Monday, August 8, 2016

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Part 7 Episodes 20-22

Nunally is gone.  The Tokyo Settlement has been destroyed.  And the Black Knights have betrayed and abandoned Zero after learning his true identity.  With no allies and no plan, Lelouch is left with only one move: one final, suicidal attack against his father: Charles Zi Britannia.  But he isn’t the only one making moves to change the game.  Realizing his fathers true, heartless intent, Schneizel stages a coup d’etat while Suzaku heads out to kill the Emperor himself.  On a stage grander than any before, the beginning of the end is about to commence.  And, at long last, Lelouch will learn the truth behind his mothers death.

“Hello, my name is Lelouch vi Britannia.  You killed my mother and sister…prepare to die”

Well, that how im sure a lot of people expected this whole affair to turn out.  This could have very well have been the series finale right here and now.  But this is Code Geass, seldom are things ever this easy.  No to call this set of episodes a game changer, especially so late in the series, doesn’t really do it the justice its deserved. 

Once before, this show was about a boy who wanted to get revenge on his father by destroying his Empire and making the world better for his sister.  Now, in the span of three episodes, Lelouch is now poised as the ultimate end game baddy…with Suzaku at his side.  The lines between who’s good and who’s bad have blurred so much it’s almost hard to keep track.  And yet I prefer this change to almost everything that’s happened here in Season 2. 

So, as it turns out, Charles could very well be a vision of Shinji Ikari if he were an adult (and buffer than his dad).  Both ended up bringing about a world change because they couldn’t stand a world of lies and dishonesty.  But whereas Shinji rejected this ideal and began to undo Third Impact, Charles was determined, with his not so dead wife, Marianne, to reset the world to make it better for Lelouch and Nunally.  Hence why all the theatrics, all the threats, all the distancing and coldness.  Marianne even put her consciousness in the body of a secondary character until it was time to come out.  And at the end of it all, both parents were sure their children would love them for it all.

In the words of Tony Stark, “Not a great plan.”

If Charles and Marianne thought that Lelouch would go along with ANY of this, then they really didn’t know their son at all.  Lelouch’s goal was to end his father, his empire and his dream.  And Lelouch saw to that in grand fashion, rejecting his parents so badly it wiped away their end of the world weapon and erased them from existence (so much for immortality).  It does suck that Marianne ended up being a villain for the story.  After so much build up over her legend, to see her being nothing more than a smiling, female version of Charles and V.V. doesn’t feel like proper payoff.  Maybe if this had been revealed sooner than this, maybe even set up in place of the pointless Chinese Federation Arc, this could have had a better impact on the series…oh well, that’s all I can say for a lot of this season, oh well.

Still, the Emperor is dead…so what happens now?  What’s Lelouch’s next plan now that he’s won the battle between him and his dear old dad?

Why it’s time to take over the world…OF COURSE (shout out to the Nostalgia Critic).  We jumped ahead a month to see Lelouch take his place as Emperor of Britannia, which Suzaku, of all people, as his main knight.  This spilt things right down the middle.  Sure Lelouch vs. Schneizel is bound to be the big final battle but what about the Black Knights?  Seems like Lelouch really doesn’t care about them anymore…and really I don’t really either.  Save for Todo and Kallen, most of the Black Knights have always just been side characters without much depth.  Kallen did get her “resolution” with Lelouch, including one supposedly last kiss.  She did love him…but is Lelouch’s out of earshot reply to Kallen’s farewell a sign he’s still trying to protect her?  Just what is the endgame of this mysterious “Zero Requiem”?

And yeah, I never bought for a second that Nunally was ever really dead.  Bringing her in to be the supposed “final boss” for Lelouch to confront…now that is a setup for a big finale.  Everything that hates Lelouch is headed right for him.  Can he and one super powered mecha and one pilot stand against the might of the world?  Well seeing how Suzaku single handedly kicked the every living crap out of his old order (and flat out told Nina that the Tokyo Settlement massacare was her fault), I think Schneizel’s gonna need more men.

This is it, the final battle, the final move, the final episodes of Code Geass are next…too bad it took this long for it to finally get good again.

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