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Originally Posted by TheRainbowConnection
I think that he's developed an incredible capacity for rationalization as a defense mechanism. Why are things the way they are? Because that is how order requires it to be. If might (and not justice) makes order, and order makes happiness, then he's going to enforce order at the end of a VARIS rifle. So yes, I think he does realize that he's helping units engaged in senseless slaughter of civilians, and I truly think that he believes that what they're doing is wrong. But, he has wrapped himself up in this mindframe where he'll still go along with blatant injustice.
And I don't hate him. He is an otherwise strong man who has faced intense pressure...and buckled greatly. His actions don't make him particularly likable, and it's still hard to empathize with him, but it's easy to see how very broken and human he is. And that is what makes him a very interesting character. He's no superhuman (minus speedhax and wallhax). He's a huge enigma, and I constantly want to know more about the parts of his life that we don't know about (pre-Lelouch and between the ages of 10 and 17). At any rate, he makes a far more interesting antagonist than Gundam's straight-laced-best-friend (a la Athrun) or, even worse, generic nihilist #57 (see: Rau, Rey, Zechs, etc.).
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Interesting, I can see that being the case, though I am not purely sold on that. However, and this is sort of a series flaw, Suzaku seems to only give very blunt statements of his beliefs, so we don't necessarily know if he thinks that coarsely, or if there is a more nuanced view in his head somewhere. Perhaps that is on the plate for this season. Self delusion does seem to be a bit of a theme in Code Geass, so it will be interesting to see how far the writers take it.
As to why my hate for Suzaku burns with the power of a galactic core gamma ray, its sort of a gut reaction. I really, really dislike the paladin archetype, and he fits many of the more annoying tropes of that, while simultaneously assisting in the depopulation of civilian areas. Also, and perhaps this is a geographical thing, but he strikes me as something we southerners call a "House Slave". He is disturbingly ok with Britannians abusing/murdering/tyrannizing his own people, and this just gets right under my skin. Seems wrong somehow.