Stage 14, Geass vs Geass
Lelouch is extremely worried. Someone took his gun while he was unconscious. From the scene he deducts that two people saw him. One who shot and one who got shot.
Shirley, back in her dorms, has Lelouch's gun on her table. She cries while writing a diary entry.
The next day, the battle has settled and Suzaku is back at school. Nina requests if he can help her meet Euphemia to thank her. The Student Council group tease each other, making jokes about meeting Euphemia. The phone rings and Lelouch is on the other line, who asks Suzaku to tell Nunnally that he's going to be late again.
With Lelouch, he is relieved that nothing seems to be odd at the council; they at least do not know his identity yet, and if Suzaku doesn't know, the Britannian army probably don't either. It was only the Black Order, the Japanese Liberation Front and the Britannian Army there, but Lelouch is uneasy as he thought he saw Shirley there.
In a meeting with Guilford, Darlton, Euphemia and Cornelia, the four discuss the attacks. Guilford believes that Zero is attacking the Britannian Imperial family, rather than Britannia itself. Cornelia warns Euphemia to be careful, and Guilford suggests appointing her a knight.
Lloyd and Cecil are talking about Suzaku. Cecil is worried at how much he worries other lives, that he dives into suicide for others. Lloyd seems unfazed as it doesn't affect his Knightmare performance. Cecil criticises him, but Lloyd thinks she's mistaking Suzaku for "a certain other someone."
Meanwhile, Lelouch has used his Geass on Shirley's roommate, and he and C.C. search their room, much to C.C.'s dislike of going through the underwear drawers. While searching, the two find a stash of pictures with Lelouch in it. Still searching, Lelouch finds a train timetable, with "Narita" circled in pen.
Meanwhile, Shirley is visiting a memorial at Narita. In her bag are the gun and a picture of her father.
She asks herself. Her thought is replied with an unknown man's voice, a man with white hair, an odd pair of glasses and huge head phones, who read her mind and knows her name.
Lelouch and Shirley head for Narita. C.C. asks if he loves her, or hates her. He doesn't know; he is going to Narita because she may know who he is. C.C. asks what he'll do is she does; kill her? Lelouch is startled by that suggestion- there's no way he could. C.C. gives him advice:
Shirley talks to the mysterious white-haired man. He reads her mind; he tells her that Lelouch sounds like a terrible person, he tricked her, he was Zero the whole time. Shirley is shocked that he knows this. But he continues, that the same lips he used to kiss her, were used to kill her father. He tells her that's unforgivable, and that he has to punish both of them, that he knows all about that night. The flashback when Shirley has her gun pointed at Lelouch is shown. Villetta comes in, and is amused to see that the Britannian student himself is Zero. She rejoiced in that fact that she will be elevated to nobility after she hands him in. She remembers that Shirley is there, and that she loves him. She turns around and is about to stop her, but with a pained and scared face, Shirley shoots Villetta.
She denies it. Mao continues, that she sought a compensation for her father's death: Lelouch's kiss. She denies it again, but Mao accuses her. "What a manipulative girl you are," he says, that she faked vulnerability to win sympathy and comfort from him. She denies it again and again. "How long do you intend to play the tragic heroine?" he asks.
He continues to read and toy with her mind.
Shirley starts crying and falls to the ground. The man tells her that if she doesn't repent, she and Lelouch won't ear forgiveness. His eyes show the Geass symbol.
C.C. and Lelouch have arrived, and have split up looking for Shirley. Lelouch gets a call from her, but the man from before picks up and throws Lelouch Shirley's phone. Lelouch asks what he's done with Shirley, but he tells him that they'll have a match of chess first.
C.C. is asking a man on a motorbike, where she notices Lelouch on a train. She recognises the other man with him.
Lelouch is analysing his situation- the chess match if probably a trap. The man, Mao, tells him to concentrate on the match and blocks his chess piece. Mean while, C.C. is following the train, having stolen the man's motorbike.
The train stops, and Lelouch is shocked that he has lost the chess game. He asks himself who the man is. Mao asks if C.C. ever told him, and pulls down his glasses to reveal Geass on his eyes. He explains that his Geass ability is to read other people's minds. Lelouch asks if he killed Shirley, but Shirley walks on the train platform and they see her out the window. Shirley points her gun at Lelouch.
Ohgi is at the previous night's battlegrounds. He notices Villetta, bloodied and unconscious. He rushes to help her, trying to wake her up. She mumbles in her sleep "I see... you're Zero."
Shirley, Lelouch and Mao stand on the train platform. Shirley points a gun at Lelouch, telling him that it belongs to Zero, his gun. Mao tells Lelouch to use his Geass, but as soon as he does he'll shoot him instead and points a gun at him. Lelouch stands in-between Mao and Shirley, both with guns pointed at him.
Shirley asks to repent for their sins, that they'll die together. Mao tells Lelouch that she shot the other witness to protect Lelouch's secret. Lelouch realises that reading peoples minds will enable them to manipulate those people so easily, and trick them into doing anything.
Lelouch tries to reason with Shirley, telling her that he is tricking her. Mao fires back that Lelouch is the trickster. The two shout their reasons and Shirley gets frustrated and confused. She fires a gunshot, with barely misses Lelouch's head. He falls back, and the photos of himself and Shirley fall out of his jacket. Shirley opens her eyes to see all those happy memories. Shirley hesitates, but Mao provokes her; "He killed your father!" "He's just a murderer!"
Shirley is too confused, and Mao gives up on her, holding up his gun to kill Lelouch instead. Shirley shoots at Mao to stop, so he walks off onto the train. He wanted to make it dramatic, but as his last option he'll just kill them both, as he takes out a more powerful gun. To his surprise, the train starts- someone who's mind he couldn't read would have started it. He sees C.C. outside and it ecstatic.
He rips off his glasses and headphones to get a better look at her. His headphones are playing repeated voices of C.C.
Lelouch is trying to comfort Shirley. Shirley is in tears, she shot someone, and even shot at him. He tells her that it's not her fault. He tells her to lay all her sins on him. He tells her to forget all of it, that he'll make her forget it all. He turns on his Geass, even though Shirley shouts at him not to.
At night, Shirley is visiting the monument for those who died at the Narita incident. She sees Lelouch there too, and asks him if he also lost a family member. He tells her that he lost a good friend.
He tells her how he'll miss her smile, and that the two will never fight or laugh together again. Shirley asks him if he loved this person. Lelouch replies that he doesn't and can't know anymore.
She tells him that she'll never for get her father, and more sadness will come, but a new day will come, so she doesn't need to hold it in. Lelouch agrees with her. He thanks her for 'everything' and leaves.
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments: If I were a ShirleyxLulu fan I would have given this a 10/5. But I'm not, and I haven't really liked Shirley too much, so I couldn't feel the real extent of this episode as a Shirley fan would. But nonetheless, it is really touching, definitely one of the saddest episodes of the series. Many people were unhappy that Shirley ended up just forgetting it all. But I just look at the Shirley at the middle of this episode, and compare her to her at the end of this episode. She really is such a stronger person by the end of it, there's no more confusion in her head and she really had wisdom to give to Lelouch. This episode made me like Shirley just a bit more. emily, 14th nov 2007
