SYNOPSIS

The Gram Zan comes out of Null Space above the planet Logo Dau. The two commanders, Gije and Damido, plan to study the life on the planet before they continue their search for the Ide. However, their companion Lady Karala Ajiba (daughter of their superior, Supreme Commander Doba) heads down to the planet in a Kopola jet. Damido dispatches two similar craft to follow her. When Karala lands, she and her maid Mayaya set off in a pair of Gadakka mecha. They come across an archaeological dig almost immediately. Also heading towards the same site are three humans - Cosmo, Deck and Kasha. However, the site is attacked by the nervy pilots sent to follow Karala. The humans know the planet as Solo, and as news of the attack reaches the planet's sole city, New Lopia, the military is mobilised and everyone is evacuated to a second excavation site. Gije prepares to lead a larger force down to protect Karala, while Kasha wonders if the Ideon ruins at the site have anything to do with the attack. The three kids head towards the trucks made by the Sixth Civilisation that has been discovered at the dig. Meanwhile, Karala and Mayaya are watching the battle. Bes, one of the Solo soldiers, has fascinated Karala. Cosmo, Deck, Kasha, Bes and Sheryl (a scientist from the archaeological site) all climb aboard the excavated trucks, which begin to move.

The Gauges in the cockpits light up, and the three vehicles combine to form a massive robot. Sheryl recognises it as the Giant God mentioned in Sixth Civilisation artefacts - the Buff Clan recognise it by the same title. Cosmo begins controlling the robot, fighting back against the invaders. By now Gije is attacking New Lopia, but Bes orders the Ideon moved to defend the second excavation site. Karala, having fled the first site, is picked up by a truck of evacuees and taken to the second. The site contains a buried spaceship, where Karala is reunited with Mayaya. Gije's Dekka Bau fighters attack, but are driven off by the Ideon. Damido tries a hook attack with his Gil Bau squadron, but is killed by missiles from the robot. Meanwhile, the ship at the second site has come alive, and rises up through the ground. The Ideon docks with the ship, which then enters DS drive and escapes from Solo. The colonists begin to start exploring the mysterious vessel.

They discover Karala and Mayaya, but keep them alive for questioning. The pair are locked in cages on a storage deck, and hope that Gije is following their transmitter with a plan to rescue them. Instead it is Karala's sister, Harulu, and Doku who pick up the signal, and they send a unit led by Daram to attack the colonists. Meanwhile, Bes tells the assembled crew what they've discovered from their prisoners - the Buff Clan came to Solo looking for an infinite source of energy called the Ide. They set course for the nearest Earth outpost, Brazillier. In the hold, Mayaya is shot dead by a mysterious assassin. Moera and Tekuno take Karala up for interrogation, when she's fired upon again. Lotta is the one trying to kill her, but the other colonists confront her. Lotta blames Karala for the destruction of New Lopia and the colonists' situation. Karala tells Lotta to shoot her, but all the bullets miss. Lotta collapses in tears, her sadness overcoming her hatred.

The colonists discover an Ideon Gun onboard the ship, and Sheryl and Joliver, the head engineer, try to figure out how it works. They quiz Karala on the Ide, and she tells them of a Buff Clan legend - a long time ago, the Queen of the Buff Clan was imprisoned by a monster. The monster was defeated by a hero, with the aid of the fruit of Ide. Since then they have been trying to find the Ide. They came to Solo because meteors striking Buff were tracked to the planet. Sheryl deduces the two races were summoned together to increase the Ide's power. However, Karala believes the Ide is trying to find out if humanity is good or evil - if they are good, it will be harnessed by them, if not it will wipe them out. Sheryl requests permission to go to Earth and use the Gloria computer to analyse the Ide data, but Bes refuses on the grounds they might lead the Buff Clan to their home world. As they stop the DS drive, Harulu arrives in the Dorowa Zan. Sheryl kidnaps Karala and takes her onboard a Karioka shuttle, planning to go to Earth anyway. Unable to raise anyone onboard the shuttle, Bes sends the Ideon units after it. The shuttle plays into the lands of the following Doku, whose force easily capture it. Sheryl tries telling them Karala is onboard, but Harulu orders Doku to ignore this. He takes the Karioka hostage, and Harulu speaks to Karala, who tells her a true Ajiba woman would have committed suicide rather than live among aliens.

Doku contacts the Ideon pilots, proposing to release the hostages in exchange for the Ideon. Cosmo, Kasha and Moera meet up in space to try to work out what to do. Cosmo comes up with a plan - to send the units across one at a time, then throw their spacesuits overboard, fooling the Buff Clan into thinking they've left the ships. As the Ideo-Delta is delivered, Doku releases Karala and Sheryl, with the Karioka following after the other two machines are seemingly handed over. Cosmo's plan goes perfectly - Kasha is able to force the docking process and form Ideon, and they retake the robot from the Buff Clan soldiers onboard. However, once Doku cottons on the Ideon comes under heavy attack, with a Zigg Mack causing heavy damage. However, he's unable to land a finishing blow, and Cosmo destroys his Zigg Mack, killing him. When the Karioka returns to the Solo Ship, Karala takes full responsibility, saying she intended to go back to the Buff Clan. Cosmo realises something is up - he follows Sheryl, who admits the runaways made Karala carry the blame, and Karala agreed, believing them to be more important to the colonists than her. Karala is imprisoned for her 'escape attempt'.

Having seen Doku's defeat, Harulu contacts her father Doba and requests he sets out with the main fleet to help destroy the Solo Ship. However, a fluke of Null Space means her ship meets with the Solo Ship in the Null Space corridor. The Solo Ship attacks the Dorowa Zan, while Harulu receives a transmission from an unknown party warning her of the danger she's in. The voice, which she recognises, instructs her to leave Null Space at a certain position. The Solo Ship overhears the transmission, and follows her into normal space. It emerges directly below the Dorowa Zan, and brief stalemate develops, neither side willing to make the first move and expose themselves. Harulu breaks this by ordering her troops to board the Solo Ship, and hand-to-hand fighting ensues. The Gauge allows Ideon to be reformed, and Cosmo directly attacks the Dorowa Zan. The boarding party heads back to defend their ship, allowing the Solo Ship to pull away to a safe distance. The Dorowa Zan is soon destroyed, but Harulu escapes in a life pod. Cosmo tries to give chase, but the Ideon is struck by a passing attack from a Ganga Lubu mecha, and he is injured by gunfire. Harulu meets her saviour on a nearby moon - as she suspected, it is Daram Zuba, with a unit that includes Gije. He lends her a shuttle to head back to Doba's fleet, and takes over the tracking of the Solo Ship.

Cosmo needs a blood transfusion, and it turns out Karala is the only person on board who has a matching type - despite apparently being from a different species. She also shows Bes the location of Buff - Solo is located exactly between her planet and Earth. During the transfusion, Cosmo has a vision where he is visited by the Ideon, which tells him it needs them to help protect itself. Cosmo objects to it viewing the colonists as sacrifices. The Solo Ship heads to Earth but is refused permission to land, instead being diverted to the moon. The colonists notice that, like Buff, Earth is being struck by regular meteorites. While the Solo Ship restocks at the moon, Ashura, Fard and Lou all get onboard the Ideo-Delta. Meanwhile, the Buff Clan begin a large assault on the moon, led by Daram and Gije. The Ideon launches in response, unaware the kids are onboard, while Sheryl and Joliver head down to the moon to use the computer Gloria in the chaos.

Above the planet, Cosmo discovers the children and makes them as safe as possible, but Moera is killed when an Adigo breaks through the barrier and starts a fire in the Ideo-Nova cockpit. Gije then takes in the Baram Burame, and envelops the Ideon in a Gel barrier, attacking the crew's minds. Down on the moon, the Gloria computer confirms that the Ide is indeed infinitely powerful, but Joliver and Sheryl are chased out of the base by security guards. They are separated by an explosion, and Joliver is unable to find Sheryl. Meanwhile, the Ideon Gauge reacts to Lou's distress, and giant beams of light - the Ideon Swords - spring from the robot's wrists, destroying the Baram Burame. Gije escapes to the moon's surface, but Cosmo turns the new weapon on Daram's ship, destroying it and leaving Gije abandoned. He finds the unconscious Sheryl, and heads towards the Solo Ship. The colonists give Moera a funeral while Gije sneaks onboard with Sheryl. When she comes round, he tells her he wishes to know more of the Ide.

Sheryl tells the rest of the colonists that the Ide's power is limitless, and could wipe out the universe. Joliver explains that the Solo Ship and Ideon both act as channels for the Ide, which is responding to the self-defence instinct of the colonists, especially Lou. Karala postulates that this instinct could stretch to the independent Ide itself, leading it to wipe out other life if it felt threatened. Gije arrives on the bridge, stating his belief that babies like Lou are all that's prevented the Ide from wiping them out so far. He apologises to the colonists for his past actions, and begs to be given the chance to learn more about the Ide. He is accepted, as the colonists feel the Ide may be watching their actions, and that accepting him may show their good will. As the Solo Ship moves away from Earth, another meteor streaks towards the planet.

Notes & Review