here’s my hot take on why r3 is a little messy in terms of what it means for suzaku and his future. spoiler cuts below and disclaimer: i REALLY enjoyed resurrection! but i did have an Issue...
so like. lelouch made suzaku zero for 3 reasons:
1. zero, as a constant symbol of justice, would eradicate the root of all evil, himself, after lelouch managed to consolidate power enough for nunnally to disperse it later after his death.
2. by having suzaku as zero, he’d essentially be nunnally’s knight, which was his whole plot from the beginning
3. (and this one’s important) suzaku would be forced to live on, completing his penance for the crimes that burdened him, but without the burden of his actual existence.
lelouch essentially tricked suzaku into living on in a way that suzaku was okay with. he satisfied suzaku’s necessity for masochism and atonement while simultaneously ‘killing’ him in a way that didn’t actually kill him. and suzaku accepted because this was his punishment, and he was the only one to be able to do it. jeremiah couldn’t do it, cc couldn’t do it, no one else. just him.
having lelouch alive negates all that.
because part of the burden of the title of zero comes from the fact that suzaku is the only one to be able to do it and that’s what makes it appealing to him as someone who feels like he needs to struggle and suffer. if lelouch is alive, then he’s fully capable of being zero again. it would be better, actually, if he were because suzaku can’t keep up with the intellect and tactical prowess that zero once displayed. truthfully, those kinds of skills shouldn’t be necessary anymore in a time of peace, but clearly in r3 the need for it arose.
lelouch feels like he should distance himself from world affairs now that he’s completed his goals, which makes perfect sense, but theres very little reason beyond the fact that his character arc as lelouch vi britannia is over that he shouldnt take up the mantle again. zero is an anonymous figure. in a time of peace, there’d be no reason to believe he’d ever really be unmasked, especially if he’s surrounded by trusted allies who know of the situation. suzaku doesn’t need to really keep going as zero for any other reason besides ‘i dont want to’ on the part of lelouch.
and what does this mean for suzaku?? that theres always going to be a possibility or chance that should he or nunnally be in danger or incapable of going forward with the plan of peace, lelouch will step in. he likely will not, given his response at the end of r3, but he possibly could. and as much as suzaku puts stock into lelouch’s convictions, that little, minuscule possibility lessens his burden as zero significantly, and therefore, negates the whole purpose of his existence as zero. he’s there to atone, and he can’t do it while knowing lelouch is alive.
annaxmalina
stormborns
izzy806
jbbartram-illu
origamiaround
kianamaiart
snowghoul
