Gavroche's Wish

Gavroche's Wish is the 43rd episode of the series. In it, Gavroche's eagerness to help at the barricade comes with severe consequences, as he is shot while retrieving ammunition for The Friends of the ABC from the bodies of National Guardsmen. Afterwards, both Cosette and Chou Chou find him, and rush to find a doctor.

Synopsis
The episode picks up where the previous one left off--the National Guard has arrived, equipped with a cannon, heavily damaging the barricade in a single blast. As Jean Valjean is about to tend to a wounded student in the Corinthe, he finds Javert tied to a nearby pole. Meanwhile, outside, during a lull in activity, Enjolras aims his gun at two nearby soldiers tending to the cannon and is about to pull the trigger when Combeferre stops him and notes that the soldiers are about the same age as them, and if they are students, they could be their comrades fighting for families and loved ones. Enjolras replies that he knows this, but that he still must shoot, since if the bombardment were to continue, the barricade would collapse. Once again, he prepares himself to shoot, tears in his eyes, despite Combeferre's protests, only for a bullet to strike off the hat of one of the soldiers, coming from Valjean's pistol. Valjean requests for Enjolras's gun, which he receives, and shoots off the hats of two more soldiers. One of the three soldiers, an Artillery Master, orders a fall back, and the three rush away. Valjean hands back Enjolras his gun, stating that there is no need to unnecessarily take lives, to which Enjolras agrees. Noting that they do not have much time left until the next attack, Valjean orders for the students to continue to repair the barricade and collect supplies.

The army then begin shooting, hoping to distract the students from repairing the barricade. Bahorel is shot, but is alright. In between the barricade and army, a large cart stands, which Valjean hopes to use as material for the barricade. The students provide cover fire as Valjean uses his incredible strength to pull the cart over to the barricade, much to the awe of both the students and National Guard. With the help of Laigle and two other students, Valjean successfully sets up the cart to cover up a large damaged patch of the barricade, and the army stop shooting, deciding to wait until preparations for the cannon are complete. As Valjean goes inside the Corinthe to find more barricade materials, Marius, Enjolras, and Courfeyac marvel at the mysterious nature of Valjean. Gavroche soon snaps them back into focus, urging them to work on fortifying the barricade more. Marius stops him; both he and Enjolras praise him for his work, and urge him to leave the barricade immediately. Gavroche rebuffs, stating he's had just as much experience seeing those suffering as the students have, and gets back to work.

Inside the Corinthe, as Valjean collects items for the barricade, Javert asks him of his intentions coming to the barricade, and Valjean replies that he has none, that he just wants to help as many people as he can here. Javert states that he doesn't believe him, while Valjean replies that he doesn't mind this, and leaves, as Javert can only look on at the man he cannot arrest at the moment. Meanwhile, Valjean considers the presence of Javert as a sign that he may have to return to his former self.

The next morning, while Toussaint is cooking in the kitchen, Cosette sneaks out of the house and apologizes to her, but promises to be back in a bit. She makes her way to the Saint-Jacques church and asks the priest if her father had made his way to the church, to which the priest replies no, but knowing Valjean, he will return safely. The duo then discuss the situation going on, including the number of barricades erected in the city; during this, Cosette learns that there are only two barricades left, and the locations of the two. She then leaves the church and moves onward. Meanwhile, back at the barricade, the next assault is about to begin. As Cosette dashes around the alleys of Paris, she turns a corner and come upon two locals facing off against two National Guardsmen, blocking off the entrance to a bridge. The guardsmen order the students away, threatening to shoot them should they disobey. The two men take the warning and walk off, and Cosette takes a detour after witnessing the scene. Back at the barricade, Gavroche's requests for a gun are ignored as the students make their way up the barricade and begin firing. Eventually, their ammunition supply begins to run low, and Gavroche spots a number of dead National Guard bodies sprawled ouy around the battlefield. With a sac at hand, he makes his way out of the barricade and quickly but carefully finds many ammunition bags around the battlefield. Marius soon notices Gavroche in the thick of the battle, and orders the Friends to stop firing. Despite the Friends orders for him to return, Gavroche refuses, and continues to collect more bags of ammunition. As he continues, he thinks that with having this ammunition, the revolution will succeed, and Pressoir and Jurgescan be saved, as well as Cosette from back in her childhood. With Cosette being brought up, Gavroche wonders how she is, and remarks how he hasn't seen her in Paris. He then begins to sing Cosette's lullaby while crawling towards the National Guard's side of the battlefield, during which the Friends continue to urge him back to safety. The guardsmen take notice of a shadowed Gavroche making his way towards them, thinking it is a sneak attack, and continue firing. The Friends plead with the army to stop firing, while Gavroche dodges the bullets, starting to make his way back to the barricade. As he crawls his way back, he continues to sing the lullaby, and desperate to get Gavroche to safety, Prouvaire and Marius make their way to the front of the barricade to collect Gavroche and the ammunition he collected. Noticing Marius waving at him from the front of the barricade, Gavroche stands and throws his bag of ammunition, during which he gets shot in the shoulder, and after a brief pause, slumps to the ground, much to the Friends' horror. At the Luxemborg Gardens, sensing something wrong, Chou Chou stands and howls, waking up Pressoir and Jurges before quickly heading off, much to the boys' confusion. Back at the barricade, Marius is desperate to retrieve Gavroche, but Prouvaire holds him back. Suddenly, Chou Chou arrives at the battlefield and inspects a supposedly dead Gavroche. As a National Guardsman takes aim at Chou Chou, he growls, causing the guardsman to lower his gun, and both sides watch the scene in awe as Chou Chou takes Gavroche by the collar and drags him in the direction of the barricade.

Meanwhile, scaling her way down a narrow alley, Cosette takes a shortcut to get closer to the Rue de la Chanvrerie. Once out, she hears the sound of a dog barking, and makes her way to the source of the sound. Eventually, she finds Chou Chou, and is overjoyed until she sees Gavroche's body under the dog. She turns Gavroche over and shouts his name multiple times in anguish until finally he comes to, thinking Cosette is an angel, and that he is in heaven. Relieved, Cosette hugs Gavroche, and informs Chou Chou that they need to reach a doctor. Back at the barricade, there is a lull in activity after the recent dramatic event as the smoke of the gunfire continues to cloud the battlefield.

Trivia

 * Goof: When Gavroche is shot, it looks as if he is shot in the right shoulder, based on how his body jerks on impact, however, when Cosette finds the unconscious Gavroche next to Chou Chou, his left shoulder is bleeding
 * The scene where Cosette discovers a [presumably dead] Gavroche and worridly shouts his name reflects a lighter variation from the third episode, which involves the two happily running around the countryside outside Montfermeil, only for Gavroche to fall over on his face. Worried, Cosette shouts Gavroche's name, and laughing, he gets up, much to Cosette's relief

Quotes
"Don't look down on me because I'm a child! I know many of the people in this society like you students do. Children who were separated from their parents shivering under the cold skies; a child who was bullied after she was left in the care of others; I have seen many of them. You guys said that a revolution means to stand up for the weak. I will stand up as well! I am quite strong, you know!"- Gavroche to Enjolras, Marius, and Courfeyac about participating in the revolution

"Jean Valjean. What intentions do you have allying with the advocates of republicanism against the government?" "I have no intentions. I just want to save as many people as I can here." "I don't believe you." "I don't mind if you don't believe me."- Javert and Valjean having a brief confrontation about Valjean's intentions at the barricade

"I came to this barricade for the sake of the young man who Cosette has taken a liking to. But, I never knew I'd meet Javert here... This could be a sign from God... It may be a sign that I have to return to my former self, as Jean Valjean... in order to accomplish my duty to protect Cosette."- Valjean to himself about the presence of Javert at the barricade

"If we have heaps of ammunition, the revolution will be able to succeed. Then Jurges and Pressoir will be saved! Cosette would have been saved back then! Cosette... I wonder how she is doing... I thought she was in Paris but I didn't meet her at all."- Gavroche to himself when collecting ammunition at the battlefield

Differences from the Novel

 * In the novel, Gavroche is shot dead by the National Guard, while in the Anime, he survives being shot