1) Easily possible, but it feels bad to me and an omen. Or perhaps the simplicity is a good thing?
2) This makes sense to me since getting the hostages out would allow them to simply take Lelouch out very quickly. Where C.C. is during the attack is something I worry about though. I'd say Suzaku comes to Lelouch's aid in terms of fighting Kallen though.
3) Makes sense for the most part though I really am worried about this conversation with Kallen since I am rather convinced that the entire situation will have Lelouch confirming his feelings for Kallen as love.
4) This depends on the results of whether C.C. tries to protect Lelouch or not. If Suzaku intervenes than I would have to wonder what happened with C.C.. Makes sense though.
5) This seems like a given pretty much.

#3 is the variable here I agree since that is where it can go anywhere. If C.C. is going to die it would be there. I'm honestly confused as to why Kallen or C.C. would say it at this point personally since I can't think of any reason Lelouch would hate either to them and it should be clear to both he doesn't hate them. Kallen saying it doesn't make me feel positive. The convo could go a number of ways, but I expect it to end well for Kallen personally since they need to wrap up her plotline. Her crying doesn't seem good to me.

I can't imagine why the cockpit would be pink so I would say in the hanger next to the Lancelot. What's she smiling about though?

Well, to be honest I see it ending well for her in terms of her relationship for Lelouch. At the very least I think he does love her, but decided to let her go and not involve her in all this.

Well, I don't really expect Lelouch to explain the whole situation for her. Just being honest about his feelings would be fine enough and something could happen later to make them stop fighting. I think like many people that Diethard might actually be an ally of Lelouch still. This might allow for Diethard to somehow release info about Schneizal's true plan so as to turn them against Schneizal.

It came to my mind as well. I suppose her development in 15 and 20 would certainly explain this since she still seemed unsure about several things. I felt she realized something too concerning her feelings, though also wonder whether it was perhaps some bad thought. Her Code is still an issue and if she transfers it to Lelouch than she is a goner. Still, I always thought Lelouch would be the one to take it from her in the end since I didn't think she wanted Lelouch to have to live her life.

Yes, I agree. Unless there was a way one of them could get out though I don't feel good about C.C.'s chances. I'm sort of thinking Lelouch might blow it up from the inside, but with the Code so he will live for whatever reason. Nunnally needs to get out as well I would think.

Despite the rapid fire, it didn't really seem she was hit that much. If Diethard is on Lelouch's side it is possible he might have saved her. Not sure though. Schneizal's plan is the real evil in this case and it seems it was confirmed that Lelouch and Suzaku's actions have been them trying to prepare for things as soon as possible before Schneizal made his move.

Not sure. C.C.? I think Lelouch and Suzaku will be the characters for 25.

That would make two of us...though it better not take too long, since Mao's was difficult enough to swallow after just one episode.

It could go in a lot of different directions. If Lelouch still has his "mask" on during the entire conversation, it would probably be disappointing if he doesn't even try to answer again. Some honesty is all I want to see, really. We may guess the final result, there are few options, but the problem is...how it will happen. This show loves throwing twists.

Tragic fatherly and motherly love at that.

A very long week...and the next one should be as well.

Too much cruelty for this show even.

----

No hints that I know of.

I think it's clear Schneizel has figured out that Lelouch is wearing a "mask", hence his enjoyment of said evil smirk. That line about Schneizel's "heart" could mean something about him as a person, in which case I have no good guesses, or maybe it's talking about the "heart" being Damocles and his plans in general? That's where Lelouch's direct attack will focus on or, if possible, it's referencing Diethard being a double agent who will betray his current master.

Yes, that seems to be the case, but I can't blame him too much. The hangar seems like a nice place for the gum line to show up, since both C.C. and Lelouch would be trying to attack different objectives and it's not certain that they'll meet up too soon or even again.

We both lost then. That's a possible interpretation of the "record" line, but maybe it also hints that she will fight but isn't particularly fond of having to kill them, since she did go to Ashford for a while, had an interest in Lelouch due to her memory gaps and all. In other words, maybe it's a (mostly) emotionless character showing a hint of emotion.

I'm hoping it comes true, since it'd be a nice thing to see.

Sorry, it's really, really hard to read those letters... But that's a good clue, it's just that we can't even use it right now. I'm guessing that the UFN dots were either shot down by the Mt. Fuji eruption and defeated by Lelouch's forces, Schneizel has turned against them or the UFN has sided with Lelouch after finding out the truth.

That's a pretty good estimate of how things may turn out, I agree. The first half of the episode would deal with Kallen, fighting Suzaku and confronting Lelouch, while the rest would be about Nunnally/Schneizel in Damocles, C.C. possibly being a common element in both. Seems fair enough, as an outline.

I'm not sure about Gino though...part of me wants him to lose quickly and effortlessly, as a mere obstacle, but part of me just wants to see him fight to showcase the new mecha.

I agree that this is what she is trying to do for the most part, but the situation seems to be somewhat in her favor in a sense. Honestly what worries me is that his feelings aren't exactly clear and it seems like he would have revealed them if they were anything other than love. And I suppose you are probably right about her duel with Suzaku not starting yet. I would be surprised if C.C. didn't do anything though and it seems evident that the scene with Kallen happens afterwords. Kallen right now is sort of irritating me with her mindset of how everything will be all right as long as she kills Lelouch. Ashlay's posts made me notice this more, but perhaps it is wrong. The point seems to be that she isn't really trying to deal with asking herself why Lelouch is asking that way and is instead trying to just get rid of the problem along with how to me it seems that she doesn't trust Lelouch enough to give him a real benefit of the doubt while both C.C. and Shirley decided to trust him though C.C. probably didn't have much of a choice except maybe in 15.

I suppose that is possible, but I'm curious as to what it will actually be said to her and of what nature it will be. The situation feels very bad though and there are a lot of death flags for her. The smile seems a bit genuine though. Still, I don't see her leaving that hanger or whatever. Her situation is far too bad and I am pretty sure that Lelouch has her Code when he goes to see them or C.C. gave it to him unknowingly. If she were to die though, I would think she would at least get to be with Lelouch when it happened. Or else the whole thing will feel a bit cheap. It's honestly looking like C.C. will intervene to save Lelouch, get killed by Kallen but be able to tell Kallen before she dies that she is Lelouch's shield and what Lelouch is up to which causes Kallen to changes sides and help Lelouch which results with some romantic scenes with him and Kallen. Which I think would be completely wrong since she would have killed C.C., but I doubt many will actually care about such a thing.

Yeah, I guess though I don't really think it will go other than the way I think it will or it will at least be clear he has feelings for her. I was a bit surprised at how he acted with Nunnally. I noticed he didn't really drop it entirely until he was out of everyone's eyes except for Suzaku and C.C..

I was a bit surprised myself since I wasn't expecting anything like that at all. Her questioning her being Lelouch's accomplice was a bit interesting due to the way she said it, but I don't know if it means anything. I would agree that she seems to have stopped being what she was during the early episodes of R2, but I wonder if this is more out of the fact that Lelouch needs the support right now. The entire thing felt more friend/accomplice than anything else and I feel more confused about C.C.'s feelings in this regard.

What's the point though? I understand tragedy as a plot device, but it seems pointless at this stage. I worry about that damn Code though. I have some odd feeling that Lelouch may take it and then C.C. will be killed. In the end though, I don't really think he'll be able to live in the open. Even if they do discover that trusting Schneizal was a bad move. That leaves the issue of what to do with Nunnally. I think Kallen will eventually turn after learning something and come to save Lelouch and Nunnally. C.C. will probably be dead and forgotten at this point.

And what was up with Cornelia? I don't know if she is dead, but it seemed so random. Schneizal's plan is pretty much what I used to think before the whole thing with him not caring or whatever, but I guess the original guess was right after all. I really hope that the whole world figures out his plan.



Who do you think will do the line in 24 with what is going on now?

You're probably right and it's best to assume Cornelia's dead...for now.

You may be right, but I'm hoping that the duel with Suzaku doesn't permanently interrupt Kallen's talk with Lelouch, since they really need to give us closure for their relationship. It's not about pairings, but about not leaving characters hanging like that.

I would be very disappointed if Kallen doesn't even get a nice scene out of it. Seeing her go out like "the woman who loved Lelouch but then tried to kill him and never learned the truth" feels a little...unsatisfying.

It only works from the whole tragic love angle, but R2 has used that before (Shirley...and even Rolo, if you want to go there).

Yes, C.C. as a shield seems like transparent foreshadowing at this point...just depends on how literal we want to take it though. Will she use her body or her Lancelot?

Fortunately, yes. I'm hoping they don't try to kill them all in one shot though.

----

There should be 6 sound episodes in total. Kallen's would be fourth and Nunnally's would be fifth, so we'd still have one more after that.

Even after reading that and seeing the episode, I was a little surprised by his being so casually in favor of genocide though...even if it fits his "lulz" image.

That was a very nice C.C. and Lelouch scene. It was subtle, which fits C.C.'s personality, while still giving shippers material to work with. I'd think even Dann must be a little more positive (even if he thinks she'll still die, which is possible). It does look like she'll use the Lancelot for something fairly important, and that's a good chance for the gum lines to show up, as you said. Still hoping she doesn't die...even if she smiles.

That was unexpected, when I first saw the episode...but I should have seen Sayoko coming after all. At least she mentioned the decoy shuttle. Yes, there's no separate group and maybe I was reading a little too much into a couple of things, like Kallen's clothes. They're all on Schneizel's side, even if they have their own reasons for fighting...though I'm not sure about what Anya wants, really, with that "recording". I've never been a huge fan of her though.

It's possible that Diethard may be the one feeding information on Schneizel's plans to Lelouch and will have a chance to make a public leak, from what I'm thinking. That would redeem him a little as a character, I'd hope, even if he may die in the process. Nina's trump card has to be something other than another nuke...I'm expecting a countermeasure to bring down Damocles as a whole or to shut down the nukes.

Nunnally clearly has a death flag right now...it could be just a figure of speech but I'm assuming Lelouch may go to Damocles to face Schneizel and definitely run across Nunnally there.

I was actually surprised by that one, but yes...it was a nice guess indeed.

Yeah, but the situation will likely be resolved rather fast since it is rather clear that Kallen won't be trying to kill him for the rest of the show even if Lelouch has done some things like that. Schneizal will likely be revealed to be the bigger threat soon enough in that episode. And that scenario is certainly possible, but I don't know. And it could be a last resort. The situation looks rather bad though. And somewhat confusing.

Perhaps, but the situation is just getting worse. And her gum line probably will come there which is essentially a sure sign she will end up dying. I doubt they'll talk very much at all though. I heard a bit about the scene this episode though it doesn't seem like Lelouch reacted much at all. I honestly think Narona's scenario makes a lot of sense and would also serve as a way to have character development for C.C., but it likelly will not happen.

While I say that they are going to have LXK in the end and I still do believe that, I'm honestly confused as to how they expect some to actually believe it. I know pretty much all the LXK fans will just accept it as perfectly natural, but I am just confused. It was made clear that Kallen was developing feelings for him the entire season, but on Lelouch's part it was not and if they were developing him to love her they did a rather poor job of it. I never saw any instance he considered her more than a friend and I attribute his reaction to her capture as being rooted in his desire to go back to Ashford and have everyone together again. That was sort of a fantasy he was holding onto intensely.

Granted, one can't say his feelings for C.C. are clear either and I won't say they are. It simply seems more plausible to me since their entire relationship has been developed over the entire show with his view on her steadily changing while nothing happened with Kallen until R2. And I think certain aspects of 15 sort of gave the impression that she meant a lot more to him than even he realized. That's just me though.

What was your opinion on this scene with Lelouch and C.C. I heard was nice? Of course, pretty much everyone thinks this scene means that C.C. is going to die now after having such a fleeting moment for C.C.. At the very least, I expect her to come to terms with her feelings concerning Lelouch and then die afterwards. Kind of lame and I dislike that they make her a tragic figure to the very end, but it can't go any other way.

Of course, I think that Taniguchi was forced to do some things he didn't want to do. All the scenes with Lelouch and C.C. for instance were done simply because she is popular. His and Okouchi's comments make it clear that their intention was for Kallen to become the one Lelouch loves.

Have a nice rest.

Edit: And the extended preview is out and shows Kallen crying which means Lelouch says he loves her after the gum line which is the one thing she doesn't need to hear. C.C. will die without anything there since she and Lelouch are just friends and Lelouch will find a way to be with Kallen who will eternally love him for the rest of her life. It seems they want to go for some "tragic lovers who have to kill each other" thing, which came out of no where. Whatever. Everything is going exactly as I saw it going.

Or this could also be when they finally have time to confess their true feelings for one another and resolve their conflict peacefully with a romantic kiss or something of the sort.

Yeah, not sure on that one. The smile doesn't quite look like one of those evil ones. Best case (or worse) would be C.C. coming in to save Lelouch right at that moment. Narona's whole scenario could possibly occur then, but it isn't very likely.

Eh, she's doomed nonetheless.

Sure, why not. Kallen can't die though.

If she really died, yes...and that looks like the Guren won or distracted Albion, though I'm worried about how that entire scene will turn out for both C.C. and Kallen, not just Lelouch.

I didn't see any other survivors from the Ikaruga on screen, but there could be some....

Good night (if it still applies )

Yes I did...

Lots of things to go " " about, but yeah...Schneizel.

I'm tired and sleepy as well, so that's fine by me.

Which would be a shame...but yes, he's probably a corpse by now. Poor Kallen.

I'm expecting a total of nine Picture Dramas, going by the number in season one, so...8 more to go. Looks like we'll have a thing or two to look forward to, even after the show's over.

Since Damocles needs to get near Mt. Fuji by next episode, that's probably a good guess. I suppose they could also be shocked at something Schneizel does -you know, one of those big reveal moments-, if not at the battle itself and its casualties.

I hope, since C.C. deserves some good for her own sake too. Anything else is just a bonus. There's also a chance she'll go out to do something more than simply take part in the battle...maybe she intends to meet with someone?

Glad to be in good company then.

I guess all that technically does count as a giant robot, if you put it that way...

Well, he's still same man he's always been...one who has clearly confessed his love for his own sister and for no one else.

I can see the UFN allying with Schneizel, but I also expect them to realize something's not quite right there...maybe some of them will want to act on their own from the beginning. I wonder if Kallen vs. Suzaku may still happen even if she's not actually on Schneizel's side....but not on Britannia's either. I guess her original outfit could be a sign of independence, leaving the Black Knights behind since they are still, technically, an organization created by Lelouch / Zero. I'd expect Gino to seek out Suzaku too, so a pact seems like a good idea.

There's also Anya's role. I hope she truly was the person who left after hearing about Schneizel's plan, which would introduce an element which could alter the balance of power. De-geassing everyone would be a good way to put Jeremiah to use too. Milly and Rivalz are guaranteed to survive...even if Ashford were to be erased from the Earth.

I'm wondering if I'll actually try and watch this live, since I've usually skipped it. I suppose the newsletter quote may belong to someone who knows of Schneizel's real intentions, or someone who knows about what he has done by using Nunnally. Sayoko wouldn't be a bad choice, but I'm guessing Suzaku could use it too, trying to snap Lelouch out of his shock. Though these quotes can be quite misleading sometimes, you know.