Techno looks so confident in that animatic but I know for a fact that he mentally prepared for that for atleast a week and right after saying the line he was like "omg omg did I said it right???" With the voices going absolutely apeshit like "OMG TECHNOFLIRT - TECHNO DID IT RIGHT!! - DEFFO FLERTING"
-Leafie🌿
Well- let’s just say we wasn’t as unaffected as he looked ^^
listen listen liSTEN it's been nearly a decade and i still think about these questions??? all of Lelouch's actions were based on the 'ends justify means' outlook but all the conflict against him was also based on opposition to that?? on one hand i always think, was Lelouch right? but then also: did he NEED to be right?? he accepted that his actions would come off as self-serving but he had an objective that he never lost sight of, so what exactly are we judging??
HELLO FRIEND I AM PUTTING THE REST OF YOUR ASK AND MY (long-ass) ANSWER UNDER A CUT SO THERE WON’T BE ANY SPOILERS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO WATCH CODE GEASS AND ALSO I WILL BE SHOUTING A LOT AND WHIPPING MY OPINIONS EVERYWHERE I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND
FOR ANYONE JUST STUMBLING INTO MY TUMBLR IF YOU WANT TO WATCH CODE GEASS DO NOT READ BELOW THIS LINE BECAUSE THERE ARE MASSIVE SPOILERS
and don’t even get me started on Suzaku wtf I have so many issues with him but from a characterization POV he was brilliant??? the way they turned around the white-knight trope with him and the conflict between him and Lelouch was such an INTENSE thing throughout the series (though I’m not sure how I feel about his relationship with Euphy but I always thought his attachment to her was less about actual love and more about seeing some sort of salvation in her)
Aaaand yes, I heard about the season 3. Though I’m not sure what they’re going to do with it lol. The fandom is so divided on that whole “Is Lelouch alive or dead? SHOULD he be alive or dead??” front. I always thought he was dead for sure, and his death was meaningful because it also came with a complete sacrifice of his character in the eyes of his people, so idk how they’re going to reconcile that with a new season. (Sorry for blowing up your inbox. I couldn’t resist!)
Dude it’s totally fine to blow up my inbox, it’s empty most of the time anyway and I love talking to other fans. I hope you don’t mind a long answer because I have so many FEELINGS?!!!
1. LELOUCH, MAN. Was he right? Did he NEED to be right? Was he right? UNLESS HE DID SOMETHING TO ENSURE EVERLASTING PEACE IN THE TWO MONTHS BEFORE HE HAD HIMSELF ASSASSINATED, I DON’T THINK HE WAS RIGHT TO DO WHAT HE DID. AND HE NEEDED DESPERATELY TO BE RIGHT BECAUSE HIS WHOLE THING WAS, I HAVE TO KEEP GOING, I HAVE TO KEEP KILLING, I HAVE TO KEEP USING PEOPLE AS PAWNS BECAUSE IF I DON’T ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, THEN ALL THEIR SACRIFICES WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING. AND HE JUST KEEPS THIS MINDSET THROUGHOUT THE ANIME, USING PEOPLE AND KILLING PEOPLE AND CLIMBING UP A MOUNT EVEREST OF BODIES JUST SO THAT HE CAN ACHIEVE A GOAL THAT IN THE END HE WOULDN’T BE ALIVE TO ENJOY.
I AM JUDGING HIM BECAUSE HE USED SO MANY PEOPLE EXACTLY LIKE PAWNS ON A CHESS PIECE, TRAMPLED OVER THEIR FREE WILL, ENSLAVED THEM, HAD THEMSELVES COMMIT FUCKING SUICIDE, EVEN THOUGH HE ACCUSED THE EMPEROR OF DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR. WAS IT BETTER FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE IN PEACE THROUGH THEIR COMMON HATRED OF A DICTATOR? WAS IT BETTER FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE IN FEAR OF DESTRUCTION, LIKE SCHNEIZEL WANTED TO DO WITH DAMOCLES?
On the one hand I think it’s better for people to be united, rather than living in constant fear. But in the end, all of the people who died for Lelouch’s goal – and it was HIS goal, because WHEN DID THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD EVER ASK HIM TO GIVE THEM WORLD PEACE? EVEN HIS OWN SISTER NEVER ASKED HIM TO DO THAT AND HE WAS APPARENTLY DOING IT FOR HER – all of the people who died for his goal, all their sacrifices would be meaningless if the peace he wants is broken.
Now, he said he wanted to create a kinder world for Nunnally to live in (and isn’t that selfish?). And maybe he did – maybe, just maybe, it will last her lifetime. But what if it doesn’t? There will always be people who will use others for their own ends. That’s what keeping people as people, with free will, does, and Lelouch was totally willing to accept that (he killed his goddamn parents because of it). Say the world has like a decade or two of peace. How long will it take for some ambitious asshole to screw it up again and break the peace? They have Zero as a symbol, but in the end, will it be enough? If it isn’t enough, then everyone will have died and been enslaved for nothing. Every single person Lelouch killed had a family, had people who loved them, had goals, they weren’t just chess pieces (as Shirley’s father’s death and Shirley’s consequent breakdown brought home to him), and I think he understood that. But he had to keep playing them as chess pieces to achieve his goal. And if peace is broken, then like Lelouch said, their sacrifices will have been for nothing.
2. Suzaku man, I am SO FRUSTRATED with him. Like I thought he was a white knight in the beginning but it turns out he was suicidal and like you said, wanting salvation. He was so inconsistent. He said he wanted to change things the “right way,” but he supports a genocidal nation and throws himself into situations where he might be killed. HOW IS HE SUPPOSED TO CHANGE ANYTHING IF HE DIES??!
But in the end he finally changes his mind and does things Lelouch’s way and it strips off all of his ‘white knight’ image altogether. And he is finally honest. So I like that. The way he and Lelouch change as people, and the way they are both so fallible and human, are two of the reasons why I like the show so much.
Euphemia was my FAVORITE CHARACTER (because she was the only one who thought she could achieve peace, or some form of peace, WITHOUT MURDERING SCORES OF PEOPLE) and what Lelouch did to her, however inadvertently, will always break my heart. I think Suzaku did see her as a kind of salvation, and he did love her, but he didn’t love her enough to live for her. He fucking needed Lelouch to mind control him to save himself. But he obviously loved her enough to throw away some of the ideals he was clinging to and become a more honest version of himself.
3. As for season 3, I think it goes back to some of my initial screaming points. Can peace between all people honestly last? How long will it take before someone or some group tries to amass power to themselves again? How long before we start tearing ourselves apart again, because we never seem to learn from history? Did Lelouch do anything to ensure lasting peace, to make all the lives he took worthwhile? (He better have, he was always scheming.) Does keeping Suzaku as Zero make a difference? What happens if people find out that Suzaku is Zero? Season 3 could address these issues.
If Lelouch is dead, it could show us what plans he had in mind to keep the peace going (like Lelouch still controlling things and playing people like chess from beyond the grave, I think that would be amazing). If he’s alive, he could come back and see what he did wrong and try to amend it, maybe with another mountain of bodies, lol.
His death was a great way to end the series– tyrant dies, world peace! But even if the series ends, the story, the world, keeps going. I’d be interested to know what happens in Lelouch’s new world, and I think the writers can pull it off and surprise us.
LOL this was a long-ass answer but as you can see I have a lot of feelings about this series XDDD;;;
Edit: You know what? I know what Season 3 is going to be about. The big reveal will be that Pizza Hut was controlling everything THE ENTIRE TIME.
