Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - part 4

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - Intrigue (銀河英雄伝説 DIE NEUE THESE 策謀) is the fourth 12 episode season of the remake based on the novel series Legend of the Galactic Heroes by Tanaka Yoshiki.  The series was originally released as three movies over the Fall of 2022.

    Things seem to be stable in the galaxy as the Alliance and the Empire have drawn to an uneasy truce.  Yang and his loyalists are holed up in Iserlohn.  Reinhard has solidified his rule over the Empire with just a few minor details to iron out.  He is not content though, he views the continued existence of the Federation as a thorn in the side of his ambitions.  He renews his efforts to unify the Empire once and for all.  With Iserlohn under the control of his nemesis, it would be a waste of manpower and resources to pointless throw them against the fortress.  Instead he needs to think outside of the box.  The only other viable route into Federation space is through the neutral Fezzan.  Luckily for Reinhard ambitions, one lof the enclaves authority figures, Rubinsky, is more than willing to make a deal to further his own wealth and prestige.

    The Fezzan plans are a bit more complicated than just agreeing to allow Imperial warships into its territory.  A plan is hatched with disaffected members of the aristocracy to kidnap the current Emperor, 7 year old Joseph the Second.  The plan succeeds and the young Emperor is taken out of the reach of Reinhard and deposited in the capital of the Free Planets.  There one of the exiled nobles makes an announcement with the Free Planets president, talking about how he and a group of other exiled nobles have formed a government in exile.  They announce that the Alliance has recognized this government in exile and have partnered with it to oppose Reinhard and his authoritarianism.  This doesn't bode well for either of them as the Empire in exile has no actual authority of way to enforce their existence.  The backing of the Alliance causes social unrest and conflict, weakening its position as well.

    All of this instability and uncertainty is part of Reinhards plan, as his cooperation with Rubinsky in allowing the young Emperor to be kidnapped and escape was a tool to create weakness in the Alliance as he plans to launch his invasion.  Yang sees right through the plan, and warns his allies in the capital that the Empire will more than likely punch through Fezzan to invade this time, instead of wasting their time with the impenetrable fortress he commands.   But his warnings fall on deaf ears, as people in power feel they understand the situation and tactics better.  They stick to the ideals that Fezzan will never sacrifice its independence and access to wealth and prosperity willingly.  Unknown to them, that is exactly what is happening.  Unfortunately for Rubinsky, he seems to underestimate how much the under the table negotiations will remain in his favor.

    In response to the declaration of the exile government, Reinhard makes an address calling this an act of war and aggression, rallying the people to the cause of returning the Emperor to his home and punishing those that kidnapped him and support his displacement.  A massive mobilization is enacted, seeking to build a force of 100 million soldiers.  He knows, in order for his diversion to work, he will need to make the force attacking Iserlohn large enough to be convincing.  This requires him to have that force be larger than the previous one that failed.  In order to make the sneak attack work, he will need an even greater force at Fezzan.  Thus his plan unfolds and Yang finds himself stuck in a position where he has no hope of affecting the outcome of this new attempt at invading the Alliance.  Reinhard appears to be in position to win this drawn out rivalry and bring his goals of revenge into its final stage.

As with the other seasons, this one is available on Crunchyroll but currently only subtitled in English  There is no word yet on a fifth series to continue to story and we are left as the precipice of this assault.