Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-49.146.220.221-20140411121038/@comment-213.140.59.136-20141209083824

Honestly, for Euphy, killing her was, if not the only solution, the best that Lelouch had at that moment (in a way just as selfless as it was selfish. The guy is the only one who can manage both at the same time after all.). The way to "cure" victims didn't exist. Not yet in the scenarists heads at least. And in an alternate universe where he could have done saved her and kept her somewhere, she would have spent what remained of her life in hiding from the Japanese who wanted her corpse. And he'd probably have kept lying to her as to why, so as not to reveal just what had happened. Dying after Suzaku told her "the SAZ is a great success" while the Japanese were cursing her was already painfully sad. Living a constant lie would have been even worse. Lelouch said himself "I'd rather die than keep living this lie", so I understand why he'd do that to her. Another point was that, with the SAZ complete failure, if Zero didn't kill Euphemia, the Japanese wouldn't have rallied with him either. Which means that both of the two symbols that were equally followed by people would have fallen, and the situation would have returned to what it was before, only a lot worse since the "Elevens" would never trust Britannia again.

Another thing is that he remembered his priorities. Always Nunnally would come first. So if that was the only way, he would build her a better world on the corpse of her sister, however awful this is. (well he did build it on his own corpse, too. Which is why I doubt Nunnally will ever come to sincerely love that new world, but that's another topic.)

Something that I hated in Code Geass was how they gave no... sanctity to human life. It was just... Too easy to kill. Too easy to move on. And that unnerved me. Lelouch got really affected by Euphy's death, but it just wasn't emphasized as much as implied in the show. Most of what we see are a single tear before he ordered to kill her, a short scene where we see him as he starts sobbing in C.C's arms, a candle burned with her name on it, and the Zero Requiem where he claims he can't back up for both Euphy and Nunnally's sake (I liked all those scenes, honestly), ... Well, there's no spectacular display of emotion on his part as opposite to Suzaku (while Lelouch is and remains a very emotional character, for all his pragmatism. Ironically enough, most of his delicate decisions are made based on emotions more than logic.)

Shirley's death was extremely sad as well. Something beautifully sad about it was that, like in her character song, her role and feelings were mostly portrayed as "very in love, but hasn't the courage of admitting it to Lelouch". And then, that declaration of love we see her struggling to transmit to him in subtle and not so subtle ways in the whole series... Well, at least, she actually says it at the moment of her death. She admits it all, and it made me cry to see just how sincere she was. How she really wished for his happiness, accepting the fact that she'd always come after Nunnally for that matter. (The Zero Requiem edition ; I think they gave her a more decent death because that part was totally narrated by her, and her feelings made even clearer. She wasn't just a brainless fangirl. She sincerely loved him, understood him and accepted him. Like Euphy. So she died. Like Euphy.)

Rolo's death wasn't sad. It was pretty, and I could almost say that it was happy because he'd finally done something to be proud of. And it was a character that I hated with a passion over the season that I sincerely think his death was the best thing that ever happened to him (in a positive way). A nice insert song, and the first time he actually got the balls to think and act for himself. And Lelouch stopped hating him. I mean, he totally accomplished with his death what he couldn't in his all life !

Lelouch's death was predictable, from the very start, he was someone who was ready to die as a price for his wishes. His way of thinking could be summarized as "I'll use evil to remove the greatest evil. And the world I wish for doesn't need the evil that I'd have become, and that's totally fine by me." So it wasn't really what made me sad, it was Nunnally's cries that broke my heart into pieces, and the regret messages in the Complete Best CD that totally burried it.

Well, something I really loved about his death was the stunning similarity with Euphy's death. Killed by a weeping Zero, held in the arms of the one who loved him more than anything, and who cried with all his/her might when everyone was chanting "Zero" and cursing him. It was too similar a fate that it was totally sure he made it on purpose, and it didn't make it any less beautiful.

Which is why I don't believe the "he's alive theory", and most of all, find that it'd remove precisely what was great about the end. (yeah, because that epilogue of "the world's become gentler" was quite out of place. Dunno why, I didn't like it. )

So for me, Euphy had the saddest death, closely followed by Shirley's. I'd put Clovis' death somewhere here since I've listened to the Sound Drama "Teikoku no Kyodai/The Imperial Siblings". Then behind comes Lelouch's, and then, Rolo's.

Just my opinion.