The episode begins with a Geassed
Euphemia giving an order, telling all soldiers to please kill the all of those
who call themselves Japanese. She says to kill them in the name of Euphemia li
Britannia, before the opening credits roll.
Afterward, Lelouch reiterates
his order, saying that Euphemia has betrayed them and to crush the Britannian
forces to dust. The Order of the Black Knights moves out, destroying Britannian
forces in their way with civilians cheering them on. They’re convinced that the
Britannian forces and Euphemia planned this all along, and that rage drives them
forward as they attack. Their onslaught stalls Suzaku in his attempts to find
Euphemia.
When Kallen attacks a
Knightmare that is gunning down Japanese civilians, however, it seems that she
has found the Princess first. Euphemia identifies herself before asking if
Kallen is Japanese and calls her rude, and then she recognizes the Kallen from
their time on the island. Before Kallen can strike her Knightmare again, Zero
gets in the way and says he’ll handle it, slicing the machine apart and leaving
it inoperable.
Kallen asks if they take her
prisoner now, and Zero tells her there’s no point and to leave her. Euphemia
emerges from the broken bits of machinery, looking around and insisting she
must kill all the Japanese, she has to. Amongst the rubble, she finds a machine
gun, picking it up and firing uselessly at the Gawain.
Inside the Gawain, Lelouch
puts his helmet on before lowering himself to the street to stand before
Euphemia, who is busy trying to reload the gun. When she does, she seems
pleased, but then she sees Zero and comments that she thought he was one of
them and doesn’t attack. She then tells him that she was hoping they could run
the Special Administrative Zone of Japan together, seeming puzzled when she
mentions Japan.
Zero tells her that he really
wanted to do that with her, if he could, as he walks past her. He then turns and before he levels his gun in
her direction. In that instant, Suzaku passes by overhead in the Lancelot and
sees Euphy, smiling in relief now that he’s finally located her. But a
split-second later, Zero fires his gun, and Euphemia falls. As she does, she
thinks “Lelouch… Why?” Meanwhile, behind
the mask, Lelouch silently bids her farewell, saying that she may have been the
first girl he ever loved.
In that instant, Suzaku
screams in horror, the Lancelot launching toward Zero’s location. Lelouch is
shocked to catch sight of the Lancelot overhead. C.C. moves quickly in the
Gawain, wishing Suzaku didn’t have that kind of timing as she fires the Hadron
Cannons at the Lancelot. Suzaku manages to evade these, and C.C. moves to get
in his way, shouting that she won’t let him kill Lelouch. Instead of fighting,
Suzaku collects Euphemia and tries to get away.
When Kallen attempts to stop
him, Suzaku pushes her away so hard that he damages the right arm of the
Lancelot, fleeing to the Avalon. Moments later, he is shown stepping into the
ship with a wounded Euphemia, pleading with Cecile and Lloyd to save her,
saying that they can’t let her die.
Meanwhile, Cornelia is
hearing reports of what happened, finding out that the Britannian forces in the
stadium have fallen and that the Order of the Black Knights are moving to
intercept her troops. And they’ve gotten word on Euphemia, who is shown in a
life support system.
At the same time the Black
Knights are beating their Britannian prisoners, saying that they’ve made the
biggest mistake of their lives as a crowd of angered Japanese people join them.
In one of their bases, the OotBK
is editing footage to upload onto the net—footage of the carnage Euphemia
perpetrated. Rakshata comments that Diethard doesn’t seem to have any loyalty
toward Britannia, and he replies that the Empire’s glory has ripened on the
vine and there’s no need for his capabilities. To that, Rakshata says he’s more
honest than she’d first thought, and when he asks about her, she says she’s
there for data, but she’d feel bad leaving them all, and she finds Zero such an
amusing man.
Elsewhere in the same place, in
what looks like a basement, Zero is meeting with the Kyoto leaders and
recognizes Kaguya as one of Suzaku’s relatives. When Kirihara starts trying to
negotiate working with the OotBK again, Zero defines their new terms: the Kyoto
group will be under his control from now on, and he will hear no objections
regarding the matter.
On board the Avalon, the
doctors step out of the infirmary and discuss their patient, Euphemia. It is
clear she’s not going to survive, and when a nurse asks if she’ll last at least
until they reach their destination, the doctor is certain that’s not going to
be the case. One of them sets off to inform Governor-General Cornelia while the
other is to contact Prince Schneizel.
In the infirmary, Suzaku sits
by the life support bed that Euphemia is in, eyes closed as he holds the pin
she had given him. Her voice softly calls his name, and Suzaku looks up, and as
the breathing mask and casing around her draw away, Cecile leaves the room with
Lloyd.
When they’re alone, Suzaku
tells Euphemia that he has to know, asking her why she issued that order at the
stadium. She doesn’t seem to get what he’s talking about, and the red tint of
the Geass rings her eyes again as she asks him if he’s Japanese. He says yes, but
she struggles, insisting that she won’t think such a thing. She closes her eyes
as she does so, and when she opens them again, the influence is gone. (It could be that Euphy is not strong enough
to execute the Geass order any longer, as she is in no shape to kill anyone, or
it could be something relating to Euphy’s own will not to hurt Suzaku. I think the best explanation may be that Euphy was able to bend around her Geass by thinking of Suzaku as an honorary Britannian rather than Japanese, since we later see Suzaku exert some influence on his own Geass.)
Euphemia then asks if the ceremony went well, and if Japan is okay, leaving
Suzaku surprised as he asks if she doesn’t remember.
Code Geass 23 Page 1
