CODE GEASS R2 - 09 June 8
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Summary:
Having arrived on the Chinese Hourai Island, the Black Knights are welcomed by Xingke and the eunuchs, and they start to settle in. The group has gotten a new shipment of Knightmares, and they also have a new warship, the Ikaruga, which uses the Gawain’s systems. Rakshata explains that the Shinkirou, a new Knightmare, also uses the Gawain’s systems since the Gawain was a mess when they pulled it out of the sea. As for the Siegfried that sank with the Gawain, Rakshata had searched for it but never found it. Diethard and Zero meanwhile put together an administrative unit, and though Kallen still isn’t sure if they can trust Diethard, Lelouch feels that it’s hard to get a man of his talent for information manipulation. Seeing Lelouch strategizing makes Kallen think that he’s okay again, though she then gets lost in thought and accidentally falls on top of him. While in this position, Lelouch asks Kallen if she’ll return to Ashford with him once this is all over, but he’s interrupted by C.C. who is looking for some Tabasco sauce for her pizza.
The three are then summoned by Kaguya to the Ikaruga because she has important news: the Chinese Empress is going to enter into a political marriage with Odysseus, the first prince of Britannia. Zero thinks of it as the worst case and suspects that there’s someone else behind this. At this very moment, Xingke is watching as Schneizel and Kanon arrive in the Chinese Federation, and he feels that the Empress is being sold off to Britannia. That night, a reception banquet is held for Odysseus and the young Empress, and two of those in attendance are Suzaku and Cecile. When Suzaku wonders if the Empress consents, Cecile notes that they can only believe what the other side says and that this is part of the road to peace. Gino and Anya are here as well, as are Lloyd and his fiancée Milly. What gets everyone talking though is the arrival of Schneizel with Nina, and since Nina is nervous, Schneizel reminds her that Euphemia was always regal. The three Knight of Rounds have been directed by the Emperor to follow Schneizel while they’re here, and when Nina asks Suzaku if everyone at Ashford is well, he points her to Milly.
While this party is going on, Xingke’s aide Zhou Xianglin is explaining to him at an undisclosed location that a secret agreement has already been arranged between the eunuchs and Schneizel. According to her, the eunuchs are getting Britannian nobility titles in exchange for the marriage and ceding of territory. Xingke’s men want to put an end to the wedding, but Xianglin points out that a coup d’état here would lead to war with Britannia. As he considers the options, Xingke recalls how he had once been captured for showing mercy to a prisoner and how the Empress had spoken up for him. Sometime after that, Xingke had decided to enter a military academy, and when he told the Empress, she revealed that she wanted to go see the outside world too. Because of this, Xingke had vowed to take her outside some day and had pinky-swore on it with her. He is thus conflicted now between protecting her or letting the alliance for peace go forward. Back at the party, everyone is shocked when Kaguya suddenly shows up with Kallen and Zero, and seeing Schneizel confirms Lelouch’s suspicions that he was the one pulling the strings.
Unaware of what’s happening in the main room, Milly and Nina are out on a balcony, and Milly is glad to see that Nina is doing well. She offers advice if Nina ever needs it, but Nina reacts by saying that she hates superficial women. Nina remembers how Euphemia hadn’t run away and had risked her life to save her, and she doesn’t want to hear just sympathy from Milly. She then accuses Milly of always playing around and using Ashford as a shield if she is troubled, like she’s doing with the engagement to Lloyd. Nina also feels that Milly is always looking down on her, and she thinks that although Milly pretends to be like a parent or guardian, she’s soaked in hypocrisy. Nina finally demands that Milly acknowledge her, leaving Milly at a loss for words. Meanwhile, back in the main reception room, the young Empress learns that the eunuchs planned to give the Black Knights as a tribute to Britannia. Guards surround Zero, Kallen, and Kaguya, but Schneizel instead proposes a temporary stop to the fighting because today is a festive occasion.
Knowing that Zero might try something against Schneizel, Suzaku steps in between them, and Kaguya tries to diffuse the situation by asking Suzaku if he remembers her since she’s his cousin. She also reminds Suzaku that Zero had saved him once before and questions if Suzaku would carry out capital punishment for such a person. Zero then challenges Schneizel to a game of chess, and if he wins, he wants Schneizel to hand over Suzaku to Kaguya. He knows that as long as Suzaku isn’t around, he’s free to use his Geass power on everyone at the party. Schneizel’s condition, however, is that if he wins instead of Zero, then Zero has to remove his mask. Zero accepts, and so the two begin playing. The chess match is tough for even Lelouch, and he decides to make a play using his King, but Schneizel responds with his own King piece. The two get close to a threefold repetition, but instead of letting that happen, Schneizel moves his King forward to the space right in front of Zero’s King. Zero views taking this as surrender, but he can’t accept such a disgraceful move, so he moves his King back. Seeing this, Schneizel comments that the Emperor wouldn’t have hesitated to take the enemy King, and he feels that he now understands a little what kind of person Zero is.
Just as Lelouch is getting really pissed off at Schneizel, Nina attempts to attack him with a knife. When Suzaku holds her back from trying to avenge Euphemia, she questions why he’s doing so and reminds him that he was Euphemia’s knight. Realizing that she’s right, Suzaku loosens his grip on Nina enough for her to free herself, however Kallen then stops and disarms her. Nina thinks that Kallen should understand because she’s half-Britannian, but Kallen asserts that she’s Japanese, and this leads to Nina calling Kallen an Eleven and demanding her goddess Euphemia back. As Nina falls to the ground in tears, Suzaku concludes that she’s another tragedy that Zero caused. Lelouch, on the other hand, feels that he can’t turn back. With the incident over, Schneizel brings things to a close by asking Zero not to attend the ceremony tomorrow. Over at the main table, the young Empress realizes that after the marriage ceremony, she’ll be able to leave the palace, but it’ll be going to Britannia as a prisoner, and she won’t be able to come back.
The young Empress heads into the wedding ceremony the following day with this on her mind, and she’s shocked when Xingke suddenly bursts into the chapel to put a stop to everything. As he fights through the waves of guards, Xingke realizes that though he wishes for the starved people to be saved, he’s thinking about the Empress now. He doesn’t know if him doing this is in line with what she personally wants, and he thinks that she probably doesn’t remember what happened six years ago, but he had sworn to bring her to the outside world, and so that’s what he’s doing. To Xingke’s surprise, the Empress suddenly starts calling out to him and waving her pinking in the air, signaling to him that she does remember. Before he can reach her though, Zero suddenly appears beside her and thanks Xingke for making it easier for him to make his move. He points a gun to the Empress’ head to prevent Xingke from approaching, and though he goal was to stop the wedding like Xingke wanted, Zero intends to take the bride. Xingke calling him evil only causes Zero to start laughing evilly.
Meanwhile, in a desert somewhere, V.V. and Jeremiah are discussing Zero’s true goal, and V.V.’s made some arrangements for him. Jeremiah feels that as long as the adjustments are completed, then C.C. and Lelouch are no match as enemies, and he promises to do his utmost to live up to expectations.
Preview
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You know, it’s only been two weeks, but I really missed watching CODE GEASS. This series has a knack for filling its episodes with exciting moments, from the KallenXLelouch tease to Nina going crazy again to the crashing of the wedding. And I certainly didn’t expect to see Lelouch capture the Chinese Empress like that, though it makes sense now why Xingke was opposing Zero in the preview for episode 10 that aired last week. In any case, my gut reaction was that it’s kind of stupid for Zero to pull this kind of maneuver. He could theoretically have Xingke’s faction on his side if he hadn’t, and they could have worked together to take down the eunuchs and Britannia, but now he’s everyone’s enemy. I think part of this reaction stems from how much of the episode was spent portraying Xingke as a lolicon an honorable guy, and so Zero’s move alienates him and paints Zero as, well, evil.
They of course saved the best for last (or the fan favorite anyway) with Jeremiah’s reappearance. Him being with V.V. is as dangerous a combo as having him under Schneizel’s scientists, perhaps even more so since it appears that V.V. has told him everything and has improved him with a new mask and all. I thought Jeremiah’s appearance at the end of the first season bordered a bit too much on the fanservice side, and I hope that he’s better utilized as a character this time around. This end-of-episode cap, by the way, is too amusing not to mention.
Next week looks to be one big battle between the Black Knights, the Britannians, and Xingke’s faction. The preview indicates that the match-ups will be Kallen vs. Xingke (in his new Knightmare) and Toudou vs. Suzaku. Maybe we’ll get to see some of the new hardware that Rakshata was talking about too. I suspect Xingke won’t be finished off so easily, but I really have no idea how this’ll get resolved, so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.
dragon at 1:03 pm on June 13th, 2008
13 and 14 are those the names of episodes for season 2? i thought it was only listed until 12 love attack? is there a more complete list?
not sure what’ll happen with jerimiah but shortly i’ll throw this. he’ll probably fight zero and …idk c.c. as well. and almost win. except zero out smarts him with his geass command with i would assume still has effect.
i agree about cornelia. got to go! thunderstorm!!
dragon at 1:05 pm on June 13th, 2008
geass confusion? maybe, you wouldn’t know it though. ^_^ unless i wanted you too. :d
im about to be electrocuted by zeus. got to go. -_-
dragon at 1:06 pm on June 13th, 2008
crap… i forgot to say thanks shamaticgrl ^^
shadowblack at 1:21 pm on June 13th, 2008
Yep, those ep titles I mentioned are from AniDB. In ANN the titles are only to ep 13 (or were the last time I checked).
shamaticgrl at 2:17 pm on June 13th, 2008
Me on Geass? nonsense….unless…. i want a geass too T_T
dragon at 3:49 pm on June 13th, 2008
like lulu said to kallen, your heart is yours, you chose me, lol
anyways i was thinking what we think of as lulu’s power of ‘absolute obedience is not absolute by conventional means maybe by sheer force of will. the real weakness of the power of the king is not that lulu can use it only once on a person, but that it cannot control the power of the heart. thats why we saw euphi struggle before and then kallen who wanted to make sure she wasn’t following zero/lulu through force of will, but as lulu comfirmed through her heart.
which brings me to my next qeuestion. it was mentioned in episode 2 that lulu’s geass could become stronger than it currently is later at some point. my question is how?
L at 4:30 pm on June 13th, 2008
Think Power of the King refers to any Geass abilities in general, though it is much more applicable to Lelouch than anyone else (maybe his dad as well?). Absolute obedience refers to the inability of a person to refuse an order given by Lelouch. Euphemia probably came close, but she succumbed to it in the end, inevitably, as well. The weakness of the Power of the King is that the user cannot control it totally. Think Mao, and then Lelouch. That was what C.C. meant by possible consumption by the power. It was not a reference to real tangible weaknesses, but rather the dangers of using it on the user himself.
shamaticgrl at 6:07 pm on June 13th, 2008
@dragon
nice lol
I like to think of it both ways. If Lelouch geass does become stronger i like it to affect more than just once on a person.
L at 6:11 pm on June 13th, 2008
Hey dragon, I was reading your comments on the symbolism at the end of the ending sequence, and I thought you were very right about Suzaku. Kalessin raised a very good point about Cornelia as well.
From it, we could see that Zero, Kallen and C.C. are unequivocally dressed in black-themed costumes, whilst Cornelia, Euphemia, V.V. and Charles are their respective counterparts in white. If we are to follow through with all the symbolism, it pretty much follows that Cornelia should remain loyal to the Britannian empire, no matter what her fate or circumstance had evolved to be. Also, Suzaku, being dressed in black, whilst putting on a white outer coat as well as being attached to white wings, could symbolize his betrayal, or also the fact that he, a Japanese, is working for the Britannians. Black on the inside, white on the inside, if we take Black to mean Order of the Black Knights/Japan and White to mean Britannia. Large white wings could also mean his total inclination towards Britannia, or rather an emphasis of his betrayal. These are all points raised already.
I would like to add more, regarding Rollo, Nunnally and Gino. If you looked closer, Rollo was in white shirt with black trousers. He had a top half of white wings, and a bottom half of black wings. From what I see, the fluttering white feathers shows that his white wings are disintegrating. Following through on the symbolism again, it could mean his continually eroding loyalty to Britannia and a strengthening one towards Zero/Lelouch/OftBK.
Nunnally, meanwhile had nothing to show for it, i.e. no obvious inclination towards either side, a pretty just symbol of her character so far- she is obviously caught in between, as a pawn or side character or a motivation for Zero… simply with no tendency to sway to either side.
The most interesting one, but also the one I am most unsure about, is Gino. He was obviously dressed in black and green trousers, when he appeared with Anya. Anya was in white, with white wings, and I could not discern clearly from the pictures if Gino had white wings as well, or the latter belonged solely to Anya. If the second is the case, then it could virtually mean a betrayal of Britannia by Gino. This is not inconceivable, if you consider his hots for Kallen growing beyond reasonable proportions. Also, if you consider the traditional Arthurian legend, the knight Sir Tristan (also the name of Gino’s Knightmare Frame) was probably famous for his love affair with Iseult. While I would not read too much into that, it probably could signify how love is probably going to play a big part for his character.
Speaking of Arthurian legend, and I have spoken on this before, Sir Mordred is the epitome of betrayal. I would love for Anya to betrayal Britannia and join Zero. It wouldn’t hurt to have another loli by his side, would it? But I doubt that would happen. A last point is about the motivations of Anya and Gino. Why are they fighting for Britannia? It is not really specified. As in, for Gino, yes he is born a Britannian noble and what not, but that is not as strong a motivation as say Suzaku’s laughable wish of trying to change the superpower from within. Anya, meanwhile seems to be always blogging about her life- a very normal teenager if you ask me. They do not seem to suffer from any traumatising events like say Lelouch, Suzaku, Kallen or Cornelia. Or rather, not that we know of, at this point in time. Therefore their potential for switching sides is not zero.
shamaticgrl at 6:39 pm on June 13th, 2008
Dang it L beat me to it. I was about to comment on Rollo’s behalf after rewatching R2 ep 1 again. But you do have a good point on Gino. I would like to see him betray Britannia it’ll make the series even more enjoyable. And to answer your question on whether Gino has wings or not…he in fact does not have any.
interesting
shamaticgrl at 7:09 pm on June 13th, 2008
There was talk about who is Knight of one i’m not sure but i was told that if you watch R2 ep 2 around 19:19 the second guy to the right (the one standing with long purple hair) is Knight of one. His name is Bismarck Waldstein.
dragon at 9:24 pm on June 13th, 2008
i was watching episode 5, noticed arthur, the black cat with a white feather. if cats were to chase birds and birds have feathers. not sure if its possible to explain, but another symbolism? birds can have both white and black feathers… arthur also seems to bite suzaku even though he likes cats its another symbolism of the inner conflict suzaku faces!
<> his white shirt is completely torn to shreds. he is also wearing a thick and heavy black cloak lined with gold. he is completely black on the wings. my thoughts are that his torn white shirt represent his past, the black wings and cloak represent what he has become, the hold chain around his wrist, no he seems to be holding one end of the golden chain that overwhelms every other character shown right now to cc. the gold chain also represents the fact that lalouche is bound to the contract he made with cc. that fact that shes at the end of the sequence, in reality shes at the other end of the chain, a way of saying they are bound together as accomplices.
also what in the world is that golden trinket around lalouches finger? i’ll give a strawberry to anyone who figures that one out. ^^
nunally plays the role of innocence. though she always holds her brother with high marks. and also suzaku being that him and lalouche are friends. also she doesn’t have any wings and is not affected by the gold chains.
also with rolo, see the gold chain wrapped around his leg? rolo starts off on white side but becomes closer to lalouche and as a result is bound to zero because thats become part of who lalouche is.
>> just found another one!! ending sequence, rolo feels jealous of nunally. if you look he is also in nunally’s shadow. ^_^
hey at the next screenshot. you see cornelia watching over euphemia with the sword? but do you see the golden bird pirched on cornelia’s hand? what ever could that mean?
as far as gino goes, i like his character a whole lot. for being a knight of rounds he sure does represent a gentleness and kindness. i’m sure hes good at heart. he does have a black shirt and a black cape. one thing to note is that he does not have wings at all. if we were to assume to green ribbon on nunally suggested innocence, than can we assume it is the same for the green on gino’s cape as well?
just realised. the gold etchings on gino’s shirt and lalouche’s cloak might mean they’ve come from nobility/royalty. as much as i can see into gino, i would think his ideas of equality and peace and compassion are very different from that of charles. that alone makes him more likely to sympathize with lalouche. he also seems to lend some essence of humanity to suzaku. not sure how it will effect suzaku though.
>>> he seems to show an interest in kallen, but so also does anya. of course who knows what shes thinking. someone steal her blog! -:_^
not sure what to make of vv. and charles… except they’re both the ultimate enemy.
i love kallen….. god…. anyways her clothing seems to be ripped a little, maybe that stems from feeling a little betrayed by lalouche not trusting her, with his self as zero and about geass. wow. shes in love with him. ^_^ you see shes holding that black coat that zero covered her with while she has a grip on that golden chain, as if to say i’m hurt but i’m still holding on to my heart. the positioning and percieved movement of her black wings suggests that her feelings towards lalouche are growing and her drive to follow zero intensifies. to cite a similar circumstance, think of death note. think that misa amane loves light with all her heart. she greats respects and supports kira. her love and devote only become more defined when she learns that light and kira are one and the same. i believe the same to be the case with kallen in relation to the fact that lalouche and zero are one and the same.
suzaku continues to struggle with his past even now… if he continues on like he is, he will loose to his past, like lalouche once did.
i have no idea what the broken egg and the egg shells mean. it just seems that cc is at the center of everything.
Thank you L, oh well this always fun. ^_^
oh right. does anyone get the idea that Laloche in his royal attire, look very much like Laharl from disgaea? what a striking resemblance.
dragon at 9:38 pm on June 13th, 2008
ah - 2nd paragraph i was talking about lalouch with the black cloak jacket. sorry i didn’t clarify.
also when exactly does the next episode air in japan? reason being i dont want to risk writing some long thing only see everyone talking on the episode 10 page, when its reviewed. ^_^
L at 9:49 pm on June 13th, 2008
Code Geass airs on Sunday 1700 HRS every week (Tokyo, Japan time). That is, GMT(+08).
L at 9:52 pm on June 13th, 2008
Oh sorry, according to Omni’s Spring Schedule 2008, it is 1700 HRS on GMT(+09) JST. I guess all the Daylights Saving crap altered it a bit. heh
dragon at 10:39 pm on June 13th, 2008
thank you. i’m in the united states EST time zone. to be honest i’m really excited to see what happens next. i just absorbed so much in the last 166 hours with code geass season 1 and 2 marathon -_^ and frame by frame analysis of each of the main characters. so i always find it fun to point things out and where they can go. sort of like putting together pieces of a puzzle. oh what the — lightning again. got to go.
what did you think of my anlysis? did i miss anything?
room just lit up.
can’t wait for tomorrow night/morning!
shamaticgrl at 2:16 am on June 14th, 2008
WOOT! Essay on symbolism yet again! Go Eastern Time! Another idea for the broken egg is maybe something about C.C will be revealed. I just love Kallen’s and C.C outfits. Looks like Anya won’t be switching sides if your theory on Colors is correct since she is covered completely in white attire. I wonder what would the next ending them be.
dragon at 3:57 am on June 14th, 2008
oh did i say anya was to switch sides? i might have typed something wrong. hm never said that one ^_^ might have been someone else?
there’s is still a lot we dont know about cc. i can’t even reach my hand into the future enough to predict too much with her. there is just so much we dont know. so there is a lot to be revealed about her. shes not human obviously, shes immortal, you can say shes a witch. what her wish be? to be make mortal as a human? to die since from being immortal and alone? nah, could it be related to lulu? it has to be related somehow to lulu. otherwise she wouldn’t care so much about him not dying. of course add all the human elements and she becomes attached herself to him. who knows.
kallen x cc + lalouche = epic win. ^_^
Solaris at 8:37 am on June 14th, 2008
Dragon, you have a carreer ready to do the fortune teller and dream reading… you find hidden meanings on everything
L at 8:46 am on June 14th, 2008
@dragon
Did you just pick up the series? 166 hours oh my, how many times did you repeat watching it? I think I just found a more hardcore fan than me.
Anyway, about your literature-like analysis, I thought the Arthur (cat) one was pretty forced. Also to refine your point better, Lelouch’s ‘white on the inside, black on the outside’ is basically an inverse of what Suzaku’s is. So if you put it that way, you cannot help but notice just as it is for Suzaku, Lelouch is as much a traitor as the latter is.
I like the point about the chain a lot. Starting with Lelouch, ending with C.C., with all other characters caught up in between. Their contract of Geass was the whole thing that started the entire affair, and all the other characters have no choice but to become victim to this. And I would like to think so as well- it would mean these two would prove ultimately victorious.
Also, on C.C., if you look closer, she is not wearing anything. There are only black wings superimposed on her body. It could mean how she was originally neutral, or rather only concerned about her own benefit, i.e. making Lelouch stay alive, but now she has evolved to another OftBk member, who is becoming increasingly concerned about the survival of the Order and the success of Zero’s rebellion.
The point about Kallen, I didn’t really like your comparison of her with Misa. Firstly, personally I don’t like Misa, while I LOVE Kallen. Misa is some Kira-crazy jealous girl, while Kallen is different. She was probably Zero-crazy in Season 1, but in a respectable way comparable to Kiyomi Takada. Also, to Misa, discovering that Kira was Light was probably a bonus; to Kallen, however, she did not like Lelouch too much prior to her discovering him as Zero. Thirdly, Misa was definitely another pawn- but I would like to think that Kallen is not. Maybe she was in Season 1, but her discovery of Lelouch as Zero, saving of Zero, aiding in the return of his memories, and now joining C.C. in his circle of his most trusted lieutenants, and last but not least, her seeing Lelouch at his weakest and that pseudo-pep-talk given to him, all cumulated in her rising status as an important pivotal character in the show.
I do think she is no longer manipulated in this season. Like I have said, she now knows how Lelouch feels, what is important to him, his initial motivations, etc. She probably has growing feelings for Lelouch, but it kind of sways towards admiration and respect, rather than love. She for one, has a very strong sense of where to stand, and where her loyalties should lie. In this regard, she is the anti-thesis of Suzaku, pretty much mirrored in the countless Guren vs. Lancelot battles we have seen so far. Anything which or anyone who, is the anti-thesis to Suzaku, deserves some kind of respect. My enemy’s enemy is my friend. I don’t really care for Kallen X Lelouch, and I do not really want her to fall in love with him. Love is usually a woman’s weakness (or even men, for that matter). Seeing her own Suzaku (and the other Britannian pilots) totally is the only thing I hope for. I was so happy watching Turn 6, man.