Recap: The Ragnarok Connection

Hello everyone. I am finally almost done with my look at Code Geass R2; and I intend to finish the remaining five episodes over the course of four more recaps. I have much to do before the end of the year, so let's open up "The Ragnarok Connection!"

I must also point out that I have finally reintroduced screenshots for this recap (Hurrah!), but that still means I have to show all the details of this nonsensical story. (Hurroo.)


We open on not another introdump, but “Anya” stopping short of using a pen to doodle on Suzaku a la Jigglypuff; saying he “woke up too soon.” Not soon enough, more likely.

As for when CC asks them what they're doing: now I think they're deliberately messing with me by putting "Anya" in a revealing flight suit and CC in the same combo of a tank top, hot pants and big boots she's been wearing for a while now; but the fanservice is honestly the least of the problems I have right now.

Also, remember what I said last time? Well, now it turns out that "Marianne the Flash" is inside Anya; and I will get into how truly absurd this is very soon.

Once again, I am skipping the tonally-inappropriate theme song and putting something else on. I have much bigger fish to fry with this episode as the title card comes up.

As Kallen and the other Black Knights determine their next move; Lelouch finally confronts his father the Emperor about what happened to his mother and what he has planned to do next. Wait till you see: it's terrible.

Before that, we have this muddled dialog about "lying" and "common sense," and I will remind everyone that the events are following the activation of FLEIJA and untold casualties and property damage. Bottom line, it sounds like a political science paper written after a night of bong loads and shots of Jack. 

The symbolism involving the masks also gets worse in this episode, with one of the few things Lelouch and the Emperor agreeing on is that neither of them can take another step without their "respective personas." That might actually be interesting, but I honestly don't think it will delve into the genius of those games at all.

You'll never see it COMING!

The Emperor continues his quasi-pretentious waffling like a doddering fool, ending on the oversimplified platitude "When we understand each other, conflict will disappear." I only wish it were that simple, but even then, it would be pretty fracking boring like that.

Even Lelouch isn't buying this garbage anymore, dismissing his father's words as "impractical metaphysical claptrap."

Lelouch would be great, if not a bit over-dramatic at Cinema Sins.

Anyway, it seems the titular "Ragnarok Connection" will grant the emperor control over every living being in the entire world; since he's apparently not satisfied with everyone he's already ruling over. I honestly hope that the remaster will spend less time on this faux-losophical BS and more time on actually making sure the concepts they're dealing with are internally consistent.

Want proof? When trying to determine their next move and how to proceed with CC's newly-restored "Code," Marianne is able to leave Anya's body and enter the Sword of Akasha. This is part of what I mentioned last time, and I will expand on how bad this is in a moment.

So, after all this time, it turns out that Marianne vi Britannia, Lelouch's mother and the whole reason for his conquest; is alive! If you've been following me this long, you'll know why I'm going to get very angry at this and what happens afterward.

Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?

This reveal not only COMPLETELY undermines the events of this season and most of the narrative up to this point; it's a poorly-done twist on its own in a series full of them! The same thing also apparently happened to the Emperor's own mother! For shit's sake, why is matricide always the go-to plot in these kind of stories?! 

Moreover, Charles' aim to "create a world without lies" is totally meaningless and ill-conceived when his entire conquest is built almost entirely on lies and deceit! Not only was VV the real architect of Marianne's assassination, it turns out that her consciousness was planted in Anya when she was a young transfer student! So, apparently her Geass worked the same way as Spock being able to put his consciousness into someone else, but way more nonsensical. 

It is here I managed to pinpoint the exact moment where this anime lost all chance of redemption. To say the franchise jumped the shark, to me; would be an affront to an act I find fun and a sea creature I find fascinating.

I mean, in the course of this one 22-minute episode alone; they've managed to render the events of the previous season and the preceding 20 episodes entirely pointless. It's a key reason why this season is so polarizing; and I'm not even halfway through this thing.

Moreover, while Lelouch is understandably livid about what his parents have done; he's more angry that they used him as a pawn in their sick games than the fact that, you know; they ended up causing untold amounts of damage and killed numerous people.

As the Emperor sets his plan in motion, it turns out one of the images that flashes onscreen translates to "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." That should have been a disclaimer for every episode I've done so far, and it would have been more effective than the endless exposition and introdumps. 

What's done is done, it feels so bad, what once was happy now is sad, I'll never love again! My world is ending!

CC and Suzaku then enter the Sword of Akasha, and if you think that this is actually going to lead to a meaningful confrontation between everyone here, well; you definitely gave the suits too much credit. Honestly, it's like they ran the script for this teleplay through a shredder; then put the remains together and ran the show as-is.

So, not only does the Emperor try to just straight-up kill his son, it turns out that Lelouch has a second Geass at his disposal; which causes him to disintegrate his parents! I'm kind of used to things not being set up and just being pulled out of thin air, so I might as well start wrapping up while Lelouch pulls a Thanos on the Sword of Akasha.

You should have gone for the head. 

So, we close this messy car crash of a twist episode with Lelouch declaring himself the new Emperor. Three guesses to what comes next, and the first two don't count.

I'm so ronery, so ronery and sadry arone...

"The Ragnarok Connection" is essentially a microcosm of all the problems Code Geass R2 with its story in just one episode. While there were plot threads that didn't make sense before, the twists in this episode were just so poorly handled that they broke my willing suspension of disbelief, to the point they inspired me to write about it at length.

There are only a few more episodes of this dreck left, and I intend to finish them very soon, regardless of what happens with R3. Later.