And just like that, Code Geass seesaws back to global warfare from the fantasy geass plot, leaving unanswered questions lingering in the air, seemingly for suspense purposes, but in my case serves only to annoy. It’s like being served a gourmet double chocolate cake only to have it snatched away when you’re halfway through it and given a filet mignon steak in its lieu, individually succulent, but try to eat them in alternation and you end up with a terribly awkward meal.

The absence of the emperor in the first half of this episode gave Lulu the false sense of security he needed to finish his preparations for all out war on Britannia, which I personally find weird. Lulu was suddenly transported into that alternate realm and just as suddenly transported out of it, and he had no knowledge as to the advanced workings of geass, the true meaning behind contractors, etc. Why would he automatically assume that Charles, who was infinitely more knowledgeable about the complexities of geass, would be stuck there? Lulu was careless, while I understand that he wanted to take advantage of the window it bought him, his blind belief that he had taken care of the emperor permanently came back to bite him later, as minor an inconvenience it was at that point, just wasn’t like Lulu to let his guard down like that.

As for C.C.’s amnesia, what a load of crap. I hate when the amnesia card is played without due cause, of which certainly isn’t apparent in this case. Amnesia is one of the laziest plot devices in story telling, its overuse has completely diminished any sense of shock or drama that its intended to create. Sunrise did this either because they actually thought that amnesia would be an effective drama creation tool or they realize that C.C.’s popularity is immense and they can milk it even more if they show her cute and vulnerable side, however they built her character such that doing so by conventional means would be impossible and thus have to resort to a personality reset. Either way, stupid lazy writing. A final alternative is that C.C. is for some reason faking the amnesia, the explanation for which will be a complete deus ex machina that no one could have possibly seen coming, at which point I will never watch another Sunrise show ever again.

Anya continues to interest me as little bits of her are revealed through her nonchalant nature. She mentions to Suzaku that she has a diary of memories from nine years ago, none of which correspond to her actual memories, suggesting that Charles geass’d her ass. Her past is something that I want unraveled asap, she comes off as such a minor character, but the hints at her affiliation with Lulu are curious, even more so since Lulu himself doesn’t remember her.

Nina is still alive, which saddens me, I figured Schneizel would of her as soon as she was done making her nuke, Freya, which obliterates all matter within its blast radius (a preposterous concept, as matter can NEVER be destroyed, only transformed into energy). Upon Nina’s suggestion, the bomb is loaded up on Lancelot, a convenient selection for the racist bitch, since should it be used it will simultaneously eliminate Zero and Suzaku, which Nina undoubtedly despises for his position despite being an eleven and the fact that he was unable to protect Euphie.

The stage for what I can only assume (but probably am wrong) is the final battle has at long last been set. Lulu has conscripted the aid of all non-Britannia affiliated countries and formed the UFN, the United Federation of Nations, complete bs naming as a “federation” is a political system in which power is divided amongst a central government and numerous subdivisions with a considerable degree of political autonomy, which isn’t the case as power lies solely in the hands of the OotBK, controlling both military force and political agenda.

Anyways, I digress, while the naming is stupid, the result is the final confrontation between Zero and Britannia’s forces, a 1v1 winner take all war. Furthermore, the battle is greatly simplified as the outcome depends solely on the UFN’s ability to capture Japan before their forces elsewhere are overpowered, as they so quaintly put it, the outcome of the war hinges on this decisive battle.

The battle commences and the strategies on both sides are quite simple. The UFN launches a diversionary frontal assault on Japan while the OotBK’s subs lie in wait to surprise buttsecks the capital. Meanwhile, Britannia does the only thing it can, fortify defenses of Japan while invading UFN territory, forcing the time frame of the Japan battle.

Again, I must note how much I’m disappointed in the battle mechanics of Code Geass. Formerly it was about efficient allocation of forces, flanking maneuvers, terrain knowledge, etc. This battle had great potential to be highly tactical, the UFN having to carefully balance the fight on two fronts, making sure that their mainland holds out long enough to conquer Japan while bring careful not to skimp out on the invasion force to the point where its too weak, likewise with Britannia, with vantage points swapped. Instead it all boils down to whose research and development team rolls out the more hax knightmare frames, might as well toss all the mass production units into the sea, that’s where they’ll end up anyway, seen any make it to shore lately? Case and point, the battles are nothing but dick waving competitions between Lakshata and Lloyd.

The confrontation between Lulu and Suzaku was executed quite well. As much as I rag on Suzaku, what with my track record of having at least one “Suzaku is a faggot” per CG post somewhere in the ninetieth percentile, I forget sometimes how much pain he’s been through due to Lulu’s actions. Where Suzaku stands out as a bastard for upholding his skewed morals and principles, Lulu is often equally as bad standing by his logic, reasoning and tendency to discount the importance of the lives of individuals. However, I still found myself hating Suzaku in this exchange as he couldn’t pick up on the fact that Lulu isn’t remorseless, that he does feel bad about the outcomes of many of his decisions, most notably the ones resulting in the deaths of Shirley and Euphie. As for the result of the exchange, that was to be expected, powerful figures like Zero and Knight of Seven are never far from surveillance’s eyes, especially given the peculiar relationship the two have displayed in their confrontations on the battlefield. Lulu obviously saw this coming, as he pre-geassed Guilford to use as an escape route.

Suzaku will likely uphold his promise to Lulu and protect Nunnally in the face of danger, even if that means betraying the emperor. Lulu, on the other hand, walked away from the temple with even less faith in humankind’s propensity to act on impulse and emotion than before, a greater cynic, if you can even fathom such a low level of belief in your fellow man. On the bright side, this means that his raw logic tactics will return more powerfully than ever, the result of which I can’t wait to see.

Speaking of hax tacticians, Schneizel seems pretty snug where he sits, having probed the final info card, knowledge of the geass, out of Suzaku. He claims to hold all the cards now, or at least enough to take down Lulu. Perhaps it’s too simple minded of me to think so, but I’d like to see the war pan out to mirror the game of chess the two played. While Schneizel offering his king to Lulu was illegal in terms of chess moves, the symbolism of it still stands, I want to see him do the same thing on the field of battle, only to have Lulu turn it down again but come out on top anyways with a plan that surprises even Schneizel. Cliche? Yes, but effective.

Lastly, a word on Waldstein, I don’t like this guy, he’s such a useless character. He’s essentially what Charles would be if you threw him into the cockpit of a Knightmare, which begs the question, why didn’t they just put Charles into the cockpit of a Knightmare?! Ignore how stupid that is tactically, sending the leader of the nation to the front lines, and you’ll see how badass that could have been. Instead we get this pretentious old fart who hates war on principle but it a breathing weapon of mass destruction, wielding an equally pretentiously named sword, Excalibur.

Obligatory Pizzabutt

Note: The lack of Kallen is purposeful, she’s just not as interesting when sitting in a cell dressed in a frilly dress.

Lastly, sorry for the laziness of this Vadigor, but here’s your Kure-nai review: It was awesome, finish it.

~ Shirukii ~