code_geass ◾ Emperor pulling the strings? (Reply)

Okay I've been starting to form this huge theory of who and why Marianne was killed. There are some spoilers up to episode 19 and also possible future spoilers so don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.

So lets start with the suspected culprit. The Emperor. Here's what we know so far about him:

1. He believes in survival of the fittest
2. He encourages fights within the royal family
3. Only the strongest of the children will become the successor to the throne

Here's what I think. I think that is that even though he all but said to Lelouch that he was weak trash, he in fact saw alot of potential in him. In the "History of the Knightmare Frame" we know that Marianne was a knight and the first pilot for the prototype so he married her believing that he would get a strong offspring from the union. What he didn't count on was all his children were on very friendly terms with each other which goes against #2.

Evidence:
1) We have seen that Clovis adored the family since he painted a family portrait and also build the villa modeling it after Marianne's
2) Euphemia and Cornelia were talking very kindly about Lulu
3) Euphemia and Lulu's family was very close from the flash back and how Lelouch treated Euphemia very kindly and even called her "Euphie"
4) Euphemia stated that Cornelia greatly admired Marianne and was investigating her death

This brings me to my next point. Marianne needed to be killed because she was becoming a hinderence. As stated before, Cornelia admired her so my thought was that she was very much loved by the majority of the children. She comes from a commoner and knight background so she must have more "equality" and "justice" type thoughts and ideals and she was feeding it to the children especially to Lelouch and Nanaly as can be seen from Lelouch's words and actions in the series and also in the picture story when Lelouch educated Suzaku that Japan and Britanna were the same in that they bully weaker countries. What 10 year old has that big of a thought process unless some one taught him that?

The emperor knew that Lelouch was a very bright child a would probably be another Schneizel (spoilers say he's a cold-blooded strategist) but Marianne was going into dangerous territory that undermines his beliefs so what should he do? Kill the one person that was the glue of children, Marianne. Once she was out of the way everything fell apart. Nanaly was in the hospital and Lelouch distrusted everyone in the royal family even the siblings he was once very close to. The emperor then calls Lelouch's entire family pretty much trash that he doesn't need anymore and throws them out of the country. He did this because Lelouch still retained Marianne's ideals and renouced his title since he was so disgusted with the royal family squabbles and needed him to start hating him more. So they are exiled to Japan to be used as diplomatic hostages but attacks anyways as to tell Lelouch that I don't care if you died. Why all this? To make Lelouch crazy with revenge on his mind.

In another spoiler for the novel, it was said that Nanaly was supposed to be killed also in Japan. Why is it that the only targets for death is Nanaly and Marianne and never Lelouch? He was the one with the bright mind and future and was the main rival for the throne so it couldn't be one of the children. The emperor wanted Lelouch become comepletely cold-blooded like his other hopeful successor Schneizel. He wasn't content with just one child that didn't really need to work for the throne but wanted two of his best to duke EXTRA HARD it out to get the best results. So his ultimate goal? Lelouch v. Schneizl in the untimate fight for Britanna (even though Lelouch wants to destroy it).

I know what you all are thinking. Why such elaborate plans? How could he have known that it would all turn out like this? Well, spoilers say that Lelouch and the Emperor and very much alike in the fact that they are great strategist. We've seen what Lelouch can do with that brain of his, think what the Emperor can do?

There are little things that are more predictable to be able to control outcomes of stratgies such as Lelouch was his son so he must have known at least a little bit of his character and how he would react. Kind of how Lelouch knew Cornellia and Euphemia would react from their past actions from childhood in the hoteljack. Also Lelouch's need for revenge was another factor. Revenge is a very powerful tool to make a person want to obtain power and strength. And it's alot more predicitable of how a person would act when pushed. Not only that but rumored spoilers say that the Emperor in fact knows that Zero = Lelouch. In the end, the Emperor has a grand plan in mind and it also has something to do with geass and his kids don't even know what his plans are.

My personal thought is that if my theory was true then it would be a HUGE plot twist. Not only that the sibilngs Lelouch thought were the murders are in fact inocent but up til now he thinks that he was acting of his own accord and make his own future instead of being used as a puppet by others. It would be ironic that the freedom to choose one's own destiny that he craved so much was in fact carefully planned by someone he hates the most in the world.

That's my take on it. What's yours?