One giant set-up?

[darth-teca.livejournal.com]

Is anyone else REALLY getting the impression that Lelouch's, and Schniezel's for that matter, entire life has been shaped by the Emporer as one big contest of who REALLY deserves to take the thrown/kill the Gods? It's the impression I've had for a while about the series but it's becoming more and more likely in my mind, especially with some of the recent developments shown in Ep 13. Here are the major ones:

~V.V. and Charles both have referred to the pact they have made to kill the Gods in past tense, with almost a sense that they've had the agreement for a long time. Considering they are brothers, I would probably guess that this pact could easily be going back a LONG time ago. If this is true and they've had the pact for so long, why haven't they actually completed the pact yet? Given, no one really has any idea what they are actually talking about, but it would seem that whatever it is, they are probably incapable of doing it on their own and/or need someone to do something specific to complete the pact. In steps Lelouch.

~One of the shots in the new OP is what looks like Charles, V.V. and a woman standing on a cliff that C.C. was shown standing on in an earlier OP. It seems that many people agree that this woman is probably Marianne.If this is true, than that's a pretty strong indication that Marianne probably had some knowledge of Geass. Paired with the previous information that Marianne herself dismissed all her security the day she was assassinated seems to suggest that Lelouch's hardship could possibly have been planned out from the beginning, to make him stronger and force him to become ruthless. He was sent away to a foreign country, which cuts him off from the rest of his family. During the invasion of Japan, everyone seemed to simply assume Lelouch and Nunally died, but I don't buy that Charles would think that. The Ashford's were known associates and supporters of Marianne, so it would stand to reason that they would probably take care of her children. Charles might have hoped/counted on them to act upon their loyalties, which is a huge theme in Geass in general.

~Both of the assassins that the Order has sent after Lelouch have turned to his side. Either the Order is incredibly short-sighted in what the actual motivations of their assassins are, or Charles is beginning to stack Lelouch's deck a little higher. You do NOT send an emotionally unbalanced child who has had no family on an undercover job to be IN a family with an extremely manipulative enemy. You CERTAINLY don't send a soldier who was in the service of the mother of said enemy to go kill them. Again, loyalty is a large theme in Geass, people depend on it a lot through their relationships, and Jerimiah doesn't strike me as the kind to have been quite about his loyalty to Marianne, even though it was his first mission. How "convenient" that if it was know of is loyalty to her, his first mission to actually protect her is the very day she dies. Even more "convenient" is the chance to help her son avenge her death. That's a lot of stacked up conveniences that now knowing what we know, I don't buy very well.

~There are other little things (like why would Britania keep C.C. in Japan in the first place? Wouldn't actually inside Britania be much safer and more secure?), but I think the one wild card in Nunally. Personally, I think she was supposed to have died with Marianne, but Marianne protected her instead. The recent flashback of Lelouch's memory of Marianne's assassination shows the bullets peppering the area around Marianne and Nunally but making a clean have cicle around Lelouch. If any of the above is true as well, it would make sense to have Nunally dead because then Lelouch really has nothing to keep him from pulling out all the stops, completely losing and removed from everyone he loves. No idea why Charles would have let her live, other than supposing trying to kill her again would look too suspicious.

~While all of this is arguably happening with Lelouch, it's much more obvious that the King is moving Schniezel to be in direct conflict with Lelouch and while upping up his own arsenal. He's given Schniezel three Knights of the Round, and possibly more on the way later. Chales is also ordering Schniezel to try and gain half of the Chinese territory, an move that will obviously put him in a head-to-head conflict with Lelouch. Both sides are gaining a ton of power, pushing both of them to possibly create battles and decisions that they wouldn't have made without so much power on their side.

Obviously, this is all wide speculation, but it's pretty clear that with the chess motif, Schniezel is the white king and Lelouch is the black king. While they move their respective pieces/people around the board, I don't believe that they are willingly moving themselves. I think Charles is the hand that set-up the game, made the rules, and is moving the kings. After all, where the kings go, the pawns are sure to follow. Maybe the battle alone is the act to "killing the Gods" or maybe the one remaining after it's all done will be able to complete the pact, but I smell something being rigged in the air.

Comments

[unsugared.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about it as well, especially after watching Turn 11 when C.C and Anya had some sort of connection between them. I don't know whose memory was it, but an image of Lelouch and Nunnally with Charles in the background triggered that, I supposed. It can be assumed that Charles was close with Lelouch and Nunnally before something happened.

kogoetahana had told me before too, that Charles killing Marianne would be too easy to predict. Maybe it was planned to make Lelouch who he is now? And Marianne is also involved, somehow.

Another one thing, why Schniezel and not his other siblings? And I wonder, does anyone else know about this, apart from Charles and V.V?

[ansela-jonla.livejournal.com]

I think that Schneizel and Cornelia are the most competent of the older Princes and Princesses. The 1st Prince (Odysseus?) seems to be completely useless and it's possible that the others aren't really all that good on the battlefield.

[tanzentravis.livejournal.com]

Urm, sorry for the double comment.

But yeah - Odysseus always comes across as aloof and indecisive, so that's not someone I would imagine Charles giving his throne up to.

[tanzentravis.livejournal.com]

I just assume that the reason the Emperor is so high on Schneizel is because he's the most well-balanced of the family (or so it seems, anyway). It seems that everyone else has a characteristic that's taken to the extreme except for Schneizel.

Oh, and I can't help but have a quick *wheezewheezefanboy* moment - Cornelia is terribly badass.

[unsugared.livejournal.com]

Talking about this long lineage of siblings reminds me of one thing, why Lelouch of all people??

Of course, we have 'Because-he-is-the-main-character,-that's-why' thingy, but still...

*fangirls with you* Yes, Cornelia is one badass!Princess. Will she be joining Lelouch too?

[tanzentravis.livejournal.com]

In regards to the second part of your post, I doubt it. She's hellbent on proving Euphie's innocence AND Lelou is pretty much responsible for the Euphie tragedy. I see Cornelia as being a little bit like Suzaku, unable to forgive in regards to that incident.

[tomoyohime8.livejournal.com]

but there's also the fact that she understands lelouch's reason for fighting. i remember something about cornelia admiring marianne a lot (or is that just somthing i got from fanfiction? sorry, my head is kinda spinny at 1 am.)

i think her quest includes soul-searching, (used for lack of a better term) wherein she's trying to figure out what she's going to do next, what euphie would want her to do.

i personally though am very excited about what orange-kun and lulu can accomplish together. ^^b

[tanzentravis.livejournal.com]

No, you're right. Around the middle (or end) of R1 when Lelouch has Cornelia in checkmate (so to speak) she mentions that she looked up to Marianne and did a lot of investigation into her death afterward.

[tomoyohime8.livejournal.com]

so i'm not losing my grip on canon (too much fanfiction can mess with your head sometimes, especially the really good ones. they almost sound canon. ^^) thank geass for small miracles.

i love cornelia. i hope she shows up more in the next episodes.

[darth-teca.livejournal.com]

As to why Lelouch, I think it was planned out since before his birth. Hell, even his BIRTH might have been planned with all of this in mind. People who can give Geass seem to have the ability to tell/sense when someone is able to receive Geass or be of some use to them or SOMETHING. It might be that V.V. could tell with Lelouch from when he was very young.

[darth-teca.livejournal.com]

I agree with everyone else that his first round of children aren't really his ideal in who would take over his thrown when he left. Even Lelouch seems to have a low regard for Odyssesus (or however you spell it). Schniezel is just the best of Charles' other children, so he's the one being pitted up against Lelouch.