BATTLE OF NARITA

With over 80% of the Britannian forces wiped out by Kallen, Lloyd tells Suzaku that
the Black Knights have arrived. He hopes that this is "their chance", though they
will be stuck there for the time being, which Cecile finds rash. As Euphemia is
informed on the whole matter, Kallen continues wiping out Britannians as she had
with Jeremiah, including Kewell Soresi, and the Black Knights move in on the rest
of the reinforcements, with varying results of success. Zero decides that if they
pull this off, they can be considered true soldiers.

The Britannians prepare to evacuate Cornelia when Euphemia notices two unknown
trucks heading in Cornelia's direction. It is Tohdoh with numerous Burais,
attempting to kill Cornelia and get revenge for the invasion. Using giant swords
and their agility, they manage to slice through several Sutherlands and become very
confident, so Cornelia flees as Guilford fights Tohdoh. Kallen informs Zero of
this, who sees it as an opportunity to break through her Royal Guard. The
Britannians begin to start losing their ground with Tohdoh's arrival, and in turn
Euphemia's advisors advise her to deploy her main forces in, but she refuses to
avoid anymore lives (civilian included) put at risk. At that moment, Lloyd rings in
and claims he and Suzaku are getting "bored", and asks for the Lancelot to be
deployed. The advisors think he is just being selfish, but Suzaku whispers "Euphie"
to Euphemia, and so she accepts.

The Japanese Liberation Front decides to trust the Black Knights as they finally
start to lose ground. In a small valley, however, Cornelia is confronted by Kallen
while Zero and two others prepare to pin her in. As Suzaku prepares to make his
move, Lloyd asks him why he is in the kill-everyone military when he wants to only
save lives. Suzaku explains he is in there because he is a reformist, but Lloyd
says that that will get him killed, causing Cecile to stop him. After Cornelia is
pinned in, Lelouch prepares to capture her, at which point he will interrogate her.
Refusing this, Cornelia tries to kill Kallen, but she promptly tears off the arms
of her Gloucester with her electric impulse while the Front regains their footing.
Cornelia plans to sacrifice herself to avoid surrender, but before she can Suzaku
barrels her out of the way. After assessing Cornelia's situation, he engages
Kallen, who appears evenly matched with him, while Cornelia fights Zero. Although
Kallen destroys most of Suzaku's weapons, he eventually pushes her off a cliff,
damaging her right hand. As Ohgi recovers her, Zero angrily orders a retreat, but
while on his own, Suzaku defeats his far less-skilled Burai and he is forced to
eject.

While Ohgi discusses what Zero is thinking with Kallen and Tamaki, Zero exits his
pod and faces Suzaku, both still unaware of the other's identity. Suzaku, having
deemed Zero's actions are wrong despite his good intentions, prepares to shoot
Zero, but C.C. suddenly walks in between them, and Suzaku instantly recognizes her.
C.C. touches the Lancelot, and sends a shockwave into Suzaku. Suzaku sees the
illusions of the Geass and then an illusion of his father, who walks toward him.
Suzaku becomes psychologically traumatized, saying that he didn't have a choice
with something. C.C. then tells Zero to flee, but Zero says that they leave
together since he can't just be receiving favors. He taps her on the shoulder,
which causes him to see C.C.'s origins. This in turn causes him to appear in
Suzaku's mind, and they start experiencing horrific images simultaneously. Frantic,
Suzaku begins firing rounds aimlessly, badly injuring C.C. with rock debris.
Cornelia then gives the order to retreat, and although she escapes, Britannia loses
the Battle of Narita. The Black Knights celebrate victory when Kallen notices that
Zero is missing.

In a cave, Lelouch begins to treat C.C.'s wounds, intending to analyze her blood
and discover what she is. While C.C. is unconscious, she unintentionally says her
actual name, to Lelouch's surprise. When C.C. recovers, she tells Lelouch that
there was no point in rescuing her, but Lelouch says he figured out her name, which
is only said to be "more human". C.C. begins to lament on this, and even breaks
down, saying that she forgot everything, so there's no point in her name. Lelouch
decides then to thank her for everything - the only time she has ever been thanked
- but refuses to say it again. C.C., overwhelmed with emotion, asks Lelouch to say
her name again. However, the audio is muted. Ionically, C.C. says that the second
time he said her name lacked tenderness. At that moment, Kallen finds them in the
cave, thereby meeting C.C. for the first time, while Zero bids C.C. farewell,
saying he does not know why "snow" (her name) is white, but still finds it
beautiful. Meanwhile, Cornelia assesses everything and grumbles over the fact that
she lost. Suzaku is eventually stopped after the Lancelot runs out of power, and
Euphemia brings him out, though he is still going berserk. And Jeremiah is revealed
to be alive, albeit delirious and critically injured while walking through town,
and he collapses in front of a truck carrying more of the capsules that held C.C.,
his fate unknown.

THE MESSENGER OF KYOTO

Reactions to the Battle of Narita are varied among the Britannians; some find it a
success with the decimation of most of the Japan Liberation Front, but Cornelia,
Guilford, and the rest find it a failure after the great loss of their own troops
and Japan's increasing support of the Black Knights, who have taken over the subway
lines without resistance due to an order by Clovis. Andreas Darlton brings up a new
point: a group of self-governing Elevens known as the NAC. He suggests eliminating
them, and Cornelia agrees, but reluctantly stops when she hears that it will hurt
the economy if it happened. It is also revealed that the few Black Knights who
could not escape chose to die rather than surrender, and Jeremiah is on the Dead
List. Meanwhile, in Kyoto, a group of men discuss how the Front's pyrrhic victory
means the death of the last true Japanese. However, one girl, hiding behind a
window pane, claims that the Black Knights are also Japanese, and the men accuse
her of having a crush on Zero.

At Ashford Academy, Shirley finds two tickets to a concert she got from her father,
then notices Lelouch and Kallen are missing, to her dismay. She ends up distraught
the rest of the day, which Milly catches on to. She says that Suzaku is missing
also since Narita, so there is no need to worry. However, Milly says she is envious
of Shirley's feelings and claims "That's what I love about you," which Nina catches
on to. Milly tells Shirley to confess, but Shirley is too flustered to do it. At
that moment, Lelouch himself walks in, having had to stay home for a bit since
Nunnally had a fever and Sayoko was absent. He takes some papers from Milly and
leaves to go sort them, claiming he is nothing but a subordinate, but ends up
taking Shirley's tickets in the process. Shirley manages to catch up to him and get
the tickets back, but also manages to give him one ticket, essentially asking him
out. C.C. sees this from a window, then talks to another person, saying that he
couldn't possibly be something, unaware of a blindfolded man watching the whole
thing. Shirley then goes behind a building and thanks her father for the tickets to
herself when she gets a phone call.

At the Black Knights' base, the core members discuss the Battle of Narita after
Kallen has some doubts from her battle with the Lancelot, while Zero questions why
Shirley would randomly ask him out. Ohgi gives him a "love letter" (which Zero asks
if it was from him, to Tamaki's amusement) that requests for Kyoto to meet with
Zero directly. Zero questions the importance of it, and Ohgi says it will help
resolve their financial crisis, mainly done by Tamaki spending it on asking the new
recruits out (which Kallen reveals to everyone). Zero decides to put replace Tamaki
with Ohgi, which Tamaki objects to. Zero says that if he wants to be treasurer he
needs good results, but Tamaki objects to this by asking Zero why he won't show his
face. Kallen, however, stands up for him, finally saying confidently that it
doesn't matter who Zero is since he is on their side. Meanwhile, at night, Nina is
alone in the student council room with a photo of Euphemia playing with children,
moving her body violently. Nunnally comes in and asks if everything is okay, and
Nina says it is, although it is shown she was masturbating to the photo. The core
members continue to debate over Zero's leadership, with Ohgi having been intended
to replace Naoto, the previous leader and Kallen's older brother who was killed in
action. Away from the others, Zero begins preparing to meet at Kyoto while looking
at people who may be there when Kallen knocks on his door. She asks if he was out
of line by defending him, but Zero instead asks if she wants to know his identity
also. Figuring that C.C., and seemingly having a crush on Zero, she denies this and
leaves. Lelouch then returns home and sees that Nunnally is getting better. She
suggests that her fever was probably due to anxiety over Lelouch being very busy,
but Lelouch says he will always be there for her.

The next morning, Lelouch asks C.C. to help him out in getting Kyoto's power,
regardless of their intention. C.C. agrees, but reminds Lelouch that he has a
"date" with Shirley. Lelouch was planning to cancel regardless due to the meeting,
but at that moment Shirley, boarding a train for Narita, calls Lelouch and says she
might also be late. Zero then arrives at Kyoto with the Black Knights patrolling
the perimeter, and uses Geass on his escort. Meanwhile, Suzaku is in Narita helping
with the recovering and disposal of bodies from the landslide and questions C.C.'s
presence. He asks Lloyd why the Black Knights would do this, claiming this is not
justice at all, but Lloyd tells him not to spout about justice. After Cecile
finishes repairing the Lancelot, Suzaku briefly sees Shirley, but shakes it off.
Cecile confirms to Lloyd that there was a giant shockwave that resounded through
the Lancelot, and believe it was the doing of Rakshata Chawla.

Meanwhile, Zero, Kallen, Ohgi, and Tamaki prepare to enter Kyoto in a car
sanctioned by Kyoto. Using magnets on the wheel spokes, they head upwards, and upon
exiting the car they are shocked to discover that they are on Mt. Fuji, which has
been turned into a mining facility that was seemingly the entire purpose of
Britannia's invasion. They are then confronted by a veiled man who voices his
hatred of Fuji's state-of-being. He says that he will remove his veil if Zero
removes his, but quickly brings in Knightmares to force him into it. He then makes
Ohgi take off the mask, and despite Kallen's objections, he agrees. When the mask
is removed, however, they discover C.C. inside, and Kallen sees through the ruse.
C.C. then identifies the man as Taizo Kirihara, so his guards try to gun her and
the rest down. Instead, one of the Knightmares defeats the rest, and is revealed to
have the actual Zero inside. Aiming a wireless gun at Kirihara, Zero reveals that
Kirihara is a wealthy businessman who works as a double agent for resistance
groups, and then reveals the truth as to why he doesn't show his face - he is
Britannian, and wants to see Britannia's destruction because he can, shocking
everyone around him. Being shrouded behind the Knightmare from the Black Knights,
he reveals his face to Kirihara, and it is revealed that Kirihara helped take
Lelouch and Nunnally in after their exile, along with Suzaku and the woman from
before. Lelouch asks Kirihara for further assistance, and he complies, saying to
the Black Knights that they can trust him. He asks if Lelouch plans to make peace
with war, and Lelouch says yes.

At Narita, Shirley is with her mother when Villetta identifies one of the bodies to
be related to them, and unveils it. That night, Lelouch is in the middle of the
rain, having arrived late to the concert. He tries to leave but finds Shirley
outside, standing idly without an umbrella and appearing incredibly downtrodden.
Lelouch suggests they go elsewhere, but Shirley asks him if Zero is truly fighting
for the weak. Lelouch says that that is what "he" says, but Shirley, with tears
streaming down her face, reveals that her father, who she describes as gentle and
harmless, was killed in the Narita landslide undeservedly, and Lelouch realizes to
himself that, even though Kallen caused the landslide, he was the one who ordered
it done. Then Shirley understandably breaks down in Lelouch's arms and kisses him
while asking him to help her.
SHIRLEY AT GUNPOINT

The funeral of Joseph Fenette takes place, with Shirley and her mother present. As
the eulogy is said and the gravediggers began burying the coffin, Mrs. Fenette
tells them to stop and collapses to her knees, saying that he can't be buried
again. As Shirley tries to comfort her, it is shown that the entire Student Council
is also in attendance, with Lelouch looking incredibly guilty. In a flashback, it
is shown that, as an innocent child, Shirley proclaimed she wanted to marry her
father. However, Joseph said that she will eventually find a man she loves more
than himself, and if he loves her back, then he will be satisfied. As Shirley lays
a flower on the grave, Kallen gives a faulty apology (as she caused the landslide,
though she doesn't say this), but Shirley accepts it. Rivalz, meanwhile, says that
he figured the Black Knights were heroes, even talking about it online, and asks
forgiveness for doing so. When Shirley begins to say that they have nothing to be
sorry for, Milly stops her and says that she can't hold in her emotions forever,
which Shirley (having obviously already cried) again rebuttals. As she does, Suzaku
openly calls Zero a coward for not getting his hands dirty, making others do all
the dirty work while tipping the world into a frenzy for what will eventually
become pointless, which makes the others ponder. Milly then rallies all of them
back to the Student Council room, with the exception of Shirley, but Lelouch ends
up staying as well, appearing frozen. As C.C. orders another pizza, Shirley
apologizes to Lelouch, saying she did not mean to kiss him before and only did it
out of trauma and not out of happiness. She then scampers off, much to Lelouch's
confusion.

In Lelouch's room, C.C. asks if Lelouch is truly soft despite wanting bloodshed,
and if he regrets killing Joseph. She also questions why Lelouch would kill so many
and not be prepared to realize that, like Joseph, they all had families and friends
as well and that he only would regret killing people he knew. Enraged, Lelouch
tells her to shut up, saying that he has been prepared since killing Clovis, and
when she continues pestering him he slams her onto the bed. C.C., however, says
that at this point there is no going back and that he still has a vendetta against
Charles zi Britannia. Overwhelmed, Lelouch goes for a shower and repeatedly slams
his fist against the wall while remembering all of the things that people have said
to him against violence and for peace, before finishing and calling Ohgi.
Meanwhile, Kallen remembers Naoto while Shirley gets in a mysterious red car.

Lloyd later tells Suzaku that he will be needed again afterwards under Cornelia's
orders for a mission. Meanwhile, Diethard Ried comes before the Black Knights and
leaks info to them from Kyoto that Cornelia plans to try to obliterate the Japan
Liberation Front and Katase again (who have re-located to an oil tanker at Port
Yokosuka), and this time Tohdoh won't make it there in time. Most of the Black
Knights want to help the Front, but Zero says that they will take out Cornelia and
then rescue the Front, while Diethard joins their ranks. As the Black Knights begin
to prepare, Kallen tries to ask him something, but Zero briefly leaves for another
matter. Andreas Darlton, meanwhile, talks to Suzaku about his usefulness for an
Eleven and notes that Suzaku is the son of the former Prime Minister. His orders
are to provide the Marines with support from a sniper position and kill anyone who
might be wondering around; Suzaku is horrified at murdering them, but would have to
in order to move ahead.

While a scuba diver heads underwater, carrying a big tank, it is revealed in a

flashback that Villetta was in the car that Shirley got into, and that she wants
her to spy on Lelouch in the belief he is with the Black Knights. Shirley
reluctantly does, following him to a Black Knights-operated compound. Villetta also
follows, doing this only to gain honor over Jeremiah. Kallen, meanwhile, walks into
Zero's compound and sees Lelouch there, albeit with his head covered by a towel and
in turn protecting his identity. She expresses her doubts on the matter of what
happened, having finally come to the realization that murdering any innocent at all
is wrong. Reluctantly, Lelouch says that sacrifices are going to have to be made
whether people like it or not, and if people see them as murderers, then so be it
as long as they remain loyal to their goal. However, he recommends that Kallen
leave now if she truly wants to. She decides to stay, and Lelouch says that he is
grateful for this, to her surprise. C.C., meanwhile, walks around in Lelouch's
clothes and as snow falls, says that she can't make the same mistake again.
Meanwhile, the blindfolded man from before walks around.

Elsewhere, Cornelia sends in the Marines in Portmans underwater while Suzaku and
some Sutherlands take position above. They smash through an underwater wall at the
site where a horrified Shirley and the oil tanker are and proceed to shoot up any
Front members they see, but Zero tells them to hold back for now, since Cornelia
attacked earlier than expected. Suzaku, meanwhile, silently refuses to shoot
despite support from Cecile, noticing that Cornelia is committing slaughter. Left
with no choice, Katase tries to surrender, but though Suzaku wants to accept, the
Britannians refuse. The ship suddenly moves, attempting to flee, but the Marines
make their move onto the ship. It is then revealed that Zero was the scuba diver,
and he secretly planted a bomb below the ship. Left with no other choice, he
detonates the bomb, with hits the Front's sakuradite and in the process obliterates
the ship, the Front, the Marines, and even some of the ground forces, then frames
it as a suicide move by the Front and that they must avenge them. He then has the
Black Knights move directly at Cornelia. Diethard, who is with Ohgi, then realizes
that Lelouch set the Front up as a decoy to attack Cornelia, and believing he is
excellent material for more and more chaos, quickly flees Ohgi's company with
maniacal laughter.

Zero drives his boat, containing Knightmare-armed Black Knights and Kallen with the
Guren Mk-II, directly onto the port, taking several Sutherlands as he goes. The
Black Knights then engage Cornelia's main force, quickly taking most of them out.
Kallen and Zero head directly for Cornelia, and quickly suppress her, but just as
Zero is about to destroy her Gloucester's hatch, he sees Shirley and pauses. This
allows Suzaku to barrel in and, in fury and also realizing what Zero's plan was,
repeatedly smash Zero in, with Kallen forced to engage Cornelia. Suzaku quickly
succeeds in destroying Zero's Burai, forcing him to eject half-conscious, and goes
in for the kill, but Kallen breaks through Cornelia and attacks him, forcing him to
fight her. Shirley approaches Zero's cockpit and, taking Zero's gun, misguidedly
attempts to shoot Zero. However, Zero's mask falls off, revealing a bleeding
Lelouch inside, much to her horror and hesitation.

GEASS V GEASS

Kallen manages to force Suzaku away to the point where she can flee, and Suzaku is
unable to pursue under orders to protect Cornelia first. C.C. then calls Ohgi and
gives him Zero's order to retreat (as Zero is too shaken up to do it himself), as
any further violence will result in slaughter; after reuniting with Diethard, Ohgi
agrees. Meanwhile, Zero notices fatal blood on the ground but no body to show whose
it was, while his handgun is missing and his mask has fallen off. This frightens
him, suspecting that a person saw his face, took his gun, shot another person and
took both the body and the gun. He tells this to C.C., and they prepare to find who
they were. It is then revealed that Shirley took the gun with her and shot someone
else. In her dorm, she begins writing something about the recent events, presumably
a suicide note, and in the process, she wakes up her roommate Sophie Wood; she
tries to hide the note from her, but Sophie (not seeing what is on the note)
assumes it is a love letter to Lelouch, and Shirley says it kind of is.

The next morning, Nina asks Suzaku if she can meet Euphemia in front of the whole
Student Council, this time with confidence. Rivalz decides he wants to meet her
too, joking that this way he can marry into royalty, though Nunnally says he never
will with his "impure" intentions, everyone unaware that Nina has the same ones;
Rivalz then tries to get Milly's opinion, but she refuses. However, Nunnally says
she would like to meet her also, even though Suzaku says it would be near-
impossible. Just then the phone rings and Suzaku answers it. It is Lelouch, who
asks if anything is unusual. Suzaku says that the only thing is that neither he nor
Shirley are there, while Kallen is shown to be away at a table reading a book. As
Lelouch asks him to tell Nunnally he will be late tonight, Suzaku chastises him for
doing so every night just as Arthur attacks him and cuts the line. Based on the
call, Lelouch assumes that Suzaku wasn't the one who took the gun, nor any member
of the military, and it can't be the Japan Liberation Front since any surviving
member would have killed him. Deciding to have Ohgi check the black market for the
gun later, while taking the time to analyze the blood. He then remembers that he
thought he saw Shirley there, and C.C. makes fun of him and her.

Meanwhile, Guilford and Darlton meet with Cornelia and Euphemia, having deduced
that Zero has a personal vendetta against the Royal Family; Euphemia considers this
to herself, remembering how Zero said "You haven't changed" when they met. In order
to protect her, Guilford suggests that she have a Knight, as from there they can
increase her security, and she has the authority to do so. Meanwhile, Cecile talks
about Suzaku's desire to save people, having come to realize that he is obsessing
over it, and that they should deal with him over the Lancelot. Lloyd says that she
wants to do that in place of someone else, referring to himself. Meanwhile, Lelouch
uses Geass on Sophie to let him and C.C. search her and Shirley's dorm, while she
tells others that they have to disinfect her room. C.C., however, becomes disgusted
with searching through her underwear and sits on the bed, only to ironically read
Shirley's diary. She discovers that she hasn't written in it since the 14th, when
she found out her father died. Just then, Lelouch accidentally drops a box
containing several photos of himself and Shirley, and after that sees a monorail
schedule book with a circle around one to Narita. There Shirley is at a memorial
site for those that died, with the gun and several memories of her father in a pink
bag. She thinks to herself why Lelouch would do all this, when the blindfolded man
from before appears to read her thoughts (he restates her question) and reveals
himself, clapping his hands creepily.

Meanwhile, the Black Knights are in their meeting vehicle and make fun of how
Tamaki, who is complaining about their defeat, had to eject in the first minute.
Ohgi, meanwhile, wonders why the Front ship blew up. Though Kallen suggests he not
doubt Zero, Diethard, who is now in charge of the assessments, voices his own
suspicions about the uncanny timing. Elsewhere, Lelouch and a disguised C.C. are on
a train where the latter asks what Lelouch truly feels for Shirley, to which he
says he doesn't know. She also asks that, if she does know his identity, would he
kill her, and that if he doesn't want his loved ones harmed, he could just avoid
them. Lelouch asks if that is from experience, and she denies it. Meanwhile, the
blindfolded man approaches Shirley step by step, claiming that Shirley likes a bad
boy even after she knows he is Zero, and that he knows everything to the point
where he deems both should be punished, causing Shirley to drop the bag. It is
revealed in a flashback that, after Shirley saw Zero's identity, Villetta came out
and found it out herself. She then began gloating over how she would gain immense
honor with this knowledge and the fact he is alive. Just as she claimed to give
Shirley a tad bit of a reward also, Shirley, disgusted by Villetta's intentions,
pointed the gun at her. Furious, she tried to lunge Shirley, but she shot Villetta,
who is revealed to have been the one bleeding, in the head, killing her, and hid
the body among ruins at the port. In the present, the man accuses Shirley of being
a murderer and having used her father's death for her own gain in the kiss, as
Lelouch would clearly sympathize. He then accuses her of being an evil witch that
kills and fishes for attention that she tried to lure away from Kallen. As Shirley
breaks down, the man then says that she must pay for her sins or be forever
tormented. It is then revealed that the man has a Geass.
Lelouch and C.C. soon arrive at the same memorial, but discover no one there. They
split up to go look for Shirley while Lelouch wonders about what happened to the
person that was shot. At that moment, Lelouch gets a call from Shirley. When he
answers it, however, he discovers the man, who is right behind him, on the line.
Lelouch demands to know what he did to Shirley, and the man agrees on the condition
that he face him in a game of chess. C.C., meanwhile, talks to a motorist about it
when she sees Lelouch and the man on a mountain railcar. She appears to be shocked
when she sees the man, and identifies him as someone named Mao. It is shown that
Mao and Lelouch are playing chess in the railcar, where Lelouch realizes that Mao
is calling all of his moves, and is stalling to create an opening. He thinks to
himself that he needs to make his own opening, but Mao calls it out for him. C.C.
then steals the guy's motorbike and races up to reach the two. Mao then corners
Lelouch in the game and calls checkmate and questions who he is, in the process
creating 14 possibilities. Mao asks if C.C. never mentioned him, and says that one
of the possibilities is correct while revealing his Geass, which can read minds.

As the railcar comes to its destination, Shirley appears and points a gun at
Lelouch. Shirley is shown to have succumbed to Mao's will of being punished, and is
willing to kill Lelouch before committing suicide; if she doesn't, Mao will kill
them himself, seeing Lelouch as a thief. Seeing that Mao is traumatizing her by
reading her mind and repeating that she killed someone, Lelouch tries to snap
Shirley out of it, but becoming more confused she fires the gun. Although she
misses Lelouch, he still falls a ways down the stairs, dropping the photos he found
in the box (which also include photos of her other friends) and begins hesitating.
She then nearly shoots Mao, who retreats into the railcar while Shirley passes out
in Lelouch's arms. Mao tries to kill them with a sniper rifle, but C.C. activates
the railcar, sending him back down. However, Mao briefly sees C.C. and is thought
to have obsessive feelings for her, saying he'll come back for her, but C.C.
wonders why he would talk to other humans. Shirley then confesses she murdered
Villetta, but Lelouch says that she only did it thanks to him. He then says she
will put it all behind her, and despite her protests uses his Geass on her.
Meanwhile, Ohgi comes back to the port battleground when he sees Villetta, still
alive and having passed out from blood loss. Not knowing who she is, he goes up to
her and shakes her; she then mutters something about Zero, to his shock.

That night, Shirley is at the memorial when she turns to see Lelouch, and it is
revealed that Lelouch wiped all of Shirley's memories pertaining to him. She asks
if Lelouch lost a loved one too, and he says he kind of did, and although he
realizes now that she really meant something to him, he doesn't quite know if he
loved her when she brings it up. Shirley, however, says that she came for something
specific but can't remember exactly, and that maybe Lelouch's "sunrise" will come
as well. Lelouch decides to accept this, and says "Thanks for everything" before
leaving, confusing Shirley.

CHEERING MAO

On the train ride back home, Lelouch asks if C.C. is aligned with him or Mao. C.C.
says that Geass manifests differently in each person, explaining the difference in
power. Lelouch has figured that there must be others with Geass, though he is kind
of odd-balled by the fact that he is Mao's "successor" (since C.C. made a contract
with him eleven years prior) yet still is seen as an enemy. C.C., however, states
that Mao is targeting herself, not Lelouch. Lelouch then learns Mao's capabilities:
he does not need eye contact, and can read a mind within a 500-meter radius, but
can't turn it off, resulting in him becoming mentally unstable whenever he is in a
crowd. It is later shown that Mao had fled to a library, and even though no one
speaks, everyone's minds roar into his. In an attempt to deal with this, he takes
out a recorder containing C.C.'s voice and while listening regains his composure.

The next day, Lelouch sets up security cameras around the whole campus and prepares
to fight Mao. He has tea with Nunnally, who asks if he has found a fun game to play
recently. He says it is kind of like that and he has a tough opponent, to which
Nunnally says that only Schneizel was ever tough for him, when he notices C.C.
looking directly at the cameras. Meanwhile, Mao goes to a gun store to purchase a
gun, but can't if he doesn't have a permit, and is revealed to be from the Chinese
Federation. Instead, Mao reveals he knows the seller is with the Black Knights and
forces him to give him a weapon. Lelouch goes to C.C., who is trying to get him to
use her as bait despite the fact that he has the cameras and has sent the Black
Knights after him. Lelouch asks if he keeps using the Geass, will he become like
Mao, or will he only do so if he can't fulfill the contract. C.C. answers that the
more people use Geass the more powerful it becomes, and it takes strength to not
succumb to the pressure. Lelouch becomes angry that C.C. would even make these
contracts at all for selfish needs, and asks what her greatest wish is in terms of
the contract. When C.C. can't reply, Lelouch calls her a monster for not putting
Mao out of his misery in some way. C.C. then goes to search the halls.

Cecile tells Suzaku that he has a medical exam coming up, claiming it is required
for all Knightmare pilots. Suzaku then asks if he can arrange for a meeting with
Euphemia, but Lloyd tells him he can't since he is not a Knight. Cecile reminds him
that an Earl can do it, and Lloyd asks why he needs to, revealing he is an Earl to
Suzaku's shock. Lelouch later talks with Milly to keep the Student Council building
under lockdown, and it is revealed that Milly knows of his royal identity, being a
part of the Ashford family. Milly also complains that she has a marriage interview
coming up, and asks Lelouch for advice on how to get out of it. Before he can
respond, Shirley comes up to Milly and talks about her swimming lessons, when she
notices Lelouch and appears surprised. They say they are in the same classes, but
Shirley obviously doesn't catch on. As she leaves, Lelouch explains that they had a
fight and she is playing "strangers". He asks Milly to play along with it, and she
complies.

In an alley, C.C. slams a guy with her foot against a wall and asks for Mao's
whereabouts. He initially thinks she is talking about a Refrain dealer and suggests
calling the cops or Black Knights, but she refuses. At Ashford, Lelouch steals
Shirley's diary and burns it to prevent any memories from coming back, while the
Black Knights can't find any leads on Mao. With this in mind, Lelouch reluctantly
agrees to work with C.C. At that moment, Mao calls "Lulu" and asks to put C.C. on
the phone alone. When she finishes, C.C. decides to go with Mao again, and says
that Lelouch should be happy. However, Lelouch says that she knows too much and
tries to use Geass on her to make her stay with him, but it proves ineffective on
her. However, she decides to let Lelouch keep the Geass and since Mao can't read
her mind she will keep Lelouch safe even while away from him. She then departs for
good. Meanwhile, Villetta regains consciousness and Ohgi, holding her at gunpoint,
asks her why she was at the port and what her name is. She begins hesitating, and
it is revealed that the bullet wound has given her amnesia, much to Ohgi's
frustration. Villetta sits up, saying it's the truth, and in the process
inadvertently reveals her cleavage for a second. Villetta sighs with relief, saying
she got someone nice to pick her up.

Suzaku finishes his exam, where he discovers he did well but particularly excels at
discipline and preservation of humanity. Although this is not bad, his doctor asks
if he is merely comparing himself to his father. She explains that that may cause
his insecurity, and that since Suzaku's father, Genbu Kururugi, was the prime
minister, he may feel the stress of being raised by someone famous. At a memorial
dedicated to Genbu, Tohdoh and two others pay their respects to the Japan
Liberation Front, unaware that two people are watching Tohdoh. Lelouch contacts
Diethard about reorganizing the Black Knights, and Lelouch notes that Diethard may
be a spy but has proven useful, and is shown to have recorded C.C.'s conversation
on the phone with Mao.
C.C. comes to a deserted amusement park, Clovisland, when everything suddenly turns
on. Mao is shown riding a carousal, commenting on how C.C. is the greatest person
of all. C.C. says she doesn't want to be with Mao, but Mao claims they are lies. He
says that he thinks C.C. has mutual feelings, and shows her the recording from the
library. In a flashback, it is shown that C.C., who looks completely un-aged, gave
Mao his Geass when he was a child, and encouraged him to just listen to her voice
if he has trouble with others. Over the next several weeks, the two spent time
together in isolation, and C.C. promised to stay with him. In the present, Mao
tries to convince her to come with him again, but C.C. pulls a gun on him. Lelouch
begins to search for C.C. with the voice memo, and it is shown that Mao actually
shot C.C. in the arm, having taken her gun away before she could shoot him. C.C.
tries to say she was trying to use Mao, but in his insanity Mao shoots her until
she is immobilized. He then states his intentions to run away with her to
Australia, but claims she will be "too big". He then reveals his plan to fix this -
cutting her apart with a chainsaw. At that moment, Lelouch projects his image onto
a wall, and states he is at Tokyo Tower, where Mao can't reach him. Mao asks what
he is going to do then, and Lelouch reveals he knows C.C.'s actual name and has
even seen her naked, making her his own, which makes Mao furious. He chainsaws the
screen to bits, thinking Lelouch is lying, but before he can take C.C. regardless,
a bunch of police officers arrive with Lelouch's thoughts in their heads and aim at
him. Lelouch appears to take C.C. away, revealing mentally to Mao the video was a
recording and having predicted Mao's simpleton mind. Mao vows revenge on the spot,
but Lelouch begins to leave anyway, saying that if he tries, he dies at the hands
of the police. Mao doesn't comply and tries to tell the police that Lelouch is
Zero, but it is revealed that Lelouch used Geass on them so that they would come in
the first place, and they gun him down.

As the police escort Lelouch and C.C. away to a rooftop, C.C. tells Lelouch that
Mao was six when she made the contract with him. He was an orphan back then who was
illiterate and did not morality. When he got the Geass, he became convinced that
C.C. was his friend, lover, and entire existence, even though she was not. Lelouch
promises to her that Geass won't overtake him like it did Mao, and he will conquer
its power while also fulfilling the contract. He again asks what he wish is, but
instead she asks why he is doing all of this. He says it is a new contract, and
C.C. accepts it by shaking his hand.

NUNALLY HELD HOSTAGE

Following the damage it received at the Battle of Port Yokosuka, the Guren Mk-II is
repaired and tested by Kallen. Diethard, meanwhile, informs Zero that India and the
Kyoto House have allied with each other and that Rakshata is arriving soon. Also,
the Black Knights have begun to monopolize, with 14 subsidiaries and total control
of all of Japan's warehouses. This spreading out of troops has resulted in 47
members getting arrested, but they are so low-ranking that Britannia can't get
anything out of them. Inoue then instructs Diethard to mention that Tohdoh has yet
to be located. After the call, Lelouch has C.C. be disguised as an ambassador for a
meeting with the Chinese Federation, forging a passport for her, unaware that Mao
is present and still alive.

In a flashback, Lelouch is carrying Nunnally on his back, with Suzaku accompanying

them. They are fleeing for the main Kururugi house, with the rest of the civilians
around them having been mercilessly slaughtered. Seeing the dead bodies, Suzaku
loses his nerve and begins to break down. Lelouch lies to Nunnally that they are
heading by a garbage dump, and Nunnally touches Suzaku's face to comfort him.
Suzaku meets with Lelouch the next morning and they talk about both of them cutting
class. In the process, Suzaku nearly reveals that he is the Lancelot pilot. Lelouch
then invites him to dinner; Suzaku agrees but wonders if he might cause trouble.
Just then, Rivalz screeches beside them in his sidecar and gets in Lelouch's face,
complaining that he didn't tell him about Milly's next marriage interview that day
(revealing that he has a crush on her) for the sole reason it would make him cry.
Rivalz claims that boys don't cry and in his frustration calls a comforting Suzaku
"emo". Lelouch then departs to tell Nunnally about the dinner, to Rivalz's
frustration. Nunnally, meanwhile, is making a paper crane when Sayoko appears to
come into the room. However, it is actually a heavily-bandaged Mao (having
recovered at a hospital), who begins clapping and smiling devilishly.

Milly, dressed up over-fashionably, is revealed to be having the interview with, of

all people, Lloyd. Lloyd asks if it is weird that the interview is in his lab
rather than a hotel, but Milly says it's fine since she heard he was "unique", and
it is shown that the Ashford family is trying to get Milly married to regain the
family's noble status, which Lloyd has no interest in. As Cecile brings them
drinks, Lloyd then tries to get out of the conversation and says that they should
get married without the interview, much to Milly's shock. Lelouch then arrives back
and discovers Nunnally has been kidnapped in a photo of her bound and gagged. The
phone rings and Lelouch answers it to hear both her and Mao. Lelouch tries to
bargain by saying that C.C. isn't there, but Mao says that that's why he did it and
reveals he is within 500 meters. He gives Lelouch five hours to find them on the
condition that the police aren't involved. As Mao hangs up, Nunnally says that what
he is doing is not very nice, much to Mao's amusement.

At the Student Council, Rivalz tells everyone about Lelouch and Shirley's "fight".
Suzaku and Nina appear concerned, but Kallen says it's best to let them be with
their "lover spat". Immediately, Suzaku questions why Kallen wouldn't be upset, and
Kallen again denies that they are romantically linked. Rivalz decides to listen to
her and admits that Lelouch is good with theory but has no experience with general
social etiquette, explaining why he hasn't "taken the plunge" (confessed to
Kallen); the whole scenario makes a similarly-feeling Nina feel on edge. Just when
Nina nearly is about to crash, Arthur bites Suzaku while he and Kallen are feeding
him. Just then Lelouch comes into the room and sees Nunnally is not there. Rivalz
tries to ask him about Shirley but Lelouch walks by them and leaves the room, with
Suzaku discreetly following. As Lelouch heads up a flight of stairs, Suzaku reveals
himself. He sees the photo and realizes what is happening. Meanwhile, Ohgi arrives
at his home when he discovers Villetta has taken his food and cooked both of them a
meal, still having amnesia, and has not gone out of the house due to them being in
Japanese territory; it is also shown that Ohgi has placed security cameras around
his house.

Suzaku decides to help Lelouch, and Lelouch agrees. Lelouch says it has nothing to
do with the Royal Family or his gambling, and that it's "just a psychopath who
wants to keep a girl all too himself"; he also says that if they go to the police
or army, Lelouch's identity would be exposed, so they have to gun it alone. Using a
lead from the fact there was running water in the background, they head to an
elevator that leads to the underground sewer system. Lelouch, having partial access
to it via the Student Council, hacks into the code that leads them downward, and
Suzaku guesses that Lelouch uses this to do his gambling. They discover a machine
gun at the bottom, and though Lelouch prepares to disable it, Suzaku runs right at
it, up the wall, and kicks it off. In the sewers they discover Nunnally, as well as
a motion-sensitive bomb right above her that will explode if Nunnally is moved an
inch. As Suzaku reassures her by saying that he and Lelouch can do anything
together, they decipher how to diffuse the bomb. Lelouch says that can do so by
cutting the right wire, which he could easily deduce from the other two, but if
it's wrong and the right one is moved, then it will destroy Ashford entirely.
Suzaku decides to take the risk. Sayoko, meanwhile, is at the grocery when she gets
a call.

At Ashford, Lelouch has Suzaku stay with Nunnally while he goes back up, finding
Mao (who is complaining to himself about all the students' minds) inside a chapel.
Mao questions why Lelouch hasn't done anything to stop Mao physically, and it is
revealed that Mao called him up there personally for a "game", which Mao reveals to
be chess. At Britannia's government headquarters, Cornelia and Euphemia are on the
roof garden, relaxing for the first time in a while. Euphemia notices that the
garden, which was made by Clovis, is strikingly similar to Marianne's; Cornelia
notices it also, but wonders why Clovis would reconstruct it, and Euphemia suggests
it was out of a grudge for Lelouch. Cornelia then vows to not only avenge him, but
Lelouch and Nunnally as well. Mao then explains the rules of the chess game: it
matters not whether checkmate is called but rather how many pieces are taken. Once
the pieces are taken they are placed on respective sides of a scale. If Mao gets
enough pieces, a switch will trigger the bomb and detonate it; however, if Lelouch
gets enough pieces, another switch will disarm the bomb.

As Suzaku climbs up to disable the bomb, Lelouch reluctantly agrees, and Mao
swiftly takes five of his pieces. He then admits that Lelouch has a two-track mind;
one is a critic that judges the people around him, and another is an observer who
keeps the critic in check. Mao then notes that Lelouch is planning to confuse him
with numerous plans, but Mao can figure it out, and he takes more pieces so that
the needle is just on the edge. Desperate and out of options, Lelouch asks Mao if
he's done enough, and finally concedes. This causes Mao to clap furiously, saying
that Lelouch is finally revealing his true self, but he refuses and takes the last
necessary piece. However, after Lelouch collapses to the ground, the bomb doesn't
activate, and it is revealed that Suzaku disabled the bomb in time. Suzaku proceeds
to jump through a stained-glass window and knock Mao to the floor. Mao questions
how he could do it, and Suzaku says he did so per Lelouch's instructions. Lelouch
then remembers that he gave Suzaku this order and used Geass on himself via a
mirror to forget it happened, thereby preventing Mao from figuring it out, and
since Mao was focused on Lelouch he couldn't read Suzaku's mind. Sayoko then frees
Nunnally as Suzaku apprehends Mao. Mao then tries to resist and calls Suzaku
"father-killer", to both Suzaku's and Lelouch's shock. Mao then reveals that, seven
years ago, Genbu Kururugi attempted to resist Britannia's forces, but Suzaku
thought a war would kill more people than a simple invasion and protested him to
stop. As the resistance continued, Suzaku was "forced" to kill Genbu in the belief
it would stop the war, but only allowed Britannia to kill whoever they chose;
Genbu's death was ruled a suicide and Suzaku hid his mistake from the world.
Because of this mistake, Suzaku now tries to save every single life he can, and the
only reason for his reformism beliefs is so that he can selfishly redeem his own
soul. In anguish, Suzaku collapses to his knees, and an enraged Lelouch uses Geass
on Mao to make him mute. A horrified Mao then flees the chapel, but discovers C.C.
outside. As Mao approaches her, C.C. admits that she did love Mao, even if it
wasn't how he pictured it, and says she wants him to wait for her in "C's world".
She then shoots Mao in the neck with a dart pistol, killing him once and for all.
As Lelouch witnesses this, he sees that Suzaku is still traumatized and thus hasn't
seen a thing.

KNIGHT

Immediately after the confrontation with Mao, Lelouch asks Suzaku if he really
killed Genbu. Suzaku is too shocked to respond, so Lelouch decides it is true even
though Kirihara said otherwise. For comfort, Lelouch says that keeping the death a
secret was necessary for stability. He ponders it later on, and glances at Suzaku
during an art lesson, but Rivalz stops him, as Lelouch is posing as The Thinker for
the other students, including them, Kallen, and Shirley (who keeps on looking
suspiciously at her drawing) to sketch, and accidentally moved from his position.
Rivalz then adjusts Lelouch to the point where he is smiling, to the others'
dismay. Nina then comes up and asks Shirley why they aren't going to math, and she
replies that that week was declared "Art Week" by Clovis.

A Clovis Memorial Museum of Art has been erected, and for the ribbon cutting
ceremony, Euphemia will judge which the best painting is. She particularly likes
one called "The Village" involving two jungle huts similar to those in Vietnam, but
discovers it is not eligible because the artist was one-quarter Eleven. Euphemia
suggests that if they were going to say that they shouldn't have gone through the
trouble to show it at all, and her escort says that it was only done to appease the
populace; her escort then tries to get her to choose a painting on Charles zi
Britannia. Meanwhile, Ohgi arrives at the Black Knights headquarters to discover
that Villetta has made him octopus-shaped hot dogs, and he appears to be falling
for her. At that moment, Inoue appears and reveals that the Four Holy Swords have
arrived. The group reveals that were confronted by Britannia forces, and Tohdoh let
himself be captured for the others to escape. Lelouch, while on the phone with
Ohgi, decides to break him free, and has Ohgi inform Diethard to make preparations.
As he hangs up, C.C., disguised as an Ashford student, apologizes for not meeting
with the Chinese Federation. Lelouch says he has already covered it, and now has to
focus on initiating three "chess pieces" - Tohdoh, the Four Holy Swords, and Suzaku
(who is again washing off hate words from his shirt) - to his cause.

Guilford informs Cornelia that Tohdoh is slated for execution; she doesn't deem it
necessary to execute him personally since the Japan Liberation Front is defunct,
but wants "him" to handle it. Euphemia arrives and informs them of unrest, which
Cornelia sees as an opportunity to conquer more land, to Euphemia's dismay.
Cornelia decides to depart to do just that, leaving Euphemia in charge with
Darlton. She then gives Euphemia a booklet which contains a list of people that can
be her Knight, all of whom are noble Britannians. Meanwhile, Suzaku has tea with
Lelouch and Nunnally and talks about how he would fish for crawfish, or zarigani in
Japanese, in his pond. As they do, Lelouch begins to realize that, if incidents
like Mao keep coming up, there will need to be a Knight for Nunnally, whom he wants
to be Suzaku. At that moment, Cecile suddenly appears to call Suzaku for a job. At
Lelouch's behest, Suzaku departs, but not before Lelouch says he wants to ask
Suzaku a favor. As Suzaku leaves, Lelouch asks what Nunnally's opinion of Suzaku
is. She says she adores him but not as much as Lelouch. Shirley, meanwhile, is
about to leave with Sophie for some place. She ends up dropping her hairclip
between two drawers, and when reaching to pick it up sees her note from before in
there as well.

Prior to the museum's ceremony, Euphemia and Darlton go to a press conference. One
man asks if Elevens had any part in the construction, but Darlton answers for her
that they don't know. Another asks if Euphemia will choose her Knight soon, but is
prevented from going further when her escort asks the audience to only ask about
the museum. As the Black Knights get ready for their attack, the Four Holy Swords
question teaming up with them and the Kyoto House, but decide to leave that to the
outcome. Tamaki gets on the others' case when they can't repair the Guren Mk-II as
fast as planned, but Rakshata suddenly appears and tells them to take proper care
with it, calling herself its "mother". Zero then arrives to greet Rakshata. She
gives him suits for some of the soldiers, including Kallen, to wear, which would be
less efficient but also more protective.

Tohdoh is informed by a guard that the "him" Cornelia referred to is the new
executioner, Suzaku, who is as horrified as Lloyd is perplexed over the paperwork.
In a flashback, it is revealed that Tohdoh was the man who trained Suzaku in
combat. At that moment, an explosion occurs, "freeing" Lloyd of the paperwork. As
Sutherlands attempt to contain it, the Four Holy Swords, in new Knightmares called
Gekka, arrive and handily destroy them, and although the Knightmares are superior
in terms of combat, they need to be powered by computers in the Black Knights'
vehicle. With all the commotion, the guard decides to execute Tohdoh himself, with
Tohdoh's last words being "It's a life I gave up once before. It's worth nothing".
At that moment, however, Kallen busts through and kills the guard, along with Zero
and his Burai. Tohdoh asks if Zero wants him for another miracle, but Zero says the
battle was only a tactical occurrence, and wants him for his skill. Tohdoh claims
he is only loyal to Katase, and wishes to die to join him, but Zero rebukes him,
telling him to take responsibility for having won that battle and obtain more
victories. He goes on to day that the only reason Japan has greater resistance
power against Britannia than any other Area is because of Japan's surrender and the
fact that Tohdoh didn't try to get more victories. Zero encourages Tohdoh to
endeavor and fight until he is no longer famous, and that he will make Japan's
dreams become reality. Tohdoh smiles.

At the museum, Euphemia is asked to place a ribbon on the one she deems the winner.
She looks for a bit at the one of Charles and hesitates. While Darlton and her
escort begin pressuring her to choose it, everyone's phone starts ringing and
Guilford informs Darlton on Tohdoh's whereabouts. Meanwhile, as the battle
continues on, Tohdoh decides to join Zero and, after being escorted by Zero and
Kallen, is given his own special Gekka. As Tohdoh gets ready, Zero decides that the
only true problem he has in the way of creating Nunnally's perfect world is the
Lancelot pilot, and at that moment, Suzaku arrives. The Four Holy Swords begin
taking him on, and though he is able to guard from them, Suzaku can't land a blow.
Lloyd and Cecile, the Black Knights and Rakshata, and those in the museum are
informed of the battle and Darlton orders backup for Suzaku. It is revealed that
Lelouch has been studying Suzaku's movements in the meantime, and gives the units
instructions as to how to counter and take advantage of its moves. In the process,
Tohdoh manages to cut off the top of Suzaku's pod, revealing him inside.

Zero, Tohdoh, and Kallen are all shocked at this, and when the latter asks the
former for instructions, Zero can't respond since his plans have been partially
tarnished. The other guests then react in equal shock, but Euphemia suggests
watching it to the end. Tohdoh then engages Suzaku and reveals himself, and they
begin arguing about their ideals. However, when Suzaku mentions his reformism,
Tohdoh encourages him to continue with those ideals as long as he is willing
sacrifice everything - countries and humans alike - for that goal. Suzaku agrees
and breaks free, as Tohdoh begins chasing him around. Refusing to wait for Zero's
command, the Four Holy Swords begin to engage Suzaku again just as Zero regains his
senses. They suffer damage, but Zero orders a retreat. Seeing reinforcements, they
agree, damaging Suzaku's leg and covering him in smoke. As they retreat, Euphemia
congratulates Suzaku to herself, but the others in the museum become furious,
believing that he could defeat him but isn't because they are Elevens also. This
infuriates Euphemia, and on the spot she declares that Suzaku will be her Knight,
and Suzaku, unaware of his new position, declares Tohdoh as his foe. The Black
Knights return to base, but Zero goes away for a bit. While talking to Ohgi about
it, Kallen's phone goes off, and she hears a delirious Zero laughing maniacally
while C.C. looks at him from above.

I ORDER YOU, SUZAKU KURURUGI

The Black Knights drive a submarine through the waters, with Inoue as the lookout.
Inside, Zero begins reorganizing the positions of the core members of the group. He
places Tohdoh in charge of military affairs and Diethard in charge of intelligence,
espionage, and public relations; Chiba and some others object to the latter, but
Zero says it does not matter who they are as long as they can work together. He
then places Ohgi as the Deputy Director (to the joy of the original resistance
members) and Rakshata as head of Research and Development. He then announces the
Zero Squad, his elite personal force, and puts Kallen in charge; he then has
Asahina, Senba, and Kagesaki be in charge of the first, second, and third divisions
respectively, and puts Tamaki in charge of Second Special Forces; Kallen feels
honored, but questions why C.C. has no position. Diethard then brings up another
matter.

Meanwhile, Suzaku's Knighting ceremony begins. As he walks down the aisle, the
people around him begin exchanging racial slurs about him with each other,
questioning why an Eleven should be Knighted, why they need to broadcast it, and
even wondering if Euphemia has sexual "needs" for Suzaku. At Ashford Academy, the
other students become outraged at the idea of an Eleven also instantly becoming a
Major in the army, with Nina cowering nearby. Euphemia then goes to the ceremony
and makes Suzaku and Knight, Sir Suzaku Kururugi. After this, he turns around to
depart, but no one claps for him except Lloyd (as Cecile reveals, it is because he
will still be with them); however, when Darlton also claps, everyone else
reluctantly follows suit. Diethard later explains to Zero that now that Suzaku is a
Knight, he is seen as a symbol for Japanese that support Britannia as well as
Britannians who want to pose as Eleven supporters, and requests that he be
assassinated. Rakshata agrees with him, but Ohgi and Tohdoh, not wanting to kill
the truly innocent under impossible circumstances, oppose him. Diethard decides to
leave it to Zero. Zero takes time to reflect in his room, and C.C. uses the
opportunity to question why he stubbornly refuses to Geass Suzaku. Zero admits that
it is because of pride and friendship, and C.C. claims that he might have to kill
him.

Euphemia later contacts Cornelia after she appears to shut her out following
Suzaku's ceremony. Cornelia acknowledges that it was Euphemia's decision, but that
she should have discriminated per Britannia's national policy. Euphemia, however,
affirms that, due to Suzaku's Honorary citizenship and capabilities, he is more
than worthy, and she is willing to go against the system. Cornelia retorts by
saying she can only ever do that if she is Empress. Charles, meanwhile, is
overseeing construction on a floating palace-like piece of architecture called the
Thought Elevator when someone named Schneizel appears behind him, and Charles tells
him to stay put against "him". At Ashford, Nunnally and Milly throw a party for
Suzaku for his Knighting, and get started when Rivalz does a toast. However, Nina
is still in the Student Council room, and is shown to be extremely jealous that
Suzaku has become Euphemia's Knight, and Knights are typically lovers of the people
they serve, resorting to looking at pictures of her again. Just then Lloyd appears
in the room wanting to take part in the party, and sees that Nina is researching
Uranium-235 and how to replicate it. Amazed at Lloyd's intellect, Nina quickly
begins rambling about her research.

As Milly and Shirley wonder where Nina is, Kallen arrives at the party, prepared to
use her pouch to stab Suzaku to death. Ignoring Shirley's request for help serving
pizza, Kallen raises the pouch, but her hand is grabbed by Lelouch, who makes the
excuse that Shirley wants help. He offers to help with Kallen's thing, stalling her
enough for Suzaku to see them. As Kallen leaves (making Shirley suspicious), Suzaku
goes up to Lelouch to ask him what he wanted to say the other day; Lelouch asks him
to forget about it. At that moment Lloyd and Nina arrive, the former saying that
Suzaku has work, and Suzaku tells Lelouch who he is. Milly approaches him and asks
if anything is wrong; when Nina asks about their relationship, Lloyd bluntly states
that he and "Honey Bunch" are engaged (essentially announcing it to the world),
much to Milly's embarrassment and everyone else's shock (except Suzaku who knew all
along). Rivalz then approaches them and, after learning who Lloyd is and hearing
from Lloyd that they are already "betrothed" screams in dismay. Lloyd then informs
Suzaku that he has duties with Euphemia, who is meeting with someone else, which
Lelouch catches on to.

The mission takes them to Shikine Island, although they have no idea why exactly it
is on the island, and everyone now being fully aware thanks to Lloyd's announcement
of the events leaking onto the Internet. Underneath the waves, the Black Knights'
submarine makes plans to capture Suzaku, to Tohdoh and Kallen's relief, and Zero
announces he will deal with Suzaku himself once he's captured. Meanwhile, Diethard
is watching Rakshata manage the radar defense system when Zero approaches him,
having guessed that Diethard told Kallen to kill Suzaku. Diethard eventually admits
it, saying that if Suzaku had been killed discreetly that way, the media could have
diverted attention away from the Black Knights, and that you can't change the world
without getting your hands dirty. Zero asks him what he is really after since he
has nothing to gain from joining the Black Knights' cause. Diethard finally admits
that the real reason he is there is to make a documentary on Zero as an eyewitness
to history, and believes in Zero's cause enough to believe it will come true. Zero
says that he will just fabricate stuff, and that if he wants to do it, he must not
interfere with military matters.

Euphemia and Suzaku's group arrives on schedule when terrorists arrive and begin
bombing the area nearby. Tohdoh gives the squad orders and Kallen begins wiping out
Sutherlands. Zero and others watch from above, and he decides to go talk to
Euphemia. Euphemia, meanwhile, is informed of the attack, and can't have a escort
to evacuate her. Suzaku prepares to protect her, but Euphemia suggests he go fight
with the others. One of the other soldiers proclaims that Suzaku will just betray
him if that happens, but Lloyd says that by saying that he is criticizing a person
of royalty, allowing Suzaku to go on. Suzaku quickly defeats Tamaki when he notices
Zero above, who taunts him to come. Suzaku does, and the other units begin to fall
back. As another Britannian receives some disturbing orders from "Your Highness",
Zero flees from Suzaku and leads them both into a sandpit. Suzaku prepares to run
Zero through with a red sword he has, but Rakshata activates a switch that disables
both of their Knightmares, called a Gefjun Disturber, causing Lloyd to realize that
Rakshata is with the Black Knights. Zero then requests that they talk and he will
gun him down otherwise.

Suzaku reluctantly complies, and Zero asks him to join the Black Knights again.
Suzaku again refuses for the same reasons. Zero, however, tells Suzaku that if that
were true, then Britannia's occupation of Japan would be just, since if Japan's
army had been wiped out than the Chinese Federation and Europia United would have
claimed their own land, then fight for more among themselves, yet both are
inherently evil, and reveals he knows that Genbu Kururugi was killed, and that the
killer (not mentioning he knows his identity) is a criminal. Zero then says that
there is only one way for Suzaku to redeem himself now: let the Japanese fight
Britannia. He also says that reformism is for egotists who don't understand
urgency, and that they are not living in peace. Before Suzaku can respond, he gets
a call from the earlier Britannian, the military controller of Shikine Island, who
shakedly says that they are going to bomb the island to kill Zero, and that Suzaku
needs to hold Zero in place at the cost of both of their lives. Suzaku complies and
wrestles Zero's gun so that it points at his neck, with the others unable to
interfere or risk getting caught in the Gefjun. Euphemia learns of what is
happening, and demands to know who ordered it. They will order say it was an order
that can only be overturn by three generals or Cornelia, so Euphemia steals a
Portman, intending to be in the missile's path and prevent its launch.

The missiles come in, provoking Kallen to try and save Zero, only to get caught in
the Gefjun. Suzaku throws Zero into the Lancelot while holding him at gunpoint, and
Zero questions why he doesn't have a problem with dying right there, while the
Britannians lie that Suzaku will be a hero. Tohdoh orders the others to destroy the
missiles with gunfire, while Kallen gets out of the Guren and runs toward Suzaku in
an attempt to dissuade him. Zero again questions why Suzaku would follow orders
over heart, and as Suzaku responds a giant floating ship appears and blocks both
the missile and gun paths, with the also-arriving Euphemia recognizes as the
Avalon. The person inside orders a gigantic cannon to be aimed at them. In a last
ditch attempt, Zero opens his Geass eyeslot. As Euphemia rushes in on foot, Kallen
screams for mercy, and a young boy stands still while C.C. looks on, the cannon of
Schneizel el Britannia fires, eradicating Zero, Suzaku, Kallen, and Euphemia off
the map.

ISLAND OF THE GODS

Suzaku wakes up on a deserted island, with no one else around him. He prepares to
look for Zero, but quickly realizes has no leads. At the same time, Zero is walking
around a rocky coast on the same island, also completely confused. Both realize
that they can't be far from Shikine Island based on the vegetation and climate.
Suzaku eventually decides to find water first. He comes to a waterfall, only to see
a naked Kallen there, taking a shower. He tries to talk to her, but when she
notices him there, she instinctively throws her Black Knights uniform in front of
her body and picks up her pouch, thereby exposing herself as being one of the Black
Knights. She charges at Suzaku to try and stab him, but Suzaku, initially frozen by
fear, grabs her arm and quickly pins her down. Kallen angrily proclaims who she
really is, and Suzaku declares her under arrest. Zero, meanwhile, ponders how he
can get either Ohgi or even Britannia to rescue him when he sees Euphemia looking
at him.

Suzaku puts Kallen's clothes back on, ties her arms behind her back, and begins
trying to interrogate her. He learns that she also has no idea where she is, and
she claims that Suzaku deserves it and that the Black Knights will eventually
arrest him. Suzaku asks her that, if Zero is going to rescue her, who his true
identity is. Kallen tells him that he might as well find it out himself, causing
Suzaku to realize that she does not know either. He then asks why she follows Zero,
and she taunts him by saying he should find it out for himself again. Zero,
meanwhile, holds Euphemia at gunpoint, but Euphemia reveals that she has guessed
his identity as Lelouch; she also says she hasn't told anyone about this, and asks
to see his face before he kills her. Shocked, he complies, causing Euphemia to cry
tears of joy.

Back on Shikine Island, it is revealed that the Britannians also have no idea where
the four of them are, and are using metal detectors to try and find Euphemia. It is
also shown that Lloyd and Cecile recovered the Lancelot from the same area, with
the Gefjun Switch having been disabled with the Black Knights' departure. The two
of them are on the Avalon, along with Schneizel, who took some of their research to
make a floating system and the Hadron Cannon. He and Lloyd talk, and Cecile is so
shocked to see Schneizel that General Bartley think she is insulting him; his
presence shocks Cecile even more to the point she falls from the Lancelot onto her
rear ("Nice one," as Lloyd puts it). Lloyd asks of Bartley's loyalty, which he
claims is the result of Schneizel saving him from a prison sentence, but Schneizel
refuses the thanks and departs. Lloyd then prepares to look for Suzaku in the
Avalon, causing Cecile to become convinced that Schneizel gave the orders AND fired
the cannon. Schneizel said he did so because he needed to take the necessary
precautions and gambled on the notion that Suzaku would have survived. He
apologizes for not caring about his subordinate at that moment and leaves.

Zero dries Euphemia off and she reveals she guessed his identity based off of what
he said at the Lake Kawaguchi incident, but wasn't truly convinced and didn't tell
Cornelia in the belief she never listens to her. After Euphemia learns of
Nunnally's safety, Zero asks her if she knows anything as to who killed Marianne,
but learns that Cornelia has been investigating it and that no one truly knows.
Euphemia then asks who he is right at that moment, and he declares that he is
Lelouch. Zero then begins to dig a hole in the forest, intending to set a trap, but
he eventually reaches rock bottom so Euphemia leaves to go find berries; meanwhile
Suzaku successfully fishes and encourages Kallen to look for other food in exchange
for freedom (she refuses, so Suzaku calls her far more stubborn compared to her
Stadtfeld guise).

Meanwhile, the Avalon passes over the Black Knights submarine, which is submerged
and hiding everyone. After this, Tohdoh suggests bailing out due to the risks
involved while Diethard suggests they look for Zero and Kallen because everything
about the Black Knights revolves around the former, leaving Ohgi conflicted, and it
is shown that they recovered the Guren Mk-II. The two begin arguing, with Diethard
saying that the only reason they are united is because of the results Zero gets
them, and that his life may be worth a million; Tohdoh rebukes this. C.C. then
steps in and says that she just knows that Zero is alive, but this results in a
heated argument about C.C. being a dumbass between her and Tamaki. Ohgi then tries
to calm down the matter, suggesting that they go into hiding and then go rescue
them the following night; everyone agrees. C.C. is then seen walking and talking
alone, and it is suggested that the person she keeps on talking to while seemingly
alone placed everyone on the island, which C.C. thinks is in poor taste.

That evening, Euphemia gives Zero some berries, but he seems downtrodden. They then
begin staring at the stars and remember when they used to do it with Nunnally and
Marianne. Euphemia wishes that they could go back to those days, and Zero shares
her sentiment. Later that night, Kallen eats plenty of the fish and relaxes, and
Suzaku comments on how charming it is to see her so lively, much to her
embarrassment. Suzaku then asks her to leave the Black Knights to avoid her facing
capital punishment. Kallen refuses, revealing herself as the Guren pilot and vowing
to beat Suzaku. Kallen chastises Suzaku, saying that his reformism leads to him
siding with the enemy, and the "Last Samurai" Genbu Kururugi would be ashamed. She
then says that if she doesn't fight, Naoto's death would have been in vain. In a
final effort, Suzaku reveals that he killed his father to her. He continues to say
that Zero and Genbu are a lot alike because they justify their murders for the fact
they are narcissistic. Kallen says almost the same thing Zero did to Suzaku back in
the sand pit, and in response Suzaku says that she just kept killing, she would
never truly move on. Kallen then asks that she will move on when Naoto's killer is
given justice, but since no one knows who that is all she can cling to now is that
it served some higher purpose. Not long after, both Euphemia and Kallen fall
asleep, and Zero and Suzaku ponder the matter. At the same time Schneizel arrives
at the island and discovers a small cave, which Clovis previously used for some
higher purpose.Their spotlights are noticed by Lelouch and Suzaku.

In the morning the two pairs head for the lights, while Kallen begins trying to
break her bonds and Lelouch wonders how to deal with the search party. The cave is
revealed to contain a Thought Elevator, which Lloyd says is out of his league but
Schneizel says Charles is interested, and Bartley reveals that quite possibly, the
sole reason that Britannia invades other countries is to obtain all such places
around the world. Schneizel then instructs Lloyd to mess with a prototype
Knightmare Frame called Gawain for the Thought Elevator.

Atop a ledge overlooking the cave, Zero and Euphemia approach the Avalon and
acknowledge they won't be seeing each other again for a while. Zero says that it
will be fine, since unlike himself Suzaku will be able to take care of her. He then
asks why Euphemia selected an Honorary Britannian as her Knight. Before she can
answer, Zero hears rustling in the grass and jumps for cover in a bush. He looks
over to see Suzaku and Kallen approaching them, to his confusion and horror.
Relieved, Euphemia jumps out of the bushes to greet Suzaku, revealing their
location to him and Kallen. To keep up an act, Zero jumps out of the bushes and
holds a gun to Euphemia, posing her as his prisoner while whispering for her to
follow his lead. He offers to exchange Euphemia for Kallen, but Suzaku deems his
actions cowardly and approaches him slightly, allowing Kallen to step over her
binds, with all seemingly unaware they are standing on a square piece of concrete.
Zero chides Suzaku, saying that the exchange is the only way to ensure Euphemia's
survival, giving Kallen enough time to throw her arms and binds over Suzaku,
restraining him. This results in a verbal argument between Euphemia and Kallen
which ends when Suzaku breaks free and gets to Euphemia. Zero begins to approach
Kallen when suddenly a giant red Geass symbol appears below them, seemingly
activated by Lelouch's own Geass, and far away the boy from before smiles, ready to
make a move.

The ground gives way under the four, and they all fall down into the Thought
Elevator, ruining Lloyd's calculations. The Britannians move to capture Zero to
avoid harm to Euphemia, while Zero and Kallen prepare to steal the Gawain; as it
happens, Suzaku appears frozen while looking upwards. Kallen handily fights off the
Britannians while Zero climbs into the Gawain to pilot it, as it is already active.
Snickering that it is his lucky day, he prepares for launch when he notices and,
terrified, recognizes Schneizel, realizing he will have to fight him soon. Zero
then gets the Gawain moving and, after Kallen climbs on, rushes forward. They are
unable to fight any enemies due to incomplete weapons, but they discover another
system - flight - is complete. With it they are able to fly away from the island
all together, much to Kallen's amazement, Zero's amusement, and Bartley's dismay.
Schneizel, however, is okay with the scenario, as he sees that Euphemia and a
recovered Suzaku are all right. However, just as they come out, the Britannians
arrest Suzaku for "violation of military regulations", though Schneizel promises
Euphemia to take care of it later.

As Zero and Kallen prepare to rendezvous with the others, it is revealed in

flashback that Zero reluctantly used Geass on Suzaku, giving him the command to
automatically find some way to "live" whenever he is faced with certain death.
Because of this, he escaped the blast by hiding in the Lancelot before getting
transported. Suzaku however, obviously does not recall this "insubordination"
despite video evidence. Just as Cornelia is informed of this, Guilford tells her
that a large scale of naval Chinese Federation forces are heading towards Kyushu,
bearing the flag of Japan and soaking the area in blood.

BATTLE FOR KYUSHU

In the stormy rain, the Chinese Federation forces continue to advance, and their
progenitor, Atsushi Sawasaki, a former member of Genbu's Cabinet, declares he will
liberate Japan. This leads to speculaton that the Black Knights called him in, but
while watching the news about it back at their trailer, they affirm that they have
nothing to do with it, and Diethard says that the Kyoto House doesn't either.
Kallen asks Zero what their next move is.

Aboard the Avalon, Lloyd watches the news when Cecile comes up to him and asks
where Schneizel is; he responds he went to the Tokyo Settlement, and that they have
to finish up something to counter the Gefjun Disturber. With the Lancelot, Suzaku
looks at his watch and remembers something from before. In the flashback, Suzaku
tells Euphemia that he plans to give up being her Knight. Though she assures him
that the insubordination was only natural, Suzaku says that that is not the reason
but rather for the reason he froze earlier, and tells Euphemia that he killed his
father, and that if others are suffering while he isn't, he doesn't deserve
Knighthood. While also thinking about this, Euphemia decides she doesn't deserve a
Knight.

The storm prevents Britannia from landing any critical blow on Sawasaki and General
Cao's forces, and they are forced to be land rather than perform an airstrike.
Meanwhile, Schneizel is giving orders to Darlton to contact other nations for
support and avoid martial law when Euphemia walks in and asks if she can do
anything to help. Schneizel turns down the offer, saying that Cornelia ordered she
not get involved for her safety, causing Euphemia to believe that she is still
angry for having made Suzaku her Knight. Schneizel then says he has an inside man.
At Ashford Academy, the Student Council prepares to cancel that year's school
festival, to their frustration, and Rivalz says it only makes sense due to the
events of Kyushu. Milly asks Nina if she was going to prepare that special booth,
and she says she was planning to go there that day but due to recent events was
planning to go to the science museum, as Lloyd promised to get her something from
there. Rivalz complains that lloyd is a playboy, and Milly tells him to get
working; Rivalz complains that he is only going slow because the others aren't
there when he needs at least two of them. It is then revealed in flashback that
Shirley found her previous note, which was a letter to Lelouch asking for them to
meet privately and discuss why he is Zero to learn why everything happened, but due
to her memory loss she is now confused as to what it means.

The Lancelot is revealed to be fitted with a flotation system similar to the one
for the Avalon. Cecile asks Suzaku, who is inside, why he gave up being a Knight,
and Suzaku says that he did it because she still likes him after all that he's
done, and that he messed up again she would blame herself. At the Clovis Memorial
Museum, Euphemia muses on how she's both a pawn and a burden to everyone around her
when all she wants is to make a difference; she apologizes to a picture of Clovis
for not truly saving Lelouch and Nunnally and cries upon thinking of Suzaku. Nina
then arrives at the museum to get the booth, but a policeman outside says that she
can't for a few minutes due to a member of the Royal Family viewing the paintings.

In the Black Knights submarine, Zero declares that they won't collaborate with
Sawasaki because he is merely being a puppet of the Chinese Federation, and his
Japan is one that does have true independence. The Black Knights ask what he wants
after this all over, and he declares that he wants to make Tokyo an independent
nation all on its own, which only Diethard had gleefully anticipated. The others,
meanwhile, claim that that is impossible given Britannia's strength compared to
them, but Zero says that it is necessary because otherwise not only will they never
overcome Britannia, but no one will. Meanwhile, Euphemia is preparing to leave the
museum in her car when Nina runs directly into its path to try to talk to Euphemia.
The police instantly apprehend her for breaking through the perimeter and slam her
onto the ground, but Euphemia, recognizing her, tells them to stop, calling Nina
her friend.

By then, the rain clears, allowing Britannia to fight back. Guilford plans to put
Suzaku in, but Cornelia is suspicious of him. At that moment, Sawasaki sends
missiles at the Avalon from Fukuoka Base, but with the Avalon equipped with shields
the missiles are reflected. Cecile then gives Suzaku the battle plan for him to
drop into the battlefield. Using the new flotation system, the Lancelot takes off
like an aircraft carrier and glides incredibly fast towards its destination, to the
horror of Sawasaki and Cao, who are aware of who he is. They send missiles towards
him, but he dodges them and cuts their helicopters up. He then gets to the base
when Sawasaki suddenly videocalls him and says he never knew Genbu had a son.
Meanwhile, Euphemia takes Nina back to her place and gives her a change of clothes.
Nina goes ahead and thanks her, but goes overboard by saying that Euphemia was like
a "goddess" when she rescued her. Euphemia accepts the thanks, but still feeling
self-degrading, admits she is nothing. Nina rebukes this, but then says that there
is nothing special about her, as she's not pretty and not royalty. Euphemia tries
to say she's cute, but Nina denies this, causing Euphemia to realize they are alike
in that they both hate themselves. Nina then blurts out that Suzaku is making the
situation uneasy, and that she can't hate herself because she "needs" her.
Unbeknownst to her, this causes Euphemia realize that she can do what Nina did to
Suzaku in order for both her and him overcome their burdens; she then thanks Nina
and says she is glad to befriend her. She then confronts Schneizel and asks for a
private communication line.

Back with Suzaku, Sawasaki claims he thinks Suzaku is trying to ruin his father's
dream. When Suzaku explains his reformism, Sawasaki says he is just being selfish.
This gives him enough time to shoot out Suzaku's gun, forcing Suzaku to retreat
into an alley. The energy fillers quickly become low and the float is even shot
off, so Suzaku changes all energy to weapons at Cecile's request, refusing to
surrender. He takes out his Lancelot sword and begins to cut through Sawasaki's
forces while he calls him a stubborn coward like his father, but at that moment
Euphemia breaks through Sawasaki's channel. She begins to falter over what she has
to say, but then suddenly commands him to love her eternally (much to Suzaku's
shock, Cecile's embarrassment, and an unhearing Lloyd's curiosity) because she
loves him forever for everything about him, and that he shouldn't hate himself for
it. Suzaku returns the feelings, noting that, even though she is impulsive, it's
because of that that he has had so many opportunities for reform and having a
normal life. However, the energy runs low and he gets surrounded, so he asks
Euphemia for a final request: to never tell his friends that he died and to not
blame herself for it, not knowing his Geass is about to activate.

As Euphemia pleads for him not to die, a massive set of beams destroys Suzaku's
would-be captors, and the Gawain appears with Zero and C.C. piloting it. Zero
realizes that Cornelia is only having Suzaku serve as a distraction for her own
move, and is planning on having him die, leading him to assume Schneizel created
the plan. He then proceeds to zap other with the same Hadron Cannon, leaving Lloyd
jealous as he wanted to perfect that system. It is then revealed that Rakshata did
it, and she has deduced the "Earl of Pudding" (Lloyd), her former colleague, is up
against her. Using the Gawain, Zero hands Suzaku another energy filler, and
playfully announces his intention to defeat the commanders and have him for backup.
Suzaku, after some hesitation, takes the filler and says he'll do it for him. They
take out more troops before Zero breeches the control tower, with him and Suzaku
declaring him a coward for fleeing his own nation. Rakshata, Lloyd, and Euphemia
all express happiness at this, while Cornelia is left baffled. With the Black
Knights, Diethard realizes he only took the Gawain to stealth his way in. Kallen
complains that she could have defended Zero and the rest, and can no longer return
to Ashford, but Diethard says that they are not trying to obtain victory; instead,
they will be known for having helped Britannia in the matter, even if they refuse
to confirm it, and that this will convince the populace that they are on their
side. Sawasaki and Cao eventually try to escape, but their helicopter is destroyed
and they, along with the rest are captured.

As Diethard predicted, the Britannians do not release any info on the Black
Knights, and the Chinese Federation denies any actual responsibility while
Schneizel meets with Charles. Eventually, Suzaku returns to Euphemia, who claims
that she is Suzaku's home now. They both become a bit flustered, but laugh it off.
Afterwards, Euphemia decides that she no longer wishes for an ideal country or
system, but just to see the people she loves happy. She asks for Suzaku to help her
as her Knight and, in essence, her boyfriend. Suzaku accepts, and they hold hands.

DECLARATION AT THE SCHOOL FESTIVAL

Following the intended invasion of Area 11, Lelouch and Suzaku are forced to make
up countless assignments by one of their teachers despite their good grades and
excuses respectively, to the dismay of their other teachers. At the same time, the
Black Knights discuss the Japanese people's opinions on them, which are split, and
question what they will think about making the Tokyo Settlement a nation. Tamaki
says that he wouldn't mind going along with Zero, as he feels sticking with him
will help make their dreams, including his own of becoming a bureaucrat, a reality;
he even says he might have succumbed to Refrain had he not found purpose. Ohgi
suddenly realizes that Refrain might bring back Villetta's memory partially and
learn Zero's identity. Kallen then asks him what to do about another issue, and
Ohgi decides they will just have to go with an escape route that Diethard planned,
as it is also mentioned that someone wants to join them.

Meanwhile, Milly signals the start of the annual School Festival with Nunnally's
imitation of Arthur, waking C.C. up. Events are held for the Lancelot, Arthur,
Clovis, and even Zero. On a roof, Lelouch talks to Diethard about data from the
Kyoto House and Tohdoh's plans to defeat enemies, and is nearly seen by the press.
Eventually, Milly sees Lelouch and drags him away, forcing him to hang up on a
suspicious Diethard. Milly takes him to where she, Rivalz, and a rather happy Nina
plan to make a pizza with a 12-meter radius (the largest in the world) and are
trying to get him to run despite everything going smoothly; he complains that the
press might catch his face on camera and expose his location, but Milly tells him
not to mind that. At the same time, Ohgi takes Villetta to the festival, intending
to gather data, and thinks to himself that he can't turn her in to the authorities
since that might expose the Black Knights, but can't kill her either. When they get
to Ashford, Ohgi sighs heavily, noting that he felt nostalgic since he used to be a
teacher. Villetta asks why he quit, and Ohgi says he did it to follow his late best
friend's dream. Though Ohgi plans to merely drop her off there, since he can't be
seen at a Britannian school as an Eleven, Villetta and some other students happily
take him inside.

Inside a food room at the Student Council building, Suzaku is cutting up onions
when Kallen, her knife patch drawn, sneaks in behind him. Suzaku, however, is glad
she returned, and hasn't told anyone that he knows who she is. Kallen questions why
he hasn't, and he notes that, as she is Kallen Stadtfeld now, he hopes he can
convince her to abandon her cause as a friend, even though he will face her without
hesitation on the battlefield; Kallen notes that something is different about him.
Lelouch then comes in to inform Suzaku about the pizza's cheese being delivered,
and is rendered shocked at seeing Kallen return. He decides to give Kallen a job.
Though Kallen is initially compliant, to her dismay she is forced to be a square-
shaped monster at the fair's haunted house that jumps out from under a tombstone
and scares people. Additionally, a mechanical screen allows her to see when people
are coming by, causing her to complain that they could've made the whole thing a
robot and that she is hot inside the tombstone. Eventually, a couple comes by and
she scares them also, but is surprised to see that the couple is Ohgi and Villetta,
and dumbfounded they note that the other is fine.

At the same time, Cecile is at the festival playing a Whack-a-Mole game that uses
actual students; however she only hits one that looks like Lloyd (albeit blonde),
which the other soldiers note must be due to stress. She eventually exerts so much
stress that the hammer breaks and the mallet hits Lelouch, who is still making
festival plans to his chagrin, on the head. As Cecile recognizes that he is
Suzaku's friend, C.C. comes up behind him and asks where the large pizza is being
made. Meanwhile, Schneizel is with Cornelia admiring her troops, including the
Glaston Knights. As Schneizel notes a meeting he has with the Chinese Federation,
he begins making random flirts with her about her combat ability. Trying to change
the subject, Cornelia wonders where Euphemia is, and Schneizel notes that she is
elsewhere after a talk she had with him. They then begin talking about a project
Bartley is planning, and inside an orange tube, Jeremiah is being stored.

At the festival, Lelouch leads C.C. away to a small building; he says he will bring
her a slice of the pizza, but she doesn't believe him. Kallen then comes in with
Ohgi and Villetta to hide them, and questions who Villetta is. As Ohgi struggles to
do so, Lelouch tries to push them out since they are not students, and is also
surprised to see Ohgi. While both Kallen and Lelouch try to figure a way to avoid
the other noticing Ohgi and C.C. respectively, Suzaku and Shirley enter to look for
more supplies for the pizza. Lelouch and C.C. begin bickering over how to get her
out, and though Kallen gets Shirley to look on the other side, Shirley hears
Lelouch and tries to talk to him about him being Zero. While he tries to get
Shirley away, Kallen cuts some cords, causing panels to fall down, as a
distraction. Lelouch then sprays pink firework gas in the area, allowing Ohgi,
Villetta, and C.C. to escape. Kallen uses her body to protect Shirley from the
panels, although Lelouch and Suzaku catch it in time. In the aftermath, Arthur
bites Suzaku's ankle.

At the same time, Euphemia is revealed to be under disguise at the festival,

wanting to talk to Suzaku about something. In a flashback, Euphemia talked with
Schneizel about an idea she had, and he encouraged her to follow her heart while he
talks to Cornelia about it. As she reflects how this idea might allow their
relationship to be public, she bumps into Sayoko, who is with Nunnally, and the two
recognize each other. Ohgi and Villetta hide behind a tree, and the latter finds
the experience fun. Ohgi then suggests that she leave Area 11 to avoid the person
who shot her from doing so again. However, she says she wouldn't mind being an
Eleven. Nunnally also invites Euphemia for tea, and asks her to keep it a secret
that they are there. Euphemia protests, but Nunnally says she does not mind her
life at all since she is still with Lelouch (a fact Lelouch does not know). They
then bond over their childhood.

As the final preparations for the pizza get under way, Lelouch tells Shirley on the
phone that he will talk to her later while he watches the scene from the control
room. Milly comes in, and Lelouch notes that everyone is so happy and safe despite
the Chinese invasion; Milly says that they are necessary to keep everyone that way.
Nunnally then comes in, and seeing Euphemia with her, Lelouch scampers out. Rivalz
then unveils a curtain with an antique Knightmare, the Ganymede, which is piloted
by Suzaku to shape the pizza dough. Kallen is surprised that many Elevens came, and
Sayoko tells her that many see him as a ray of hope. Meanwhile, Lloyd meets up with
Milly and notes that the Ganymede was once piloted by Marianne. Milly wonders if
the fact Milly is so close to such technology is why he wants to marry her, and
Cecile clarifies that he has absolutely no attraction to females, even though he
claims he gets their general gist.

As Suzaku starts shaping the dough, Lelouch, who is with Euphemia, notes that he
had to do it last year; Shirley also sees them and thinks Lelouch is hitting on a
random girl. As Euphemia begins to tell him about a plan she has to let Lelouch and
Nunnally find happiness, a gust of wind knocks her hat off, and Shirley recognizes
her, unintentionally alerting the crowd to her presence. As Lelouch and Nunnally
hurry away, the crowd hurries over to see Euphemia. Suzaku tries to get people away
from her, but he ends up dropping the dough onto a tree, to C.C.'s dismay. The
crowds eventually begin crushing Euphemia and Cecile, who tries to guard her, and
while Nina tries to get Euphemia out of there, Suzaku eventually does that for
herby picking her up using the Ganymede. Ohgi, meanwhile, contacts Diethard to get
him out, but calls it off when they make it out safely; it is revealed that Sayoko
is allied with Diethard. Lelouch takes Nunnally into a small building, where
Nunnally reveals that Suzaku and Euphemia are boyfriend and girlfriend, further
hindering Lelouch's plans for him. Seeing they are okay, Euphemia gets the news
crew to make a nationwide announcement. As Tohdoh, Rakshata, and Diethard watch,
Euphemia declares the formation of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan
(similar to the ones used by real-life China) in the area around Mount Fuji. In
this area, Elevens can be called Japanese openly and will be given all basic human
rights, and they will be able to live together with Britannians as equals. However,
everyone is shocked and disgusted with the idea, since it is impossible to do such
a plan. Euphemia then declares that she wants to work with Zero to make the Zone
(to Cornelia's fury), winning over most Japanese support, but also exposing her
relationship with Suzaku in the process. Lelouch, though realizing that her plan is
for her to live with him and Nunnally like before, realizes that his dream of
making Tokyo independent is gone, and that if he goes through with it or backs out,
the Black Knights will be dissolved, as they would not be able to use force and
become the people's enemy respectively.

BLOODSTAINED EUPHIE

As final preparations are made to a stadium in the Special Administrative Zone of

Japan, many higher-ups begin to suspect that Euphemia willingly joined Zero's cause
on Kamine Island. As they make plans to arrest her, they are stopped and arrested
themselves by Bartley and Andreas Darlton, who plan to use the move to lure the
Black Knights out of hiding. At the same time, Suzaku and Euphemia are at the
stadium, where 200,000 people are registering for the program. Suzaku is amazed at
the progress, and Euphemia says it is because they see him as a role model. Suzaku
says that she is giving him too much credit, but Euphemia instead thanks him, and
tells him not to act formally around her now that they're a couple.
As news stations broadcast what is to take place, Sayoko and Nunnally watch
happily; Nina hides herself in the Ganymede storage room and decides to comply with
the idea if Euphemia is sanctioning it; and Lelouch angrily learns that Taizo
Kirihara supports the idea. Schneizel contacts Cornelia, and states he sanctioned
the idea for the same reason that Lelouch is now put in a dilemma; Cornelia
continues to express hatred over the idea, but is forced to comply to ensure public
safety, having sent Darlton as a representative, although Schneizel notes she is
only going through with it due to it being Euphemia's idea. At the Kyoto House,
some are opposed to Kirihara's decision due to it sounding insulting to their
resistance efforts, as well as due to the fact that Kirihara will be given control
of sakuradite mines, but he denies suspicions and says he will attend the opening
ceremony after being invited. The girl behind the window pane then asks about the
Black Knights' opinion.

With the Black Knights, Tohdoh notes that many Black Knights are already signing
up; Diethard says this is due to minimal risk, while Rakshata says this is due to
them trusting a princess over a superhero. Minami and Sugiyama also tell Tamaki
that Kyoto is complying to get equality, and Kallen and Asahina deny this truth,
but acknowledge that a decision must be made soon. Ohgi, meanwhile, flashes back on
Villetta telling him that she wants to join the Zone due to equality appearing to
be in place. He decides to say that they should support the Zone, since they would
have to rely on a promise and it doesn't contradict what Zero wanted for an
independent nation, while also maintaining the people's support, even though Chiba
notes they will have to give up their weapons. Meanwhile, after shopping with him,
Rivalz drops off Lelouch at a place where Shirley asked him to meet her to
presumably go shopping. They see a Britannian nobleman flogging a Japanese boy with
his cane for no apparent reason. Lelouch confronts him, noting that he is merely
trying to look down upon others with contempt and act like God; he promptly uses
Geass on his subordinate to make him go home. He then tries to use Geass on the
nobleman to make him commit suicide and chuck his body elsewhere, but he cuts short
the order when Rivalz tries to break up the fight. As the nobleman goes after his
subordinate, Shirley witnesses the scene and questions what Lelouch is doing,
wondering why he would help the boy yet talk to Euphemia. Darlton also threatens
Kirihara, saying that if he doesn't break off support from the Black Knights, he
will lose the sakuradite mines.

Lelouch returns home later on and tells Nunnally that Shirley never showed up, so
he will try to be nice to her. Nunnally gets the feeling that Lelouch is troubled,
and wonders if it's about Euphemia, who she wants to see again. Lelouch then muses
that he did like her. The next day, the opening ceremony begins to take place, and
the area becomes jam packed with Japanese, but the news is skeptical that Zero will
show up, as are Cornelia's subordinates. Even Charles watches the ceremony from a
Thought Elevator. When the ceremony begins to take place, Zero promptly arrives on
the Gawain, to Euphemia's joy. However, numerous Sutherlands are stationed to kill
him, and Kirihara notes the dangers of what might happen if his identity is
exposed. Zero greets Euphemia, but requests that he speak privately with her,
leaving Cecile suspicious but Lloyd generally okay. As the Student Council watches,
Zero is scanned for weapons, but none are found on him, and though Suzaku remains
suspicious, Euphemia tells him to trust her.

In the surrounding forest, the Black Knights hide and wait for instructions, with
Tohdoh suspecting that Zero plans to kill Euphemia. Euphemia shuts off cameras when
the two are alone in a room together, and when he takes off his mask, Zero pulls
out a plastic needle gun that shoots wood. Euphemia says he wouldn't shoot her, but
Zero says that she will be doing the shooting. Outside, Suzaku waits patiently when
suddenly he experiences a vision of a cracked wall. Turning to the right, he
notices C.C.'s presence as the pilot of the Gawain the same way Lelouch did at the
truck, but oddly no one else can see her. C.C. wonders if this is due to the
contact at the Battle of Narita, but quickly begins to suspect something else as
the passenger hatch to the Gawain opens on its own. Zero then explains to Euphemia
that she is going to kill him on live television, resulting in rioting and Zero
being deemed a deceived martyr. From there, he will recover, allowing people to
view him as divine. Euphemia questions why he would do this, and he explains that
she is unintentionally forcing him to be subordinates, the way Clovis did. He then
hands her the gun, but suddenly begins clutching his eye. At the same time, C.C.
reveals herself and tries to ask Suzaku a question when she begins clutching her
own eye with her Code activating, and notes that someone has forced Lelouch to
reach "a point". Suzaku tries to come to her aid and touches her shoulders, but
this causes him to see Geass illusions and the face of Marianne before passing out;
the same fate befalls three others who try to apprehend her.

Seemingly driven mad, Zero prepares to Geass Euphemia and stain her hands with
blood, but Euphemia rejects her royal identity to him, causing him to come back to
his senses. Euphemia then reveals that, like him, she has given up her claim to the
throne in order to protect Zero, and reveals to him Nunnally's desire to be with
him and him alone, wanting to make the Zone for her sake. Zero is amused at the
petty situation, noting how her actions were selfish and easy to accomplish, and
that she might not see Cornelia afterwards. He then notes that she really hasn't
changed at all, even as the Sub-Viceroy. She then asks him again to join her.
Musing that she is the worst opponent he has ever faced, Zero shakes her hand in
approval, preparing to amend his plans to help build the Zone. They then begin
joking about the ordeal, and Zero notes that he would've simply forced her to do
things such as shoot him, give up Suzaku, or (as a complete joke) kill all the
Japanese had he really expected her to do them. However, at that exact moment, the
boy who caused the earlier ordeal with his eyes turns on Lelouch's Geass
permanently, resulting in Euphemia being Geassed into killing all the Japanese. At
first, Euphemia becomes shaky, violently trying to avoid following the order, but
is unable to shake it off and, taking the needle gun, leaves to follow the order.
Lelouch then realizes that his Geass can't be controlled any longer, just like Mao,
but obliviously becomes convinced that it was his own inaction that caused it.

Schneizel, meanwhile, talks with Bartley about upcoming plans with the Chinese
Federation, and it is revealed that the two are experimenting on Jeremiah. Bartley
asks what to do with the Thought Elevator, and Schneizel, with a smile on his face,
notes that they will proceed work on it once Euphemia and the Zone stabilize Area
11's condition. Euphemia, meanwhile, rushes out to the stadium and requests on the
loudspeakers that all the Japanese commit suicide, leaving everyone confused. When
no one does so, Euphemia then orders her soldiers to kill all the Japanese present.
At the same time, Zero rushes out and discovers that Euphemia ran right past
Suzaku, but thinks she knocked him unconscious, as C.C. fled. He then tries to run
out and stop Euphemia with words, but is held back by suspicious guards. As he
tries to Geass them away, Euphemia takes the needle gun and shoots an old Japanese
man in the heart, killing him. Darlton again questions her, but she proceeds to
shoot him non-fatally so he won't get in her way. With that, everyone follows
Euphemia's orders, and all the Japanese in the stadium begin to get killed one by
one in a vicious, bloody rampage.

Eventually, Suzaku wakes up and tries to call off the attack, refusing to believe
Euphemia's orders, but has one of Cornelia's Knights instead try to kill him, while
the news doesn't cover the slaughter. Zero runs through the stands, trying to
figure out a way to stop the massacre, when an old woman clutches his cloak and
begs him to save them as their Messiah, only to die on the spot. He then makes his
way backstage where Darlton confronts him and demands to know what he did to
Euphemia, only to collapse unconscious. Diethard and Rakshata then get feed of the
attack onto the television to get the Black Knights' actions, with Diethard
gloating over the turn of events. C.C. recovers Zero and takes him inside the
Gawain, where he reveals the Geass' permanence, with C.C. seemingly figuring what
is going on but not telling him. Charles, meanwhile, laughs hideously over the
events, and reveals he knows of Zero's identity, while Schneizel appears to put on
an act and question the massacre. Cornelia makes plans to leave for the Zone while
Suzaku makes contact with Lloyd and Cecile. The Kyoto House also makes preparations
to leave, but the girl, whose name is revealed to be Kaguya, complains how they are
saving their own skins when they should be saving the Japanese. And left with no
other choice, Zero claims to the Black Knights that Euphemia created the Zone to
lure the Japanese out and kill them all, and as Suzaku leaves to find Euphemia in
the Lancelot, Zero gives them orders to scour the Zone's grounds, wipe out
Britannian troops, and (with tears in his eyes) kill Euphemia.

AT LEAST WITH SORROW

Taking control of a Gloucester, the still-Geassed Euphemia begins to run through

the streets, continuing her brutal slaughter of Japanese people with her soldiers.
At the same time, the Black Knights begin their advance, and seeing her soldiers
obey her without question, also come to believe that they planned to do their
slaughter from the very beginning. With that, they begin to savagely destroy the
Britannians while the enraged Japanese happily cheer them on and Suzaku, though
attacked by some Burais, avoids them to try and find Euphemia. Tohdoh takes on
Euphemia's direct subordinates and Ohgi saves Kirihara in the stadium.

Eventually, Kallen disarms the Gloucester that Euphemia happens to be piloting.

Recognizing Kallen, Euphemia insults her, revealing her identity. Kallen prepares
to deal the finishing blow, but Zero, in the Gawain with C.C., tells her to stand
down. C.C. uses the Gawain's mechanical fingers to split the Gloucester into
pieces, and Euphemia crawls out, proceeding to take out a machine gun and shoot at
the Gawain. When she runs out of bullets, she figures out how to reload, but Zero
exits the Gawain before she can fire again, and she quickly remembers he isn't
Japanese. Delirious, Euphemia then asks Zero to form the Special Administrative
Zone of Japan with him. Instead, Zero walks past her, musing that he would have
liked that before pulling out a gun. Suzaku arrives at the scene at that exact
moment, and briefly mutters the word "Euphie" before Zero fatally shoots her in the
stomach. Euphemia, briefly snapping out of her Geass, questions why Lelouch would
do that in her thoughts, and Zero bids her farewell to himself, declaring that she
might have been the first person he ever loved.

As Euphemia collapses, Suzaku, having finally succumbed to insanity, charges at the

scene from above in a blast of fury. C.C. attempts to shoot him with the Hadron
Cannon, but he dodges the shots and picks up Euphemia. Kallen then tries to attack
Suzaku, but he punches her out of the way and flies up to the Avalon. He then gives
her to Lloyd and Cecile, even though she is already leaking blood, and begs them to
treat her. Cornelia gets word of the Black Knights taking over the Zone from
Guilford, and also on the condition of Euphemia, who is being treated. As the Black
Knights ransack the Britannians, Diethard and Rakshata make plans to upload footage
of the attack onto the Internet; Rakshata, who plans to stay, notes that Diethard
seems to have no loyalty to Britannia, and he declares that his talents are
unnecessary for such a stagnant country. Meanwhile, Zero, C.C., and Kallen meet
with the members of the Kyoto House when Ohgi brings them, and Zero recognizes
Kaguya as Suzaku's cousin. Kirihara asks if they will cooperate from then on, but
he declares that he will take them over, otherwise killing them.

Outside Euphemia's room in the Avalon, the doctors realize that Euphemia won't make
it before Cornelia can get there. However, Euphemia does regain consciousness, and
Lloyd and Cecile leave the room, allowing Suzaku to stay with her in her final
moments. Suzaku asks why she gave the order to kill, but her Geass reactivates.
However, she closes her eyes and, due to her love for Suzaku, is able to overcome
the Geass once and for all. She then asks Suzaku if the ceremony went okay and if
the people are happy, while Suzaku is left confused as to why she doesn't remember.
He eventually decides to lie and say that it was a success, and Euphemia believes
him. Becoming blind from her wounds, Euphemia holds Suzaku's hand and wills for him
to continue going to school for both of them. Suzaku, desperate, tells her she can
still finish by attending Ashford Academy and the Student Council with him. But
Euphemia says that she is happy, then turns her head and finally succumbs to her
wounds. The doctors proceed to take an anguished Suzaku out of the room, causing
him to drop his Knight pin. Cornelia also hears the news, and is herself driven
insane.

At the same time, Zero gives a speech at the stadium, where the remaining Japanese
declare him as their hero. In an attempt to restore order, he muses over the fact
that he wanted Britannia to come to its senses, but that now they have committed an
act of genocide, while another man. With the Japanese in complete agreement, he
then declares Euphemia a symbol of Britannia's hypocrisy. He also announces that
Area 11 will declare independence from Britannia, but instead of the old Japan, it
will become a new nation where all people are deemed equal - the United States of
Japan - and the people begin chanting his name.

With no other choice to keep the people under control, Zero is forced to embark on
an assault of the Tokyo Settlement. He meets with C.C. later, and muses that now
that his Geass is permanently active, he can no longer see people. At that moment,
Nunnally calls him. She asks if they can see Euphemia again sometime soon, since
she didn't hear what happened on the news due to the radio cutting off. Avoiding
mentioning Euphemia's death, Zero tells her that he will be back tomorrow morning
and hangs up. C.C. asks him about any other symptoms he might be suffering. Zero
says that, when Euphemia was first under the Geass, she almost succeeded in
overcoming it, and though initially he thought the power was weakened, reflecting
back on it he realizes that she nearly overcame it because she loved the Japanese
so much. He nearly breaks down while reflecting on her death, so C.C. hugs him,
promising to stay with him.

At the same time, Guilford learns that, due to Diethard's leaking of the
information, numerous resistance groups and even Honorary Britannians are staging
violent insurrections across the island, and that they are also joining up with the
Black Knights in an advance on the Tokyo Settlement, eventually numbering tens of
thousands. Guilford's subordinates pressure him to send out a counter-army, but he
refuses without Cornelia's word. However, Cornelia has locked herself up in
Euphemia's room and in her insanity can over stare at the ceiling and reflect on
her life with Euphemia, while Nina, having gone back to the Ganymede room, hears of
Euphemia's death on the news and succumbs to violent insanity herself. The Black
Knights, meanwhile, continue their advance as more groups join up with them, and
Kallen begins to worry about the Student Council members' safety. C.C. then goes
outside and says that she is glad at the turn of events to the person she talks
"alone" with for the first time, then addresses the person by name - Marianne vi
Britannia.

Ohgi checks in on Villetta, who is watching the riots from his apartment. He gives
her the name "Chigusa" and hangs up when suddenly Japanese rioters break down the
door, accusing her of being a spy. At Ashford, Nunnally, Rivalz, Shirley, and
Arthur watch the news, where Rivalz tries to assure Nunnally that the fighting
couldn't come here because Cornelia's forces are nearby. He then asks about
Lelouch's safety, and Shirley seems surprised at the mention of his name. Rivalz
then complains that she should go back to calling him "Lulu", which seems to
trigger something in her mind. Meanwhile, Nina gets into the Ganymede and starts
tinkering with it. Milly tries to get her to come upstairs because of the invasion,
but Nina continues, saying it's important with Zero coming, and mentions planning
to avenge Euphemia. Lastly, Suzaku manages to get back to Euphemia's body and again
questions why she gave the order inside his mind. At that moment, someone appears
to read his mind and offers to tell him why. Turning around, Suzaku sees the
smiling boy from Kamine Island, but doesn't know who he is and questions how he got
on board. With that, the boy greets Suzaku and introduces himself as V.V.

As the Black Knights penetrate one of the defense lines, Cornelia comes to partial
senses and makes plans to send out the Glaston Knights to kill Zero. Zero,
meanwhile, makes plans to dispose of Cornelia, leaving Diethard in charge of the
bridge and Tohdoh in charge of the front line. He prepares to leave with C.C., but
Kaguya appears in the doorway and begins rambling about how Zero left for the
battle without her, how she is a fan of his, and how tall he is. Diethard questions
her appearance, as the other Kyoto House members were escorted to safety, but
Kaguya says she broke off from them so she could watch her "future husband" (Zero)
fight, explaining that he will need a public face after Area 11 is disposed. Zero
expresses surprise at her confidence in winning, and when Kaguya declares herself
the "Goddess of Victory" (actually Nike), Zero says he has no time for goddesses
because he has sold his soul to Satan before departing.

Elsewhere, Bartley is trying to rush preparations to something when suddenly the

case containing Jeremiah shatters, causing him to fall out. After sprawling on the
ground, he looks at Bartley and greets him. At the same time, Zero stations the
forces outside the Tokyo Settlement, and gives Cornelia's forces until midnight to
surrender, but she sees this as a bluff, while Andreas Darlton gets into his
Knightmare to protect Cornelia despite his injury. As the seconds count down, C.C.
tells him that he can still turn back, and that if he does this, the whole world
will follow suit. Just then, Zero's phone rings, and to his shock the caller ID is
Euphemia's. Figuring it is an imposter's, Zero answers the phone to find Suzaku on
the other end. He asks Lelouch if he is at Ashford, to which he replies he will be
soon. Suzaku then says to tell everyone there not to look at the sky, then asks
Lelouch if he has ever had someone he hated so much that he would stop at nothing
to kill him; Zero confirms he has, referring to Charles. Suzaku, having seemingly
been driven further mad, goes on to say that though he once thought murder was
wrong on all accounts, but now he has decided to let hatred guide him and kill
everyone that stands in his way of killing his intended target (Zero), and that he
will be a murderer in the skies; it is also shown that Suzaku's watch is on
Euphemia's corpse. Though knowing full well of his intentions, Zero tells him to
embrace his hatred, as he has embraced his, admitting his quest for vengeance but
not the specifics. He then prepares to leave, and as Suzaku thanks him, Zero waves
it off, noting that they are friends regardless.

As Zero hangs up, the clock reaches midnight, signaling a series of bombs that, to
Cornelia's surprise, destroy the entire walled area around the Tokyo Settlement,
taking with it several troops and even many buildings. Zero then declares that his
hands have been dirty for a long time, and that Suzaku is welcome to try and kill
him since they are friends. As he bursts into psychotic laughter, he notes that he
always truly wanted destruction, as destruction leads directly to creation. He then
declares the final phase of his plan: the Black Rebellion.

THE COLLAPSING STAGE

Jeremiah, regaining his senses, discovers that Schneizel and Bartley have given him
several mechanical prosthetics (including a prosthetic eye) to help him recover
from his injuries and enhance his physical abilities, and that he is tasked with
finding C.C. He begins to marvel at the task, but Bartley tries to calm him down,
noting that some of Jeremiah's brain cells were destroyed in the process, causing
him to become mentally unstable. Jeremiah, however, barks at him, remembering what
Bartley previously did to him. At that moment, Zero sounds in his message of
waiting until midnight, and hearing Zero's name, Jeremiah collapses into insanity.
As the warning is given, a wall security officer, under the influence of Geass, is
signaled to begin setting off the switches to destroy the wall via removing its
floorboards, as are others, killing anyone that tries to stop them. Cornelia,
swearing revenge for Euphemia, tries to have her forces shoot down the Gawain
directly, but the switches activate at midnight, causing the ground underneath the
troops, including Cornelia to collapse. The tremors are even felt at Ashford
Academy, where the Student Council thinks an earthquake is happening. As Cornelia
tries to escape the wreckage, Tamaki and Kaguya admire the destruction. Diethard,
however, questions how Zero was able to pull it off, and comes to the conclusion
that they were affected the same way Villetta and Jeremiah were, admiring Zero's
way of using everyone as pawns.

When the dust clears, Zero notes that once Area 11 has been conquered and reformed
into the United States of Japan, Charles will have to face him, allowing Lelouch to
defeat him once and for all; for some reason, C.C. does not appear to like this. At
the same time, the Four Holy Swords begin to make invasion preparations, with
Tohdoh giving the order to charge in and continue the First Assault on Tokyo
Settlement. He comes across Cornelia, who is trying to assess the situation of her
men and orders a retreat to the government bureau. Tohdoh attacks her, but she
promptly throws one of her own soldiers up as a meat shield, resulting in Tohdoh
slicing him in half. Guilford then tries to engage Tohdoh to let Cornelia get away,
and Tohdoh, recognizing him from the Battle of Narita, accepts. Cornelia protests,
but Guilford chides her into letting him take control by claiming it would be for
Euphemia's honor, and proceeds to take out a sword similar to the Lancelot's.

Zero then announces that Ashford, which is located near the bureau, will be the
command center due to its strategic importance. He tells Ohgi to go there, and
after some hesitation, he does. Ohgi then tries calling Villetta, but she has
dropped her phone, and it is revealed that she slaughtered all of the people that
broke into her home before departing. Aboard the Avalon, Suzaku, still in a state
of insanity, walks into the Lancelot chamber, but Lloyd tells him that they can't
go fight because they haven't been given orders to do so. But despite Cecile's
protests, Suzaku proceeds to snap Lloyd's wrist, brutally punch him in the face,
and take the Lancelot key, intending to kill Zero. Guilford and Tohdoh continue to
fight when the Glaston Knights arrive, informing him that Andreas Darlton's
location has not been identified, and offer to take command while he protects
Cornelia. Zero and C.C., meanwhile, destroy of the aerial forces. Zero continues to
give everyone orders, when he is informed by Ohgi of an informant that can help
them: Sayoko. Elsewhere, the first prince in line to the throne, Odysseus eu
Britannia, is pressured by his subordinates into instilling order as more uprisings
take place, as Charles is absent, with Schneizel deducing that he has gone to the
Thought Elevator. Odysseus eventually decides that no forces be given to Cornelia,
seeing Euphemia's massacre as being a just reason for anger; Schneizel decides to
handle the diplomacy.

The Black Knights take their Knightmares closer to the bureau, where the Britannian
forces appear to be clustering while they wait for reinforcements. At the same
time, Sugiyama and others take over the broadcasting stations for a live event,
while Diethard reveals his identity to his own station and takes them over to make
Zero's scoop the event of the night. Ashford in eventually ransacked, and Tamaki
and others break into the Student Council room. Rivalz, in an attempt to look cool
in front of Milly, stands in between everyone and Tamaki. Tamaki then tauntingly
prepares to hit Rivalz with the butt of his gun, but Zero walks into the room with
Kallen and stops him. Zero then announces that they will be turning the building
into their command center, claiming it is of strategic importance and assuring that
no one will get harmed, although in reality it is to protect Nunnally from the
fighting. Rivalz protests that they can't believe them, but Kallen, though
reluctant to make Ashford the headquarters, reveals her identity to them in order
to ensure their compliance; though they are shocked, Milly decides to believe her.
Shirley then speaks up, questioning what Kallen and Zero did to her, but before
either can respond, Ohgi comes in and informs Zero that Suzaku has been spotted.

Using the Lancelot, Suzaku savagely slaughters any Black Knight standing in his way
- including Yoshida - breaking his oath of not killing. In a flashback, V.V. tells
Suzaku of the Geass, and that that is what caused Euphemia to go ballistic as well
as make him try to act insubordinately on Shikine Island. Unable to contain his
emotions, Suzaku gullibly believes him, unaware of what V.V. did. At the same time,
Villetta is revealed to have suddenly regained her memories as a result of fighting
the men, and becomes convinced that Lelouch used his Geass twice on her (once to
give her Sutherland away, and again to wipe her memories and make her fall in love
with Ohgi). Suzaku eventually comes upon Kallen, and refusing to explain the
situation, proceeds to try and beat Kallen to get Zero's location. As they fight,
Kallen jumps between the buildings to take advantage of Suzaku's flying, and
eventually destroys one of his arms, but has her frying arm shot off. Suzaku
prepares to kill Kallen, but Zero suddenly appears in the Gawain and asks to fight
him one and one, claiming to no longer see a partnership between them as possible.

At the same time, Tohdoh begins making preparations to storm the bureau. Along with
that, Guilford informs Cornelia of his own positions and of naval reinforcements.
Cornelia decides to leak the info to the Black Knights, hoping to distract Zero,
and prepares her own party, unaware Darlton is getting ready. Jeremiah, meanwhile,
goes ballistic in a crouching position over wanting to kill Zero. Meanwhile, the
Black Knights set up base in the building, and Ohgi looks over the plans with
Sugiyama, with the plan being for their forces (from the West), Diethard's (from
the East), Kaguya's (from the South), and others (from the North) will barge the
bureau at once. Ohgi then gets a report that someone was trying to sneak in and was
taken prisoner, but discovers the person is Villetta. Shocked, he makes an excuse
that she reports to him, and takes her into another room. At the Student Council
room, everyone contemplates what to do, with Shirley deciding that they wouldn't do
anything to harm them. At that moment, Zero threatens to destroy the room if Suzaku
doesn't surrender. Blinded by fury, Suzaku charges at him regardless, at which
point Sayoko activates a Gefjun Disturber, freezing Suzaku again. Calling both of
them hypocrites, Zero departs, leaving Suzaku to curse him while Rakshata takes
apart the Lancelot.

As Zero handily destroys air reinforcements, he informs Tohdoh that he will go into
the bureau from the top. In doing so, he discovers Cornelia's garden, which is
designed to resemble Marianne's house. Zero recognizes it, and C.C. calls the place
by name, telling Zero that she will tell him how she knows that later. Cornelia
then appears in the garden, and blinded by insanity, prepares to fight him. Ohgi
takes Villetta into the dining room where Nunnally usually is, where two paper
cranes that match their hair color are sitting on the table. Ohgi apologizes to
Villetta for not saying he was a Black Knight, but assures her that if Zero wins
they can be together. Instead, Villetta steals his gun and holds him at gunpoint,
revealing that she got her memory back and her real name. Ohgi turns around in
shock, but she proceeds to shoot him in the stomach (causing his black paper crane
to fall down), only for him to say he is glad she has her memories before
collapsing. As Villetta flees the scene, Ohgi is recovered. Taking command,
Sugiyama orders that no one find out about Ohgi's shooting while he's recovering,
and to find and kill Villetta. While everyone is searching, Nunnally orders
everyone to run while they are distracted, in the hopes that they can save Suzaku.

Two Black Knights come into an underground area looking for Villetta, but instead
discover Nina piloting the Ganymede, declaring that Euphemia will be avenged. At
the same time, Cornelia charges Zero, and is able to get the upper hand due to her
better piloting and bloodlust. She jumps on top of the Gawain while in midair when
suddenly a giant spike pierces her through the Knightmare's chest. It is revealed
that Darlton had been Geassed by Zero at the stadium to incapacitate Cornelia when
Zero might be in trouble, and Cornelia falls to the ground. Coming back to his
senses, Darlton expresses horror at what he's done before Zero fries him to death
with the Hadron Cannon. Meanwhile, Nunnally is in the room alone when V.V. suddenly
comes in and announces that he will take her with him.
ZERO

With Cornelia grievously injured, Zero appears before her and reveals his identity
as Lelouch to her. She isn't surprised, as she realizes his grudge against the
Britannian Imperial Family and his obsession with Nunnally. As he mentions his plan
to build a world better than Charles' as a replacement, she berates him, claiming
he killed Clovis and Euphemia. Zero counters by saying that she killed Marianne,
and she doesn't deny it but instead concedes to him. From there, Zero uses his
Geass on her to have her answer his questions. However, when he does so, he
discovers that not only was Cornelia not the culprit, but she also doesn't know who
it is at all. He proceeds to question her, as Cornelia was in charge of her guard,
and learns that Cornelia was ordered to withdraw her guards by Marianne herself,
leading Zero to wonder if Marianne knew she was going to be attacked. He then asks
if she has any leads whatsoever from the investigation she carried out, and she
informs him that Charles had Schneizel take the body away, causing Zero to suspect
he was responsible for something.

At that moment, C.C. senses something and quickly tells Zero to come back inside.
Zero does, assuming she means that security will soon come and that they should
take Cornelia hostage, but instead she tells him that Nunnally has been kidnapped
and taken to Kamine Island, refusing to say how she knows that. Just then, Jeremiah
suddenly appears in a giant orange ship, preparing to kill Zero. Zero ends up
insulting him again, provoking Jeremiah to beseech him to die. Zero then tries to
take Cornelia (who passes out) upon getting into the Gawain, but Jeremiah, while
declaring he must kill all Britannian enemies, slams the Gawain off the roof,
taking itself with it. It is revealed that Jeremiah also killed or injured the
scientists before running off, to Bartley's dismay.

Meanwhile, Cecile begins changing into a yellow Knightmare pilot suit. She asks
Lloyd, who is sitting alone in a dark hallway with a bandage on his face, why he
tried to stop Suzaku when he knew he couldn't. Lloyd answers that humans are
incredibly fragile with their emotions, and he was merely trying to keep it under
control, since if Suzaku acted too recklessly, he would destroy the Lancelot in the
process. At the same moment, Rakshata's team begins trying to cut the Lancelot
open. As C.C. fights Jeremiah, Zero calls Ohgi to try and check in on Nunnally, but
Minami answers instead and informs him of Ohgi getting shot, although the wound is
non-fatal and he is being treated. He asks Minami about Nunnally's condition, but
he notes that all of the Student Council members escaped in the confusion, then
proceeds to hang up. He then calls Rivalz, who is hiding with Milly and Shirley in
the bushes to try and get Suzaku. Zero asks about Nunnally, and Rivalz tells him
that she is in the Student Council room. Zero hangs up, and as Rivalz begins
protesting, they are re-captured by the Black Knights.

After Zero also fails with Sayoko, C.C. tells him that as she is his accomplice,
her decision should be trusted. Zero questions why she won't give him reasons, and
again she refuses, causing Zero to see the scene as a "one-sided convenience". He
then tries to have a squad shoot Jeremiah down with homing missiles, but when he
sees them, Jeremiah turns his ship into a spiked spiraling ball and swipes the
squad down. Irritated, Zero has C.C. slice a building in half, and it crushes
Jeremiah when he starts getting too cocky. The Student Council members, meanwhile,
are bought before Tamaki. Shirley asks him to call Zero, claiming that he wants
them alive, but he refuses to believe them. Suzaku then comes out of his hatch to
try and save them, and Tamaki decides to kill him since all they want is the
Lancelot. Arthur, however, jumps on the gun, disturbing the aim. Just then, Lloyd
appears in the Avalon and greets everyone, to Rakshata's shock, although Lloyd
claims he's only there to get the Lancelot back. A Sutherland, piloted by Cecile
and equipped with a float device, promptly shoots the Black Knights away, allowing
the Student Council to flee back into the building (though Milly briefly
hesitates). Cecile proceeds to destroy the Gefjun Disturber, turning the Lancelot's
systems back on, and gives the Lancelot a Sutherland arm and new fuel cell. As
Suzaku powers up again, Cornelia suddenly calls Suzaku.

Fleeing the Tokyo Settlement, Zero calls Tohdoh, who still can't get into the
bureau, and gives him all field command, while also telling him of Ohgi's condition
and to have Diethard continue his duties. Tohdoh protests, but Zero cuts off his
communication. The Student Council proceeds to evacuate the student body onto the
Avalon while the Black Knights begin fleeing, escorting Ohgi away (causing him to
regain consciousness), and Jeremiah breaks out of the ruins. Suzaku reaches
Cornelia, who asks him not to tell the troops of her condition in order to not
disrupt her emotions. She then tells him that Zero is headed towards Kamine Island,
but can't remember any more info, which Suzaku assumes is due to Geass (in reality,
it is due to her blood loss). Cornelia then asks him to clear Euphemia's name.
Diethard, meanwhile, is informed of the switch of leadership, and he informs Kaguya
of it. The other Black Knights begin to panic, since Tohdoh doesn't have a full map
of the battlefield. Eventually, Ohgi calls Kallen, who is being repaired. He asks
her to go after Zero via tailing Suzaku, who is on his way, and tells her that Zero
might be the reincarnation of Naoto; Kallen obeys after getting hold of a
Britannian air transport.

As Cecile begins fighting some Burai pilots, Nina opens a hatch and comes out with
the Ganymede. Lloyd, remembering her research, panics at the sight, and quickly
tells the Black Knights and his own troops to cease fire. Rakshata, noticing what
might be going on, has the Black Knights listen to him. As Nina rolls the Ganymede
into a certain area, Lloyd phones in on her and asks if she is testing her theory;
she says that she didn't have time to test it, but will try to make the Ganymede
explode. Milly tries to stop her, but Cecile gets in the way, as Lloyd announces
that if Nina is correct, the Ganymede's sakuradite fuel will cause it to obliterate
the entire Tokyo Settlement. Nina then holds up the activation switch and screams
at the top of her lungs for someone to tell her where Zero is, intending to catch
him in the blast. At the same time, Zero incorrectly muses that if Nunnally dies,
the entire purpose of the war is gone, just as Kamine Island comes in sight; it is
then revealed that V.V. knocked her unconscious and took her inside the island's
Thought Elevator. As the Gawain comes across the entrance, C.C. notes that she has
no connection to this specific one. Zero muses over the fact that there are more
such places, and the fact she doesn't know whether or not Nunnally's kidnapper has
a Geass power.

Just then, as Kallen heads for the island, a psychic booby trap suddenly ignites,
trapping Zero and C.C. again in a series of Geass illusions. As C.C. telepathically
tells him to calm down over the scenario, Lelouch begins experiencing visions of
C.C. getting "killed" throughout history, including World War I, the Hundred Years'
War, and the French Revolution, all beset by an illusion of Jupiter, horrifying
Lelouch. When the dust clears in their minds, Lelouch asks C.C. if these are her
memories. She confirms it, going on to say that she is a witch whose memories are
constantly fluctuating, to the point where she sometimes forgets people that loved
her or the fact she is human, concluding she is lonely. However, Lelouch says that
she has him, and that if she is a witch, then he is a warlock. As the illusion
ends, Jeremiah appears, and they have to fight him. He hits a part of the Gawain
previously damaged by Cornelia, and C.C. is forced to use the last Hadron Cannon
shot by shooting the water, causing it to surge upwards and distort their vision.
C.C. decides to handle Jeremiah on her own while Zero goes after Nunnally. She
tells him that he has to prevail and make up for the fact that the Black Rebellion
will inevitably fail because he left, then, caught up in his warlock comment from
before, kisses him goodbye, much to his shock. As she drops him back on the island,
C.C. grabs onto Jeremiah's ship, musing she would rather not commit suicide with
him, and drives both of them into the sea. Just as C.C. predicted, the Black
Knights begin crumbling apart as Britannian reinforcements arrive, and Inoue is
killed before Sugiyama's eyes. Eventually, all of the Black Knights are left in
utter despair as Guilford leads the final charge to victory. As all this happens,
C.C. muses that humans are creatures who all want happiness. All Lelouch wanted was
happiness of his own, like any ordinary person. However, people's versions of
happiness inevitably conflict with each other all the time, and that those in power
will always suppress another person's ideas regardless of whether or not they're
right. In the end, it was Lelouch's past that caused the Rebellion's downfall, but
C.C., crying with a peaceful smile on her face, decides that because humans search
for happiness, they will eventually overcome through the glimmer of hope. She is
then crushed to bloody bits by the water pressure along with Jeremiah, but floats
to the surface and is reassembled thanks to her immortality (this part is not
shown, as it was too graphic and therefore cut out).

Zero arrives at the Thought Elevator wall, realizing the booby trap was merely a
diversion. He prepares to touch the wall and get Nunnally, but just then a bullet
whizzes by his head and hits the wall. Suzaku comes out from behind the shadows and
tells Zero to turn and face him. Doing so, Zero questions why he would be fighting
for Euphemia after all the carnage she caused. Instead, Suzaku reveals that he
knows of his Geass power, and claims he intentionally caused the Zone massacre. He
then says that Zero is merely an arrogant coward, yet even that might not even be
his true nature. He then reveals he knows Kallen is right behind him trying to
shoot him, and asks if she wants to see Zero's true face when she has a right.
Kallen protests, but Suzaku shoots Zero's mask, causing it to split in half,
revealing Lelouch's identity while also grazing the top of his head. Kallen,
overwhelmed with shock, falls to her knees, but Suzaku merely shakes his head. Left
with no choice, Lelouch confesses that he is Zero. Kallen then asks if he had been
using them the entire time, and Lelouch, not denying it, says that his actions will
save Japan, so she shouldn't mind; Kallen, however, begins weeping. Suzaku then
muses he should have questioned Lelouch long ago, having suspected him but refusing
to believe himself. He then berates Lelouch and claims that Lelouch was lying to
everyone; ignoring the subject, Lelouch reveals that Nunnally has been kidnapped.
He offers for Suzaku to join him to rescue her as they did before, while Kallen
begins shivering, but Suzaku refuses, claiming he should have helped Euphemia and
not killed her. Lelouch denies this, saying that he merely had to kill her like
Suzaku did Genbu, and that since it is a past event, he will mourn for her later.
Enraged at this, Suzaku trembles while holding the gun, furiously claiming that
Lelouch has betrayed the entire world by not joining Euphemia, and that he will
kill Lelouch to make his goal be unrealized in favor of a new one he has conceived.
Lelouch dares Suzaku to shoot him, proceeding to place a sakuradite vial on his
chest which, upon Lelouch's death, will detonate, killing Suzaku and Kallen in the
process. Using this as leverage to placate the scene, Lelouch asks Suzaku who told
him about Geass, correctly deducing that they have taken Nunnally. However, Suzaku,
having reached the pinnacle of his insanity, says that Lelouch has no purpose in
the world, his very existence is a mistake, that Lelouch should be wiped off the
Earth, and hits Lelouch's limit by saying that he doesn't even deserve Nunnally.
Lelouch, enraged, takes out his own gun, and as the former friends scream each
other's names, a gunshot is heard, the screen goes to black, and Nunnally's body
jumps in the air. The series ends on this cliffhanger, but a Season 2 preview is
shown with quotes from the next episode and a new character.