Wow, What a great episode.

First things first, Freedom didn't explode. Beyond the fact that there is no evidence WHATSOEVER that it did (the taunhauser could EASILY account for that explosion), Freedom having gone nuclear would cause significant problems for the storyline. Namely, KIra (and likely Shinn) would be dead. Since we know they arne't, it obviously wasn't Freedom. MUCH more likely is that the AA recovers Freedoms wreck from underwater. This conveniently keeps Kira AWAY from the "How the hell did he survive" arguments.

There you go, an argument backed by both a few facts and by the needs of the story.

Next issue. I am a Kira fan. Swear to god.

And Kira just got outflown.

Shinn really was on his game here, and he pushed Impulse to its limits. Had it just been him and Kira, he still would have lost... but with Kira distracted, Shinn was able to capatalize on several distractions. Not to mention using several silouettes at once. That leaves me thinking, "Why doesn't he just have the freaking Sword/Blast flyers follow him around, acting as mobile weapon packs?" Now THAT would make Impulse a good Gundam in my opinion.

Thats my piece.

MeroTZ

Note: I based my evidence that the explosion was definately the Tanhauser based on something like Ockhams Razor, namely the simplest explanation is generally the right one. Since we know that the Tanhauser could account for the explosion, and since we know that the Tanhauser was fired,... well, knowing is simpler (and better) than being uncertain... and we are uncertain that the Freedom went nuclear. Therefore, the Tanhauser is the likely culprit.