Attack Cornelia (episode)

Attack Cornelia is the seventh episode of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

Summary
Cornelia sets a trap for Zero at the Saitama Ghetto by simulating the conditions in Shinjuku Ghetto. Despite C.C.'s warnings, Lelouch takes the bait and goes to the aid of the Saitama resistance. His plan falls apart from a combination of Cornelia's superior tactics and the resistance cell's dissimilar motivations. Lelouch is cornered and nearly discovered, but C.C. dons his Zero costume and distracts the Britannian Army, allowing him to escape. Lelouch blames his defeat on the undisciplined rebels and resolves to build something better than a mere resistance unit, first an army, then "people," and finally a nation.

Plot
A flashback from eight years ago shows a young Lelouch vi Britannia entering the Britannian throne room where his father waits to have an audience with him. As Lelouch proceeds towards the emperor, the hushed voices of the Nobles can be heard discussing the recent death of Marianne vi Britannia. Lelouch finally confronts Charles and tries to bring up his mother’s death. Charles does not care at all about her demise and furiously informs Lelouch that he has no value and, along with Nunnally, will be sent off to Japan as bargaining chips.

Back in the present, Lloyd Asplund shows off the Lancelot to Cornelia and she promotes Suzaku Kururugi to warrant officer due to his recent success. Meanwhile, Suzaku is doing his homework while Cecile Croomy watches. She tells him that she was a little worried about him attending high school with so many Britannians. Suzaku agrees that he could have faced some real discrimination but thanks to Lelouch that never really happened. She gives him a jam filled rice ball and then Lloyd comes in and tells everyone that they are done for the day.

Over at Ashford Academy Shirley Fenette and Kallen Kōzuki are setting up Arthur's cat house in the club room. Shirley starts asking some probing questions and eventually asks if Kallen is going out with Lelouch. Kallen tries to deny it but Shirley just refuses to believe it and blows everything out of proportion. While those two are talking about love, Milly Ashford is in the principal’s office on a call with her mother. It is at this time that she finds out that she has been put into an arranged marriage in order to regain some of her family’s former prestige.

Outside the walls of the school, Britannian forces have surrounded the Saitama Ghetto. Cornelia has organized this attack in order to create similar conditions to those of the Skirmish in Shinjuku Ghetto in hopes of drawing out Zero. They even broadcast their time of attack on the news.

Lelouch knows that it is a trap but decides to go to Saitama anyway. C.C. does not like this idea as she wants him to stay alive. She even goes as far as to draw a gun on him. She tells him that she does not plan on killing him but will instead shoot him in the leg to slow him down. In response, Lelouch draws his own pistol and aims it at his head proclaiming that without purpose he is already dead. This convinces C.C. and she lets him go.

At the same time, the Saitama Ghetto Ambush begins and the Brittanians start gunning down civilians. As the battle commences, Jeremiah Gottwald and his squad are not permitted to engage as the recent Orange Incident has put his loyalties into question.

Lelouch assumes an identity as a soldier and manages to commandeer an enemy Knightmare. At the same time he gets in contact with the Yamato Alliance, and rallies them to his cause. As the Britannians continue their sweep of the area, the terrorists are put in place to intercept and destroy them. The battle starts going well for Lelouch but before it gets out of hand Cornelia draws everyone back and ends the battle. Lelouch decides to fall in with the retreating units in order to get close to Cornelia. Both commanders are very confident of their chances for victory.

Back at Ashford, Suzaku and Shirley start talking about Lelouch and how she slowly fell in love with him. Suzaku tries to help by calling Lelouch with the intent to ask him how he feels about Shirley. She does not like this idea and forces him to hang up before he can talk to Lelouch. They tussle about and Suzaku ends up landing on top of Shirley.

Lelouch falls back successfully and is waiting in a Sutherland outside Cornelia's base of operations. Lelouch tries to make distractions and diversions using IFF Transponders to get the Knightmares away from the G-1 Base but each one fails until the terrorists are all wiped out. After securing her victory, Cornelia orders every Knightmare to open up and reveal who is inside. Lelouch starts to panic as they will obviously be able to catch him. Fortunately C.C. shows up dressed as Zero and everyone’s attention gets distracted onto her. Lelouch then uses this chance to escape.

He meets up with her later and complains that the conditions were not equal enough for him to win. After being reprimanded Lelouch vows to raise up a nation that won’t lose to Britannia.

Battles

 * Saitama Ghetto Ambush (Concluded)

Powers or Abilities used

 * Lelouch's Geass

Quotes

 * Conversation between Lelouch and Charles
 * Lelouch vi Britannia: "Hail, Your Majesty. My mother, the Empress, is dead."
 * Charles zi Britannia: "Old news. What of it?"
 * Lelouch vi Britannia: "What of it?!"
 * Charles zi Britannia: "You sought an audience with the Emperor of Britannia simply to inform me of that?" [Whispers to guard] "Send the next one in, I've no time for these childish games."
 * Lelouch vi Britannia: [Approaches Charles] "Father! Why didn't you keep mother out of harm's way? You're the Emperor! The greatest man in this nation if not the world; you should've protected her and now you don't even visit Nunnally!"
 * Charles zi Britannia: "I've no use for that weakling."
 * Lelouch vi Britannia: "'That weakling?'"
 * Charles zi Britannia: "That is what it means to be royalty."
 * Lelouch vi Britannia: "Then I don't want to be your heir; I give up my claim to the throne!"
 * [Crowd gasps]
 * Lelouch vi Britannia: "I'm sick of the fighting and scheming over who will succeed you, father! I've had enough!"
 * Charles zi Britannia: "You are dead. You've always been dead to me; dead from the moment you were born. Who gave you the fine clothes you wear and comfortable home, the food you eat and your very life? All of those, I have given to you. In short, you are nothing to me because you have never existed! Yet you dare speak this foolishness to me?!" [He towers over the child Lelouch.]
 * [Lelouch gasps and falls]
 * Charles zi Britannia: "Lelouch... You are dead, therefore you are not entitled to any rights. I am sending you and Nunnally to Japan. As prince and princess you will serve well as bargaining tools."
 * Conversation between Lelouch and C.C.
 * C.C.: [Points gun at Lelouch] "You can't go, Lelouch. You need to fulfill your part of our bargain so I won't have you dying before that."
 * Lelouch Lamperouge: "Notice that what you're saying and what you're doing are contradictory."
 * C.C.: Oh, I won't kill you; I'm merely going to shoot you in the leg to quiet you down.
 * Lelouch Lamperouge: "Now I get it; you're unable to use Geass yourself, aren't you? I'm not surprised, I suspected as much. You obviously wouldn't have asked me to do it if you could've done it yourself. [Pulls out a gun and points it at C.C.]
 * C.C.: "You honestly think you can threaten me with a gun?"
 * Lelouch Lamperouge: "Yes I do." [Points gun at his head] "Until I met you, I was dead. An impotent corpse existing behind a false guise of life. A life in which I did nothing real. Day to day, I merely went through the motions of living as if I were a zombie. And I always had the feeling that I was gradually dying. If I'm condemned to go back to that, then I'd rather..."
 * C.C.: "Stop it! I see now; it's life without meaning, and a life like that..."
 * "Honestly, I didn't like Lulu at the beginning when I first met him. He gave the impression that he was flippant, and the only thing he worked hard at was avoiding hard work. But back when we were both freshmen, I happened to see him come upon a traffic accident. A driver rear-ended another car and was clearly at fault, but he tried to blame it on the elderly owners of the other car. Nobody tried to help them. And then... Lulu didn't do it so he could boast to his buddies or laugh about it later. He did it with the same bored expression he always wears. That's when I wondered, 'what's up with this guy? What goes on in his mind? What does he want to do?' I really wanted to know, and in the process of finding out..." - Shirley Fenette
 * "Beaten us easily... But that's not how this game is supposed to go! This... This is what real organization can do..." - Lelouch Lamperouge
 * Conversation between Lelouch and C.C.
 * Lelouch Lamperouge: "Why did you rescue me?"
 * C.C.: (Dressed as Zero): "I told you already," [Removes mask] "I can't have you dying."
 * Lelouch Lamperouge: "I wouldn't have lost if the conditions were equal!"
 * C.C.: "You sore loser. If you're really that good, you should be able to set up conditions the way you want."
 * *Lelouch Lamperouge: "That's what I'll do then, I'll set them up. I'll raise an army that can't lose to Britannia. A people; a nation!"


 * "Where and how can I find troops? Who will serve in my army? If only I could ask Suzaku to join me... No, that ship has sailed; he's a Britannian soldier now. Even if he doesn't enter into the fray, he's still my enemy. Well then, I'll just have to choose." - Lelouch Lamperouge (Preview for the next episode)