Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Turn 02: Japan Independence Plan ]

Zero has returned! The plan to restore The United States of Japan has begun!

Damn, damn, damn! This episode continues with the pacing of the first and just throws revelation after revelation at us. We’re finally shown what happened at the end of the first season. Lelouch shoot off Suzaku’s earpiece-thing and then tackled Lelouch. Kallen ran off and the scene switched to Suzaku presenting Lelouch to Charles. I think it’s around here that Suzaku’s douche-level increases even more than I thought was possible. He asks for a place in the Knights of the Round and the scene ends with Charles using his Geass on Lelouch to rewrite his memories. It looks like my guess was right about someone having a memory-altering Geass ability though I didn’t think it would have been Charles’.

Surprisingly, Rollo was revealed to be some sort of opposing force to Lelouch though the biggest thing about him is that he has Geass too. What I find interesting about this is that he Geass in only one eye just like Lelouch, but in his right eye. Does this mean something and if so, what? I can’t help but think that Lelouch will eventually end up with both eyes having Geass…specifically the Geass Rollo possesses. At the moment it’s difficult to tell what his exact Geass ability is but if his movements his KF are any indication it may be related to either highspeed movement or teleportation. Though it could also well be neither of the two. His affiliation doesn’t seem to be exactly clear at the moment but it would seem as if he’s with Britannia. Hopefully we’ll find out about that next week.

Another strange and interesting scene involved the Emperor showing Suzaku the Sword of Akasha. I find it odd how he allowed him to see such a grand place and the reasons for showing him (knowing Zero = Lelouch and about Geass) just makes me scratch my head. I guess that qualifies Kallen to be shown that place too, eh? Anyway, I’ve always been interested in knowing more about that place especially since it’s name can be traced to the planet Jupiter or the god Jupiter. Whichever it may be, Jupiter has been pointed out as a significant term before and we just saw another glimpse of it in Lelouch’s flashbacks last week. The Emperor’s words on “destroying God” also piqued my interest since I’m curious as to what his true goal is and where the direction of the story will go because of this place.

It was great seeing most of the old characters again. I was filled with joy at seeing Lakshata again and hearing her quirky lines that I feel in love with last season. Diethard was hilarious as always and his reaction in this episode toward the return of Zero was priceless. Sayoko was also shown but she didn’t get to say anything. We also got ot see Nina. Yeah I know she’s not exactly liked and her first appearance since the season started doesn’t really impress either. Seriously, she’s got to look at herself in the mirror when she does those kind of facial expressions. At least try to make them pretty.

Gears will be shifting next week when it seems we return to Ashford school life where we’re shown Rollo who appears to be looking for Lelouch. Villetta is also shown with Rollo so I’m interested to see if they were planted into the school together to keep tabs on Lelouch for the past year.

I must be getting déjà vu because I feel I’ve been getting that rushing feeling again. If you were disappointed with the previous episode, this one should definitely make up for it. We finally see just what went on back in the cave. Leave it to the writers to make it feel more dramatic in that finale. Though I guess you could say the more intense part is how Lelouch was implanted with fake memories. That certainly explains the deal with Rollo, but then, what’s his case? Not to mention the end of the episode that made me jump from seeing that same shape in his right eye.

Looks like these other Geass users are giving Lelouch a lot of trouble. I wonder just what he’s thinking negotiating with the Chinese Union. As Leon theorizes, it looks like Rollo’s Geass isn’t even a form of manipulating the mind, but speed. Of course, perhaps the ability actually turns out to be slowing down the reaction of the mind, making it only look like he has godspeed. Next episode shouldn’t be all too bad if we get a lot more of this stuff. Don’t let us down, Taniguchi.