Episodes 17 and 18 make it pretty clear whether or not she knows about the Thrones. I won't say anything else about it until you've watched them.
As for drinking - I think you're half-right. One of the episodes (I don't remember which one off the top of my head) has her talking to someone else (Wang, I think) and mumbling how horrible it is that so many people will have to die in order for CB to complete its goal. If CB pulls off what it's aiming to do, then the casualty count is projected to be extremely high. And Sumeragi knows it. The second reason is that there was a mention early on that Sumeragi did the planning for a Union operation. While it wasn't actually stated, I think that there's a pretty good chance that the operation that she put together - whatever it was - went spectacularly and horribly wrong. The drinking is a way of assuaging the guilt that she feels for that, along with the deaths that she'll probably be responsible for as the tactician for the Gundam Meisters. junior Subject : RE: [gundam] Gundam 00 Episode 15 *spoilers* Date : Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:19:27 -0600 >From : "Reynolds, Jason M." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To : <[email protected]> Resurrecting an old thread... I just watched 15 and 16. I think Sumeragi did hint at the Thrones when Sumeragi mentioned that implementing Plan E2 (or whatever number it was) would draw out "that MS". At the time they cut immediately to the Tieren Taozi which makes you think that she was referring to Soma. But since she didn't know what was actually going on at the battlefield, as shown by how long it took them to send Virtue and Exia as backup, I don't think Soma was a pig part of her plans. And even if she was accounting for Soma there is no reason to believe that she would think ONLY a certain plan would draw Soma into the conflict. I think she was hesitant to implement Plan E2 because she knew it would bring the Thrones into the conflict. I think that it is possible that she is an alcoholic because she knows how deep CB's plan runs.
