Geass Hunt (episode)

Geass Hunt is the fourteenth episode of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2.

Summary
Rolo admits to causing Shirley's death; rather than blame Rolo specifically, Lelouch blames the existence of Geass itself. In retaliation, he mounts an assault on the Geass Order, slaughtering every man, woman, and child within the stronghold. V.V. pilots the Siegfried in an effort to stop the Black Knights, but is defeated by Lelouch and Cornelia. He escapes to the Thought Elevator, where Charles awaits, and when Lelouch follows he is transported to the Sword of Akasha. Meanwhile, Kallen and Nunnally discuss Lelouch, until Suzaku interrupts. After being told that Shirley's death was ruled a suicide, he decides to interrogate Kallen using Refrain, in order to confirm his suspicions that Lelouch has become Zero again.

Plot
The year was 1997. A young Marianne was sitting by a lake and playing with a butterfly, with C.C. standing behind her. Charles and V.V. are shown looking at them from a distance. V.V. asks Charles if he has learned anything ever since he became emperor. Charles quickly gives his usual rant about humans, but V.V. says that may just be human nature. They then talk about the terms of their Geass contract: to destroy the Gods and create a world without lies.

Back in the present, Lelouch continues to kneel over Shirley's corpse in mourning. Rolo appears behind him and confesses to having killed her, but also says that he did it because, since Shirley had regained her memories, her trauma had provoked her to take the gun so she could shoot and kill Lelouch, and he killed her in order to stop her from doing so. After a moment of pause, Lelouch turns around and falsely says that Rolo handled the situation well because that would have exposed his identity. Lelouch then tells Rolo that their next move should be to destroy the Geass Order, and that the Black Knights can easily cleanse the source of Geass permanently. Rolo protests, not wanting the other Geass users there to get killed, but Lelouch says they will never get what they want if they avoid doing so, as V.V. has likely targeted Rolo. He then asks if Rolo is afraid of V.V., and Rolo partially confirms it, since V.V. was the one who made a Geass contract with him. At the same time, at the Geass Order, V.V. has Cornelia locked in a prison cell. She asks if he will either kill her or control her with "his Geass" like he did to Euphemia. However, with Euphemia's name mentioned, V.V. instead commends Cornelia for going so far to redeem her sister, and wonders if all sibling relationships are like that.

After a series of brief Geass images, doctors recover Shirley's body and present it to a horrified Suzaku. Her death is ruled a suicide, as her wound and resulting organ failure were caused by the gun she was holding, likely again due to her trauma; however, Suzaku refuses to believe that it was as such. Sometime later, Shirley's funeral is held, with her mother now crying alone. Along with many of the other Ashford Academy students, Gino, Suzaku, Anya, Milly, Rivalz, and Villetta also attend. Milly asks Rivalz if he has seen Lelouch, and he denies it. At In Vogue, Nina and Kanon are informed of what happened in a text, where Nina ends up crying for Shirley to her own surprise, and Kanon ends up comforting her. Back at the Ikaruga, C.C. complains on how Lelouch has seemingly forgotten their contract to Marianne because of how he hasn't talked to her in so long. Just then, Lelouch calls her via video phone from Ashford. He states that, with information given by Jeremiah, he knows where the Geass Order is and plans to destroy it. C.C. questions this, thinking that he was going to fight Charles with the Geass users there, but when Lelouch rebukes the statement, she asks what happened. After he tells her, he says that he blames Geass in of itself, and having finally come to the realization that Geass is evil no matter what way you look at it, he now desires to destroy all traces of Geass other than the two of them, including Rolo and V.V. (the latter by sealing him in a crate like the one Clovis used), in an attempt to atone for all of the misery he and others caused with their Geass. C.C. asks why she is not in that figure, and Lelouch says that he needs her and wants to see if she is truly loyal to him, to which she replies that she no longer has any feelings for the Order. C.C. accepts the terms, so Lelouch, as a closing remark, asks again what he has to do per their contract. C.C. refuses.

At the Geass Order, V.V. discusses with four others on the matter of Cornelia and Bartley, and if Charles knew about Cornelia's actions yet withheld them from him. Just then, a transmission comes in from Jeremiah, but when they answer it, they find Lelouch there, and he quickly deduces V.V. While simultaneously tracking the Geass Order's tunnels, Lelouch asks V.V. if he was the one kidnapped Nunnally, as well as the one who brought him, Suzaku, Kallen, and Euphemia to Kamine Island so that he can take control of them and use them to cause the Special Zone Massacre. V.V. confirms this, and is revealed to have known of Lelouch's brainwashing, seeing the questions he asks. He then asks to hand C.C. over, but Lelouch refuses, instead declaring war on him for being a faction of Britannia. V.V. mocks this, since they will have moved to another location long before he can get there. However, a stream of Black Knights Knightmares, commanded by C.C., barge in from the roof. Lelouch then reveals he tricked them into thinking that he was in Area 11 when he was actually right outside the Order, and also reveals Jeremiah and Rolo's changed loyalties. Lelouch declares that Lelouch is trapped now, and he will bring judgment. The Knightmares then close in on the scientists, brutally shooting them up, so V.V. gives the four men orders to flee with their research while he confronts Lelouch personally.

Meanwhile, in Area 11, Nunnally has placed Kallen in a glass prison, but also outfitted her with a chair and a comfortable yellow dress out of sympathy for her old friend. Kallen expresses surprise about Nunnally's royal identity, and they both express apologies for hiding their identities. Nunnally then mentions how nostalgic it is talking about Ashford, and mentions that she is only ever allowed to talk to Suzaku out of her old friends for "security reasons", and that Lelouch has disappeared. Kallen, avoiding the fact that Lelouch is still there, asks what Lelouch was like, remembering Naoto, to try and discover who he really is. Before Nunnally can say anything other than that she is grateful to be able to talk to someone about him, Suzaku barges in, saying that he needs to speak to "Prisoner 107" alone.

As Zero, now in the Shinkiro, continues to invade, Kinoshita and the Black Knights realize that the base they are attacking is not a military outpost as Zero told them. However, Zero elaborates that the people there are creating soldiers to personally do the bidding of the Britannians and further enforce their will. He claims this is a crime against humanity, and says that as punishment they must wipe the whole place to the ground, before adding that if any test subjects or people that survive fatal blows are found, they must be sealed in casing, after which he will investigate them personally. Bartley, meanwhile, tries to find Cornelia, but he is gunned down by a soldier before C.C.'s eyes, leaving her horrified. As the two recognize each other, Bartley deduces that Charles must have been planning this the whole time, and dies.

Meanwhile, Diethard is making a video call with Tohdoh and Chiba, Asahina, Xingke, Hong Gu, and Xianglin, and he informs them of the mission, but reveals it is clandestine. Their further conversation reveals that they must act quickly to enact a charter among "United States", with Saudi Arabia subjugated by Britannia but with the European Union, including Italy and Poland, being secure. As Diethard hangs up, he talks with a recovered Sayoko about it being what Zero truly wants. Diethard instructs her to tail Ohgi, believing he has been hiding something ever since the meeting, and concluding that he might be collaborating with Britannia. At the same time, Villetta goes to an airport and makes a special OSI flight, her desire being to kill Ohgi once and for all.

At the fighting, a soldier discovers five children standing next to his Akatsuki. He opens the hatch to talk to them, but they are revealed to be Geass children. One uses his Geass to control the man's physical movements, and the man, though conscious of what is happening, begins to shoot another. Rolo, in the Vincent, comes in and talks to the children, who refer to him as their older brother. Despite this, Rolo activates his Geass, then proceeds to cut them down. Freed, the man asks Rolo if he is one of them, prompting Rolo to stab him to death. Unbeknownst to Rolo, however, Lelouch has planted a bomb in the Vincent, and once he corners V.V., he will blow up Rolo to avenge Shirley. Just then, however, as Lelouch approaches the middle of the Order, a giant orange ball smashes through, revealing the Knight Giga Fortress, more specifically the Siegfried that Jeremiah used against Zero and C.C. during the Black Rebellion. All three of them express shock at seeing it, and Jeremiah (who is back in his now-flight-enabled Sutherland) says that, because it relies on bio-energy, the only person who can use it other than himself is V.V., who in fact is the pilot. V.V. uses one of his spikes to shove Lelouch out of the Order, but it doesn't damage the Shinjuku due to its shields. Lelouch orders C.C. away to avoid her getting captured, and has Jeremiah, Rolo, and their troops surround V.V. They begin shooting at V.V., but declaring them traitors, he bursts into a fit of maniacal laughter and swipes the bullets away with his spikes. After this, Jeremiah chastises V.V. for using the Siegfried, which he had hoped would be a way for him to climb up the ranks and be of great use to Marianne (which is why he founded the Purebloods), and not because he wanted revenge for the Orange Incident. V.V. appears enraged at hearing Marianne's name, and begins targeting Jeremiah. At the same time, Cornelia escapes and makes her way to a fallen Akatsuki.

Zero, left desperate, gives Rolo orders to approach V.V., telling him to latch onto the Siegfried even though he can't get close to him using his Geass, with Zero intending to detonate the bomb on the Vincent. V.V. taunts Rolo as a traitor, but Rolo uses his speed to latch onto one of the spikes. At the same time, the four men escape into an underground train with the research, intending to rebuild the Order in the European Union. V.V. then continues to chastise Rolo, accusing him of being defective, and it is revealed that his Geass' Achilles' heel is that his heart stops momentarily every time he uses it, meaning he can only use it in brief intervals without causing major damage. V.V. uses this to this distraction to his advantage and cuts off the Vincent's legs. Despite this, Rolo manages to grab onto the Siegfried, but an electrical charge suddenly shocks him. Zero uses this distraction to try and detonate the bomb, but a series of cannon blasts suddenly fire at the Siegfried's only weak point, sending Rolo hurtling to the ground. V.V. looks down to see Cornelia with the Akatsuki, which has damaged the Siegfried's shields. Regaining his footing, Rolo apologizes to Zero for not doing it, but Zero forgives him, since he can use Cornelia's move to his advantage. Cornelia and Zero work together to bombard the Siegfried with attacks, eventually destroying the Siegfried. Cornelia is nearly crushed by the remains, but Jeremiah saves her.

Back in Area 11, Suzaku informs Kallen that Shirley has committed suicide. Shocked, Kallen says she could never do something like that. Suzaku reiterates this statement, but then accuses Lelouch of murdering her, despite all of the evidence proving that he is innocent. Kallen denies knowing who the new Zero is, but Suzaku refuses to believe her, and takes out a canister of Refrain, intending to inject it in her as a means of forceful interrogation. Down below the Geass Order, the four men are about to leave, but as a hatch opens, they discover C.C. there. She apologizes for having neglected them for so long, then fires a round at the train, blowing it up. Zero investigates the Siegfried, but discovers that V.V. has escaped, and sends the Black Knights to search the area. V.V., meanwhile, crawls back to his throne room, where a Thought Elevator is located. There the door opens to reveal Charles, and believing he has come to rescue him, V.V. reveals that he was the one who sent Jeremiah, that Lelouch is Zero, and that Lelouch kidnapped Nunnally. However, Charles quickly deduces that the last one is a lie, and says that he has lied before. While Kinoshita questions the humanity of the mission, Zero then detects V.V.'s life force and quickly heads there, but a stream of electricity identical to the one on Kamine Island suddenly engulfs the Shinkiro. Instead of a Geass illusion, however, Lelouch and the Shinkiro get separated and wind up inside the Thought Elevator. There, Charles greets Lelouch, and bellows that his Knightmare is insignificant compared to his weapon, the Sword of Akasha. He then declares that the time has come for their final redemption.

Battles

 * Assault on the Geass Order (Concluded)

Powers or Abilities used

 * Rolo's Geass
 * Unnamed Children's Geass

Quotes
Conversation between Rolo and Lelouch
 * "That was a close call big brother. Shirley regained her memory. She had a gun. She was coming after you." -Rolo
 * "I see. So you were the one who killed her?" -Lelouch
 * "Yes. I did it for you. I have to eliminate your enemies." -Rolo
 * "Rolo." -Lelouch
 * "What big brother?" -Rolo
 * "You handled it very well. If it weren't for you, everybody would've known about my secret." -Lelouch
 * "Exactly, and it isn't just your secret anymore brother." -Rolo
 * "True. So shall we destroy the Geass Order now? The Black Knights can wipe out the source of Geass once and for all." -Lelouch


 * Conversation between Lelouch and C.C.
 * "The power of Geass, which they unleashed, caused Shirley's death. She was killed by Geass." -Lelouch
 * "And so now you're going to wipe out the order as atonement. To make sure the same thing doesn't happen to anyone else." -C.C.
 * You said Geass was the power of the king. There can be only one king so I alone shall have it. I will erase Rolo. I'll erase Geass from all the others. Its power to make people sinful will be obliterated from this world. I owe that to Shirley, at the very least. -Lelouch


 * "The one who shall render judgment here is me." -Lelouch
 * "Use extreme prejudice! […] Britannia has been colluding with traitors inside of the Chinese Federation; this lab is developing immortal warriors whose purpose is to destroy us. I won’t let them violate the sanctity of life! The researchers and their data are to be wiped out. We don’t know where the subjects of the Immortality Research are hidden; therefore, encircle Point Alpha-Seven and destroy everything! Burn it to the ground! Any experimental subjects found are to be sealed inside of high-pressure casing; I will investigate each one of them personally." -Lelouch giving orders to the Zero Squad


 * "I have nothing to do with them now. As long as I keep following my brother I'm all right." -Rolo
 * Between Lelouch and V.V.
 * "You surprise me, V.V. 'The observer becomes the perpetrator!'" - Lelouch
 * "You know, I sort of liked you, Lelouch. You reminded me of Charles." - V.V.