Term · Mobile Suit Gundam
Zeon
A cluster of colonies at the far end of Earth's orbit decides it is a country, and the war starts on the next page.
In Otakana the clue reads: The breakaway colony that declares war
- Type
- Term
- Series
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Letters
- 4 · Normal
The Principality of Zeon is Side 3, the space colony group furthest from Earth, and it declares independence from the Earth Federation at the start of the One Year War. Its opening move kills a large fraction of humanity inside a week, which the show states plainly in its first minute and then spends 43 episodes making concrete in ruined cities and empty colonies.
Zeon's politics are the interesting part. It began with Zeon Zum Deikun's argument that people living in space had outgrown Earth, and by the time the shooting starts the Zabi family has taken that movement and turned it into a dynasty. Ordinary Zeon soldiers believe in the cause. The people running it mostly believe in themselves, and Tomino lets both things be true at once.
On screen it is the green army: Zakus by the dozen, ace pilots in custom colours, and a technological lead that lasts exactly as long as it takes the Federation to copy it. The name is Zeon in English and Jion in Japanese, and later series move it around again as the remnants keep fighting long after the state itself is gone.
Spelling ZEON
ZEON is four letters and the trap is the first one. Japanese ジオン reads Jion, with a J, and English material has used both spellings over the years. Otakana wants ZEON. After the Z it is two vowels and an N, which looks strange on the tiles until you see it whole, and nothing in it is doubled.