I’ve been watching an Anime series called Code Geass. For those that are not familiar with it, you may not wish to continue reading this. The plot was more complicated even more so than that of which I am about to go into detail. It also contains spoilers for anyone who hasn’t finished watching the series. The last episode aired this past Saturday with the death of the main character Lelouch Lamprouge.
This of course wasn’t too settling for me because I liked the character and the fact that everything he did was for good and an effort to create a better world for his blind and crippled little sister. Whether the ends justified the means he did is for another discussion other than this. Through his death in an elaborate plan, this world for his sister came into fruition… but to his little sister’s immense grief. That is how it ended with me, feeling unsettled and sad about it. It wasn’t until today I looked at the scene of his death on Youtube to gauge other fans’ reaction that I found it out. All the pieces came crashing together!
Lelouch lives!
How can this be, you other Geass fans ask? Well if you already weren’t aware, I’ll explain. Lelouch has the Code and didn’t die.
Let’s go into the Code real quick. C.C., the immortal girl who started it all, cannot die because of the power of Geass she fully controls. In order to obtain the Code Geass, you must be given it by another who has it, causing the original owner to lose this. I was mistaken when I first saw this. The nun gave the young C2 the Code as she wanted to no longer be immortal and die. I thought the scene where CC was covered in blood meant she had to have killed the nun to gain it. But I was wrong. The receiver must die first in order to gain the Code. The nun killed C2, and no longer being immortal then killed herself.
In order to receive this code though, you have to be in full capability of Geass. Meaning, it has to appear in both your eyes not just one. It was so with C2, just as it was with Emperor Charles. He had both Geass eyes when he erased Lelouch’s memory in the first season. He then took the code from V2 in season 2, leaving V2 to die. When Lelouch used Geass to command his father to die, Charles shooting himself enacted full Geass and immortality. That is why when Lelouch tried again, his Geass was completely rejected by Charles the second time.
But how did Lelouch gain the Code if he did not take it from C2? Because Lelouch took it from Charles. In that epic 2nd season confrontation, Lelouch’s power takes over in both eyes giving him the capability to receive the Code. When Charles’s plot was ruined and he attacked Lelouch, that is when he took the Code from Charles. And Charles then died.
Here’s one of the kickers to clue in that Lelouch really did have the code. Multiple times throughout the series, whenever C2 was touch by another (including Lelouch) a shock of C2’s memories would explode into their minds. At Lelouch’s death scene, we see his little sister touch Lelouch’s hand as he was dying, images of his memories and his plan flooded her mind! Keep in mind this only happens to people that touch the ones who have the Code enabled. Before his death, Kallen, Sasuke, and others have touch Lelouch with no such effect!
Another thing to keep in mind is the realization with his little sister, having seen his plan is distraught with grief. If you listen to her words closely, you’ll note she can’t live without him and cannot move forward in a world without him at her side. When you take into account she would have seen his plan through his memories and mind, she must have scene he was becoming immortal and could never again get close to her as his face was now infamous and hated. It was truly was a goodbye.
Also, through the series you can tell he and C2 get closer and closer. He promised to grant her wish of being able to die but with a smile. He wanted her existence to be happy. We see again, especially towards the end aboard Lelouch’s ship where they approach each other like close lovers before Kallen burst in with her Gurren.
How is this relevant? Well in the last scene you see a cloaked figure driving a horse cart with hay and C2 laying on top. She speaks, as if to herself, that most Geass immortals live a life of lonely solitude but that really wasn’t so much the case anymore. In which after she says, “Isn’t that right,… Lelouch?” At first I thought she had just been speaking to his memory/spirit, but Lelouch must have been the driver! It was full midday in the summer with C2 not heavily dressed, yet the driver was fully covered with even a veil about his head. Lelouch, now famous and hated by all, could not publicly show his face! C2 and Lelouch were now immortals together and living with each other in a loving relationship!
And to top it all off, it makes sense when you look at the title of the second season where you see “R2”. I always thought it meant the second try at the rebellion against Brittania. But there was C2 and V2. Think about it. Yes Lelouch should have been L2 if that’s the case with his name. But he was trying to eliminate every single possibility of his existence. So “R2” was symbolic of the creation of another Code Geass immortal.
With his little sister being shown in the aftermath moving onwards as a leader with Lelouch’s killer, Sasuke disguised as Zero as part of Lelouch’s plan, it shows that she knew of this. Otherwise, she would have been completely destroyed and not wanting to work with her brother’s killer as would be her character’s nature. But she saw this plan and came to accept it with time and moved on which explains her actions.
So Lelouch did not actually die, but now is immortal and happy with C2! WOOT!!!!
