Code Geass ep.04

October 27, 2006 | 21 Comments

It's a relief to know that at a time of imperial occupation, Pizza Hut is alive and in business. I mean, we don't want the poor people of Eleven to miss out on Pepperoni Pizza after all. Seriously though, the amount of in-show product placement is unusually high. This episode also shows a lot of CLAMP's influence either on the character design or part of its storyline. First, there is a shot of Tokyo Tower, a landmark in any CLAMP series. This episode also marks the first appearance of a Kurogane (of Tsubasa Chronicle) look-alike. Then there's the disturbing similarity between Suzaku and Shaoran of the same series. He even comes in kinky, collar-equipped clothing just like other CLAMP stable bishounen. And there is one scene here which looks like a shounen-ai fanfic material waiting to be written. Anyway, I hope you don't mind that I change my summary style to a less formal one for this episode. I just think this episode calls for it.

The episode begins with Suzaku being interrogated by Jeremiah, who inquires if Suzaku knows anything about the gun in front of him. As it turns out, Jeremiah simply accused Suzaku based on the fact that he is the son of Japan's last Prime Minister. In other words, this is an interrogation where Suzaku can't win because he's already presumed guilty in the first place. I'm quite disappointed with this since I was hoping that Jeremiah will be one of those characters from Britannia's side who is actually not painted as a complete villain. Anyway, not surprisingly Suzaku gets beaten up when he claims that he has never seen the gun. At the same time, Lelouch is placing Nanaly into her bed. Nanaly, who looks like a clone of Kotori from X is worried for Suzaku the way Kotori worried for Kamui in X. This confuses me a little since Lelouch is the one who looks like Kamui here. In order to assure his sister, Lelouch tells Nanaly that news about Suzaku was a lie.

Meanwhile inside the rebel's base, the rebel leader, Ougi, has a fight with one of his men. After the man left, Ougi sighs at the photographs on the table, telling his presumably dead comrade, Naoto, that as he thought, he could not be a good leader. If I may interject for a while, I hate the way CLAMP design the clothes for the terrorist/rebel. It looks like a typical cliche rebel outfit. The best rebel outfit I've seen so far is probably the one used by FFVIII characters. Just because these people are rebel, it doesn't mean they have to dress up like one. Besides, wouldn't it attract more attention if they dress up like a typical terrorist while everyone else wears impeccable clothes? Speaking of clothes, Lelouch is now using his Geass power on someone who tells him that his order (most likely the mask and cape that he'll wear soon) has been followed as specified. The guy also tells Lelouch that after this, he'll destroy all of the evidence and forgets about the order.

The next day inside Ashford College, the Headmaster tells the students that Clovis' death is a truly heartbreaking incident. Yeah, right. To be honest, I rarely moved by the death of politicans mostly because the majority of them are greedy fat cats. Inside his laboratory, Lloyd laments the the missing part of Lancelot: its pilot, Suzaku, who managed to achieve 94% operation effciency with the giant metal scrap. Lloyd also reveals that Jeremiah has used Suzaku as a scapegoat to destroy the honorary Britannia system. His intention is to ensure that pure-blood retains control of the Britannia Army. At the same time at Ashford, Rival asks Lelouch what he's going to do after this, suggesting that they go gambling. Shirley, who is no fun as usual, of course protests about it. Much to Rival's dismay, Lelouch agrees with Shirley's order because he's found a more challenging things to do. At the same time, Karen has now made her way into a half-damaged Tokyo Tower.

Her comrades have also arrived there, thinking that the person that they talked to was actually Kururugi Suzaku. They're a bit concerned because Suzaku was captured not long after the phone call and thinks that this place could be dangerous. All of a sudden, they hear an announcement asking Karen to come to the service counter in regards to a lost property. Upon arriving there, Karen receives a cellphone with "From ZERO" written in the message area. Hmm, it's a shame that there isn't anything that good on the market when it comes to real cellphone. Anyway, Lelouch uses the phone to instruct Karen and her rebel friends to board a train. Meanwhile, Jeremiah orders his men to put Suzaku on Military court tomorrow night. Back inside the train, Karen receives a phone call from Zero who asks her to see her right and left hand side and informs him what she sees. Karen tells him that on the right is Britannia's city and on her left is the Eleven's old city.

Upon hearing the answer, Zero instructs her and her rebel scum to come to the front of the train. Unknown to Karen and her rebel friends, everyone else in the train has red-eye now because they are being controlled by Lelouch. And oh, they are also unaware that there are many product placement for Pizza Hut on every single compartment in the car. Once they arrived on the front compartment, Karen is surprised to see a masked man wearing a cape. Zero immediately gets to the point and informs the rebel that terror won't defeat Britannia because it's just seen as childish attack. He also tells them that their enemies are not the Britannian citizens but Britannia the country. Because they are about to get into war, he doesn't want to involve civilians. Karen is fed up with Zero's speech and asks him why they should trust words that came from someone who won't even show his face. The others agree and insists that Zero takes off his mask.

Upon hearing this Zero promises to show them not his face but the power that he has. He argues that if he can achieve something that is impossible then surely they'll believe in him a little bit. Meanwhile, the leader of Japanese liberation front, General Toudou, have decided that they have no obligations to help Suzaku from his current predicament. LLoyd also informs Suzaku that there are some truths about his case which were not revealed. Upon hearing this Suzaku tells Lloyd that if that's how the world works, then he has no regrets about it. Later on that night, Suzaku is taken to the Military court and the whole event is televised to the public. Cecil laments to Lloyd that despite knowing Suzaku's innocence, they can't do anything about it. Inside their base, the rebels wonder if Zero, Karen, and Ougi will be able to pull off what they're about to do. The answer should be obvious since Lelouch has deus ex machina eyes.

Jeremiah is informed by his men that there is a car coming their way. That car turns out to be Clovis' car. The car, however, has been outfitted with something else behind it. Inside the car, Karen is trembling, remembering how Zero once told them that he only needed her and Ougi to help him with the plan. The car eventually stops in front of Jeremiah's Knightmare troops and Zero makes his first appearance in front of the public. Before Zero can say anything else apart from his name, however, Jeremiah fires a shot to order several Frames to capture him. After doing this, Jeremiah orders Zero to open his mask but instead of opening his mask, Zero snaps his fingers and unveils a device which he claims to be a poisonous capsule. Suzaku recognises that the capsule is anything but poisonous but because his neck is wired to an electric device, he is unable to tell others the truth. Meanwhile TV producer, Lied, decides to take a handheld camera to get a closer look of Zero's face.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah asks Zero what is his demand and not surprisingly, Zero wants Suzaku to be released. Jeremiah refuses, claiming that Suzaku killed Clovis but Zero dispute the claim outright by saying that he was the one who killed Clovis. Everyone is shocked to hear this revelation especially poor Karen who is now shaking inside the car. Well, you have to admit that she was either brave or stupid to follow Zero's lead in the first place. Anyway, Zero threatens Jeremiah by saying that if he were to die, the poison will be unleashed upon the public. Zero then orders Karen to move the car forward as he opens a small opening so his left eye can see Jeremiah directly. Thank to Geass power, Zero manages to control Jeremiah, ordering the man to ignore what has happened thus far. Jeremiah also orders Suzaku to be released. Zero and Karen then walk over to meet Suzaku while Ougi operates some kind of Frames from beneath the bridge.

Villeta climbs into her Frames trying to stop Zero but Zero presses a controller on his hand, unleashing what looks like a gas to the public. Viletta also unable to shoot Zero because Jeremiah, who's still under Zero's influence tries to stop her. While this happens, Zero takes Suzaku jumping off the bridge while Karen follows suit. Ougi then unleashes some kind of a net from his Frames to prevent their fall. Jeremiah's right hand man immediately starts shooting at Ougi but Jeremiah, who's still under Zero's control stops him with his gun. In the aftermath, Ougi tells his group that he believes Zero can lead them in the war against Britannia. At the same time, Zero is in the middle of convincing Suzaku to become his ally if Suzaku wants to change the world. Suzaku, however, is more interested to know if Zero was the one who killed Clovis. In reply, Zero points out that this is war so he asks Suzaku if there needs to be an excuse for taking out an enemy's general.

Zero also explains the gas was just a bluff so no one actually died. He then asks Suzaku to join him again, pointing out that Britannia is not a country worth serving. Suzaku agrees that might be the case but because of that he wants to return to Britannia and makes it into a good country from the inside. Suzaku then tries to leave since he needs to attend a military court in 1 hour. Suzaku knows he'll be charged with false accusation but he also knows that if he doesn't return, the life of Elevens and honorary Britannians like himself will become oppressed. Zero fumes upon hearing this, calling Suzaku a fool. Suzaku tells Zero that a long time ago, his friend often said the same thing. He, however, feels that if he has to die, he may as well do it for the sake of others. Suzaku then thanks Zero for saving him and before walking of the hiding place. Meanwhile, Nanaly is happy to hear the accusation against Suzaku could be dropped. From her right side, a door is opened but instead of Sayako, C.C appears from behind it.

Impression:

What the hell was all of that 'pure-blood' stuff? I knew it started ever since last week's episode but I didn't expect it to turn into a full blown affair like this. So now not only Britannia are oppressor, some of its citizens are also white supremacist kind of characters. Pure-blood even reminds me of the whole Voldemort plot in Harry Potter. I think it's about time they show a decent member of the Britannian Empire. Although I suspect Not!Lacus will be this kind of character. In general, this was an okay episode. I wasn't exactly thrilled with Zero's first appearance because I can see that there are many things that could go wrong with his plan. For example, Karen could have been parallised by fear that she can't move the car close enough for Zero/Lelouch to make good eye contact with Jeremiah. Also, if Ougi had been found earlier by one of Jeremiah's men, Lelouch, Suzaku, and Karen would have splattered their brain on the ground. I guess it helps that Lelouch is a confident character and his confidence rubs off on others.

Preview

On next week's episode: Another Lacus clone makes her way into the series.

© memento 2003