Code Geass ep.03

October 20, 2006 | 12 Comments

I'm impressed at the way the plot progress in this series. Last week I was thinking how problematic Lelouch's and Clovis' confrontation will have on future episodes. This is why I'm glad to see the series taking the brave and realistic outcome from the confrontation even though this is only the 3rd episode in the series. I also love how the writers conclude the possible stand off between Karen and Lelouch and the interesting revelation that emerges out of this. Top this off with the shocking ending and this becomes one hell of a thrill ride. The only criticism I have about the series is that the art starts to downgrade slightly here. It's nothing bad but the quality is not as good as the first and second episodes.

Continuing from the previous episode, the military chief is confused because Clovis has ordered his soldiers to free the Elevens. Unknown to them, Clovis is currently being held at gun point by Lelouch. Clovis pretends that he's happy to see Lelouch still alive because he's heard that Lelouch was already dead. Lelouch, however, is not buying Clovis' act, accusing the other guy of killing his mother. He reveals that because his mother's status is that of a commoner, other princesses always looked down on her. However, Lelouch never expected them to blame his mother's death on terrorists. When Clovis tells Lelouch that he wasn't the one who did it, Lelouch uses his power to force Clovis to tell the truth. Under Lelouch's influence, Clovis reveals that the Second Prince Schnauzer and Second Princess Cornelia know about the murder. Because Clovis doesn't know anything more, Lelouch withdraws his power, causing Clovis to freak out again.

Clovis tries convince Lelouch that he's not the one who did it. Lelouch pretends to lower his gun but then raises it again because he believes the world can't be changed by whitewashing the past. Lelouch then pulls the trigger but the sound can't be heard because the next shot shows a bunch of gulls flying from the rooftop of Ashford Academy. Inside the college, student council leader Millay Ashford beats Lelouch's head with paper fan for sleeping during the meeting. Lelouch asks Millay to stop hitting him but Rival thinks that's a punishment for leaving him yesterday. Shirley agrees with the sentiment and wonders what Lelouch did yesterday. Of course hell will freeze over before Lelouch answer that questions. Millay immediately interfere, asking them not to go off-topic since they have to determine the budget for club and activities. Shirley thinks that if they had thought about it one day earlier, then they wouldn't be this busy.

After joking around about Shirley's perfect breast, the meeting is over. Because of this, the student council members head back to the class where they see other students watching news of the 'poisonous gas event' that happened in Shinjuku Ghetto. Upon seeing the news, Lelouch wonders why no one reports anything about Clovis. This reminds him of the time when he held Clovis under a gun point and pulled the trigger. Lelouch feels sick upon remembering this and ended up vomitting in the bathroom. After a while, however, a satisfaction smile registered on his face. Meanwhile inside a car, the two Knightmare Frame pilots, Viletta Nui and Jeremiah Gottwald are talking about the suspect, who is accused of feigning illness. In addition to this, Viletta is also concerned about neighbourhood threat for pure-blood like them especially now that Clovis has passed away. Back at Ashford Academy, Lelouch is surprised when he sees Karen in his class.

Rival immediately teases his friend asking the guy what is it that he's looking at, wondering if his friend is in love. Lelouch denies this and claims that he just thinks it's strange that she never appeared in class ever since the commencement ceremony. Rival explains that the girl is Karen Stadtfeld. Although her body is weak, she always get excellent grades and has a rich family. Having said that, she also lived a sheltered life. While Karen and her friends are having lunch together, a bee suddenly appears in the area. Her friends immediately squeal in terror, warning Karen to get away. Because of this Karen has no choice but to pretend as if she's afraid of the bee. However, when the bee follows her, she easily swats the insect with her bare hand. Karen becomes mortified when she realises that Lelouch has been standing behind her. Predictably, Lelouch immediately uses his geass power to ask Karen if she was in Shinjuku yesterday.

Karen confirms this and when asked by Lelouch why she committed terrorism, her answer is because she's Japanese. Although she also has half of Britannian blood. While this happen, Shirley notices the entire conversation from the window above them. Lelouch eventually is satisfied with his finding and is about to leave Karen. Before he does so, however, he uses his power to ask Karen not to say anything about Shinjuku. Much to Lelouch's surprise, his power doesn't work on Karen anymore, causing her to wonder why he mentions Shinjuku. The same thing can be said when he tries to order her to return to the classroom. Lelouch starts to panic but thankfully for him, Shirley then screams from the window, telling them that they have their next class is science. That night, a blind and wheelchair-bound girl telling her maid that she wants to wait for someone before having dinner. The maid then gives the girl a bird Origami.

Not long after this the girl, whose name is Nanaly, looks towards a door where Lelouch makes his appearance. He apologises for being late and greets Nanaly, who turns out to be his sister. At the same time, Clovis' ex-General has arrived at a research lab that produced experiments such as C.C. He orders a destruction of the lab since the scientists have been conducting research without the knowledge of even the Britannian Emperor. While dining with her brother, Nanaly tells Lelouch that just then their maid had told her how to fold an Origami. It's believed that if one folds 1000 cranes, any wish will be fulfilled. She asks him what he'd like if his wish can be fulfilled. Instead of answering the question, Lelouch asks his sister what she'd like. Her answer is a kind world. Lelouch tells Nanaly that once her eyes can see again, the world will definitely turn that way. When Nanaly asks him if that is true, Lelouch gives her his promise.

Deep down, however, Lelouch realises that the futures that he and Nanaly can choose are limited. Although the two of them are protected for the time being, he is unsure until when the Ashford family can support them. If the state of affairs go out of control, he'll be seperated from Shirley and Rival. In general, he feels that their future is threatened by political conspiracy. Because of this, Lelouch wants to create world that will allow someone like Nanaly to be happy. Lelouch's thought, however, comes to a halt when he feels Nanaly tugging his finger with her own because she wants them to do pinky swears. She explains that someone teached her about this and starts singing the Yubikiri song. After hearing the song, Lelouch points out that the song is kind of scary. Nanaly ignores him and tells her brother that he can't lie after this. Lelouch promises Nanaly that he won't lie but tells himself that Nanaly is the only person he'll do this for.

The next day Lelouch decides to investigate the way his power works by asking a teacher to reveal the answer to a test. While he can do this the first time around, he fails to do it on the second go. Lelouch finally understands that the power will only work once on the same individual. Meanwhile, Karen has been suspecting Lelouch as the voice who guided her back in Shinjuku. Because of this, she agrees to come with him to the student council's clubhouse. Much to their shock, however, the rest of the club members suddenly make their appearance. Millay explains that they are having party to celebrate Karen's inclusion into the Student Council. Millay claims that her grandfather, who also happens to be the board chairman, requested it. Later on after everyone introduces themselves, Rival reveals that he has a bottle of champagne. But because Shirley is no fun, she tries to take the champagne away from Rival and the two end up in a brawl.

Not wanting to let go of his prized good, Rival throws the champagne to Lelouch. When Shirley jumps on Lelouch, however, the champagne's cork accidentally pops off, spilling its content onto Karen's hair. In the end, Karen ends up having a shower in the clubhouse. When Lelouch brings her a change of clothes, Karen asks him to give her a small pouch she left on the basin. When Lelouch tries to give it to Karen, however, she grabs hold of his arm and asks him why he was talking about Shinjuku just the other day. When Lelouch starts answering her question with another question, she orders him to just answer her with yes/no. Before Karen can ask any question, however, Lelouch decides to grab the phone and when he finds out that the call is meant for Karen, he gives the phone to her. Karen is surprised to know that the voice on the phone is similar to the voice that gave her instruction in Shinjuku, causing her to believe that she had been wrong about Lelouch.

The man gives her a time and place to meet again but hanging up on her when she asks him if he was the one who ordered a cease-fire on the Elevens. After the call ended, Lelouch asks Karen what cease-fire she was talking about, asking if it's a game. Karen immediately agrees with what Lelouch said. Lelouch then points out that she is naked right now so she immediately covers herself up. Lelouch promises her that he won't tell anyone and proceeds to leave the bathroom. As it turns out, the voice really is Lelouch's. However, he has used his power to ask his maid to play a recording of it after giving Karen a call. After Karen finished taking a bath, she and Lelouch return to the main hall where their friends inform them that Clovis has been murdered. On the TV, Jeremiah is holding a press conference. The news then switch to a breaking event where the suspect has been apprehended. Lelouch is surprised to see the person who's been arrested is Suzaku.

Impression:

I'm glad that Clovis got killed after only 3 episodes. I think this shows that Lelouch will not hesitant to kill if necessary. Lelouch also shows that he's quite a genius who knows how to manipulate situation to his advantage. By diverting Karen's suspicion to a mysterious character, Lelouch will ensure that his anonymity is secured. From this point, Karen will see him as nothing more than a normal student, solving the problem that he had when he failed to hypnotize her for the 2nd time. Speaking of Geass power, I'm surprised to know that a person can only used it once on the same person. I know that this is done so that Lelouch doesn't seem so powerful. However, I think his power doesn't seem so great now. I think it'll be difficult for him to conquer the world just by using this power. The problem is, Lelouch doesn't seem to understand this.
In a way, he's similar to Light from Death Note. They both suffer from grand delusion.

This episode, however, is not without its problems. One of these problems is Suzaku. Right from the first episode, he's been portrayed inconsistently. At one point, he looks as if he's important in the Britannia empire to the point that he gets to control brand new Frame. On other occasions, his importance is so insignificant that he ends up getting beaten up/shot. And now, he's actually tried for a murder that he didn't commit. I also think that the Britannians have been portrayed in a rather unfavourable manner in almost every episode. There is little to no complexity in their action. They basically just serve as a symbol for oppression and power. I guess it fits with whatever political message the producer wants to say but it's too heavy-handed for it to be effective. Speaking of political message, I was surprised to see Karen wanting to attack Britannia even though she's half Britannian herself. I guess she represents those who hates their own heritage.

Preview

© memento 2003