Thanks to a great cast and some of the best mobile suit designs ever, Gundam 00 is one of the most popular Gundam series of all time. The story follows Celestial Being, an organization devoted to shutting down war across the world.
Utilizing the Gundams, military equipment with better armor, weaponry, and mobility than anything any global military possesses, Celestial Being shuts down conflict across the world but are forced to confront what happens when the world pushes back against their idea of "forced pacifism." They’re also pulled into conflict with one another due to their own ties to the world, and how their history with war has affected them before they were able to become Gundam pilots.
10 "The Aim Of Evil Intents" – 9.0
Not long after the Throne siblings arrive, they start taking on operations that don’t quite fit the aim of what Celestial Being was representing up until that point. With that in mind, the rest of Celestial Being set about investigating, but the Thrones inflict plenty of damage in the meantime.
With the actions of the Gundam Throne group going more towards causing terrorism than stopping war, it leads Setsuna into battle against them, turning their new allies into enemies.
9 "Bonds" – 9.0
Continuing from the previous episode, Setsuna decides to match up in combat against the Gundam Throne trio and gets back up from the unlikeliest of sources in Tieria Erde. However, when Tieria tries to activate Gundam Nadleeh's Trial System to take down all of the Thrones at once, his suit is disabled, leading to a loss on their part.
But the bigger story in this is Lockon finally learning Setsuna was a member of the organization that killed his family before they both joined Celestial Being. This episode manages to both strengthen and test the connection between all the Gundam pilots, and they come out stronger for it.
8 "Path Of Destruction" – 9.0
Until this episode, the Gundam Meisters enjoyed incredible military superiority to the UN Army thanks to the power of the GN Drives. But after some GN Drives are found and inserted into some newly created mobile suits, the group finds their back against the wall.
Not only that, but one of their biggest enemies, Alejandro Corner, has found a way to hack into Veda and shut down all their mobile suits. The group manages to narrowly survive, but in a far more desperate situation than they’ve ever been in before.
7 "Endless Poem" – 9.2
Fresh off the biggest loss the team can imagine, the group begins to shatter as they cope with their team leader being taken out in battle. This episode puts Alejandro Corner onto the battle field in a big way with a massive mobile armor that aims directly for the Celestial Being’s home base. The group matches up against the remnants of the UN Army’s GN-X mobile suits, and find themselves suffering more losses until all they’re able to do is escape.
6 "Flower Of Life" – 9.2
In the end of season two, Celestial Being finds themselves dealing with multiple threats at once. Ribbons Almark emerges as one of the main villains by showing he’s capable of transferring his conscious into new bodies relying on the Veda computer.
At the same time, Lockon Stratos is locked in combat against the man responsible for killing his brother— and much like his brother, finds himself outmatched. But there’s a last minute turn-around when it’s revealed that Tieria has managed to live on within Veda’s core, after everyone believed he’d been destroyed with the Gundam Seravee.
5 "Beyond" – 9.2
The combat rages on with all the protagonists this episode. The only unfortunate part of this episode is Setsuna unlocking what’s essentially space magic with the power of the 00-Raiser’s Trans-Am system.
His power as an Innovator causes his two opponents to back out of the battle, and allows him to finally make a move on the Veda computer. There, he finally learns Aeolia Schenberg’s full plan from Tieria. Of course, Gundam is no stranger to space magic, what with the NewTypes and their variants in multiple different series.
4 "Allelujah Rescue Operation" – 9.3
Barely three episodes into season two, Celestial Being is beginning to reassemble itself. The group manages to track down Allelujah Haptism, who’s been captured by the Human Reform League once again.
They figure out a way to rescue him, and outfit him with his new mobile suit, the Gundam Arios. But more importantly, the show finally begins to tie up the plotline surrounding Allelujah: His relationship with Soma Peries, one of the people he grew up with when they were conducting experiments on him.
3 "Setsuna" – 9.4
In the last episode of the first season, Setsuna goes up against the enemy that’s been backing Celestial Being up against a wall: Alejandro Corner. Alejandro’s mobile armor is incredible, but even more dangerous is his Alvaaron, which pushes Setsuna to his absolute limit.
But the one weakness to every GN Field are Gundam Exia’s blades, which are able to cut through Alvaaron’s impressive GN field to defeat him. Despite this victory, Setsuna is also paired against Graham, a man driven to madness because of the actions of the Gundam Meisters.
2 "Rebirth" – 9.4
This episode is just very cool— there's no better way to describe it. It begins with a battle between Ribbons and Setsuna to decide the true Innovator. Both of them go at it, but eventually they’re forced to pilot the original Exia and 0 Gundam. This is one of the best fights in Gundam history.
Of course, much of this episode is epilogue, explaining where all the characters go once the story wraps up. It’s a strong ending for the series, giving every character a conclusion that makes sense for them.
1 "Stop The World" – 9.5
It’s unsurprising this is the highest rated episode, because so much happens in it all at once. Alejandro Corner realizes he’s not the big boss of the series, even if he is the boss of the season. Meanwhile, Celestial Being fights the GN-Xs and the remaining Throne forces, just narrowly surviving with the power of Trans-Am.
But what really pushes this over is Lockon doing battle with Ali al-Saachez, whose thirst for revenge leads to him losing his life, resulting in the first loss for Celestial Being’s cast, setting off a domino effect for the remainder of the show as the team operates without it’s leader.