For anyone watching Code Geass R2 for plenty of good-old Knightmare fighting action, episode ten of the series will most likely be your nirvana. After kidnapping the empress Tian Zi at her wedding, the rest of the episode is almost entirely one long, pitched battle between the Order of the Black Knights and the Chinese Federation, with Zero and Xing Ke leading the respective forces.As per usual, Lelouch believes that he has everything planned out to perfection, but reckoned without the aforementioned Xing Ke and a Knightmare Frame that is equal to everything the Order of the Black Knights can throw at it. Things really begin to go awry for Lelouch when Kallen and her Guuren are taken hostage, which throws up a couple of very interesting scenarios - Firstly, does Lelouch risk his own objectives to save Kallen, which again potentially hints at a shift in the relationship between the two? Secondly, we see Diethard trying to wield some power within the organisation himself, putting his options to Zero in such a way that he believes Lelouch will only be able to follow his course of action. It's a little momentary coup that fails to work, with Lelouch ignoring his suggestion and in fact strengthening the respect of his charges in one fell swoop. However, his brave decision appears to have put him into even greater strife...While I've always been more than happy with some of Code Geass R2's slower-paced episodes which allow Lelouch's slightly twisted genius to shine through, episode ten of the series proves that this show can manage to do an action-packed, Knightmare-centric instalment without detracting from the quick thinking, arrogance and strategic genius that Lelouch is all about. It's also nice to see that these traits don't always pay off, and indeed occasionally lead him into trouble - If Lelouch always won the day things would soon get dull, but throughout Code Geass' lifespan so far you've never been quite sure which way the penny will drop when it teeters on the brink in an episode such as this. Indeed, we'll have to wait until next week to find out how things pan out, thus leaving me on the edge of my seat for another seven days.If that wasn't enough to occupy my thoughts with, what on Earth was going on in the episodes final scene? It appears that Lelouch has yet another trick up his sleeve that we haven't been party to, and I'm very curious to find out more about what he's managed to pull off here... Episode eleven can't come soon enough.
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