You need the full context first. This is the third act of a story that started in 2199, and skipping ahead means nothing lands. The payoff is real once you're caught up, though: watching Earth's government fracture over whether to trust an alien ally while the Yamato crew has already seen what happens when you don't. The final episodes rush to wrap everything, but by then you're too invested in whether these people survive the next war to care about pacing.

The Gamilan homeworld is dying fast, and Aberdt Desler must find his people somewhere new to live. He pretends to bow to the harsh rule of Galman, a world whose people closely resemble the Gamilans, while secretly planning to take power and speed up his nation's rescue. As the migration begins, an unknown force of enormous strength strikes the Gamilans and badly distorts Iscandar, the twin planet that is home to Queen Starsha. On Earth, the Yamato and its crew are celebrated as heroes. Fresh recruits join the battleship and two new support vessels, with Yuki Mori and Shirou Sanada in command, though some question the earlier choices of captain Susumu Kodai. During a six-month training cruise that includes diplomatic talks with the Gamilans, the crew learns of the disaster, and Kodai defies orders to take the fleet to Iscandar to help the survivors. A sequel to Space Battleship Yamato 2202, this eight-episode sci-fi action OVA was also shown in theaters as two films.