Code Geass R2 — Episode 14
“Why don’t you love me? ;_;”
Wow, I don’t know what to say. This episode is like watching two bullet trains collide head on, burst into a huge flaming ball of destruction, and the “survivors crawling out of the wreckage with third-degree burns. Okay, so that was a lousy analogy made in poor taste, especially since none of us has seen that happen before, but my point is that it’s a train wreck. It’s like a roller coaster ride: it’s exciting, it makes you sick, and you don’t mind going on another.
Summary
Rollo admits that he did it in the first minute of the episode, thus putting an end to any conspiracy theories about the incident. In an alternate universe, Lelouch would’ve been an Oscar-winning actor instead of a supervillain with an outrageous fashion sense. I wonder if Hollywood exists.
“Good job Rollo. Good job…”
Instead of taking responsibility and reflect on his past actions which led up to this tragic moment, Lelouch blames everything on the existence of Geass. He discards his previous plans and, with the help of Jeremiah, launches an all-out attack on the Temple in a bid to erase all traces of Geass. Except, of course, his own.
The state of modern animation: untextured 3DSM primitives
Apparently the Temple is full of women, old people and little children, so the attack looks more like a massacre than a battle. Despite some initial reservations, the Black Knight pilots carry out their orders anyway, because, you know, those children may just be terrorists in disguise! This is how the Holocaust happened, folks. (See: the Milgram experiment.)
Attaching the gun to the arm: makes more sense than giant handheld rifles
The researchers working at the Temple look quite happy to see C.C. again, right up to the point when they get blown up. From what I gather, C.C. used to be their boss and the BFF of Marianne, Lelouch’s mother, but those of you who scour the Internet for spoilers and rumours probably already know that. Judging by V.V.’s words, it seems like Marianne was quite involved with this whole Geass business, so her assassination was probably related.
C.C. back when she was young(er)
So anyway a fight breaks out between Lelouch and V.V., with Cornelia joining the fray on Lelouch’s side, which is certainly somewhat ironic considering that everything she is doing is supposed to help her avenge Euphie’s death, and Lelouch is at least partially, if not mostly, to be blamed for it.
They didn’t want to pay for another mecha design
Meanwhile, Suzaku believes that Lelouch is responsible for Shirley’s death and decides that it is the last straw: he’s going to rape Kallen and force her to confess under the influence of Refrain. Okay, so only half of that is true. Poor Kallen in any case. :(
Wait… Isn’t it too early for the climax?
The episode ends with a bit of a sci-fi “Luke, I am your father!” moment.
Thoughts
My brain blew up during this episode.
Kallen with her hair down <3
I want to say that it’s an awesome episode, but that’s not exactly true. It certainly is thrilling, but I am somewhat disturbed by the whole thing, especially since I don’t know which character I should empathize with now. Lelouch has clearly jumped the shark and gone bonkers due to the events in episode 13, Suzaku is still a self-righteous bastard, and Kallen is currently incapacitated and will soon undergo intense brainwashing.
I guess that leaves C.C. relatively untouched. Speaking of which, C.C. used to live in the Temple, right? Does Pizza Hut make deliveries to secret military underground research facilities?
“Hi, is this Pizza Hut? Please make a delivery to the United States of Japan.”
And considering that we’re only 14 episodes into the season, the story feels oddly close to end game, which by mecha-anime logic means that some kind of force-balancing reset must take place soon. My guess is that Lelouch will get his memories wiped again and a brainwashed Kallen will be sent undercover to capture C.C. by seducing Lelouch and using him as bait. It makes no sense but it will be awesome.
Screencaps
Guess who?
Greek/Roman ruins are everywhere in America
“Don’t worry Rollo, it won’t hurt…much”
Get a hair cut you hippie
Just so you know she’s gone for good
Surprise sex
This week’s Naruto
The Temple is seriously badly-lit for a research facility
No longer an important character
What the hell is that suit?
Why are the two of them eating apples in a hotel room with a double bed?
Why is she so cool?
Geass suffers from severe inflation
Lelouch’s mother O_O
How convenient
All CG girls should do away with weird hairdos and go straight
The cockpit is blown off but somehow the rest of it still works
Hmmm, maybe I’ll start rooting for Cornelia instead.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Charles decided where he went, thats true, but Lelouch decided to go. Remember that. Also, where’d you get the thing about Schniezel almost killing her? I never got that impression at all, Schnizel seems to me like someone who doesn’t like killing and actually believed in Euphemia after her disgraceful death, which was one of the reasons Nina is one of his scientists! (though after episode 14 I think Kanon’s got some feelings for Nina, interesting side story)
Just because you admit it’s a low possibility doesn’t mean I can’t destroy the theory regardless. Don’t get mixed up between your perception of things and mine. As for being Marianne’s illegitimate child, whooh, another uselsss theory in the trash, I prefer to believe that Anya is Marianne’s real daughter. Makes more sense than reincarnations. By the way, I prefer candy bars over lolipops.
Egad man! Get with ze program! Ze canon novels are authentic and have been it’s been verified by ze writers thats it’s official. They provide a bit of back story to things in the anime. Widen your field of perception already! Stop being a sheep! Although I doubt you won’t get what that means if you haven’t read “Animal Farm” by George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) or if you have in fact read it but don’t get the allegory. Just as a tip, sheep represent the manipulated masses of the Soviet Union. It’s a good book, it may raise your I.Q. a bit if you read and understand it, then you may actually be fun to argue with!
July 17th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
*cries* Another double post, I’m cursed with finding out new stuff then being unable to edit my posts.
*tears up* People know me *smiles*, but yes I am like that, I’ve rewatched Code Geass around 3 times, the most recent being to check the season 1 relationship between Lelouch and Kallen. As for your thoughts on whether they knew if they were there or not, they did, but they thought they were dead.
P.S. I’m always bored, and I love proving my points. So excuse me if I’m being rude alot, because I really just want people to get angry at me so that they want to prove me wrong on a deeper level. It’s a pretty useful way to alleviate boredom, problem is…not too many people try. So come on people! Prove me wrong!~
July 18th, 2008 at 12:48 am
I hate to triple post again but I must mention something I just noticed. Anya pilots the heavy artillery unit “Mordred”, Gino in the “Tristan”, Bismarcke in the “Galahad”, Suzaku in the “Lancelot” and Luciano in the “Percival”. These are all names of the Knight’s of the Round table in Arthurian myths, however, one stands out among them. Mordred. Mordred is the mighty knight that betrays Arthur and later dies in a fight against him. Originally I didn’t think this would affect Code Geass until I recently found out Euphemia shared the name as the GreatMartyr Euphemia, the Christian saint who died for her faith in Chalcedon. Euphie was killed in a similar fashion. So going on this train of thought, there’s another reason Anya could possibly betray Brittannia, because if Sunrise is thinking along Arthurian legends with their knights this could be highly likely. Also I noticed they used…alot of names from Arthurian legends. It’s almost as if everything in this series is based off something, even Geass is(Norse legend/tragedy) as well as the Siegfried (dragon hunter in Norse Mythology). Whats next! Nunnally representing the devil?
July 18th, 2008 at 4:30 am
Debut of the Hadron cannons and the gefjun(sp?) disturber. Lelouch had trapped Suzaku in the circle, Euphie rushed to rescue Suzaku (lol?) Schneizel turns up in his flying ship and proceeds to blast the area with the as yet unfinished Gawain’s Hadron Cannons.
I’ll move on to individual criticisms of this in a second, but first and foremost: Arthur is a cat. Unless Arthur is actually a person and has a geass which allows him to assume the form of a cat (sounds farfetched but…who knows?), sticking to arthurian legend isn’t going to be entirely true.
As for the Knights link, if we’re sticking to Arthurian legend then Suzaku needs to steal the King’s wife/lover, as that’s what Lancelot did. The only problem being we already have a Guinevere(King Arthur’s wife), she’s one of the psycho Britannian princesses (First princess, I think). So that gets tossed out of the window. Bringing Guinevere in as a primary love interest for Suzaku this late into the show would be both crazy and ridiculous. Of course, we could ignore the name thing and have him steal Kallen(Lelouch’s ‘woman’), but that might cause a fanboy backlash that would tear the universe in half.
As for Gino+Tristan, his legend is to do with Iseult/Isolde, a love potion and a lot of adultery. What d’you reckon, his love/interest in Kallen pulls him over to the Black Knights?
July 18th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Oh, explains why I didn’t know how he almost killed her, I guess subconsciously I was dismissing that, didn’t he say later to Euphie that he was gambling that she could get out alive?
First off, Knightmare frames can’t love. I was putting more thought into the combat/allegiances of the knights of the round table….so thinking that way would mean, no love between the Lancelot and Guinevere, and I doubt he’s gonna steal kallen since he’s already going psycho and drugging her. As for Tristan and Isolde, thats one of my favourite legends. I even have the movie. But I was thinking more along the Mordred lines when it came to the show, because just because it was in a legend doesn’t mean it’s all in the show, because if it did that would mean that Luciano is sealed to die off (Percival died after finding the holy grail) and Guinevere is gonna sleep with a knightmare. I just think they used their names in some instances, but when it comes to Anya, I’ve been trying to prove reasons that she’d join the black knights and I was using her name as another legend. Gino’s fate is hard to predict, although he was intorduced just like Anya I think he’s gonna have a completely different role.
Going beyond names, if you decide to make Kallen represent people from the story, you gotta remember they have to be a fighter, Guinevere was quite capable in fighting, Isolde was…less so. However I highly doubt that Suzaku is gonna steal Kallen away from Lelouch merely because of the drugging.
Well, I’m off to reasearch the Tragedy of Geass. Norse Mythology is awesome.
*Edit* I can’t find it anywhere, wtf?
July 18th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Haha! I found something, but apparently geis is Celtic mythology, more Irish than I thought, sweet. Apparently only Ragnarok and Yggdrasil was the Norse elements. Gotta find out how it ties in though, I don’t know anything of what happened with geis.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:56 am
“In Irish mythology and folklore, a geis (plural geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or spell” All Hail, Wikipedia. Heres some of the article.
“A geis can be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone under a geis violates the associated taboo, the infractor will suffer dishonour or even death. On the other hand, the observing of one’s geasa is believed to bring power and good fortune. Often it is women who place geasa upon men. In some cases the woman turns out to be goddess or other sovereignty figure.
The geis is often a key device in hero tales, such as that of Cúchulainn in Irish mythology. Traditionally, the doom of the hero comes about due to their violation of their geis, either by accident, or by having multiple geasa and then being placed in a position where they have no option but to violate one geis in order to maintain another. For instance, Cúchulainn has a geis to never eat dog meat, and he is also bound by a geis to eat any food offered to him by a woman. When a hag offers him dog meat, he has no way to emerge from the situation unscathed; this leads to his death.
A beneficial geis might involve a prophecy that a person would die in a particular way; the particulars of their death in the vision might be so bizarre that the person could then avoid their fate for many years.”
Cúchulainn…C.C.?
Heres some more:
“There is a considerable similarity between geasa (which are a phenomenon of Gaelic mythology) and the foretold deaths of heroes in Welsh mythology. This is not surprising given the close origins of many of the variants of Celtic mythology.
For example, the Welsh hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes (in one version of his story) was destined to die neither “during the day or night, nor indoors or outdoors, neither riding nor walking, not clothed and not naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made.” He was safe until his wife, Blodeuwedd, learning of these foretold conditions, convinced him to show her how he could theoretically be stepping out of a river onto a riverbank sheltered by a roof and put one foot on a goat, and so on, thus enabling the conditions that allowed him to be killed.”
I am not exactly sure how this could tie in, maybe Lelouch should stay away from rivers and goats?
More!
“Prohibitions and taboos that fit the patterns of geasa are also found in more recent English literature, though they are not described as geasa in those texts. For example, in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth believes himself safe because ‘no man of woman born shall harm Macbeth.’”
Uh oh, Lelouch is gonna have someone who was born via c-section come kill him!
And holy crap there was a reference to Code Geass in here!
“In the anime Code Geass, a power known as “Geass” is obtained by the major characters from a race of immortal beings through a contract. In the case of the main character Lelouch, the power ‘Geass’ allows him to give orders and commands to other humans and have them absolutely follow them; his contract fulfillment with C.C. is unknown.”
Interesting no? Take a look at the similarities in all these legends…the hero dies. Now I know this isn’t exactly a good/evil anime so I wouldn’t call Lelouch a hero but here are some heroic possibilities. Kallen, Schniezel, Suzaku, Cornelia. Trouble is, who would they have to kill off to make the storyline progress, here’s my theory, start with Cornelia, then Schniezel then in the last episode Suzaku and Kallen.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Nah, Cúchulainn was under a geis, and I believe he was male. LANCERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!
And… who is the hero? There are no heroes! XD
July 18th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Is it plausible to assume that Anya was the daughter of yet another estranged concubine in Charles’ harem that was a playmate to Nunnally?
She might have been geassed because she was traumatized when she whitnessed the attack on Marianne maybe?
We have seen Geass used for this purpose on Shirley before and with a new name and 9 years after the fact, it is hard to identify her for Lelouch and Nunnally.
July 19th, 2008 at 12:06 am
50 bucks on the giant tower in the opening being called Yggdrassil! Go go betters!
Agreed.
(I like to keep my line of thought very simplistic ;))
July 19th, 2008 at 2:13 am
“Just so you know she’s gone for good”
pffffffft. With Sunrise, they are never “gone for good”.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:40 am
From Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Scholars have puzzled over the Green Knight’s symbolism since the discovery of the poem. He could be a version of the Green Man, a mythological being connected with nature in medieval art, a Christian symbol, or the Devil himself. British medieval scholar C. S. Lewis said the character was “as vivid and concrete as any image in literature” and J. R. R. Tolkien said he was the “most difficult character” to interpret in Sir Gawain. His major role in Arthurian literature is that of a judge and tester of knights, thus he is at once terrifying, friendly, and mysterious. He appears in only two other poems: The Greene Knight and King Arthur and King Cornwall.Scholars have attempted to connect him to other mythical characters, such as Jack in the Green of British tradition but no definitive connection has yet been established.
Green knight = Gino weinberg?
July 19th, 2008 at 6:32 am
“Of course, we could ignore the name thing and have him steal Kallen(Lelouch’s ‘woman’), but that might cause a fanboy backlash that would tear the universe in half.”
oh damn straight
to sandslayer: keep it up! reading your theories and analyses of countertheories is mind-boggling but fun! keep us all entertained till the next episode :D
July 19th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Yeah, Cúchulainn was a dude, but so far I haven’t found any other name in relation to Aruthurian/Geis legends that could be C.C. besides Cúchulainn seems kinda girly to me. As for there being no hero, there used to be one, Suzaku, but he’s a dick now.
Playmate to Nunnally yet has no pictures of her? Unlikely. And the emperor doesn’t seem like the type that would change someone’s memories so they aren’t traumatized, more like change their memories in order to hide something. However since V.V. said lelouch was like his father it’s possible there might be compassion in Charles, but we have yet to see.
I’ll take that bet.
Btw the Yggdrasil drive is what powers the knightmares. PAY UP!
So far everyone in the series that died hasn’t come back (except Mao, but he died soon after anyways, and that was Lelouch’s mistake). I mean Euphie died, Kewell, Darlton, Inoue, Yoshida, Shirley…and there are no hints any of them are coming back.
Haven’t done much research on Sir Gawain since the Gawain was destroyed in the kamikaze against the Siegfried, so I’m not familiar with the green knight (yes I researched a lot of real life shit in order to predict this series). I guess I can go and look up some stuff abotu the green knight and see if Gino somehow he relates, but when you take a look at it it says “terrifying, friendly, and mysterious” that could easily represent Zero/Lelouch who piloted the Gawain.
First off, your awesome. Secondly, Suzaku isn’t gonna get Kallen, she’s gonna be freaked out and angry at him for trying to drug her, that beign said I don’t think we have to worry about the armaggeddon. Also I appreciate how you like to read my comments, but in truth I do it as much out of boredom as you read them. Lucky for you since I really don’t have anything but time on my hands.
ALSO, I would like to put an overview of what I think is gonna happen in the next few episodes.
I would like to get rid of my previous theory about Kallen dying, since my source has been found to be fake. Also, Guinevere (who I believe may be who Kallen represents, despite a character named Guinevere) didn’t die…or did she, well correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think she died. However Guinevere also was having an affair with Lancelot (Suzaku) so my thoughts of Kallen representing Guinevere might be wrong since Suzaku is gonna drug her and as far as I know that isn’t a turn-on. So being that I revised my theory of Kallen dying, new sources have popped up in my eternal search for anime knowledge, Code Geass might not have a tragic ending, I read soemwhere that season 2 was going to focus on his relationships with the women in his life, and how that influences his decisions. This was announced before the first season started so he may just mean Shirley and how he destroyed the Geass Directorate after she dies. Also, apparently, there was mention that some of the new characters will be more than they first appear, also he may have meant Rolo but Anya is also a new character to the season so he might mean her. He also said, allegiences (or however you spell it) aren’t set in stone and there may be a few betrayals. It could mean how Jeremiah, Rolo and Villetta switched sides but there may be more.
Okay thats all for now. Tiem to go play Civilization IV and rule the world.
July 19th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
The poet of the Sir gaiwan and Green knight highlights number symbolism to add symmetry and meaning to the poem. For example, three kisses are exchanged between Gawain and Bertilak’s wife; Gawain is tempted by her on three separate days; Bertilak goes hunting three times, and the Green Knight swings at Gawain three times with his axe. The number two also appears repeatedly, as in the two beheading scenes, two confession scenes, and two castles.The five points of the pentangle, the poet adds, represent Gawain’s virtues, for he is “faithful five ways and five times each”.[50] The poet goes on to list the ways in which Gawain is virtuous: all five of his senses are without fault; his five fingers never fail him, and he always remembers the five wounds of Christ, as well as the five joys of the Virgin Mary. The fifth five is Gawain himself, who embodies the five moral virtues of the code of chivalry: “friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and piety”. All of these virtues reside, as the poet says, in the “Endless Knot” of the pentangle, which forever interlinks and is never broken. Thus, the poet makes Gawain the epitome of perfection in knighthood through number symbolism.
Green knight=3
Gaiwan=5