Power of Passion (episode)

Power of Passion is the eleventh episode of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2.

Summary
Back at Ashford Academy, Sayoko Shinozaki poses as Lelouch.

Realizing the Eunuchs are not interested in saving Tianzi, Li Xingke rebels. As the Black Knights hold their ground against the Chinese Federation and Britannian forces, Zero tries to reason with the Eunuchs, who openly admit their treachery. When Xingke tries to shield Tianzi from the fighting, Zero personally enters into the field with his new Shinkirō.

Diethard hacks into the Chinese media network and replays the Eunuchs' deceit, igniting riots across the Chinese Federation. Faced with open rebellion, Schneizel orders a Britannian retreat, and Xingke eliminates the Eunuchs and rescues his comrades. However, Kallen and the Guren have been handed over to Britannia. With the Eunuchs dead, Zero forges an alliance with Xingke and Tianzi.

He returns to Ashford Academy, but is surprised to find Anya and Gino enrolled as students.

Plot
At Ashford Academy, the fake Lelouch continues to talk with Milly on the phone, with the latter joking that she can't get any souvenirs, to Rivalz's dismay. The fake Lelouch then gives Shirley a handkerchief and asks her to announce to the distressed student body that Milly is all right. As Shirley does so, Rolo takes the fake Lelouch outside for a talk, where they head for a secret elevator hidden in the library. Rolo tells the fake Lelouch that he is acting too polite compared to the real one and needs to act better, although the fake Lelouch says that that is only to maintain the real Lelouch's relationships per his orders. It is then revealed that the fake Lelouch is Sayoko disguised with a voice scrambler and face mask, who is posing as Lelouch while he is staying in the Chinese Federation. Rolo and Sayoko come down into the OSI room, where Villetta properly informs them of the danger that Zero is in, including Schneizel's invasion with the Knights of the Round. At that same time, Tamaki screams over the fact that reinforcements can't come, and while Ohgi reassures him that they won't be killed or risk destroying the Mausoleum of Eighty-Eight Emperors, they suddenly feel the ground shaking. This causes Zero to realize that the High Eunuchs plan to destroy the mausoleum, taking Tianzi along with it. Meanwhile, Xingke is distressed by the former (not considering the latter), and shouts over the intercom to cease fire. However, the High Eunuchs joke that they intend to bury Tianzi along with her ancestors and replace her with a puppet empress. Enraged, Xingke tries to charge them with the Shen Hu, but he clashes with Gino. Xingke tells Gino to stand aside, but Gino says they are only being representatives. He then congratulates Xingke for capturing the Guren Mk-II, and it is revealed that the High Eunuchs stole Kallen from Xingke, broke her out of the Guren, and tied her to a table to be tortured by Suzaku.

Tohdoh, Chiba, and Asahina leave the Ikaruga to fight the Britannian forces, while C.C. prepares to bring out the Akatsuki troops, but not before Zero asks her to not become like Kallen. Tohdoh destroys a large fleet of helicopters, and Suzaku offers to kill him while Gino fights Tohdoh. Anya then approaches Xingke's forces, and unhesitatingly blows all of them up. Xingke tries to stab her, but is again distracted by Gino. Nina then suggests that the Avalon could easily fire a single shot at the mausoleum, but Kanon says that the final blow is supposed to be used by the High Eunuchs.

In desperation, Zero makes a video call with the High Eunuchs, while Xianglin looks on. Zero offers to surrender, but they refuse and say they will continue to try and kill everyone. They elaborate by saying that they plan on replacing Tianzi with themselves, so Zero can't use her as a bargaining chip. Zero calls their hypocrisy, saying they were doing that exact thing to give Schneizel the entire Chinese Federation just so they could become Britannian nobles, not giving two flips about the country or its people, a thought that enrages Zero since they are already noblemen. As the battle continues, several rocks fall onto the Ikaruga, but are deflected by its shields. With the impact rocking the ship, Tianzi breaks free of Kaguya's grasp and runs out onto the deck. After coming to a certain spot, Tianzi pleads for everyone to stop. Xingke notices her, and rushes to help her, only to get scratched by Gino. The High Eunuchs give the order to fire on Tianzi, but Xingke gets to her in time and uses the Shen Hu's rotors to shield both of them. Xingke then tells Tianzi to flee so she can explore the world, but she refuses to leave him. Coughing up blood again, Xingke desperately pleads for help just as Schneizel sends a barrage of firepower onto them. But just then, Zero takes off his mask and say he will grant that wish, and he gets into the Shinkiro before deflecting all of the firepower with Shinkiro's state-of-the-art defense systems. He gives the High Eunuchs and the Britannians a chance to flee, but the High Eunuchs continue bombarding him, to no avail. When it stops, Zero proceeds to shoot a single round and then a laser beam at it, with fires a stream of lasers that decimate the Chinese Federation's troops and nearly take Anya with them. Gino asks for orders, but Schneizel is confused as to why they waited so long to deploy the Shinkiro.

Zero then chastises Xingke for not being able to stay loyal to his people while simultaneously protecting Tianzi, then offers for them to be allies. Xingke refuses to be subordinate, but Zero says that he instead plans for him to be the new leader of all of the Chinese Federation's forces, as the whole country needs his strategy. Just then, the High Eunuchs get an alarm showing that mass riots are breaking out all over the country against the government. The Britannians trace the source, and discover that Zero broadcasted his video call with the High Eunuchs to the entire populace. With their complete disregard for anyone else exposed, all hatred is directed towards the High Eunuchs, and this will cause all of the civilians to attack their forces head-on.

Taking the offensive, Chiba and C.C. charge at Anya, who deflects their attack with her shield but can't push them away. However, as the two continue pressing on her, C.C. suddenly lapses into a Geass illusion, taking Anya with her. Though they keep their Knightmares in place, they suddenly begin sharing migraine memories about Lelouch's childhood, and C.C. acknowledges that someone she knows did this. With Anya distracted, Asahina comes from behind and slashes Anya, breaking her float system and causing her to crash. As Gino moves to cover Anya, Zero deploys his ground forces. With the High Eunuchs' betrayal, and though he could easily bombard the Black Knights' ground forces, Schneizel decides to withdraw, not seeing the Chinese as fit allies. The Britannians flee, leaving the High Eunuchs defenseless. Finding their outpost, Xingke comes out of the Shen Hu and, ignoring their pleas for mercy, decapitates all of them. After doing so, Zero asks where Kallen is, but Zhou tells him what happened, causing Zero to muse that Suzaku is again taking away the single person most precious to him, but that his tactic of destroying Zero's sanity will not work because he swore to rescue her.

The next day, at the Ikaruga, Xingke and Tianzi reaffirm their promise, which makes Tianzi cry tears of joy. Diethard then tells Zero that, as a reinforcement of Tianzi's alliance, they should arrange marriage for her to any of the Japanese. Although Zero almost agrees with him, every single other person comically ridicules the decision. Tamaki then appears asking to talk with Zero, and to avoid the matter, Zero leaves with him. There, Tamaki brings up the subject of his promotion again. Irritated, Zero locks the door on Tamaki and gets a call from Shirley. As Zero answers it, Shirley asks him what to do for Milly's graduation without Rivalz spilling the beans, and Zero tells her to just let Milly decide herself. Zero then asks Shirley advice on how to break a couple up, citing "family politics", and Shirley quickly tells him that if they don't want to then they shouldn't because of love's power. She then begins rambling about what people in love do to each other, in the process almost revealing her own feelings for him. Trying to change the subject, Shirley asks if Lelouch has ever been in love. Misinterpreting this, Zero immediately thinks of Nunnally, then hangs up on Shirley after briefly thanking her (to her chagrin) and proceeds to leave the decision to Tianzi. He then claims that all of their power lies within their hearts, and though Diethard continues to disagree, Xingke agrees with his statement and shakes hands with him.

Back with V.V. and Jeremiah, who are revealed to be at a Thought Elevator, they call in Bartley Asprius and explain that his research with Schneizel has gone into perfecting Jeremiah without him knowing. Meanwhile, Shirley is walking through the library questioning Lelouch's behavior when she sees the disguised Sayoko there. As Shirley needs to get past "him" to put away gardening books, Sayoko panics, since she just came from the OSI and the secret door hasn't closed yet. Desperate, she promptly kisses Shirley full-on, to Shirley's dismay.

Zero, meanwhile, goes with C.C. into his own private room, planning to go back to Area 11 to try and find Kallen. Until then, he will leave all of the operations to Xingke, Tohdoh, and C.C. so they may crush any dissenters. Simultaneously, he plans to take over the Geass Order, hoping that if he disposes of V.V., he can surpass Charles' Geass. C.C. argues that would be near-impossible to even locate them, as they switch locales every time they switch leaders, and not even Rolo can remember where it was. However, Zero is betting on the fact that, since V.V. became their leader, they are in the Chinese Federation. That is why he wanted it as an ally: so he can get access to the country's trade and figure it out. He then prepares to leave, telling C.C. to notify him if any news comes up.

In a large building, Rolo and Sayoko stare at a tank that leads directly into the seafloor. Just then, the Shinkiro comes up, revealing it to be a way for Lelouch to escape. As Sayoko bids them goodbye (and doesn't mention anything special), Lelouch tells Rolo that he plans to stay in Japan for a while so that he can develop counters to the Knights of the Round, not wanting Gino and Anya interfering with them again when they already have to deal with Suzaku; Rolo offers to help with the Vincent, but Lelouch politely declines. They get back to the Student Council building, where they find Shirley looking depressed. Lelouch asks what is wrong, and Shirley tries to discuss it, but they hear someone taking a picture. Lelouch turns, and is horrified to see Anya standing there wearing a middle school Ashford uniform and greeting him. Gino then appears from the doorway wearing a high school Ashford uniform and happily introduces himself. Gino then explains that the two of them just enrolled in order to enjoy "commoner" life with tutoring from Rivalz, and while there they have to avoid acting formal. Gino then tries to one-arm hug Lelouch like he does with Suzaku, but a horrified Lelouch flinches, and the awkward moment is picture-taken by Anya.

Battles

 * Battle at the 'Mausoleum of Eighty-Eight Emperors' (Concluded)

Powers or Abilities used

 * N/A

Quotes

 * "The Chinese Federation intends to obliterate the Mausoleum of Eighty-Eight Emperors and us along with it. As for the empress, they want her to die." -Zero
 * Xing-ke (in regards to the Empress) and Zero:
 * "I can't save you after all; I can't protect you. For six years, everything I've done has been to fulfill my promise to you... Someone do it! I don't care who, but please - someone save her!" - Li Xingke
 * "Very well...I understand. Wish: granted." - Zero


 * Conversation between Zero and the Eunuchs:
 * "The empress is merely a system. There are plenty of others to replace her. So you can't use her as a bargaining chip." -Eunuchs
 * "But you used her to gain noble titles in the Britannian court." - Zero
 * "You have sharp ears don't you? A cheap price to pay for power." - Eunuchs
 * "Cheap? A phony treaty that gives china's land to a foreign nation." - Zero
 * "Land is nothing but dirt after all. Correct, we're Brittannian noblemen now. that's what counts." - Eunuchs
 * "And what about the common people you've sworn to protect?" - Zero
 * "Zero, when you walk down the street do you worry about stepping on the ants? You throw away paper that clings to your bottom don't you? It's the same thing." - Eunuchs


 * "I ask this of the Chinese Federation and the Brittanians: If you want to keep fighting are you prepared for the consequences?" - Zero
 * "You've finally made it outside the city, but you haven't seen any of the world yet; I will defend you here!" - Li Xingke


 * "Zero? He's come to the front line himself?" - Suzaku


 * Conversation between Lloyd and Cecile upon seeing the Shinkirō:
 * "Lloyd, do you know what that is?" - Cecile
 * "Yes. We may have lost this one." - Lloyd
 * Conversation between Lelouch and C.C. about the Geass Order:
 * "But you're certain they're based in the Chinese Federation. Somewhere within reach?" - Lelouch
 * "Yes, according to V.V. - the one who replaced me as their leader. But this is a vast country; even that guy, Rolo, doesn't know where their base is, right? So how are you going to find it?" - C.C.
 * "That's why I took over the Chinese Federation. The flow of goods, power supplies, communications - the Order must leave traces of its existence." - Lelouch
 * "So you're using the power of a whole nation to find them?" - C.C.
 * "As you said: it's a vast country." - Lelouch