Zero and the Black Knights make off with the Empress, but their escape is blocked by Xingke. I am of the opinion that the writers for the series are secretly taking a long break in Hawaii and the current story arc is actually being written by the office janitor.
Summary
Seriously… What does the hair do?
Zero backstabs Xingke and kidnaps the Empress. His cunning plan is to create a new federation of states of which the new Japan is to be a member. He has the backing of the Indians and he believes that Mongolia will be supportive of the move.
Just why the heck does that yellow blob thing wear a hat?
Unfortunately, before Zero can make his getaway, Xingke shows up in his brand new Shenhu (Divine Tiger) Knightmare Frame and proceeds to massacre Indian-made Akatsukis, resulting in much death and destruction. He manages to capture Kallen and defeat Zero with superior strategy. Considering Zero’s jarring drop in IQ in recent episodes, it’s not too difficult.
This looks nothing like a tiger
Outwitted by Xingke in battle, Lelouch escapes to Tiandi Bashiba Ling (天å¸å…«å八陵), a fictional resting ground for dead emporers, where he has set up a stronghold to hold out against the Chinese and Britannia forces that are coming for him.
Evil(er) clone?
Also, Lelouch has the power to teleport. o_o
Thoughts
The writers seem to believe that åˆè¡†å›½ (a translation unique to United States) and 連邦 (federation) are different things. Zero says that he wants to set up a ä¸è¯åˆè¡†å›½ (literally a Chinese United States) to which the Empress replies, “But we are a federation (連邦)…” Zero then makes the absurd statement that the federal system is outdated.
She’s annoying
This shows a blatant lack of understanding on the writers’ part. The United States is a federation and the term åˆè¡†å›½ was created simply because America likes to have a unique name. The political system itself is essentially the same thing: a federation.
Moving on.
The build-up in this episode is essentially non-existent. Just like how Xingke’s coup d’état was planned, revealed and crushed in just one episode, Zero’s escape plan is over in a flash. It lacks suspense and impact.
Brilliant tactic: drive straight
Lelouch’s plans are supposed to involve a series of seemingly unrelated preparations during which the audience is left to wonder what his actual strategy is going to be. The final unveiling is supposed to make every small element click together in a satisfying manner, until something unexpected crops up and much drama ensues. Recently, the writers have decided to forego the clever part and just jump straight to the drama.
It’s hard to deal with the fact that your classmate is a terrorist
And a final note… According to a forum post on a Chinese forum, Tiandi Bashiba Ling is an allusion to Ming Shi San Ling. Since they don’t look anything like each other, I’m not sure where that comes from. I wonder what the Chinese nationalists feel about what’s been shown in Code Geass thus far.
Screencaps
Kinky
Dopey, Grumpy, Doc, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Happy
Seppuku
It’s not China if there’s no panda…
Get a hair cut you hippie
Seriously disturbing
No one notices C.C. thanks to the brilliant disguise
Speaking of teleporting: David Copperfield’s Portal illusion.
lol, yea this ep is really disappointing for me
Pretty underwhelming episode overall. I do like the dog cheese-kun though.
The seven dwarves crack got me. xD
“The political system itself is essentially the same thing: a federation.”
You convinced me for a moment, and I guess it’s still poorly explained on-screen even in the best case scenario. But then again, maybe Zero wants a real federation and not just whatever the Chinese Federation has degenerated into, despite being called the same thing in theory.
You could say that renewing the political system, by re-founding it, is a way to make something old “new and shiny” again.
Basically, an old and corrupted Federation, whose inner workings don’t really seem that good considering how other states within it want to back Zero’s plan, would be replaced by a new and hopefully more federal form of government, akin to whatever the United States is supposed to represent. Or at least that’s what I can get out of it in a more or less constructive way, not just “lol at the writers”, as fun it sounds.
On the other hand, while I liked the episode as a whole, I agree that the escape plan wasn’t really well executed, nor the scene of Xingke getting the upper hand on Lelouch using the mud, if it comes to that. Both were a bit rushed, and I suppose the build-up for many of these plans is left out for the sake of including other subplots and scenes, using as as little time as possible. It bothers me slightly, not enough to hate the show or what have you.
Finally, the Tiandi Bashiba-lu bit is pretty irrelevant to me, since it’s all fictional and only tangentially related to any real historical reference.
I was wondering why Suzaku didn’t notice C.C. in the pic either. Teleporting/Clone Lelouch has confused me too. Was it explained whether Xingke was bleeding because of the stress put on his body by Shen Hu(ala Graham, Gundam 00) or because he’s deathly ill and will die at a really clenching moment just as he’s won a battle (ala Kimimaru, Naruto)? I might have missed it.
Coughing up blood is a bad sign. Maybe lung cancer or esophageal/stomach cancer or a big stomach ulcer.
Seriously… What does the hair do?
possibly for tentacle raep.
Overall, I don’t like this episode :[, Rollo is disturbing.
The ball gag was worth it. The answer to all of lifes problems is a ball gag.
oh nice episode especially when lelouch/zero was outwitted by xingke in strategy hehehehehe..
People used to compare this to Death Note. I don’t see that anymore, and I’m not surprised. I’m contemplating dropping this series. :(
Camario:
Not that the “United States of Japan” is in any way, or can it possibly be, a federation. The writers are clearly throwing terms in for the sake of it.
Amnestic:
Shenhu was built by Rakshata’s team in India at the same time as Guren. It was not put into use because they couldn’t find a pilot who can handle it. Somehow it has now fallen in Chinese hands. Possible double-crossing by the Indias.
So Xingke isn’t ill, it’s just the Knightmare. That said, do people actually vomit blood due to high g-force?
Artemis:
Yes it’s a different show now.
I agree; Zero’s intelligence seems to be dropping steadily…
Dark mirage you have to realise that the US isnt even in existance.
Its a sunrise thing to vomit blood with high g-force :p
This ep just felt like trying to mix oil with water-it doesnt happen. Lelouch’s drop in IQ has occured ever since nunnally made the USJ (successfully)-hes got problems of his own atm.
Overall wasn’t that bad… but just not one of the better eps. One of the only eps which I would say would be inferior to Gundam 00’s eps
Its lost its DN-ess D:…. I mean lelouch’s stratergy was horribly poor, while Xingke’s one was the bloody obvious one to use. They could have done something, a bit more complex than that!!! If you’re going to show Zero’s inferiority, dont dumb him down sunrise!
Wtf is with close quater combat stratergies anyway?
陵 = lu??
兄弟,é‚£å—念lingå“Ž
Sorry, wrong Wikipedia article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Dynasty_Tombs
[Edit] I see you’ve edited.
I’m pretty sure Xingke is ill. He was already coughing blood in a previous episode.
And I’ve heard ***spoilers*** that the Lelouch back at the academy is actually Sayoko. Yes, I know. Suspension of disbelief…sinking…
Anyhow, I hope the story progression and overall plot improves soon. It’s barely halfway into the season, after all.
DarkMirage:
“So Xingke isn’t ill, it’s just the Knightmare. That said, do people actually vomit blood due to high g-force?”
Actually he was shown coughing blood in a previous episode. I think it was in episode 8, when he was on a plane or something like that.
Apparently, the hair is for defensive purposes. Check 19:06 of episode 10. Toudou used one of the braids to block Shen Hu’s sword. >.<
By the way, aren’t you guys criticizing this episode a bit too much? While it is true that the United States of America essentially utilizes a federation system, keep in mind that (1) U.S.A. does not exist; (2) Zero intended to create an united axis of power in which China is an integrated part of; (3) Rather than changing the fact that China is currently a union comprising a number of partially self-governing states, Zero intends to change China’s leadership; (4)If one interprets the current corrupted Chinese government system as a “system” and Zero’s government as a separate “system”, perhaps that would make better sense. A change of leadership may bring radical change to a country’s overall system.
The so called Zero’s “dumbed down” tactic that you guys are criticizing is appropriate for the situation. It was meant to be real time combat tactic without (much) beforehand preparation. Anything more complex than that will send the audience flaming the writer for creating a strategy so complex that it is logic defective considering that Zero had no time for preparation considering that he originally was not planning to make a last stand here.
Shen Hu is capable of reaching high level velocity, no need to flame on the fact that he caught up with the Black Knights easily. It’s obvious that Xingke is going to be dead before this show ends, probably due to a suicide attack once he realizes that he is out of time. Pity. The guy is presumably plagued by an incurable disease. That inevitable fate of his is gonna make a certain loli cry.
Lots of people are complaining about Code Geass’s cliffhangers, yet you want even more momentum/build up for a 25 episode series. My opinion? No thanks! Between momentum/build up or actual advancement of the overall plot, I’d rather pick the latter. There are only 15 episodes left and I want every single minutes spend for the best of reasons. Besides, what was episode 9 for if the director had no intention of building up momentum?
Artemis:
Drop it if you don’t like it. Personally, I have difficulty drawing the Death Note/Code Geass connection. How are the two even similar? The Kallen moment separated Lelouch from Light Yagami completely. Aren’t you simply getting influenced by what “other” people think instead of your own thoughts?
Wow, that river plan was ingenious. I mean, the Chinese troops weren’t affected at all, while the OotBK was totally crushed and STILL a whole bunch of them survived. Thank god I switched my brain on only after the episode^^
dukethegold
Individual actions may make sense if you explain them within the context of the story. But you overlook the fact that the story itself is arbitrary and therefore the situations, which the characters find themselves in and which they are forced to react to, are entirely dependant on the creativity of the writers.
It’s not good enough for the characters’ actions to “make sense” in the context of the story, because the plot itself is problematic. If a good novel were simply a series of actions that are automatically pre-determined by actions that precede them, then writer creativity would be entirely superfluous. Not to mention the fact that the actual quality of the presentation is not yet accounted for.
In episode 9 and 10, the set-up so far has been contrived and uninspired at best, a clear departure from the character-driven storytelling of the first season.
washawa:
Oh right I totally forgot about that.
Labbes:
Not as ingenious as Zero ordering his main cannons to fire and clear out the entire map only after he has lured his opponents into a false sense of security by allowing them to wipe out a good portion of his ground troops.
I guess firing those cannons must cost a lot more than a bunch of Knightmare Frames, or something.
Nah Xingke has got a heart problem and everytime he thinks of his loli empress he coughs up blood due to his heart beating faster.
Seriously, the soft toys C.C likes reminds me of Skippy peanut butter.
1.) Xing-Ke is sick as can be proven when Zero reflects on his strategic and tactical skills (comparing his gifts to both himself and Suzakus talents) and Xing-Ke’s subordinate responds (with amazing timing considering none of them are apparently talking to any of the others) that the heavens have given him a little amount of time.
Zero: Has heavens given him both gifts?
Xing-Ke’s subordinate: They have decided not to give him “time”, however…
2.) Just because his strategy was “simple” does not mean it was not the most effective available, we don’t know the terrain or any other circumstances. And based on how how well it went at first, it’s clear that if Xing-Ke hadn’t been used by the Chinese leaders Zero probably would have succeeded in his escape.
3.) The United States is only a Federalism insofar as we have a Federal government, who essentially strong arms the state governments in many areas (for example, most drug, traffic (besides interstate, that actually is controlled by federal), and educational laws are decided by the state governments, but the federal government threatens (defacto) to withhold funds and grants if they do not meat their requirements (like funding for roads).
In fact the united states isn’t even a democracy (in actuality only Athens ever possessed such a system). But because we poses a representative system, it’s actually a Republic (like Rome). True Democracy would be each eligible voter having a direct vote on all matters, instead of voting for senators and representatives (and the president) and them deciding the laws and policies for us.
LilBinary:
1) Makes sense. I figured she was referring to the fact that Xingke’s plan was foiled so early, but I guess it’s the terminal illness.
2) The story decides all of that. The writers created a crappy set-up and the resulting battle was yawn-inducing. And of course, Zero could have fired his overpowered main cannons first before ordering his troops to charge, but I guess that makes too much sense?
3) Republics and federations aren’t exclusive. USA is officially a federal republic. The Russian Federation is a federal republic. The Federal Republic of Germany is, obviously, a federal republic.
My point is that the term “United States” does not refer to a political system that is any different from the one implied by the term “federation”. The Chinese Federation is a federal republic. A United States of China would still be a federal republic.
Also, I would argue that the modern usage of the term “democracy” covers both direct and representative democracy, which would include most republics. That is the definition to which the majority of English speakers adhere.
DarkMirage:
“So Xingke isn’t ill, it’s just the Knightmare. That said, do people actually vomit blood due to high g-force?â€
not sure, it is known that high g-forces can cause damage to ones internal organs, and can actually be fatal in some cases, blood from the mouth is a trope used in TV/film/comics/etc to symbolise internal damage to ones body, particularly the heart and/or lungs.
here’s what wikipedia has to say on G-forces
Human tolerance to g-force
Human tolerances depend on the magnitude of the g-force, the length of time it is applied, the direction it acts, the location of application, and the posture of the body.
The human body is flexible and deformable, particularly the softer tissues. A hard slap on the face may impose hundreds of g locally but not produce any real damage; a constant 16 g for a minute, however, may be deadly. When vibration is experienced, relatively low peak g levels can be severely damaging if they are at the resonance frequency of organs and connective tissues.
To some degree, g-tolerance can be trainable, and there is also considerable variation in innate ability between individuals. In addition, some illnesses, particularly cardiovascular problems, reduce g-tolerance.
Vertical axis g-force
Aircraft, in particular, exert g-force along the axis aligned with the spine. This causes significant variation in blood pressure along the length of the subject’s body, which limits the maximum g-forces that can be tolerated.
In aircraft, g-forces are often towards the feet, which forces blood away from the head; this causes problems with the eyes and brain in particular. As g-forces increase brownout/greyout can occur, where the vision loses hue. If g-force is increased further tunnel vision will appear, and then at still higher g, loss of vision, while consciousness is maintained. This is termed “blacking out”. Beyond this point loss of consciousness will occur, sometimes known as “g-loc” (“loc” stands for “loss of consciousness”). While tolerance varies, a typical person can handle about 5 g (49m/s²) before g-loc’ing, but through the combination of special g-suits and efforts to strain muscles—both of which act to force blood back into the brain—modern pilots can typically handle 9 g (88 m/s²) sustained (for a period of time) or more (see High-G training).
Resistance to “negative” or upward gees, which drive blood to the head, is much lower. This limit is typically in the −2 to −3 g (−20 m/s² to −30 m/s²) range. The subject’s vision turns red, referred to as a red out. This is probably because capillaries in the eyes swell or burst under the increased blood pressure.
Humans can survive up to about 20 to 35 g instantaneously (for a very short period of time). Any exposure to around 100 g or more, even if momentary, is likely to be lethal, although the record is 179 g. It has also been said that the height of a person can be shortened if high g-force is sustained for a continuous amount of time.
Horizontal axis g-force
The human body is considerably better at surviving g-forces that are perpendicular to the spine. In general when the g-force pushes the body backwards (colloquially known as “eyeballs in”) a much higher tolerance is shown than when g-force is pushing the body forwards (“eyeballs out”) since blood vessels in the retina appear more sensitive in the latter direction.
Early experiments showed that untrained humans were able to tolerate 17 g eyeballs-in (compared to 12 g eyeballs-out) for several minutes without loss of consciousness or apparent long-term harm.
I agree on all points, it is because the writers decreed it to be so, but they also know whats happening later, and I try to think of anything unexplained in the best possible light
And as far as republics, federations, and democracies – agreed, a republic is a FORM OF democracy because voting is involved, I was just trying to point out, as others have, that just because the Chinese Federation calls themselves a federation, doesn’t actually mean they are a federation, to further exemplify that point… the actual china today calls themselves a republic, but anyone who knows anything of modern china knows that it is far from a republic (thank god for Hong-Kong or they would be complete liars, so i guess their coming around)
but as dukethegold put it, changing it from its current form of government into another form of government that could be called a federation doesn’t mean its the same form of government (most noticeably the obvious corruption w/ the Eunich (sp?) Generals in the Chinese Federations current form)
and to dukethegold, I believe concerning his coughing of blood is to an illness, this is not the first episode where he has done it, and I believe once he even did it while sitting in a luxury jet with his subordinate (and she didn’t cough up blood) and every time he does he says something to the effect of “Just a little more time”…
Something I forgot earlier, after watching the episode at 4AM. How did Zero actually escape? Weren’t the Knights of the Round deployed, or at least ready for deployment, before they made the getaway into the mountain or am I messing up times in my head. Zino’s knightmare with the whole “turning into a plane” capability should surely be able to catch up to what Zero’s land…fortress…thing.
The fact that Zero didn’t consider the river and mud as a possible weapon against him, or one to be used by him, completely reverses his ingenius ploy in using the gas at the bottom of the sea to foam up all of Britannia’s ships. Both battles took place after Nunnally was all “Z’omg Zero sucks. Suzaku <3 <3 <3”, but for some reason Zero’s tactical skills have been removed on the move over to China.
And when are we going to see Todo do some tactics? He’s meant to be this guy who pulled off a miracle victory defeating knightmares with none of his own, yet for some reason Lelouch is the only one giving orders. Todo’s a former general for God’s sake. How did no one else consider the river? Not C.C., no Todo, no one.
@Amnestic, actually Lelouch did consider the river. That is why he reduced the amount of water in the lake. However, what he didn’t know was that the land they were fighting on was unstable and collapses easily.
“@Amnestic, actually Lelouch did consider the river. That is why he reduced the amount of water in the lake. However, what he didn’t know was that the land they were fighting on was unstable and collapses easily.”
But if he considered the river, why not consider that water+dirt=mud. Knightmares are heavy to begin with, having even a bit of water would cause them to sink, and Lelouch should have, and in my eyes would have, considered this. This is the guy pegged in the show as an 18 year old guy who is one of the best tacticians and most intelligent and cunning people in the entire world, and yet he didn’t predict his knightmares getting sunk into the mud as a possibility?
In the Code Geass universe, Federation is pretty much exclusive.
The major difference between CF and USJ? What Zero propose is to put people who have balls to helm the important post rather than some chao ah gua who keep leeching off the country.
@Amnestic, SnooSnoo, DarkMirage: on Lelouch’s “degrading genius”
I personally don’t see it unbelievable, seeing that things are becoming more complicated. He did take action in reducing the water from whatever that river’s name was, though I’d say I can’t believe he let Kallen get caught. Also, I’d say he was emotionally(?) disturbed by her capture, perhaps impairing his judgment to some extent.
What I would like to see, however, is for Lelouche to redeem himself with whatever his plan is for the next episode. I don’t know what he and Diethard have up their sleeves but I expect it to be big. Then again, the writers have time and again built up suspense for endings only to be disappointed with the first few minutes of the next episode.
Has any1 notice that Anya Alstreim(Knight of Six/gaint-knightmare) has a child picture of Zero/Lelouch.(not very sure about that)
The next thing Zero will like have like a whole room of women, all w8ing for him
“Has any1 notice that Anya Alstreim(Knight of Six/gaint-knightmare) has a child picture of Zero/Lelouch.(not very sure about that)”
Access to the internet. She’s obsessed with keeping records, so for some reason that means she has pictures of the royal family, including child-Lelouch. She’ll know his name as he was a Prince, and recognise the similarities in appearance between the two pictures. I’m not sure how that’ll develop into an important plot point, Anya and Lelouch have never met each other. Anya and Zero have never conversed directly. At the moment it’s just a minor point of interest.
Also, how did you manage to spell Alstreim perfectly and then misspell ‘giant’?
“The next thing Zero will like have like a whole room of women, all w8ing for him”
Zero’s concubines, see a few episode reviews back. Kaguya, Kallen and C.C.
DarkMirage
I wholeheartedly concur with your general assessment. A defective plot would indeed result in a substandard story of such dire level that can only be appropriately described as an appalling action on part of the writer. The charms and logic that the characters may display in reaction to the immediate situation would also be downplayed if the faulty situation itself is not neither physically nor mentally demanding enough for them to demonstrated the full extent of their characteristic potentials. However, that’s also exactly what separates an anime from a novel. Face it, if episode 9 and 10 were to be summarized in written format, I probably would be reluctant to read the substandard text. But if one incorporate the faulty plotlines into 24 minutes worth of visual material, the end result differs greatly in comparison. The entertainment of Code Geass is on a completely separate level, if one DOES indeed ACCOUNT the factor of visual presentation. The storyline was written with that particular purpose in mind, which is to create a story that is designed for animation purpose-something that can be fitted into 24 minutes and nonetheless entertaining. Flame about it if you will, but nobody can righteously deny the fact that Code Geass scores a solid 10/10 in the entertainment department, and that’s what sells toys, DVDs, commercials and pays for future Sunrise series and C.C.’s pizzas.
A overly complicated plot mingled with complex human interactions, which is season 1, requires large portion of the 24 minutes worth of screentime. The condensation and limitation of the story were very much due to necessity. In season 1, the theme was Lelouch V.S. Area 11. In season 2, the theme is Lelouch V.S. The World. In order to reach a logical end conclusion of such a story of worldwide scale, interactions have to be sacrificed in order to make way for combat action. One can not take over the world with petty words alone. In season 1, we didn’t get any decent Knightmare V.S. Knightmare combat till the 50 seconds long battle between Lancelot and Guren in episode 11 partially due to that very reason. It’s simply a matter of preference. Do we prefer the interactive style of season 1 or the combative style of season 2?
Secondly, on the regard of your apparent irritation toward the seemly illogical fact that Zero held up the usage of the Hadron cannons till the very last moment. A logical deduction would be that Zero was reserving his final trump card for the worst possible scenario. Think about it. If Zero fired the Hadron cannons at the beginning of the battle, obliterating… say… 30 of the 500 Chinese Frames, it would have made very little difference to the overall outcome of the battle. However, as a direct result, Xingke would not have attempted to surround the battleship with a tight lined up formation as his final move to defeat Zero. In which case, the Hadron Cannons’ effectiveness during the retreat would have been reduced greatly. The safe retreat of neither the battleship nor Black Knights’ trapped Knightmare Frames could have been secured if that was the scenario. In essence, Zero made the correct decision by shielding the Hadron cannons’ existence till the very last moment.
LilBinary
Yeah, Xingke is most definitely terminally ill of an incurable disease. My bet is on some sort of cancer. Let me guess. There will be all sorts of big and dramatic moments when Xingke seems to be near death. Then at episode 25, the one with the happy ending, Nina succeeds in incorporating her atomic technology for medical purposes and cures Xingke of his incurable disease with radiation therapy. And of course, how can we forget? Xingke will have a formal wedding with Tianzi (seriously, China allows marriage between a man and an underaged girl?)with ex-party crusher better known as Zero as the best man.
I want that ending for some reason. It will be funny to watch.
Amnestic
The Chinese army is slow in mobility(just look at that huge tank thingy! I would be unpleasantly surprised if that mobile fortress is capable of reaching merely 40 miles per hour). Initially the Chinese did not request for Britannia aid(which is a good idea. Requesting foreign aid is essentially a show of the nation’s incapability and a symbolic surrender to the whims of the foreign power). Britannia could not interfere with the battle due to diplomacy reasons. So the Knights of Rounds and Schnizel did not enter combat till the very end of episode 10.
Asides, Avalon can move only about as fast as Zero’s flagship. You don’t really honestly expect Tristan to solo the entire army of the Black Knights, did you?
Toudo is inferior to Zero in term of tactical capabilities. His role in the army is to relay Zero’s orders and execute them with perfect precision. Zero deals with the big picture and Toudou takes cares the on field command, as demonstrated in season 1’s finale.
Zero did consider the river. It’s just that properly maintained roads are not supposed to turn into mud. It’s all thanks to Chinese corruption, baby!
100% that Anya is connected to Marianna in some way. If you have checked out the most recent NewType magazines and its customary spoilers, you would discover that Marianna (when she was a girl) had the EXACT same hairstyle as Anya. Is Anya an illegitimate daughter of Marianna? Or is she a really big admirer of Marianna similar to Cornelia and had some sort of relationship with Lelouch’s family back when she was…say…6?
“Asides, Avalon can move only about as fast as Zero’s flagship. You don’t really honestly expect Tristan to solo the entire army of the Black Knights, did you? ”
Considering that it’s piloted by the Knight of Three and that the only real opposition he might have in combat is Todo, yes, actually. At least enough to slow them down. I’m not sure what Mortred’s flight speed is, but the range on her cannon is fairly considerable, enough to do some sniping duty at least. If she positioned herself correctly she could have disabled the flagship engines while doing very little damage to any passengers therein.
“Toudo is inferior to Zero in term of tactical capabilities. His role in the army is to relay Zero’s orders and execute them with perfect precision. Zero deals with the big picture and Toudou takes cares the on field command, as demonstrated in season 1’s finale.”
All right, I’ll concede that since being part of the Black Knights he’s been a relayer of orders as opposed to giving one, but he’s a highly respected general. Even if he wasn’t giving orders, it must have sprung to mind the terrain they were fighting on.
“Initially the Chinese did not request for Britannia aid(which is a good idea. Requesting foreign aid is essentially a show of the nation’s incapability and a symbolic surrender to the whims of the foreign power).”
They pretty much showed symbolic surrender when the chief Eunuch’s sold out the Empress for ‘positions of nobility’ or however it was described. I was under the impression that both Schneizel and the Chief Eunuch’s were pushing for the Tian Zi’s return and marriage, and as such Mr. 2nd Prince would be more than willing to deploy his three Knights of the Round. Oh, and it seems quite poor form for the Avalon *war*ship to only be equipped with three suits, where are the mass production Vincents?
“100% that Anya is connected to Marianna in some way. If you have checked out the most recent NewType magazines and its customary spoilers, you would discover that Marianna (when she was a girl) had the EXACT same hairstyle as Anya. Is Anya an illegitimate daughter of Marianna? Or is she a really big admirer of Marianna similar to Cornelia and had some sort of relationship with Lelouch’s family back when she was…say…6?”
Haven’t found anywhere to buy newtype, though your speculations could hold some weight. That’d give Lelouch one legitimate sibling and two illegitimate. His family is growing by the episode!
“Zero did consider the river. It’s just that properly maintained roads are not supposed to turn into mud. It’s all thanks to Chinese corruption, baby! ”
It’s quite clearly a dirt/desert track, you can see as such in one of DM’s screenshots up the page. I generally count a road as having some paving/tarmac. That’s just a dirt track which has been carved out through frequent use.
The Knight of Rounds are charged with the duty of protecting Schnizel. Enter combat on their own would endanger the safety of the royal prince. Let’s NOT forget the fact that the Britannians came for a wedding party, not a full scaled war. Normally, three Knights of Rounds would be sufficient for any situation save for the full scaled war. Judging from episode 10, while Zero and Xingke were duking it out, Avalon was hovering above the Forbidden City. Even if Tristan, Modred and Lancelot chased after Zero together, the chance is that by the time they catch up with Zero, they would be out of energy, and be defeated in a method similar to Kallen’s downfall. Once again, the Avalon can move no faster than Zero’s ship. So it sucks to not have GN Drives equipped.
Asides, Zero’s tactic mind is far more dangerous than any Knight of Rounds. Schenizel is a necessity if they intend to defeat Zero once and for all. The last time I check, Schenizel can neither fly nor teleport.
Actually, Lelouch has a lot of siblings already…like 50 of them.
Well, at least roads/dirt tracks weren’t supposed to turn into quicksand if they get wet! And definitely not that quickly! OMG, just how far reaching was that corruption anyway? Was ANY money spend on the road at all? They probably just removed all the trees and called it a road. Besides, there was a bridge in the middle of the road(or used to be). Any sane man would assume that the Chinese put at least 10000 bucks into the construction. Sadly, Lelouch is too sane to realize that the Chinese construction workers aren’t sane at all.
“The Knight of Rounds are charged with the duty of protecting Schnizel. Enter combat on their own would endanger the safety of the royal prince. Let’s NOT forget the fact that the Britannians came for a wedding party, not a full scaled war. Normally, three Knights of Rounds would be sufficient for any situation save for the full scaled war. Judging from episode 10, while Zero and Xingke were duking it out, Avalon was hovering above the Forbidden City. Even if Tristan, Modred and Lancelot chased after Zero together, the chance is that by the time they catch up with Zero, they would be out of energy, and be defeated in a method similar to Kallen’s downfall. Once again, the Avalon can move no faster than Zero’s ship. So it sucks to not have GN Drives equipped. ”
One Knight is more than enough to defend the Avalon considering the entirety of the Chinese Army is on their side. If they would be low on energy when reaching the battlefield, either request energy fillers from the Chinese or take off from the Avalon with them in hand, so you could switch them out for fresh ones just before you caught up with the Black Knight flagship. The Black Knights were in full retreat anyway, and if the Knights touched down to recharge while surrounded and defended by the Chinese, the Black Knights can hardly get the jump on them while recharging.
And yeah, lack of GN drives sucks. I’m waiting for the ‘infinite’ energy technology to be activated, like the Strike->Freedom transfer of SEED.
“Asides, Zero’s tactic mind is far more dangerous than any Knight of Rounds. Schenizel is a necessity if they intend to defeat Zero once and for all. The last time I check, Schenizel can neither fly nor teleport.”
The Hadron cannons needed time to recharge, something Schneizel or Lloyd would know considering that they were involved in making them in the first place, they’re slow aiming and fairly easy to avoid. Just as easy as the Radiation Surge of the Guren. As stated the only other major weapon of the Black Knights at that point was a bunch of non-flight capable frames, Todo and his two remaining Swords. I’d fancy my chances at two Knights of Round being able to take down the Black Knights at that point. Kallen was the best defence they had and they blew it by failing to recharge the Guren fast enough.
They have radios too, long range ones undoubtedly, so Schneizel could direct the entire battle from the Avalon hovering miles away.
åˆè¡†å›½æ—¥æœ¬ != 日本åˆè¡†å›½
It’s not “United States of Japan”, but a sort of “Japan, part of United States”
And the same for China.
Amnestic
No, not really. The Chinese was NOT on their side. The two nations had a history mutual hatred. Tian Zi’s abduction was frankly none of Britannia’s business. The Chinese have their pride and attempted to settle this ordeal by their own strength. Britannia could not interfere with China’s warfare without permission. They were granted permission in the end when the Xingke failed to decimate Zero permanently and Enunches decided to pass the torch to the Britannians. You have to understand, the world of politics isn’t really 100% logical. It’s a game of personal pride and honour. Anybody knows that if the Knights of Rounds join force with the Chinese, they would have sufficient military strength to obliterate the Black Knights. Then again, anybody knows that if the Chinese Federation joined force with EU against Britannia in the first place, they wouldn’t be in this mess right now. But are they willing to do it? No? Why? Politics. Religions (like cults) don’t make any sense either, but people believe in them. Don’t ask, don’t tell.
Regarding your Hadron Cannons argument, Gawain was able to fire without the necessity of recharging. It’s uncertain as to why Zero’s flagship can not fire in succession. The chance is that the Hadron Cannons require only about couple seconds of interval between firing. Besides, the Hadron Cannons are not the major issue here.
Ever heard of ECM? You know, the radio jamming technology that everybody deployed for every single major battle in season 1 and season 2, or were you skipping lines?
“No, not really. The Chinese was NOT on their side. The two nations had a history mutual hatred. Tian Zi’s abduction was frankly none of Britannia’s business. The Chinese have their pride and attempted to settle this ordeal by their own strength. Britannia could not interfere with China’s warfare without permission. They were granted permission in the end when the Xingke failed to decimate Zero permanently and Enunches decided to pass the torch to the Britannians. You have to understand, the world of politics isn’t really 100% logical. It’s a game of personal pride and honour. Anybody knows that if the Knights of Rounds join force with the Chinese, they would have sufficient military strength to obliterate the Black Knights. Then again, anybody knows that if the Chinese Federation joined force with EU against Britannia in the first place, they wouldn’t be in this mess right now. But are they willing to do it? No? Why? Politics. Religions (like cults) don’t make any sense either, but people believe in them. Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
I would say that’s bloody stupid, but I suppose that only supports your point on it being illogical. I can’t fight illogical actions with logic, so I’ll have to concede that ‘Pride’ is more important than actually winning.
“Regarding your Hadron Cannons argument, Gawain was able to fire without the necessity of recharging. It’s uncertain as to why Zero’s flagship can not fire in succession. The chance is that the Hadron Cannons require only about couple seconds of interval between firing. Besides, the Hadron Cannons are not the major issue here.”
I think the Hadron cannons are a major issue. They’re the main weapon and defense that the flagship has. If they can’t use those enough to defend against the Tristan, then it’s a fairly major tactical point which Schneizel should have capitalised on. Okay, just rewatched the ending of 10 now that I’m home and have access again, and Brittania doesn’t get pulled in by the Eunuch’s until after nightfall. That said, Schneizel should have been able to predict this as soon as word got back that the flagship was retreating, and as such should have deployed Tristan/Lancelot/Mordred to at least track it or prevent the black knights from entering the previous Tian Zi’s burial site. I’m fairly sure even without a the Chinese requesting, they’d be glad that he’d prevented the Black Knights from entering it. Though, as you’ve said, pride may win out in this case.
“Ever heard of ECM? You know, the radio jamming technology that everybody deployed for every single major battle in season 1 and season 2, or were you skipping lines?”
The chinese have radio contact and control over their troops from their lumbering ground fortress, which means they can relay radio messages to Xingke and their other Knightmares, which in turn means that Schneizel could relay his messages through the chinese systems to his Knights.
Or if that doesn’t work, use flares. Sunrise likes flares to signal orders (mostly retreat though).
However you look at this combat, the only tactical person who pulled out all the stops to win was Xingke. Schneizel held back because of politics and Zero was held back because of, in my opinion, an overlook which shouldn’t have occured.
That yellow blob thing, I think it’s Barbapapa
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=axqyy3fWjnM
Sorry…
It’s useless to debate such technicalities because such things are arbitrary. It’s a work of fiction.
The truth is that the writers wanted Zero to be defeated by Xingke because it’s a necessary part of the story.
All I am saying is that a good writer could’ve achieved that purpose through a more convincing and suspenseful set-up. That’s my only purpose in pointing out logical inconsistencies in the story: they detract from the point of the episode.
Within the context of the story, there is no logical reason why the cannon could not have been fired earlier. The fact that we have to resort to additional rationalization to convince ourselves that this is not a plot hole is proof of this episode’s sloppy writing.
It is one thing for Zero’s elaborate plans to fail and for him to be forced to adapt to the situation, it is another altogether for him to apparently forget that he has fricking huge cannons on his ship that could’ve wiped out a whole screen of enemy before they could attack his Knightmares.
Logical inconsistencies such as this detract from his character’s personality, upon which the entire show is dependant. You can argue that this is Sunrise’s way of showing that Zero is being distracted by his emotions or whatever, but if that is indeed the message, the fact that it is not properly conveyed through the episode itself is still a sign of substandard storytelling.
I always love the reviews from this site, they are so funny
>.. the current story arc is actually being written by the office janitor.
Seriously, I have been suspecting the same for some time now:P
I’m no expert on the technicalities of names for governments, but I have the notion that a federation is a group of very individualized states held together by a very shoddy central power, much like the colonies under the Articles of Confederation, or the Holy Roman Empire after the Reformation.
A “united states” on the other hand would be composed of a much less individualized group of states with a strong federal government ruling over as a supreme overlord. Like the US.
Those cannons were always slow charging, high energy weapons. Zero’s mecha even ran out of energy from constantly firing those damn things last season. And no, they were never fast firing weapons. The only reason it seems like a plot hole is because you guys are a bunch of nit-picky geeks. It was an action pack episode that was quite enjoyable.
Come on, putting logic in a mecha show? If you want, we can pick a part any battle in any anime or even in real life.
Take Iwo Jima from WW2, that battle had no strategic purpose and yet the Japanese fortified the island and the US sent marines to take it. In fact, the US could have just Gas the tunnels but instead they sent marines to their deaths to take a worthless island that had no strategic battle. Other routes could have been taken by bombers and they could have been given more fuel (oh, yes, the skip on the fuel for bombers).
My point being that even in real life some seriously stupid battles occur, even the most famous of battles can be stragically pointless ones. Another explain being the battle of new Orleans in the war of 1812 which occurred after the war techincally ended.
Finally, Todo is a “Tactical leader” which means he is good at command troops in battle. Zero is much better at being a “Strategic Leader” meaning he looks at the bigger picture and choose were the battles take place.
That redheaded mecha reminds me of Nadleeh from G00…..
Its a samurai mecha. Way cooler than a girl gunmecha.
I want to see Orange-kun again! That way we can all make some more orange jokes. He’s waiting, with his weird ass eye thingy, waiting to strike, orange style…
“Religions (like cults) don’t make any sense either, but people believe in them.”
If you are a religious extremist and take everything your religion teaches you word for word, then yes, religion makes no sense at all. Religion in its proper form is very valuable, however. If people would do what they are supposed to do with religion, which is gain a set of morals and values to live by, then things would be fine. However, so many screw up, taking things too exactly, and end up making stupid claims like not allowing homosexual rights, and use these claims to do stupid crap, like kill abortion doctors, or blow up kindergartens and innocent civilians.
I’m assuming that you are an atheist, you definately sound like one.