This was supposed to guard against spoilers but…o.o

Sorry for the delay:  I’m sure most of you have already visited other blogs that covered this, and have probably RAGED from 4chan and back over the whole “CODEGEASSCODEGEASSCODEGEASSCODEGEASS” weekend.  Without further ado, I proudly present to you our last post for Code Geass R2.

Nunnally remarks that it’s been 8 years since the last time she was able to see his face and that it must be what the face of a murderer looks like while also saying that she must have a similar appearance. She admits to being the one responsible for firing the FLEIA warheads during the battle, and, if it’s to stop Lelouch, that she cannot hand over FLEIA or the Key to Damocles to him even if he uses Geass to do so.

Outside, Kallen and Suzaku have landed on Damocles to talk from their Knightmares. Kallen states that she misunderstood Suzaku, knowing that he probably had a vision of Japan’s freedom even if it wasn’t necessarily the same as hers or carried out through the same means. When Suzaku tells her that he and Lelouch are trying to accomplish something, Kallen retorts that he can’t be here if all they’re trying to do is accumulate power and that she will stop Lelouch. Suzaku won’t allow that; Guren and Lancelot open their Energy Wings and engage in battle. Meanwhile, Jeremiah and Anya engage in battle while Toudou tries to take off into battle again despite Chiba’s protests, as well as his injuries.

Back in Damocles, Nunnally states that Lelouch, who used the name of Zero to manipulate others, has no right to control the world. Lelouch argues that the life they were leading, one of running and hiding for fear of assassinations, isn’t one that should be preferred and claims that his actions were all for her sake; Nunnally counters that she never asked for such a thing and that she would’ve been if they had just been living together like they always have. The scenes than switch to a character with their own causes for fighting and their beliefs with each one being relevant to the others: Lelouch believes that it was necessary to rebel against the powers who control reality, Kallen fought as part of the resistance to fight those powers when she couldn’t join the system, Suzaku joined Britannia because he had no choice but to do so, Toudou refuses to acknowledge invaders by yielding to their power, Xing Ke continues to fight despite his illness in order to protect, Cornelia knows the current wars have lost their pride and aesthetics while Viletta and Ougi want their own place in it despite that, Nina did what she could in order to not make the same mistake. C.C. herself has watched the history of mankind being that of constant rebelling.

Anya manages to place a well-aimed shot at the Sutherland Sieg, whereupon it is engulfed in flames. However, the Sutherland ejects from the weapon system and is able to reach Mordred before it can raise its energy shields. It explodes as Jeremiah leaps into the damaged cockpit of the Mordred, telling Anya to carve into her memory the name of the man who made her taste defeat. Anya cries and tells him it’s pointless due to her own memories being fragmented. Jeremiah activates his Geass-Canceller to negate the Geass effects done by Charles to her, therefore knocking her out for the remainder of the battle.

Suzaku says that people will not play into the plan to make peace the way one would desire them to, while Kallen follows up by asking if he intends to force them to instead. With their Energy Wings destroyed, Guren’s Radiation Wave out of juice, as is Lancelot’s Energy Shields, the two continue to do battle in the same way they did back in Narita, before the advent of flight units. Although the Guren is a better unit according the specs, Suzaku’s Geass to live on enables his piloting skills to surpass Kallen’s and thus make it an even match. As the two climb Damocles, Guren lunges with the Raidation Wave hand closed into Lancelot. Lancelot launches its Slash Harkens to take the arm out, but it’s already been implanted into the chest area beforehand. As Kallen collapses and falls from Damocles, Gino is able to get Tristan to fly in time to catch. Gino quietly declares that Kallen won while Lancelot explodes. Having news of this, Kaguya captures C.C. and asks if she’ll beg for her life for Suzaku’s sake. C.C., however, only remarks how Kaguya, who only knew Lelouch’s face recently, was able to understand at least a part of Lelouch’s true nature and that she is a gentle person.

Nunnally denounces the use of Geass, calling it a vile instrument that bends man’s will. Lelouch, in turn, questions if Damocles is any different as it’s use forces people into subjugation through fear. Nunnally then unveils her plan: that under Damocles, people will come together to revile it, uniting them as one against the thing they all hate the most. Lelouch then settles to use Geass on her in order to retrieve the key; like Euphemia, Nunnally’s beliefs initially help her resist at first, but eventually she is overpowered and hands the key over to Lelouch. Lelouch tells her in her Geassed form that he can now walk his own path, seeing as how she has her own admirable ambitions. He tells her he loves her before taking the key, snapping Nunnally out of her Geass and waking up to an evil grinning Lelouch who begins to walk away. Nunnally follows but she cannot traverse down the stair and instead falls onto them as she curses Lelouch, calling him devious, vile, and a devil. With Schneizel bowing before him, Damocles in his hands, and the Kuro no Kishi-dan with no power left to rebel against him, Lelouch fires a FLEIA warhead whilst announcing his victory and commands the world to obey him.

TIME SKIP AGAIN LOLZ

2 months later, Lelouch has captured the all of the Kuro no Kishi-dan and an entourage will transport them to the execution grounds. Suzaku has died, but he has still succeeded in unifying the world under him. He’s lost face as the Emperor of Justice, and his tyranny is reported as good deeds by the media. The captured even includes those who surrendered to Xing Ke earlier (with Nina questioning why Lloyd and Rakshata argue with each other while Cecile only answers that it was a minor thing and it was an innocent starting point), but a small number of the resistance, which include Viletta and Cornelia, are watching from closed windows, waiting for the right moment to make an attack. Despite this, the parade stops and the Knightmares in front scan the road ahead of them. A black figure is seen in the background and is revealed none other to be…

Kallen looks in disbelief, knowing that Lelouch is right there. As she begins to realize what Lelouch’s plan was, Zero dashes straight towards the parade, dodging enemy fire and leaping over Jeremiah. As Lelouch pulls out a gun to protect himself, Zero disarms him with a swipe of his sword. As Zero prepares to lunge his sword…

After Damocles was apprehended, Lelouch hands over the mask of Zero to Suzaku, telling him to proceed with the promise to kill him. Lelouch’s takeover as a tyrannical Emperor was a ruse: by directing the hate of people towards a common enemy, the assassination of him will put an end to the chain of hatred. The Kuro no Kishi-dan still have the legend of Zero with them because Lelouch was never revealed as him and continues to be the symbol of freedom for the UFN. The world will then be able to unify under negotiation and not through militaristic means. In the world of C, both of them understood that people desire the future, and Lelouch smiles at the fact that wishes are the same as Geass: to seek assistance from others when your own power is not enough. Lelouch chooses to gamble on the Geass known as the people’s wishes. This was the plan known as Zero Requiem: the savior of the people, Zero, shall be the rescuer from the enemy of the people, Lelouch vi Britannia.

As Suzaku silently weeps, Lelouch states that Kururugi Suzaku will die as well; Suzaku will carry the burden as becoming Zero, forever behind the mask, forever sacrificing his own happiness for the happiness of the people. Through his tears, Suzaku accepts the conditions of this “Geass.” When the sword is withdrawn, Lelouch falls and slides down to where Nunnally is held captive. Lelouch lies smiling while Nunnally grasps his hand; through this, Nunnally realizes his intentions and cries as she declares her love for her brother. Lelouch’s last words mirror the ones he first said as the persona of Zero: that he is the one who destroys worlds; that he is the one who creates them.

Cornelia orders to her team that the hostages be released, Toudou ponders Zero’s identity but is interrupted by Kallen, who says through her own tears that it is merely Zero. Nunnally cries hysterically for Lelouch to open his eyes, that it’s unfair that she goes on through a future without him. Her cries however, are drowned by the people who chant Zero’s name…

An undisclosed amount of time later, Kallen is living with her mother in a smaller house in a Japanese-style town. No longer hiding her true persona, she fastens her hair the same way she put it during her days with the Kuro no Kishi-dan as she prepares to go to Ashford once again. Grabbing her bag, she stops to look at a bulletin board filled with pictures of her time at Ashford among others, particularly one of Lelouch. She silently smiles at it as her narrative muses that the world has become a much better place since the collapse of Lelouch’s Britannia: the energy spent on wars is now focused on reconstruction, Milly’s career as a reporter continues, covering the meeting with the successor of the Britannian Empire, Nunnally vi Britannia, and CEO of the Kuro no Kishi-dan, Ougi Kaname. Accompanied by Zero, the two shakes hands. Meanwhile, Tamaki has opened a bar and is watching the new coverage with a heavily pregnant and newlywed Viletta. Jeremiah and Anya now work in an orange plantation, and Damocles has been sent to the sun to be destroyed for good.

At the same time, C.C. has taken her belongings and is seen lying on the back of a hay wagon. Though Geass, the power of kings, is supposed to bring one solitude, she laughs and remarks that that isn’t quite true…

“Right, Lelouch?”

——–

When the episode drew into a close, I sat in my chair a few moments crying…it’s really too bad ALI PROJECT had to fuck it up with the same hateful ending song!  Where’s my COLORS or Mosaic Kakera!? >: 3

While you can still argue if the series ended up being a train wreck or not, I always like to be optimistic and think that R2 was overall good, certainly not as good as Season 1 was, but good nonetheless. Some say that the ending was a bit rushed, but I attribute that to them focusing on only one battle (Kallen and Suzaku) and the conversation between Lelouch and Nunnally. I would think the ending would feel more rushed if they didn’t devote half the episode towards the time skip if they hadn’t.

“This is good…isn’t it?” ;_;

Lelouch’s “death” scene did a very good job of making things sad, revealing bit by bit the true intention of Zero Requiem, and Hitomi’s “Continued Story” was simply beautiful. I say “death” with quotes because I’m one of the people that believe that Lelouch is alive. The ending provides enough evidence towards that being the case, including the infamous situation that Lelouch may have acquired Charles’ Code back in the Sword of Akasha, therefore being immortal; dying is merely the requirement of activating it, much like how Charles died by being Geassed to shoot himself. The flood of Lelouch’s memories could also be interpreted as a the transfer of memories to Nunnally, which is how she may have found out the truth. Jeremiah’s smile also can be taken into consideration: I don’t think he would want to kill one of the only two people eh wants to serve, and he can’t simply switch to guarding Nunnally since he is associated with Lelouch’s Britannia; therefore, it might be possible he might have known something. Along with the fact that C.C. addresses Lelouch in the same manner she does Marianne, and that Lelouch can’t match that exact situation due to his Geass not being the same, it’s possible that Lelouch survived his initial death and is the one driving the hay cart that C.C. is in the back of.

Of course, with anything, this is all wishful thinking, mainly from the people who refuse to believe in Lelouch’s death. Open-endings leave a lot to interpretation, and there’s usually no official word from the higher ups to help give us a clear interpretation of what actually happened; even now, there are still arguments whether Spike died at the end of Cowboy Bebop, or if it was Kazuma or Ryuho who won the final fight of s-cry-ed. And then there’s Eva…

But remember kids:  The Boss did it first.

Regardless, there’s more than one way to die as well: at the end of Zero Requiem, Lelouch will forever be remembered as a tyrant, not only hated by some Britannians for destroying the nobility, but hated by the world who he threatened through the destructive force of Damocles and enslaved it through his plan to unify it. Future generations will revile him as the last symbol of the old tyrannical Britannian, and no one will ever understand him, he who had sacrificed his life and status for the greater benefit of the world. The only ones who will ever know the truth are limited to a handful of people; I’m not even sure the people of the Kuro no Kishi-dan will know it besides Kallen and possibly Kaguya.

The same situation is blatantly explained with Suzaku as well. As said in the summary for Zero Requiem, Suzaku will never again be able to live under his name again, having died as a traitor who served as the Knight of Zero under Lelouch’s command. To serve the rest of his life as Zero seems to be a suitable fate, given all he’s done. From RAGEing over dead princesses, to drugging classmates, from moral fag to just plain fag, Suzaku’s come a long way in this series (and is it just me, or is it delightfully ironic that Suzaku’s situation ends the same it begins: by stabbing someone close to him? Wakka wakka wakka! ^^;). I shall miss his quadruple spin-kicks and roof dropping capabilities. Shine on, you crazy diamond!

The most emotionally hurt person definitely goes to Nunnally: while I certainly hated her change of character upon her return, along with claiming to know everything that’s been going on, her own plan to use Damocles as a symbol of hatred and a common enemy to unite the world was pretty well thought, with the only, but fatal, flaw being that it’s a system rather than a single person, and thus responsibility can be blamed on those who helped manufactured it, those who defended it, and those who used it respectively. To denounce her brother, whom she had loved most in the world, when he had appeared to be a power hungry tyrant must have been a painful blow, and she would feel even worse about it when she had learned her brother’s true intentions, and that he wasn’t the devil she had called him. Immediately telling Lelouch he loves him, and watching him die while she fruitlessly screams his name really made me a crying mess, and Nazuka Kaori handled acting very well (though, a little towards the end, her increasing screams kind of sounded painful; either it was exaggerated or it’s an actress’ excellent interpretation on how a girl would react upon losing her brother). Nunnally states twice that she would’ve been happy living out the same life she had with Lelouch back in Ashford, but I think like Schneizel that she was only really thinking of the present; Lelouch knew he couldn’t let her live a life like that, and that she had to live out in a better future even if he wouldn’t be there to watch it with her; and because Nunnally had her own set of ambitions to follow, it was enough for Lelouch to continue Zero Requiem the way he did, knowing that Nunnally would be alright.   Lelouch was right: now that it’s over, it can be the time to regret and shed tears for those who were lost, because they have that ime now.

Kallen’s talks through the battle with Suzaku, along with the other characters stating their beliefs and all, brought to my attention regarding the factions in Code Geass, and why there might have been so much switching around with who to favor and all: because there’s no wrong side here, each one is just following their own beliefs to achieve their goals, even though they may conflict with one another. An excellent way to wrap up the conflicting ideals of the various characters I would say (like anything, better than SEED Destiny). Despite the Koshimizu Ami interview giving me hope that something would’ve happened regarding Kallen and Lelouch in this episode, once again I am disappointed. It’s not a total loss though: Kallen becomes one of the very few people to understand Lelouch’s intentions to set himself up as the source of the world’s hatred, and is therefore able to forgive him and feel compassion for his assassination. Lelouch continues to be a strong presence in her heart, being the one picture she looks and somberly smiles at before she leaves for Ashford, and narrating to him what’s happened to him since them, her voice seemingly cracking a bit when she says that people aren’t imprisoned by the past and can move on toward the future, and jokes that he’s probably laughing at her for not realizing that it was part of his plan, signifying how well she knows him. It may even be logical to conclude that she, along with Nunnally, may have spread the truth of Lelouch’s sacrifice among the Kuro no Kishi-dan, along with Cornelia. I didn’t get my LelouchXKallen END, but I don’t think it was a complete let down despite the outcome of Zero Requiem (and hey, at least she didn’t end up with that douche bag Gino, amirite gaiz?).

And Pizza Butt?  Not much can be said…she was in on the plan as well, and disappears just as quickly as she appeared.  I’m actually a bit surprised that she only had a few lines this episode, despite being a much more important character rather than people like Viletta or Cornelia.  I guess that at this point, it was time for her to become the observer once again.  The biggest question is if she was really talking to Lelouch or not:  on one hand, the Code scenario, on the other, maybe she’s like Kallen and is addressing the dead man she once loved?  Mind-boggling!

To sum it up:  Lelouch died and everyone’s happy... What.  The.  Fuck. O.O

As for everyone else? Ougi and Viletta rush marriage as well, holy shit. Cornelia could’ve been informed by Nunnally of Lelouch’s deeds; this I hope. Guilford was never blind you guys, haven’t you seen Zeta Gundam?  The mystery behind “Pudding Earl” will never be unveiled (until the next Picture Drama ^^;) Xing Ke, despite his terminal illness never died (although, he’s not in that picture either…)! Even Tamaki is portrayed nobly for once! (and he finally gets that everyone hates him! ^^;) An Anya is fine, but where is my Orange-Meido END!? (and if she’s on the run with Orange-kun, why was she in the picture!?)

Rivalz, at least we’ll always love you.  ;_;

And finally: fucking Sunrise, why dangle this couple in our faces in 2 episodes, then punch us in the face for believing it?  Assholes…

Conclusion: It’s been a wild ride for Geass.  As I look back, I remember this being the alternate fix for Gundam I was looking for.  With anything that ends, one always wonders how one will live without looking forward to it anymore, but as always there’s something new on the horizon.  And I’m definitely going to enjoy watching Dub Geass R2 as I try to stomach the horrendous version of Shirley’s death, as well as Nunnally sounding as if she has a permenant case of asthma.  Of course, I’m always hopeful for anything to help bring closure to the series, maybe through the Picture Dramas, or perhaps even an OVA or movie, but the passage of time is cruel and waiting for something that may not come has never been my strong point.

lulz See you in R3!

As always, there were things that were never realized besides any coupled characters:  Lelouch’s Geass never got too powerful for his contacts as hinted by C.C., Clovis never came back, Schneizel knowing the truth was never put into play like Cornelia was,  there were no Knight of 2 or 4, Nonette appeared for all of 5 seconds, and Rai was never found sleeping in Kaminejima.  Also, what happened to Pollux, did he get nuked like everyone in Pendragon Palace did?  In fact, was Odysseus really in this episode, or did all of the other brothers (and sisters) from another mother die?  I guess we’ll never know (or it’s material for the OVA! Wakka wakka wakka!)

I’d like to thank everyone for dealing with the change in authors for AniAri.  I’d also especially like to thank Shirukii for letting me take over the posts for the series as well (and thus indirectly thank him for allowing me to join, again).  I hope everyone’s enjoyed my posts of the final 5 episodes (and also my application post for 18 as well ^^;).  Tune in next time for my first original coverage post next week (I’ll give you a hint, Pizza Hut supports the Fons o.o).  Until then…

 You’re gonna carry dat ass.jpg

 

JIBUN WO!