I think Lelouch tries to tell himself he is less attached to Zero than he is (The whole "I felt dead..." stuff). It gives him a feeling of strength and power that just being Lelouch didn't really, so I can see him, in feeling powerless with the loss of Nunnally, just slipping back into it. At the very least, Zero makes Lelouch feel as if he can do something. Or maybe that and Ashford are just things that Lelouch is unwilling to give up, no matter how much these desires endanger one another. He can't rationalise it, so he just does it.
(Your criticisms interest me because I've generally seen things the other way around: That R2 started decent and "went bad" later on. I've never seen anyone criticize Lelouch as Zero in R2 before: if anything, they hate that when isn't Zero, as if Lelouch as Zero is how things should be.)
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(Your criticisms interest me because I've generally seen things the other way around: That R2 started decent and "went bad" later on. I've never seen anyone criticize Lelouch as Zero in R2 before: if anything, they hate that when isn't Zero, as if Lelouch as Zero is how things should be.)