The Messenger from Kyoto (episode)

The Messenger from Kyoto is the twelfth episode of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

Summary
Cornelia is in a conference where it is being reported that the Japan Liberation Front was almost annihilated. One of the men present at the meeting questions if their occupation policy is wrong and asks why they neglected the subways and mining tunnels, leaving the ghetto to be a hotbed of anti-government activity. One of the other men tries to cite the budget, but then admits that it was based on instructions from Clovis. Addressing the vice minister, Darlton mentions a group called the NAC that he had tried to find out about them during the operations that they ran the other day, but the data is now buried under the earth. Cornelia calls them an aggregate of noble families and zaibatsu, and she wonders if they’re already relics of the past. Getting nervous, the vice-minister calls that a rumor and claims that if they arrest those people, the Elevens’ economy won’t be able to keep going. As her sister and the others are talking, Euphemia is examining a list of the names of the dead which happens to include Jeremiah. Around this time, a group of old men are discussing the situation with the Japan Liberation Front having been split up, though Toudou is alive and well. The woman sitting behind a screen feels that there is hope because of the Black Knights. During class, Shirley is examining the tickets she got from her father to the Area 11 performance of the Britannia Empire Symphony Orchestra. She notices that both Kallen and Lelouch are absent, which reminds her of how she previously saw them together. Milly suggests that Shirley tell Lelouch that she likes him, and then proceeds to make fun of Shirley’s fear of getting rejected. Turning a little more serious, Milly remarks that their current lives are comfortable, and she tells Shirley that there aren’t any people who don’t change. Lelouch suddenly shows up in the student council room and explains that he stayed home because Nunnally is running a fever. He is here to pick up some documents, though Shirley notices only after he leaves again that he accidentally took her tickets too. She chases after him and ends up getting the courage to give him a ticket to the concert. Watching the two from a window above is C.C., who is once again talking to someone about Lelouch. At the same time, a silver-haired man wearing headphones and a visor is smiling as he stands on a nearby rooftop. Shirley’s invitation stays on Lelouch’s mind even when he’s dressed up as Zero and is hanging out with the other Black Knights. Kaname gives him a letter from the Kyoto group wanting to meet them and promising financial support if they agree. Zero doesn’t feel that they should be having any financial difficulties, though Tamaki immediately claims that it’s not his fault since they’re a big organization. Zero decides that Kaname will settle their finances, but Tamaki complains because he used to be the one responsible for their money. When Zero talks about trust, Tamaki points out that Zero is the one not showing them his face. Kallen stands up for Zero, saying that his true form isn’t a problem since Zero had the ability to outwit Cornelia and since he is their leader. This silences Tamaki, but he’s not happy about it. He ends up meeting privately with the old members of the resistance - including Kaname - to talk about how they used to be Naoto’s team and how the leadership had been turned over the Kaname back then. Kallen meanwhile goes to Zero’s office and apologizes for earlier. When Lelouch asks her if she wants to know his real face, Kallen remembers that C.C. knows, but then she says no and excuses herself. Meanwhile, back at school in the student council room, Nina is masturbating on the corner of a table to a picture of Euphemia. Nunnally comes in thinking that Nina is feeling ill, but Nina wipes off the table and claims that it was nothing. Later, when Lelouch returns home, Nunnally admits to feeling that he’s been growing distant. Taking her hand, Lelouch promises that he hasn’t changed and that whatever happens, he’ll stay by her side. Nunnally asks him to hold her hand for a while longer because she feels that she’ll see that dream again if she sleeps alone. The next day, Lelouch talks with C.C. about needing her help with the Kyoto group. He tells her that he needs her, and C.C. says that she understands. She also produces the ticket to the concert that she thinks Lelouch forgot, but Lelouch explains that he didn’t forget. In actuality, he doesn’t know when he’ll get back tonight, so he’s ready to turn down Shirley over the phone. By chance, Shirley calls him just then and tells him that she’ll probably be late tonight. Freed of this obligation, Lelouch goes through with his plan for the Kyoto group, which includes using his GEASS power on the driver who came to pick them up. Suzaku is spending the day at the remains of the Narita site and remembers how C.C. appeared during the battle. He ends up asking Lloyd what Zero and the Black Knights intend to do with such sacrifices, and Lloyd remembers how Zero said they were allies of justice. As Lloyd is claiming that he and Suzaku are just soldiers, Suzaku notices Shirley being led somewhere in the distance by Villetta. He gets momentarily distracted when Cecile calls out to him, and when he looks back, Shirley is already gone. Over by the Lancelot, Cecile and Lloyd have figured out that the woman they know as Laksharta is helping their enemy, and Cecile fears that the Lancelot might not win next time against the Crimson Lotus. By this time, Zero, Kaname, Tamaki, and Kallen have arrived at the Kyoto group’s base, which they are surprised to find is overlooking the Fuji mines where the treasured Sakuradite is produced. The elderly leader of the Kyoto group appears and demands to see Zero’s face and holds the group hostage with four Knightmares. Kallen tries to protect Zero, but the elder tells her to be quiet and then orders Kaname to remove Zero’s mask. To everyone’s shock, the person under the mask is actually a girl: C.C. Kallen recognizes her and claims that she’s not Zero, so the elder asks C.C. if this is the truth. Since it is indeed true, the elder figures out that C.C.’s not Japanese, which she also confirms. C.C. knows that the elder is named Kirihara, but everything gets interrupted when one of the Knightmares starts firing on the other ones. The pilot turns out to be the real Zero, and he uses the Knightmare’s gun to hold Kirihara hostage. Zero calls their way of thinking and their way of doing things antiquated and claims that they cannot win. He recognizes Kirihara as the person who single-handedly carried the Sakuradite mining business and was the founder of Kirihara Industry. Zero also knows that Kirihara was the guy in the shadows behind the Kururugi administration, but after they lost the war, he became a proactive supporter of colonial rule. Though he was known as a traitor, Kirihara had actually managed the Resistance throughout the entire country and had been the Kyoto leader. Going back to what Kirihara said earlier to C.C., Zero now reveals that he’s not Japanese. Hearing this, Kirihara questions why Zero is fighting and what he really wishes for. When Zero answers that he’s aiming for the collapse of Britannia, Kirihara wonders if this can be done. Zero does indeed think that it can be done and is glad that he’s meeting Kirihara now. He then removes his mask and tells the elderly man that it’s been a long time since they’ve seen each other. Kirihara remembers that it had been eight years ago at the Kururugi Shrine that Lelouch and Nunnally had been entrusted with them as victims. He asks Lelouch that if the other party hadn’t been him, then would Lelouch have held the person hostage? In response, Lelouch claims that he could do nothing but request for the person’s help. Kirihara wonders to himself if the seed of eight years ago is blooming now and has a good laugh about it. Addressing Kaname across the room, Kirihara affirms that Zero is an enemy of Britannia and guarantees that he’ll follow Zero. He promises to help in the flow of information, and for his final question, he asks if Lelouch is going to go the path of carnage. As he puts his mask back on, Lelouch simply says that he will if it is his fate. That night, Lelouch finds Shirley standing in the rain near the symphony hall. She had been shown the body of her father earlier by Villetta and now asks Lelouch why Zero killed her father if he’s the ally of the weak. A grieving Shirley can’t understand why and goes crying to Lelouch, causing him to drop his umbrella. She asks Lelouch to save her, and the two then kiss in the rain.