A good ending to the series, and better than the previous two seasons. This season, though short, gets back to interesting questions of politics as Jinto is sent back to deal with his home planet of Martine, which has a significant rebellion led by Jinto's foster father. Because this takes place on his home planet, Jinto plays a major role, and Lafiel takes a back seat, reversing the dynamic of the second season (Banner of the Stars I), though the show spends an enjoyable amount of time showing them together in non-combat situations. The show is much improved over previous seasons because it focuseson the main characters and their friends and acquaintances, not becoming bogged down by meaningless banter between admirals, or going overboard into battle scenes.

The animation is much improved compared to previous seasons, and the opening credits have been mercifully cut by about a minute.

Overall rating: 8

***Spoilers***

P.S. A quick rebuttal to the review not recommending the show: I don't think the series invites us to see the Abh imperialism in only a positive light. The scene where the Abh commander commented on the stupidity of resistance was meant to show that commander as insensitive and ignorant, not to make us think that the rebels were fools. The series doesn't go out of its way to try to persuade the viewer that the Abh are good or evil, but lets us decide for ourselves. Personally, as imperialisms go, the Abh would have been one of the better ones. Though they are ruthless, they seem unconcerned about how planets deal with their affairs, as the final peace treaty shows. They are mainly interested in monopolizing space trade and travel, and since Martine seemed to be just a normal place like Earth and not a great spacefaring planet (as far as we know), Martine didn't really lose much by joining the Empire. If the Abh were going around committing genocide, plundering resources, and the like, it would be different. The other review also commented that it would be ridiculous if only a minority of people wanted to rebel, but when actually confronted with a destabilizing war against a much more powerful enemy that could destroy a nation (or planet in this case), few people are actually enthusiastic.