Episode 9 – Code Geass: Roze Recaptured

Last week, I predicted that Ash would break free from Sakuya, they would run away, and everything between the two would be sweet, albeit a little awkward. I was tired of being disappointed over and over again, being too cautious and not hoping for anything better to happen other than an immediate release of tension. Of course, this week’s episode did a good job of keeping the tension going, with Ash staring at Sakuya in confusion as he reflected on his confused memories of Nicole and her impersonation of Rose. He fired a shot into the floor of her cell and walked away.

Things do look bad this time for Sakuya! She’ll have a hard time figuring out a way out of this predicament as Scissorman gloats about killing the next group of prisoners one at a time. He even called her out when she tried to stall for time and offered to tell him her Geass secret. He didn’t care about that; he wanted experimental data for his research. When everything was meaningless, Ash rushed in and knocked off Scissorman’s anti-Gass helmet. But then, when Sakuya tries to attack him herself, he yells and shoots himself in the head while she’s caught off guard.

While it’s a thrilling scene, with Urbaniak giving a great performance as always, there’s something a little off about someone as cold and coldly analytical as he would rather commit suicide than kill Sakuya. One might say he didn’t want to kill a valuable research subject, but I doubt he would think someone capable of doing his research on his behalf. After all, there are other users of Geass, but he is the only one. Regardless, the show lost its best features. Good night, rotten prince. You are the only one keeping me sane.

With the Dawn of the East and Wolves of the North eliminated, and the Seven Shining Stars driven from their base, New Britain’s leadership decided it was time to begin peace negotiations, with Nala serving as their representative. The way this episode handles this is more flexible than I’m used to from shows, with a strong sense of what it’s trying to show. The United Nations wishes to avoid any regulations in favor of New Britannia and expel it entirely from Hokkaido; Great Britain forces itself to overcome many conditions by invoking… anti-British sentiment? Again, this doesn’t seem entirely reasonable, as countries that do this usually have allies who safeguard their ruling interests, as current world events demonstrate. However, I appreciate the recognition that “crafting a narrative” can be a powerful tool to one’s own advantage in a negotiation, regardless of the actual balance of power. Still, the show resists the urge to linger on the long table conversation and instead jumps to Gino (hi, Gino!) and Cordelia discussing how they came to this impasse.

An interesting tidbit: Noland was a Knight of the Round Table. I kind of want to go back to some of the old episodes and see if there are any characters that are similar to him.

Meanwhile, Saki is also traumatized by his experiences in prison. She was frustrated and frustrated, unable to function as a strategist even in this desperate moment. As peace negotiations proceed, the Seven Shining Stars are frozen in place so as not to look like the aggressors, but they still need to make plans for the future. Isao yells at Sakuya for not being able to come up with a strategy, but that doesn’t help. How can it help? When Sakuya walked out of the tent and saw someone crying in front of the grave, she immediately woke up from her fear.

I sighed because the pace didn’t allow any time to process her feelings in any meaningful way. Is she afraid of being taken away again? Feeling guilty about what she did to Ash and the prisoners who died for her? Troubled by a feeling of being held captive? Depressed and numb because the trauma caused part of her brain to shut down? Desperate at the overwhelming power of the New Britons? No one checked what was going on in her head, and no one knew what was driving this emotional response. Her quick recovery at the sight of her crying family members also doesn’t seem to fit the context. She did not ignore the suffering and sorrow of the Japanese people. She has been surrounded by it all this time. But the story requires her to move on, so she must.

From her seat of power, Sakura continued to work hard to build relationships that would allow her to pursue policies that would help the Japanese people. She was naively optimistic that the peace talks could bring about beneficial changes, but Walter He had his doubts. Fed up with her attempts to stop being just a puppet, Catherine pulls a gun on her in frustration. Sakura tells her how gaining power through violence is a lonely strength, and thinks of Sakuya when talking about “true power”. Catherine whispered that if they weren’t strong, they would die.

Although Sakura’s remarks are pure nonsense, they are great in light of Kathleen’s character. Flashbacks to Ash’s backstory recontextualize a lot about the Einborn and their situation in the early stages of New Britannia’s rise. Even without knowing the details, we can infer Catherine’s life after her parents’ death. For her, only the strong survive; to show weakness is to risk being disposed of. Although Catherine is fast and agile, she is short in stature and lacks physical strength. Does she have to work hard to prove herself, even harder than someone taller and older like Ash? She is a survivor, more than anyone else, and deserves the same compassion as any child soldier.

Just when things look like they might be improving, Cornelia convinces Kaguya (Hi Kaguya!) to return to the United Nations to lead peace talks, and terrifying machines emerge from the sea and land in cities around the world. Hats off to the mechanical designers for creating something truly weird! They’re shaped more like viruses than anything else, with a menacing black-and-red color scheme, insect-like crawling legs and whirring landing gear giving them an alien, uncanny appearance.

We’re now in the sprint phase – three-quarters of the way through, with the next episode marking the start of the final film. Let’s see if this narrative can redeem itself for all its missteps.

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Code Geass: Rhodes Recaptured It’s currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+, depending on your region.