Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 is the second and final season of Code Geass, at 25 episodes long. It takes place in a world where the empire of Britannia had taken over Japan and renamed it Area 11. Britannians are largely discriminatory against the “Elevens”, even more so now considering the failed rebellion of the first second. High school student, Lelouch, who wields the power of Geass allowing him to compel anyone to do whatever he instructs, and a tactical genius to boos, was the leader of rebellion, Zero. By the end of the last season, Zero was on the cusp of victory when it was taken away from him.
There is a time skip after the last season, as it now takes place one year later. The first episode is confusing as it shows Lelouch living a normal life with no references to his time as Zero. It’s different to before because there are some new faces. Thankfully, it only takes one episode before it is revealed at why this is happening and how it got to this point. It’s a fairly big revelation although can still feel weak and contrived.
Due to the setup, it feels like a re-tread of the first season at times. Zero is almost starting to from scratch again, rebuilding the Black Knights. The situation in Area 11 has regressed to almost at the start of the first season. However, at least with the seeds already planted, the momentum builds up faster. There are elements where it is similar to events already passed, while others are different.
Lelouch has to go through several phases once again, from doubting the role he is playing and the vision he has, to reconfirming that he is correct to go on this path. Lelouch’s methods can be harsh and cruel at times, as he now sees the goal he wants to reach and is willing to do almost anything to get there, from manipulation to mass murder. CC is also acting more weirdly than normal. Lelouch and CC used to work together quite a bit but ever since the time skip, it feels like that they’re more distant and more independent. CC would be doing her own thing and it is constantly teased that she has another agenda. She is currently only using Lelouch as Zero to further her own matters.
While the bulk of the scenes are bigger in scope as it relates to Zero’s battle against Britannia, and now involving other countries / federations in the process, it still spends time on the school aspect. You can have a series of episodes where the forces of the Black Knights are battling against the Empire, and then have a random episode where Lelouch is putting in a lot of effort to keep up his pretence at school. There’ll be silly events like the school festival or something to do with Lelouch’s popularity.
If you didn’t like the shock even in the first season, then you may not like a similar one that happens in the middle of this season. It does feel unexpected even if the events leading up to that point was messy and caused a lot of headaches for Lelouch. When it happened, there is a sense of disbelief that the writers dared to do this, and that it is such a shame that it happened this way. The second half of the season continues to ramp up the pacing, not that it was ever really slowed down in the first place. As it reaches its conclusion, the battles and the war heats up. It resolves most of the Geass subplot somewhat early on, and to a somewhat disappointing degree. While we got a lot of information about it, it still felt like it wasn’t fully explained and too much was withheld in the end.
Lelouch must face the problems of his relationships with various characters. Of course, there’s the complicated one with Suzaku, his rival, and it’s a shame that every time it felt like they were going to come to an understanding, more misunderstandings occur, and it pushes them past the point of no return. Lelouch must live with the consequences of his actions and it’s constantly a heavy burden. Towards the end of the season, he pretty much loses all the reasons he had for fighting this battle. It sucks to see that everything he had done… meant nothing and the people he worked with betrayed him so easily. On the flipside, he had done himself no favors with the actions that he took. All in all, the anime does a great job at conveying emotions and having intense scenes that emphasize the sense of loss.
A common theme is Lelouch, or Zero, always manages to anticipate or plan for the situation. So even though he may look like he’s fallen for an ambush, or is at a tough spot, you can be confident that he has something up his sleeve to get out. This can make him overpowered, or dampens the tenser moments, but is in line with the character. With that said, whenever things don’t go well for Lelouch, with hindsight and the benefit of being the viewer that saw all the events, it’s usually because of something that Lelouch did that eventually, indirectly, or directly, came back to bite him.
Towards the end, there’s no one to root for. Basically, everyone and their ideology, what they are fighting for, are all flawed. On the one hand, you want Lelouch to win given that you’ve been with him since the beginning, but his vision is not great. On the other hand, having Lelouch’s opponents win is not ideal either. At this point, you may not care too much on how it ends, as the ending cannot be satisfying. However, bear with it and the ending and resolution is not too bad, striking a good balance but does make light of things and makes it too idealistic in various aspects.
Overall, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 is a good solid second season and finale to the series. The very beginning may be weak as it feels like it re-treads familiar territory in a few areas, but it soon gathers steam and pushes ahead. Although eventually, all the characters start to lose the things that makes them likeable and able to get behind, so there’s no one left to root for. At this point, you might only continue to half-heartedly root for Lelouch given that he is the protagonist, but it manages to still give a good enough ending, and the whole series is worth watching.
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