the Earth Federation, though various public corporations, whose operations are managed by the corporation but that generally have some sort of representative government to manage the affairs of the inhabitants.
3. Colonies founded by private investment, where the major shareholders have significant policy influence over the colony (the origins of the colonial aristocracy)

 

It's not a big surprise, with these conflicting models of governance and resource streams, that the colonies would be forced to compete for limited resources and that such competition carries a risk of escalating into violence. 

 

The treaty negotiated by the middle eastern nations is a possible candidate to be the Silver Chalice treaty. I keep mentioning this treaty, because it likely occurred prior to the start of the Universal Century and explains the absence of a number of technologies in the early UC, notably Cosmic Era superweapons, power systems, propulsion technology, and weapon systems based on Gundam Nucleus (GN) particle physics, and militarized mobile suit technology. While many of these technologies were reinvented in subsequent years, they were conspicuously absent and initially less sophisticated than their predecessors from earlier eras. 

 

Another possibility is that the Silver Chalice treaty occurs more or less concurrently with the new Earth Federation charter in AC 102/UC 0001, though this is probably the latest date where this could occur. 

 

Approximately AD 2399 - AC 89

A smaller-scale Island 1 type colony is completed at the L1 Lagrange point to support the construction of larger colonies. Many smaller settlements like this were eventually abandoned, but this one, which would come to be known as Moon Moon, maintained an undocumented population that would live in isolation for many years after it was officially closed.

 

 

AD 2412 - AC 102 - UC 0001

An Island 2 colony is completed at the L1 point. The same year, the first colony cluster is completed at L1, centered on the Island 3 type Shangri-La colony.

 

 

Meanwhile, on Earth, international disputes over limited resources and food supplies continue to escalate, which drive emigration to space. Earth Federation prime minister Ricardo Marcenas announces the start of the Universal Century and a new charter for the Federation, but the announcement is interrupted by a terrorist attack that destroys Laplace Station. Afterwards, elements of the charter, which promise autonomy and representation for space-adapted humans in the future, are suppressed.

 

 

The Earth Federation-backed Colony Management Corporation, a public corporation to promote space development, is founded.

AC 117 - UC 0016

The Earth Federation establishes the Frontier Settlement Transportation Bureau to promote and subsidize relocation from Earth to the space colonies.

 

AC 119 - UC 0020

The Earth Federation Peacekeeping Forces are officially restructured into separate Air, Ground, and Navy forces

 

AC 121 - UC 0022

The Earth Federation declares the start of a campaign to end warfare on the surface of the Earth

 

As later entries reveal, this was not accomplished overnight.

 

AC 128 - UC 0027

Von Braun, the first permanent Lunar settlement, is established under the auspices of the Lunar Economic Development Agency.

 

 

Lunar bases, such as Copernicus, had existed previously, but Von Braun was the first to be intended first and foremost as a permanent habitat rather than an industrial or military facility.

 

AC 130 - UC 0029

Conflicts on the Earth begin to die down after many international borders are redrawn. 

 

AC 133 - UC 0032

As part of the ongoing process of bringing peace to the Earth, several influential nations found the United Earth Sphere Alliance. UESA organizes its own peacekeeping forces to provide for mutual defense and also suppress new conflicts under their influence.

 

 

I strongly suspect that the UESA nations also worked as a voting bloc within the Earth Federation to promote policies favorable to their members. 

 

AC 140 - UC 0039

More and more Earth nations are joining UESA. In theory, when an Earth nation joins UESA, its colonies also come under UESA jurisdiction, but this process has been controversial and over time encountered more and more resistance from the colonies. UESA begins planning to use force to exert its control over the colonies. 

 

AC 141 - UC 0040

By this time, 40% of the human population lives in space.

 

AC 146 - UC 0045

Zeon Zum Deikun, a politician from Side 3, promotes the concept of Contolism, which combines the previous philosophy of Elsism (maximizing human emigration from Earth) with Sidism (autonomy for the colonies). Key to Contolism is the idea that humanity must move into space to achieve its next stage of evolution.

 

 

AC 147 - UC 0046

Two years after an envoy from Earth was assassinated at one of the L1 colonies, UESA declares its authority to seize control of colonies by force, 'in the interests of peace and justice.' 

 

AC 149 - UC 0048

The UESA Assembly declares that privately funded colonies are the property of the UESA member states whose populations settled them. They then targeted these colonies for accelerated settlement efforts.

 

The degree to which the colonial aristocracy remained in power probably directly correlated to how much they were willing to toe the UESA party line. Of course, as we see in the real world, shipping in politically reliable settlers is a tried and true tactic for cementing political control over seized territory, so it's no surprise that UESA opened these colonies to emigrants from Earth as soon as they were in charge.

 

AC 163 - UC 0062

Zeon Zum Deikun declares independence for Side 3 and establishes a colonial defense force under the authority of the Side 3 government. 

 

Munzo was probably an EF-funded colony not impacted by the UESA declaration of AC 149, and in practice the declaration was more one of autonomy than independence, since at the time Munzo still relied on Earth for critical fuel resources. In Gundam The Origin, the Earth Federation still clearly has at least an observer presence in the Side 3 legislature and has garrisons on Side 3 colonies. 

 

 

Zeon soldiers being reviewed by Earth Federation senior officers and under both the EF (left) and Side 3 (center) flags. 

 

AC 165 - UC 0064

The UESA colonies elect Heero Yuy to represent them in collective negotiations with the Alliance for more favorable policies. The goal of this effort is to peacefully resist the most onerous policies introduced by UESA. Yuy consistently promotes non-violence and advocates for demilitarization, policy positions that are well received in many Earth nations.

 

 

AC 169 - UC 0068

Zeon Zum Deikun dies (under suspicious circumstances) and is succeeded by Degwin Zabi as the leader of Side 3. Munzo colony is renamed Zeon in its founder's honor. 

 

AC 172 - UC 0071

Anticipating the effects of the Minovsky-Ionescu fusion reactor on warfare, Zeon begins exploring several conceptual weapon systems to compensate. Minovsky particle fields distort electromagnetic waves, making radar and other long-distance targeting systems unreliable. Likewise, radio communication and wireless missile guidance systems would similarly be impacted. Zeon funds research into several options, including militarized mobile suits.

 

AC 173 - UC 0072

The Organization of the Zodiac (OZ), a subsidiary of the Romefeller Foundation (which in turn has close ties to UESA) begins clandestine development of militarized mobile suits. 

 

AC 174 - UC 0073

Zeon completes its first prototype mobile suit, the MS-01. 

 

 

The MS-01 and its immediate successor designs were developmental models not suitable for military applications. Whether OZ and Zeon were aware of each others' efforts is unclear, but the Earth Federation had been experimenting with 'robot tank' systems for some time and its likely all three parties were aware they were engaged in a race to an operational militarized mobile suit system.

 

 

Early Earth Federation Guntank system, combining conventional tank tracks with a mobile-suit-like turret. Like the early Guncannon, these did not utilize the compact Minovsky-Ionescu fusion reactor and could not compete with Zeon's new systems ton-for-ton. 

 

AC 175 - UC 0074

Zeon's Jupiter Energy Fleet completes its first successful round trip voyage, returning with vast supplies of Helium-3 and Methane. Consequently, Zeon achieves energy independence from teh Earth Federation.

 

 

Zeon completes the prototype MS-05 Zaku, which is selected for mass production.

 

Heero Yuy is assassinated by a UESA sniper, throwing the colonies into chaos. 

 

Heero Yuy's death also eliminated the last prominent voice for a non-violent solution to colonial issues. Degwin Zabi was already preparing for war at this point and the nationalist movement on Rhea (Side 6) was also on the path to rebellion and civil war. 

 

AC 176 - UC 0075

OZ starts secret mass production of the Leo and Tragos mobile suits. The airborne Aries mobile suit follows a year later. These mobile suits are all sold to UESA's "Specials" peacekeeping units, which in reality is a front for OZ itself. 

 

 

These suits have similarities to the Federation's early Guncannon and Guntank projects, though they employ very lightweight construction that allows them to operate with lighter power plants and that simplifies transportation. Initially, their weak armor was probably a major liability, but it may have been a prescient choice since the proliferation of beam weapons in the years ahead would render most conventional armor ineffective. 

 

Zeon's first production type MS-05 Mobile Suits roll out, and the Zeon military immediately forms mobile suit training battalions.

 

 

AC 178 - UC 0077

 

The space colonies in Rhea (Side 6) slide into civil war between Nationalist and Loyalist factions. Ultimately, the Nationalists triump and Side 6 declares independence from the Earth Federation. During the conflict, Zeon supported the Nationalists with mobile suit and naval forces. While they avoided direct conflict with the Earth Federation, they successfully blockaded the colony to prevent resupply of the Loyalists; at the same time, their ground forces gained valuable mobile suit combat experience.

 

AC 179 - UC 0078

 

Zeon starts production on an improved version of the Zaku, the MS-06 Zaku II. 

 

 

Following a disastrous skirmish between Zeon MS-05 suits and the Earth Federation's RCX-76 Guncannon, the Earth Federation launches the RX Program (later known as the V Program), a secret development effort intended to meet and then exceed the capabilities of Zeon mobile suits. 

 

 

The RCX-76 lacked the agility to go toe-to-toe with Zeon mobile suits, in part because their relatively inefficient reactors had a poor power-to-weight ratio. Here we see a Guncannon getting positively wrecked by a Zaku because it just couldn't match it in reaction time and thus couldn't bring its powerful weapons to bear. 

 

In October, Zeon announced a state of national mobilization. As part of this effort, the Zeon forces were split into multiple branches - the Space Attack Force under Dozle Zabi, the Mobile Attack Force under Kycilia Zabi, and the secret Earth Attack Force under Garma Zabi. The Earth Attack Force would not be formally established until February of 0079, when Zeon's true goals were no longer secret.