When Shen Hu Wins Glory (episode)

When Shen Hu Wins Glory is the tenth episode of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2.

Summary
Lelouch successfully escapes with Empress Tianzi and the Black Knights attempt to unite with their Indian allies. Desperate to recover the Empress, the Eunuchs agree to forgive Li Xingke if he rescues her. To that end, he is granted use of the powerful Shen Hu. Kallen intercepts him with the Guren Flight-Enabled Version, but its power runs out and she is captured. Lelouch swears to rescue her, despite Diethard Reid's suggestion to retreat. Xingke demonstrates his skill as a strategist, forcing the Black Knights to retreat to a mountainside monument constructed as the tomb for the former rulers of China, hoping the Federation will hesitate to attack it. The Eunuchs turn on Xingke and his troops, having enlisted the aid of Britannian forces. Meanwhile, another Lelouch is present at the Ashford Academy.

Plot
As the guests continue to flee the wedding, Zhou Xianglin learns that Zero has also appeared; she tries to contact backup, but they have all been bound and gagged. Xingke then begins pleading for Zero to release Tianzi, but Zero simply says that not even he can take Tianzi alone, and Tohdoh, inside the Zangetsu, jumps in to the church in between them (with Milly, Lloyd, and Nina still being inside), although Tohdoh finds it amusing that the Knightmare's first mission is to steal away a bride. He goes to kill Schneizel, but Suzaku begins to fly in in the Lancelot. The Zangetsu then sprouts its own wing system and begins to clash with Suzaku, to his shock. With Tohdoh distracted, Gino then gets Schneizel to flee with Odysseus and Anya, to Zero's fury, while the High Eunuchs also flee out of cowardice. Chiba then flies in with a crate containing the Guren Mk-II, and Kallen and Kaguya head towards it while Chiba shoots at Xingke and Zero heads inside it with Xingke. As Tohdoh and Suzaku clash above, the latter tries to kill the former with a gun blast, but Tohdoh reveals a Hadron system similar to the Guren's that destroys the blast. Suzaku tries to then take out another gun, but Tohdoh distracts him by showing Kallen and Chiba fleeing the church hall. He then proceeds to damage Suzaku's float system, making him unable to pursue Zero, so Zero has Tohdoh come back to them, while Kaguya tries reassuring Tianzi by saying that they will soon be outside the city. Xingke tries to follow them, but the High Eunuchs arrest him and his men and take over Zhou's control room.

Chiba then places the crate containing Tianzi, Kaguya, and Zero onto a truck driven by C.C. and navigated by Tamaki and Sugiyama. As Sugiyama contacts Tohdoh, Tamaki's wrong directions force C.C. to swerve, causing Tianzi to fall into Kaguya's arms; upon realizing they are outside the city, Tianzi realizes that Kaguya, like Xingke, also remembered her dream. Kallen and Tohdoh take on a swarm of helicopters, while C.C. starts heading in a direction without Tamaki's help, forcing her to confess something to him. Zero, meanwhile, places Tianzi and Kaguya at a table, then begins talking to Tianzi about the United States of Japan being only one nation of many they plan to make to oppose Britannia. With the support of the Chinese Federation, as well as the European Union and various other smaller nations, they plan to make a giant coalition against Britannia. Tianzi says that that is already pretty much done with the Chinese's current system, but Zero says that, because of the High Eunuchs, the system has become corrupt, and that they plan to punish the High Eunuchs for trying to exploit her for Britannia's empty promises. As this is too much for Tianzi to handle, and he can't adjust to her mindset, Zero decides to head over to Tamaki and C.C. and leave the rest to Kaguya, but instead Kaguya talks about whether or not Tianzi wants to marry Xingke, to her embarrassment. When Zero gets there, Tamaki asks if he can have a finance position again, and while Zero rides it off, C.C. gives him the position of "Grand Minister of Partying".

The truck ends up coming at a cliff where the bridge they intended to cross has been destroyed. The High Eunuchs' forces then begin to close in on the rear, but Zero had planned this, and Akatsuki troops led by Asahina appear from the cliff and surround the forces. With the High Eunuchs refusing to fire because of Tianzi, Asahina's troops begin taking them out one by one. Xingke, who has been lock up in an underground cell with everyone else, has pretty much guessed this, and tells the High Eunuchs this and of his own plan out of frustration. However, the High Eunuchs are impressed, and request that he be relieved of his crimes if he can bring Tianzi back with a new weapon. With the Britannians unable to pursue without the Chinese Federation's consent, the Black Knights come to the conclusion that they have won. As Zero and C.C. head up onto the bridge via elevator, with Kallen giving them a jealous look, C.C. asks Zero how he knew Xingke was planning a coup de'tat; Zero replies he saw his men planting traps around the exact same places where they were setting their own, and used Geass on them to make them submit. They arrive on the bridge and talk with Diethard and Ohgi about reinforcements when an explosion occurs and destroys eight of their Akatsuki. The troops halt their advance, and discover a blue Knightmare is in their way, using the same float system they use. As Kallen hastily runs over to get the Guren, the Knightmare is revealed to be the Shen Hu, specifically built by the Chinese Federation under mysterious circumstances, and the pilot is Xingke. Asahina, despite Chiba's warning, sends three of his troops to surround it, while Xingke reveals the Shen Hu's yellow ropes, which can grapple things more ambidextrously and even be twirled around in a circle.

With this he proceeds to defeat Chiba and demands that Zero let Tianzi, who is in a fashionable room and continues to be comforted by Kaguya, go in exchange for their lives. Instead Kallen comes out from the Guren without it being recharged, and fights Xingke with only limited power. As Kallen gets the upper hand, Xingke takes out a giant Hadron system located in the chest that is equal to Kallen's own system. This causes Rakshata to realize that the Shen Hu is a Knightmare they once developed but eventually cancelled because it was too hard to handle; it must have then been sold out by disloyal Indian troops. Xingke then catches Kallen with one of the ropes, and Kallen tries to use it to fry Xingke with the Hadron. However, just then, it runs out of power. Xingke proceeds to tie the Guren up to where Kallen can't eject. As Asahina and Chiba prepare to cut the ropes, Xingke threatens Kallen with a sword and again makes his demands, but coughs up blood. Just then, a giant swarm of Chinese Federation forces called in by Zhou head towards them from the rear, giving Xingke the opportunity to escape with Kallen. Overwhelmed with grief, Zero contacts Kallen through her radio and tells her that he will come and save her no matter what, and to not give up; Kallen confirms it happily before her radio cuts off. With this, Ohgi and Minami order that the Ikaruga must be turned around, but Diethard advises against it, as if they go back just to save Kallen they could put the whole operation in jeopardy. He leaves the decision up to Zero and tells him not to put his personal feelings in his decision making. Regardless, Kallen sits in her cockpit and says that she is waiting for Lelouch.

Back in the city that evening, Milly is sitting alone on a couch when Anya takes a photo of her. Suzaku joins them, and at Milly's request Anya shows him some of her diary photos, specifically from an album covering the School Festival. After a series of embarrassing photos, such as Milly pulling a boob prank on Shirley in the girls' locker room, Rolo and another boy in the restroom, Villetta forced to pose in her swimsuit, Kallen glaring at Rivalz in her plushie, and Arthur biting Suzaku, he comes across one of Lelouch and C.C., the latter with the grocery bag over her head, but Suzaku doesn't recognize her because of the bag, instead assuming she's his girlfriend. Suzaku and Milly then make plans about contacting Ashford Academy that they are okay, but Anya then comes across a photo of Lelouch during his royal childhood without either of the other two knowing. Zero, meanwhile, takes until the evening to make his decision, eventually ordering everyone to go rescue Kallen and defeat Xingke, reasoning that they can't lose the alliance. Everyone turns their forces around towards Xingke's, and Xingke and Zero begin making plans to fight. Both of them come to the conclusion of the Shen Hu charging in first with Xingke's first force. Xingke clashes with Tohdoh in the middle of the battlefield above, stalling both from advancing any further, while the Akatsuki fight a force of Gun-Ru. The Gun-Ru quickly break through the first wave of the more nimble Akatsuki, but this is part of Zero's plan, as he then has Asahina and Chiba lead three more forces around the one Gun-Ru force, quickly surrounding it and dwindling its numbers. As Tohdoh and Xingke continue to clash, it is shown that Zero's plan is the drain the Shen Hu of its power and then pick off all the remaining forces. As Zhou later mentions, however, this is all part of Xingke's own plan, and a lake suddenly flows down to swamp the Akatsuki. Zero had planned for this, and subsequently lowered the water level to avoid the Akatsuki getting submerged. However, the real purpose of the plan is that, with the water there, the ground becomes soggy and muddy beneath their feet as part of an irrigation system, causing them to get stuck there and repeatedly shot at by the Gun-Ru; this horrifies Zero. Tohdoh manages to break free from it and attack Xingke again, but Xingke sends his main troops towards the Ikaruga.

Realizing he has lost, Zero orders Diethard to signal a retreat. Unable to go back to the United States of Japan without getting pinned, Zero makes arrangements with Ohgi for another hideout. As he does, he realizes that Xingke is more or less the perfected version of Suzaku, and decides that he has earned his victory, but Xingke is shown coughing up blood again, and according to Zhou, he appears to have a terminal illness. As the Gun-Ru approach the Ikaruga, Zero orders two large Hadron cannons on the Ikaruga to fire upon them, destroying both of the advancing flanks with one blow. With this, Zero instructs Tohdoh to rescue the trapped troops and meet up with them at a rendezvous point while the Ikaruga distracts Xingke. At the same time, Shirley flips through the TV news channels to make sure Milly is all right (even finding one on Cheese-kun), but can't find anything.

Zero has the Ikaruga hide in the Mausoleum of Eighty-Eight Emperors, where many rulers are buried, in the hopes that the Chinese Federation will not want to destroy it; Tohdoh is already there, along with the recovered troops. Additionally, there is only one entrance, allowing them to easily fire their Hadron cannons at Xingke's forces, who are camped outside. They consider doing negotiations since they have no reinforcements, but doubt the High Eunuchs will take that route. Just then a series of cannon blasts fire at Xingke's own forces, and it is revealed that the High Eunuchs plan to swarm Xingke and Zero on all sides to wipe him out for their "treachery". they also reveal to Zhou after recapturing her that they never intended to rescue Tianzi, but instead wanted to further their status in Britannia, whom they have sought permission for help. This enrages Xingke, who fears that, since Schneizel founded Euro Britannia, it is very clear that he will conquer the Chinese Federation not by negotiation and outright inhuman marriage but by slaughter. Realizing what Britannia wishes, Zero commands Diethard to get a little trick ready to get out of their dire situation. Back at Ashford, the Student Council gets news on Xingke's coup, but just then a fake Lelouch gets in contact with Milly on the phone.

Battles

 * Skirmish at Zhengzhou (Concluded)
 * Battle at Xiaopei (Concluded)
 * Battle at the 'Mausoleum of Eighty-Eight Emperors' (Started)

Powers or Abilities used

 * N/A

Quotes

 * Conversation between Tamaki, Zero, and C.C.
 * "Say Zero, have you come up with some kind of position for me yet? I'm wide open man. Maybe you could post me as finance minister or head of banking?" -Tamaki
 * "How about grand minister of partying?" -C.C.
 * "I told you to quit making fun of me like that!" -Tamaki


 * "You don't take on an enemy like the Chinese federation over a single life no matter who it is. We must preserve our military strength and hold out until we rendezvous with the Indian forces." -Diethard


 * "It is the very land of our nation that is giving us this victory." -Li Xingke
 * "You've earned your victory, Xingke. I should have killed you first. You're as good a tactician as I am, and as strong a warrior as Suzaku. One could say that the heavens blessed you twice." -Lelouch


 * "I have to strive for victory. Even in this hopeless situation." -Lelouch


 * "They've done it. They've really done it. Now, even if I use my Geass on the empress and make her my servant it will be pointless. The high Eunuchs are in complete control and they are poised to eliminate Xingke next. In the end we have been cornered with no way out. Even with Tohdoh and the others here, Suzaku is bound to join the battle eventually. There's almost no chance for victory. No, we're not finished yet. I'll turn this tactical battle upside down. It's not going to end here. I won't let it." -Lelouch (Preview for the next episode)