romance in geass

[rosangela.livejournal.com]

Do you think that Lelouch loved someone romantically in the end?There have been hints with C.C., Shirley and Kallen.Personally i think that the staff was going with C.C. and Lelouch in the first season and in the second they took the route for Lelouch and Kallen.Shirley was in school and it was hard in the first place.
What is your opinion?

Comments

[apapazukamori.livejournal.com]

It suggests that Lelouch came to really care for Rolo on a level close to, but not the same as what he cares for Nunnally.

Sorry, but I really, really have to disagree. Rolo would have never come close to Nunnally. C.C. and Suzaku don't even rank that high. I think Rolo probably comes about on the same level of Shirley, if only because they both startled Lelouch by how deeply they loved him. Rolo saved his life, and he probably felt bad about flipping out on him, since Rolo didn't believe him anyway. But more or less up until that moment, Lelouch seems to have tolerated Rolo, which is definitely a step up from the fact he hated him at first. I don't think Rolo died with Lelouch hating him; but Lelouch's behavior seems more that he was trying to make Rolo die happy, rather than speaking total truth.

[lavaliere]

I have to disagree with some of that. Certianly, no one will compare to Nunnally for Lelouch. I pointed that out because I'm well aware that Nunnally will always be something so highly placed by Lelouch that no one could come close. However, I don't think Lelouch was just "tolerating" Rolo by the time the latter's death comes around. Because Lelouch does list Rolo off as the important things that he lost that day. The line is "Nunnally... Rolo... Shirley... The Order of the Black Knights... I lost everything." Notice the order and even more so, the lack of presence of Suzaku and C.C. Rolo's comes right after Nunnally's.

This seems to suggest that Rolo is of higher importance to Lelouch than most relationships he's had. At least this, coupled with the rest of the scene.

If you pay close attention to the scene, you can also notice that Lelouch buried Rolo with his own hands, without using gloves and without using help of the Knightmare Frame. His hands are muddy and dirty afterward, and Lelouch isn't the type of person to put that much physical effort into anything unless there's a very, very good reason. That, coupled with his comment which is "But that's why I thank you, Rolo. There's still something I have to accomplish with this life that you were connected to."

After this, Lelouch goes on his biggest Roaring Rampage of Revenge, all directed at his father. Bigger than what he throws at the Directorate after Shirley dies. Bigger than how he reacts when Euphemia dies. He throws away any last regrets he might have had about his Geass or anything else and faces his father head-on. By this point, he has no intentions of Zero Requiem because that doesn't come up until after he Geasses "God" to listen to his wish.

Keeping all this in mind, while adding on to the way Lelouch was screaming at Rolo to stop as he was over-using his Geass (something Lelouch hadn't done before, either. The only time I can really think of him actively arguing against someone putting themselves in the line of fire for him was to Kallen in episode 2. Shirley's death was different because he was trying to keep her alive, period. She hadn't sacrificed herself like Rolo had.) as well as the attention Rolo is given in the bonus material suggests that Lelouch truly cared for Rolo on a high level. Again, not necessarily romantically or anything like that. But certainly higher than just the members of the Student Council.

And I highly doubt that given this, Lelouch would continue to lie to Rolo in order to "let him die happy". Lelouch isn't that kind of person either. He doesn't say things needlessly and he doesn't lie unless it benefits him. There would've been absolutely no benefit to lie to Rolo as he was dying, nothing to gain. If he was just "tolerating" Rolo, he could've just walked away once the kid passed out. Lelouch has a habit of tossing aside people after they die or, if he's close to them, being a lot more open about his emotions than he normally would be (see: Euphy and Shirley's deaths in which Lelouch was way more free with his emotions versus Urabe's sacrifice in episode 1 where Lelouch was pretty "whatevs" about it). So lying to Rolo on his deathbed would've been more counter to Lelouch's usual personality than being honest with him.

Now, again, I'm not saying Rolo would ever be on the same level as Nunnally. Lelouch practically places her on a pedestal that he doesn't even allow himself to reach. It's Agape love, almost. Lelouch does, however, seem to think highly enough of Rolo after the latter dies to give him the kind of distinction that he does. A strong platonic, stronger than philos love.

[apapazukamori.livejournal.com]

Lelouch is physically incapable of digging a grave for Rolo. Full stop. If his hands are dirty and muddy, it's because he probably pushed some of the soil into the hole himself, and also when he set the marker. But Lelouch canonically cannot dig a hole with a stick to set a lure for an animal, much less dig a grave. He would have had to use the knightmare for it.

After this, Lelouch goes on his biggest Roaring Rampage of Revenge, all directed at his father.

Yes, but he's not avenging Rolo. His separation from the Black Knights is the catalyst for his final show-down with Charles. His initial plan, back when he was ten was to destroy Britannia. The Black Knights were part of that, but to an extent, Lelouch got bogged down with liberating Japan. It was a tactic he thought would lead him to taking down Charles, but when he loses them, he finds a more direct approach. Rolo reminds him that he is doing more than just fighting for Nunnally. This is something he consistently needs reminding of; Kallen reminds him during R2 06, Suzaku reminds him of it in the World of C and then after they find out Nunnally's alive. Rolo is a piece of the puzzle, and an important one, but not nearly as strong of a motivation as you're trying to claim.

Lelouch was free with his emotions regarding Euphy only after it was all over, when he was alone with C.C. and no one else could see. He had to cut his grieving of Shirley short because Rolo showed up and he had to keep his facade up for this psycho who killed one of his best friends.

And Lelouch is absolutely the type of person to lie to someone to achieve a goal. He lies to the Student Council that he'll do fireworks with them, to make them happy (and part of him wants to believe it, but he knows he never will get to). He lies to Kallen to keep her alive. If he can lie to Nunnally on the Damocles, the last time he ever speaks with her, to make her think he's a monster, he can lie to Rolo to let the kid die happy.

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

IAWTC. I think Lelouch was truly touched by Rolo's gesture, but had essentially hated and then tolerated him before that. Which was actually basically how I felt about Rolo while watching the show: I didn't like him because I wanted Nunnally back (as Lelouch did), I truly hated him for killing Shirley and wanted Lelouch to kill him (as Lelouch did), but felt Rolo - to some extent - redeemed himself with his final act of saving Lelouch's life (as Lelouch seemed to).

[apapazukamori.livejournal.com]

There are times when I think Lelouch might have started to maybe like Rolo... and then Rolo does something that reminds him that he is Fake Brother and trying to replace Nunnally. Or, you know, he kills Shirley.

But the killing himself to save Lelouch is a very moving thing. Lelouch saw only the opportunity to use Rolo's love/infatuation most of the series, but when there was real proof of love from Rolo, he couldn't ignore it. Because of Rolo's sacrifice, he could keep going on his path. And I think he's grateful for that. The very least he could do was let Rolo believe Lelouch loved him as Rolo was dying for him. Lelouch knew, anyway, that was the only thing Rolo ever wanted from him.

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

The very least he could do was let Rolo believe Lelouch loved him as Rolo was dying for him. Lelouch knew, anyway, that was the only thing Rolo ever wanted from him.

Even though for such a long time I had wanted payback for Shirley, I would have been severely disappointed in Lelouch if he had been petty in Rolo's final moments after he slowly and painfully sacrificed himself. I was glad he took the high road, and I ended up being really touched by that scene.
(Also, I basically agree with everything you've said - both in this thread and others - about the Lelouch-Rolo relationship)