Why do all the defections in this struggle seem to go in one direction?

This wasn’t an especially interesting episode of AGE, not as compared to the last few anyway.   With Kio’s new non-violent violence strategy established, this one was mostly about setting the pieces in place for the next phase of the story.  It’s actually surprising how little things seemed to advance in hindsight, but we did at least get the long-awaited reunion of Asemu on Zaeheart on the battlefield.  Joining Zaeheart is Fram – in a sort of mahou shoujo mobile suit – who’s apparently decided her brother was right in dying for dreamy Zaeheart and has fully raised all of her own death flags in the process.  She ends up as a dance partner with Kio, while Asemu and Zaeheart resume their stormy bromance.

But there’s a new player, once we caught just a glimpse of last week – Girard Spriggan (Yuzuki Ryouka), who, in addition to being a woman with a man’s name, is also a defector from the Earth Federation.  Her arrival on the battlefield muddies things up a bit, and I suspect will lure Flit off the Diva and into battle himself.  I suppose the main question now is who dies first – Spriggan or Fram?  Which flags trump the others?  More than likely we’ll have our answer next week, an episode titled “Girard Spriggan” – interesting that what appears to be a side character is getting so much attention this late in the game.