Code Geass Episode 5: Discussion!

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

Episode 5: 皇女と魔女
The Imperial Princess and the Witch










We begin by seeing Cornelia taking control of Area 18 with her army. For whatever reason I always somewhat felt that Lelouch had some sort of a similarity with her. Well, at least for this episode they were both introduced with a fiery entrance (at least Zero was shown to the public that way in the last episode). Cornelia has decided to take control of Area 11 and avenge the death of her brother, Clovis. Her goal? To find Zero!

Lelouch returns home to see a familiar face of someone whom he thought died via bullet to the brain. I guess I'd be a little surprised too. I mean, he did watch her die in front of him. There was a bullet in her head, after all. She survived and there's not even a scar to show she was ever shot. At any rate, it's nice to see that Nunnally and C.C. are getting along pleasantly—except she's under the assumption that Lelouch is marrying her. I gotta say, though, I didn't get the feeling that Nunnally really believed the breaking of that cup was legit. Unfortunately for Lelouch he doesn't get to have a lot of his questions answered by the mysterious C.C..

In other news poor Jeremiah has lost his leadership due to the whole "orange" incident. No one trusts him after he let Zero escape and even attacked his own men claiming they were disobeying his orders. For those wondering what "orange" meant, Lelouch claims it was just a casual remark that some people will want to know the meaning of and others will begin to analyze what it does mean. Suspicion. Luckily for Suzaku, due to the whole ordeal they acquitted that there was not enough evidence to charge him with the murder of Clovis, so he was found innocent! Other than that other terrorist groups are making a ruckus because of the whole Zero thing, thinking it's time to revolt; even the Japanese that Toudou is a part of wants to act now, but Toudou seems to be very patient and he wants to wait and not get caught up in the whole Zero thing.

Anyways, is it just me or is this entire anime built on lies? When Suzaku meets Euphemia for the first time one of the first thing she says to him is a lie. She's being chased by bad people? Moreover she lies about who she is—well she omits the fact that she's the princess Euphemia and just tells Suzaku that she's Eufie. However, I get that she did that so she could see who he was on a different level. For example when Suzaku stepped in when some Britannian soldiers were creating a ruckus with an Eleven. He took a lot of heat from the Britannians. Later he stepped in when there was a coup d'état against Jeremiah, which later caused Euphemia to step in and stop the fight using her royal power. Maybe it was a test for Suzaku because she knew who he was when they met, I believe. Either way, Lloyd knew the entire time, that bastard!

I gotta hand it to Lelouch, though. He put Geass on a girl to test how long Geass stays on a given person for. Every day at the same time she goes to the same spot and carves in the wall the same image. Even C.C. is impressed.

Suzaku is attending Ashford Academy! :D

Next time: 奪われた仮面
The Stolen Mask

P.S. I will be deleting previous image batches from my flickr account within the next week, save for this one.

Comments

[nayami.livejournal.com]

I like that Suzaku and Euphie are each other mirror opposites in a way. He is Euphie's window to the realization that the world is not always what it seems and that she can't simply fix things by telling people that they are important; she has to show them. Whereas Euphie is Suzaku's window to there being a potential for goodness and hope in a world that has seemed like a very dismal place for him for a very long time, hope for him as well. Suzaku (and Nina) make Euphie realize how ineffectual she is and truly want to change that and take a real role, something she only toed around originally. Euphie makes Suzaku realize his way isn't impossible or wrong and is even enough for him to offer flag of true to Zero/Lelouch if he only shows that he can understand that.

I enjoy Suzaku and Euphie for the ideals they represent for each other, but I do wish Suzaku had gotten to see more of Euphie's rough side, as she saw his own. It would have equalized things nicely and is a result of less screentime. :( I think it would have really added more depth to the relationship and help Suzaku see Euphie more as "real" more of less. Not that he doesn't love her for who she is. I just think that viewpoint adds a naturalness to relationships and helps get past the idealizing point.

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, I've used the mirror opposites analogy to contrast Suzaku and Lelouch before.

I wonder what we'd actually get to see if we saw Euphie's rough side? Because most of her issues are the one's we've mentioned so far - and Suzaku is actually helping her overcome. Beyond that there's still the fact she can be willfully blind to the crimes of those she loves. (For all she hates the Black Knights versus Britannia conflict, she really avoids dealing with that fact that it is Clovis and Cornelia and Lelouch doing these things, instead of just amorphous others)

But yeah, I think the lack of addressing it is in part the fact that for all it's sweetness, their relationship is still only in it's early stages. And in part, because when you get down to it, Suzaku is a more important character than Euphie. She exists more to support his character and development than the reverse.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

I don't apply mirror opposites as much to the boys since aside from methods, they are very similar in mentality. That's what makes their rivalry so ugly and their friendship so turbulent.

Euphie's rough side, aside from what you mentioned, boils down to almost a lite version of Lelouch's, wanting to do what's right for those he loves but not fully considering how it will affect them or how they will feel about it. Case in point: the Special Administration Zone. Also, Suzaku in general for quite some time. Whereas Euphie more tried to force him out of his subservient side than really get his issues. Well, yes Suzaku sees these things in action, Euphie never truly comes to terms with them the way Suzaku must come to terms with his own shortcomings in front of her. I understand the structural logic of it through Euphie's role in the story, but I still pine for this final piece.

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

I've used that and the photo-negative comparison. Both for basically the same reason: same lines, but a different result. Er, metaphorically.

I think the two issues are intertwined with Euphie: Because she tries to see only the good in people, she can't really grasp the bad, and as such has difficulty actually dealing with it. So with Lelouch she ignores it, and with Suzaku who she sees more clearly, she tries the band-aid solution.

I wonder if, in the event of the SAZ succeeding, the work in actually managing it and keeping things going would have given Suzaku a look at that side of Euphie. Given how out of her depth she'd be at dealing with both Japanese people, and working as a civilian instead of a princess.

It has oddly just occurred to me that R1 consists of two opposing people trying to force Suzaku to get past issues in different ways, R2 is Suzaku (mostly) struggling to get past them on his own.

- And now I must dash, because family calls. Possibly back after dinner?

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Oh, you make a good point about SAZ, it very well could have because of the challenges involved. Lelouch knew this too. :(

Also lol it's so true about the parallels.