Code Geass: Rozé Recaptures – Episodes 11-12

SUNRISE／PROJECT G-ROZE Character design ©2006-2024 CLAMP・ST

The last three episodes of Rozé of the Recapture have taken me on an emotional journey. The tenth episode, “Purple Surf,” left me angry with its poor plot and concept. “Devastating Force” left me nearly paralyzed; Norland took down Catherine, and then Ash, standing still in his foul play and shooting lasers from his hands, knees, and face. There was some fuss about the Loki robot and the Situmpe Wall, but it didn’t matter. Now, as “Breaking Dawn” airs, I find myself… pensive. Peaceful, even.

“Breaking Dawn” picks up where “Devasting Force” left off, with Ash hurtling toward Earth, frozen in his attempts to save himself from despair and hurt in the face of Norland’s overwhelming power. Even if he could theoretically fight back, he would find himself unable to face the image of his father, a figure of unshakeable cruelty. Sakuya rescues him, and once they reach safety, the two talk, really talk, as Sakuya Sumeragi and Ash Phoenix, perhaps for the first time. They contemplate what brought them to this point, their goals, and how to move forward. Eventually, Ash asks Sakuya to give him a new Geass so he can protect her. She hesitates, realizing what it means to override another’s will and that such an act is an intrusion, but he insists. Eventually, she relents, ordering him to act as her knight and defeat Norland at all costs.

As I was watching, my first impulse was to joke about the two of them entering some sort of D/s lifestyle arrangement, but looking back, it's a pretty clever way to write the character. Ash is so deeply traumatized by Norland that he can't stand up to him. Even with his fighting ability and reflexes, his adoptive father still has such a psychological weight on him that he'll freeze up every time. Sakuya's Geass overrides that mental block, allowing him to defeat his adoptive father in battle and find peace.

The two move forward, combining Apollo and Artemis to defeat Norland and his Lokis, stopping the attack that turns humanity into blood-red mist. Honestly, the ensuing fight scene is excellent. The bug doesn't move much; it tends to stay in one place and shoot lasers from its limbs. To compensate for that, the camera tracks their high-energy movements as they dodge the beams, occasionally switching to cockpit shocks to emphasize the physical strain this puts Sakuya through and show how difficult it is. The two convey their observations of Foulbout's abilities in short sentences. Eventually, they overcome, and Ash impales the bug with Apollo's two swords, echoing Nichol's murder. Norland is dead and Lokis is no longer a threat.

This should have been a moment of triumph, but then Ash realized: there was no way they could safely return to the surface after all the energy they had just expended. He lost himself from Artemis and fell to Earth once more, this time having accomplished his goal. His breath shuddered as he said his final goodbyes, the camera holding steady as the Apollo grew smaller and smaller until it shattered into pieces in a flash of light. Finally, Sakuya groaned. Grief for the man she had once thought her enemy, for the man she had deceived and controlled, for the man who had forgiven her and, for so short a time, was the only person she could truly rely on. The man who, in another life, she might have loved.

And from here, the action begins. Kaguya gives a speech, describing humanity's efforts to recover from the devastation caused by Loki and Hokkaido's designation as an autonomous region. Narah is running an orphanage, fulfilling her dream of protecting white children, now with the help of Catherine. The Seven Shining Stars have disbanded. Haruka is spending time with her father. Sakuya leaves her voice-changing device and flowers on two graves in a field. Finally, before giving her first speech as the Empress of Hokkaido, she looks at herself in a mirror and uses Geass to silence herself, sealing her power forever.

This is the finale to a much better series: tight and focused, finding emotional dynamism to contextualize and inform the action. It almost works on its own, a short story about love blossoming on the battlefield for a brief moment before being cut short.

I've complained and complained about that Rozé. Recapture's episodes are too short to do everything they want to do. The show wants to take a maximalist approach when it simply doesn't have enough time, resulting in episodes randomly jumping between half-baked subplots. It needs to be at least twice as long so all the plot beats have room to breathe and the story has all the right connective tissue so the pathos feels earned instead of cheap. I'm all for that.

There is an alternative, however: a stripped-down version, similar to what we have here. Ultimately, nothing matters to Sakura or Catherine. Haruka's arc is an afterthought at best. The politics are immature and foreign. If we had twelve episodes, four movies of Sakuya and Ash dealing with their traumas and predicaments, with the Seven Shining Stars as supporting characters, it would be a very different but much better show. Instead of mimicking Lelouch of the Rebellion, repeating it in a way that only invites unflattering comparisons, this could be its own thing, quieter and less dramatic but memorable for its own strength.

But that's not the show we got. Instead, Rozé. of the Recapture is a model of mediocre ideas and overstuffing, destined to be forgotten by all but the most diehard Code Geass fans.

Episode 11 Rating:

Episode 12 Rating:

Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+, depending on your region.