When I try to summarize my feelings on this silver fox into one word, the closest I come is “indifference”, but that alone is dishonest, because I do not feel indifferent or ambivalent on the topic of Merkatz. My disdain of him is so mild that I often forget he exists when he’s not on screen, and my admiration so tepid when I see how his subordinates love him.

I feel that he is under explored in the show, or rather, everyone around him largely ignores everything that he is.

The best thing about the FPA/Yang crew is that they are spurred by true beliefs and convictions about democracy and refusing to bend the knee to a dictator. I understand that Merkatz is an all around gain as an ally, but I do not see how people like Attenborough, Poplan, and Schenkopp could stand to be around someone as feckless as Merkatz.

I speak with a little bit of venom, but I’m also kind of impressed with how he doesn’t stand for anything, genuinely I am. Which is why it all just comes together is a tepid slurry for which “indifference” is the closest word.

Merkatz is a man whose found the rare way of being able to puff his chest out without a spine to support it. Truly a marvel.

When he “mourned” Farenheit, I was almost pissed. Almost because I would spare the anger for his hypocrisy if he was a man who actually believed in anything.

The irony is that for all the positive qualities Merkatz is praised for in and out of story, I think more than anything he is painfully vain. Vanity bleeds through everything he does, because he would rather never bend his knee than actually believe in anything.

He talks the talk of Imperial admirals for whom loyalty and living by a code is the oxygen they breathe, but he has none of the convictions or beliefs. He’s hollow, just talking the talk without knowing why people walk the walk. Or he knows and cares not for it is more important for him to "stand tall" than to care what he actually stands for.

>!As per another thread I just watched E082 for the first time and now it's all come together. It is indicative of LOGH's incredibly masterful storytelling how they have been telegraphing this in absolutely plain view since episode 1 and I never even imagined it. What do I mean by this? The ending credits in every episode very clearly indicated SOMETHING was going to happen with Julian. But you never have quite enough information to intuit exactly what it's going to be.!<

>!In fact, my (wrong) guess prior to E082 was actually that Julian was going to defect in some way. You see him interacting with Reinhard in season 1; you see him seeming to take his own path in season 2; and reflecting upon his past with Yang and the others in season 3. I thought he somehow decided to turn against Yang at some point, and that season 3 in particular was him in some way preparing for a confrontation through facing his memories. Oh, how wrong I was. !<

>!And now I see it's shown in absolutely plain view. They showed all their cards, they hid nothing, and I still couldn't even imagine what was coming. And that was that this has never been Yang Wen-li's story: this is Julian's story.!<

>!A trick worthy of Miracle Yang himself. What an amazing show.!<

>!wat!<

The hard-coded subtitles for Central Anime's translation of the 1988 OVA changed the semantics behind Oberstein's classic quote about dogs and cats in Episode 60 of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, "The Magician is Arrested." The original Japanese line is syntactically symmetrical, and it is better represented by the first two English translations below:

ORIGINAL JAPANESE KANJI: "犬には犬の餌、猫には猫の餌が必要なものだ。"

LITERAL ENGLISH: "For dogs, dog food, and for cats, cat food is a necessary thing."

FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH: "Dogs need dog food, and cats need cat food."

CENTRAL ANIME TRANSLATION: "Dogs eat dog food. As for cats, one has to feed them cat food."

Central Anime's translation breaks the symmetry of the original Japanese by adding an active actor in the mix of feeding the cat, while neglecting to do the same for the dog. I saw a Reddit comment from five years ago where someone relied on this faulty translation to argue that cats are akin to cautious commanders who must be prompted to go out, while dogs are easily swayed into "eating food."

Another very interesting bit of context that is lost in the translation is the meaning behind the kanji 餌. While it is translated as "food" in English, it carries an animal-feed/bait/enticement connotation that the neutral English word "food" doesn't necessarily reproduce. Of course, animal feed is the closest analog here, but the double meaning for bait is fascinating given the context.)

In this case, you could imagine Oberstein's quote as a metaphor for different people requiring different incentives to fulfill their particular purposes. This makes sense given the broader context of how Oberstein manipulates Lennenkampf to get Yang Wenli executed.

Opening:

During the 5th Battle of Iserlohn, Yang Wenli and Attenborough observe the battle from the ship’s bridge as Fleet Admiral Sithole commands. Thor’s Hammer fires, wiping out most of the FPA fleet. Sithole is shocked that the Empire would fire on their own ships and orders a retreat, while Yang laments about the futility of war.

Middle:

On their way back to Capital Planet Heinessen, Yang and Admiral Greenhill discuss the history of FPA and the Alliance–Imperial War while playing chess. Greenhill argues the republic has become corrupt and that the emergence of Patriotic Knight Corp (PKC) is a sign of the demise of democracy.

On Heinessen, Poplin wakes up in a bed next to Eleanor, daughter of politician Job Trunicht. Poplin teases Eleanor about his father’s constant flip-flopping before departing the Trunicht mansion from a window. However, Trunicht notices the departing half-naked Poplin from a security camera.

Yang returns to his house in Heinessen, where his friend Cazerne is awaiting him. He observes how messy Yang’s house has become and suggests Yang adopt a war-orphan called Julian. Yang refuses, but the next day Julian knocks on the door, having been sent by Cazerne. After seeing the orphan in person, Yang agrees to adopt him.

In parliament, the leader of the Peace party, Senator Thorndyke, calls on the government to recognize PKC as a terrorist organization and threat to democracy. However, Defence Secretary Trunicht assures PKC will be investigated. After his speech, a member of his party, Congresswoman Jessica, shares her concerns for his safety and suggests that Trunicht is actually behind PKC, but is ignored. In the parliament parking lot, horrified Jessica witnesses Thorndyke dying from a car bombing.

Greenhill attends a secret meeting with other military leaders founding the Salvation movement, with the intention to overthrow the democratic government in order to purge its corruption. However, their meeting is interrupted by a bloody raid by PKC, and Greenhill is barely able to escape.

On the same day, Yang goes out to eat with his friend  Lapp and Lapp’s wife, Jessica. She laments that following the assassination of Thorndyke, members of the Peace Party are afraid of being assassinated, and many have forfeited their seats in the parliament. Remaining members have offered Jessica the leadership of the party. But Lapp urges her to reject the position to avoid the same fate as Thorndyke. The couple asks Yang’s opinion, and Yang encourages Jessica to take the position, arguing that democracy is worth dying for. Yang loudly declares PKC is a threat to democracy. The declaration upsets the overhearing Andrew Fork and Willem Holland. 

Outside the restaurant, they confront the group. During this, Fork remarks that Thorndyke deserves his death, prompting Jessica to slap him. In turn, Fork punches Jessica. Things escalate to a fist fight in which Yang and Lapp are victorious.

On his way back to his home, Yang witnesses PKC beating Poplin on a backstreet and intervenes, driving the PKC away. Before departing, PKC tells Poplin to stay away from Eleanor. Yang takes wounded Poplin to his home, where, to his surprise, Julian has cleaned the house. At the same time, Lapp and Jessica return home to find it in flames.

Cliffhanger:

On the morning, military police arrive to arrest Yang for hitting Vice-Admiral Holland.

Annerose is honestly the most annoying character in logh Reinhard spent his entire life trying to save her and doing everything for her yet she literally did nothing for him. She made Reinhard and Kircheis’ lives worse and caused them so much unnecessary shit. Reinhard built his entire life around protecting her while she barely did anything in return. Sometimes I wish Reinhard had been as cold hearted as his bitch sister and just forgotten about her.

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Von Schönkopf urges Yang to become a Cincinnatus after the civil war, but Yang rejects the offer, believing it would kill democracy.

Personally, I don't necessarily think Yang would be a good statesman. The story kinda echoes the idea that a good military leader wouldn't necessarily make a good ruler.

Yang might have the support to stay in power and the competency to fix FPA's problems, but I don't think Yang has the needed ruthlessness to govern effectively.