Code Geass R2 episode 25 (FINALE)

Question of the day: Do you really think that Lelouch is dead for good? I’d say he is. Many said no. How about you?

Nunnally confronts Lelouch and she refuses to hand over the key of Damocles to him, even if he use Geass on her. However Lelouch already thinks to himself not to use Geass on Nunnally, knowing that it would bend her will though he intended to use it on her before this to break her previous Geass influence. More after the jump.

Suzaku and Kallen battles each other with their own Knightmares. The same goes to Jeremiah who is now going against Anya. Missing out from the action is Todou who is injured from the earlier assault. However he intended to return to battle with his injured body, saying that he wants to responsibility from it. Chiba tried to stop him from going but Todou tells her that he has no other ways of living besides fighting.  But then, he fell right after as he succumbed to his pain. Returning to Damocles, Nunnally frankly tells Lelouch that he is not qualified to conquer the world for being Zero who destroyed the hopes of many people. Lelouch defended that he did all that for her sake but she lashed back, saying that it was never her wish for him to do so. She added that the power of Geass is despicable for having the ability to change people’s will against their intent and mar their honour. Lelouch likens Geass with Damocles. To his surprise, Nunnally intends to use Damocles as the symbol of hatred that diverts people’s sorrow to it. The same way Lelouch is doing now as the iron-fist emperor. Upon hearing that, Lelouch resolves his decision and uses his Geass on Nunnally. Bent to the power of Geass, Nunnally hands over the key of Damocles to Lelouch. Back to Jeremiah, Anya managed to destroy the Siegfried but another Knightmare emerges from the carnage and Jeremiah strikes hard on Mordred. Jeremiah was about to finish her off but realized that she is under Geass influence. So he activates his Geass Canceller. And all this while, I thought Geass Canceller was destroyed. The fight between Lancelot and Guren eventually leads to both machines running low on energy. Given that both are skilled pilot, this comes not surprising at all. With the remaining energy, they both struggle until the end with both of them at a stalemate. Guren was heavily injured and fell off Damocles before Gino catches it mid-air. Kallen thought she failed to hit Suzaku but in fact, she did. The Guren’s Slash Harken pierced through Lancelot and destroyed it. Finally Lelouch who has taken the key of Damocles from Nunnally went on to announce his complete pwnage of the whole world. Crazy stuff.

Two months later, the ever mighty (you should check his titles and it’s a long one) Lelouch proceeds on a parade the execution of the Black Knights and their allies including Schniezel and Nunnally. Everyone hates Lelouch as a matter of fact but forced to bow before him in dictatorship. No one dares to stop him. It was also learned that Suzaku died in the battle of Damocles. Just when everything seems to be working out well for Lelouch, a familiar face or rather a symbol of hope appears to everyone. It was Zero. Kallen knows well that Lelouch was always behind the mask of Zero and is very surprised to see another Zero showing up. In fact, this Zero is totally different. Moving so agile could only suggest one name. Suzaku. From the beginning, I find it hard to accept Suzaku to die in just an explosion. He’s the super soldier, that’s why. And in the back of everybody’s mind (most of them), they know the whole deal is going. Even Jeremiah knows of it. Lelouch made the whole world his enemy and uses Suzaku in the end as Zero to kill him. With that, the new world of peace can be realized. That is why Lelouch commanded Schniezel to obey Zero because Zero will be the ruler of that new world. All this has been confirmed in a flashback in the moment before Suzaku pierced Lelouch with his sword. In a way, this also serves as a punishment for Suzaku and not just Lelouch alone because Suzaku will remain the person behind the mask until the end. So Lelouch fell down the stage, next to Nunnally. As she holds onto his hand in his dying moment, Nunnally learns the whole truth of Zero Re;quiem and it serves as his retribution. New era of peace then begins. In the aftermath, Kallen goes about her normal life as a highschooler. The ruler of the new Britannia (or whatever it is called thereafter) seems to be a joint one of Zero (Suzaku) and Nunnally. Ougi lives out his dream as the leader of Japan. Anya and Jeremiah on the other hand, began their normal life as orange farmer. As for C.C., she wanders off to the countryside on top of a hay wagon. Towards the end, it is very suggestive that she is talking to Lelouch and leaves us with the biggest question of all – did Lelouch really died?

Thoughts: Epic. That is all I could describe the finale. However I can’t help but to feel a real sadness when Lelouch died. Supposingly died. Just the thought that Lelouch may actually live from the whole thing is very assuring. In fact, it is surprising that the writers are taking the mellow approach for the ending and honestly speaking, it is very good indeed. Having said that, I had already the plot head to this direction though the ending was a little unexpected. Say, Suzaku as the new Zero and that Lelouch died (or not) in the end. I can’t say I’ll complain a lot about this episode. It ended perfectly, just how the story would have intended to. Maybe because that there’s so many important scenes going on (explaining the huge number of screencaps this time) in such little amount of time. My favourite and most heartbreaking throughout the entire series is when the truth of Zero Re;quiem was revealed and Lelouch was to meet his dreadful fate. It is just sad how he sacrificed himself; making himself the villain and yet saved the world without everyone noticing it. When Nunnally went on screaming “Onii-sama, onii-sama”, I’ll be honestly, tears rolled down my cheek. No kidding. The last time I had that one was true tears. Also, Jeremiah has a befitting end for him. To run an orange orchard with Anya. Get it, O-REN-JI?

So the only underlying question to this story now is whether or not Lelouch lives on after the whole incident? It is very suggestive at the final scene where C.C. goes saying, “Na? Lelouch…” He could be in the World of C and C.C. is communicating with him from within. She could only talk to herself, calling Lelouch in a melancholy manner. Or maybe the guy who rides the hay wagon (the driver) is Lelouch himself. Lelouch may lives on as a symbol as left behind in the form of Zero. Go and speculate as you like. All I can say, Lelouch deserves a long break. And the same goes to me in the review of Code Geass.

Final impression: On a nutshell, Code Geass is undoubtedly one of the best animes ever. Season 1 of Code Geass such an impression that fangirls and fanboys alike cried out for more. Of course, they we do. In season 1, the show had stopped at episode 23 and leaves the story unfinished. Nearly a year later, the producers delivered what many had wished for – the continuation of Code Geass with 2 special finale episodes. As a matter of fact, there is no other better plot twist than the Geass command on Euphemia accidentally slipped out of Lelouch’s tongue in episode 23. As a result, Euphemia was known as the Blood-stained Princess. Indeed, she looks like a psychopath, shooting down all the Elevens Japanese with a machine gun. That image had not left my memory ever since. Nothing scary in particular, just plain memorable. The producers are giving more than what the fans are expecting for – a second season. Not so surprising, given the cliffhanger they gave in season 1.

Season 2 of Code Geass, or better known as Code Geass R2, had gave many initial impressions before it began airing. Among the speculations, the outstanding one was how R2 is related to the Geass code and that would makes Lelouch taking the code as R2. Many believed until now that it would happen. And guess what? It did. Even so, I am a little disappointed that Suzaku did not die in the end and this is sheerly because I am a Suzaku hater. To have such a finale is quite a relief for the whole story really. Towards the end of the story, the whole plot seemed to be rushed – telling more stories than what 30 minutes worth of airtime can give. Simply put, it was a mess. Yet, the epic feeling we always get everytime we watch Code Geass is very intense in this final episode and I am truly happy that it did end this way. On another note, much of the tactics Lelouch used in Code Geass R2 is no longer spectacular, including the Fuji battle. All of those we have clearly remembered them in season 1. In season 1, it was awesome nonetheless. But do that again in season 2, it really tends to get repetitive and to an extent, boring. But hey, an epic ending is all that mattered.

All in all, Code Geass is not really bad as many thought it would turn out. Some say Code Geass is just average. Well, combine both seasons, I’d say the same. Season 1 gave such a huge impression – turning me into a big fan of the show overnight but season 2 is a mood killer. Season 1 gets down to business and deals it seriously. Season 2 seems too overrated and deals many fanservices. Production quality had been fairly consistent for each episode. Of course, some episodes were totally butchered by the animators. The staff especially the seiyuus were awesome as well. The direction of the story is erratic and definitely not linear. You will have no idea what will happen in the next episode and most of the time, the writers would always prove us wrong. However this is exception to Code Geass R2 where the story begins to run downhill. Everything is so predictable, expect where Guildford miraculously survives which is just a total BS. Even when Lelouch had easily defeated his father by sending him to the World of C, I went WTF. But at the end of the day, you cannot deny how great the ending that the writers had prepared for fans and Code Trainwreck is trainwreck no more.

Rating: 4/5 5/5