Code Geass a Second Time: Episodes 18-21
On the phoenix, Ovid once wrote, "Most beings spring forth from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which reproduces itself." Some ancient myths even state that the phoenix could turn into a human. Rather than representing a creature, the phoenix represents the human's need to continually be reborn. Death is equated to despair in losing a term that one held desperately onto. Rebirth is the possibility to grow into a better person from that experience, or to subjugate one to that experience again and again until they can finally fulfill that role correctly.
Sadly, Suzaku falls in the latter category.
I never got around to discussing this previously, but I like to think that Suzaku fills out the Apollo archetype quite well. Of the four benevolent animals, Suzaku represented the sun seeing as it was the vermillion bird. And Apollo is a sun god who continually wants to be seen as the son in a hierarchy. He was known as the god of logic and reason, but he was also a god of law. "Lawmakers sought advice from Apollo as both the giver and interpreter of the law," Jean Shinoda Bolen said of Apollo in her book Gods in Every Man (which, I don't care how tiring it gets, I have to repeat the title in every post). Suzaku is very much a man of law, following orders as they are given to him, even if it means his death, and believing that he can change his society by Brittania's rules. But he also respects his opponents. Once he realizes that Kallen is one of the Black Knights, he approaches her to ask her to change sides rather than fight her. He doesn't want to fight if they aren't on the battlefield, but he also believes in Kallen's capacity for change. She, of course, would rather stab him, but it's a good move on his part.
Apollo archetypes, much like Athena archetypes, strive to have a Zeus figure in their lives. This is a need to, "live out the father's will." Bolen used the astronauts of the Apollo space program as an example: "They and the space program were like the god Apollo was to his father Zeus, carrying out the will of the father. They were extensions of the will of the president, and were the brightest reflections on a series of administrations." Like Apollo, Suzaku wants to carry out the will of Brittania; for he's already betrayed a father figure. The fact that he's killed his father seems to haunt Suzaku. He's willing to die for the will of Brittania to make up for it. This also manifests in his relationship with Euphy. Suzaku is offered a role as her knight, which means that he would effectively leave the role of son. After a botched mission (due to Lelouch cursing him, but we'll get to that), Suzaku informs Euphy that he can't be her knight, telling her the story of how he killed his father. It's as if he continually wants to be punished for his past. And for that, Suzaku will submit himself to that role over and over again.
Apollo also rode a chariot to bring in the sun, keeping time. The fact that Suzaku's most cherished item is a watch seems to play into this. Watches are instruments that keep order.
Suzaku's father's name is Genbu and I'm certain that wasn't accidental. The four beats were thought to protect Kyoto and represented each direction. Byakko was the white tiger, Seiryuu was the azure dragon, Suzaku the vermillion bird, and Genbu the snake-turtle hybrid. The turtle is often seen as a "long standing figure." Suzaku's father was a long standing figure, who refused to give in to Brittania. The only way Brittania would win was if Genbu died. Suzaku ended up killing him and it was covered as suicide.
There was also a story in China about Xuanwu, or what later became known as the snake-turtle. He was trying to achieve enlightenment and realized that he had to give up all that was human about himself in order to do so. He noticed that he was hungry and had to learn to cast out his stomach's needs. In another version, Xuanwu had to purge himself of all past sins to become a god. What this boils down to is that in order to become that figure, Xuanwu had to become something that wasn't human. The same could be said of Suzaku's father who, in becoming a figure for his government, perhaps gave up on being a father. By becoming this inhuman name, Genbu perhaps had to purge all that was human in him, including the fact that he had a son. And Suzaku, being the sort of son who was looking for a father, must have picked up on this. Really, he doesn't seem too happy when he talks about his father. Not including the whole killing thing.
What humanizes Suzaku is the fact that he has Euphy. At one point, as Suzaku is setting himself up to die for the cause once again, Euphy demands that he love her. They're both cast out in their own ways. Suzaku will never be accepted by Brittania, as they see him as lower class. Euphy will always be seen as weak because she believes in working with others to attain goals. The nobles laugh at her plans like she's still a little girl. In fact, when she states that Suzaku will be her knight, one noble insists that they must have a sexual relationship. For Euphy, love is the last step to truly convince Suzaku that they are worth fighting for. Not Brittania. The scene that follows this is adorable, in which, after demanding he love her and stating that she will love him, Suzaku and Euphy have no idea what to say around each other.
What Euphy is demanding is for their relationship, as man and anima, to be fully completed. William Sloane Coffin, a former college chaplain of Yale University, said, "the woman who most needs to be liberated is the woman inside every man." For Suzaku to accept Euphy, he's finally moving away from his status as son and accepting the role of human. Rather than having a past to purge, he now has someone to fight for, a real, living human being. "Liberating the anima," Bolen states, "by having a positive regard for 'feminine' feeling values, allows the Apollo man to honor his own feelings and the feelings of others." This is about the point where Suzaku is more understanding with Kallen, where he works with Lelouch/Zero for a common goal.
This set of episodes is where Lelouch commands Suzaku to live. And, like the geass, this turns out to be a curse rather than a blessing. Suzaku finds any way to live in a situation. This means that he's officially saving his own skin in every incident. Lelouch's actions seem to take away from those human elements Suzaku has. Forcing Suzaku to live is taking away the noble knowledge that there is something to die for. Much like Achilles, who was an inhuman monster because he knew he couldn't die. While this is a horrible curse to place upon Suzaku, Lelouch hasn't made his biggest mistake yet.
At one point, Lelouch and C.C. steal a knightmare and it's named Gawain. This is no accident either. Perhaps now is the time to delve into Arthurian myth. Gawain was the courteous knight. His greatest enemy was Lancelot, which makes sense. Lancelot was considered a great knight, but the problem was that he knew this fact. So, Gawain, being someone who believes in courtesy, would of course find Lancelot to be a complete asshole. Gawain becomes Lelouch's knightmare while Lancelot is Suzaku's knightmare. Despite the fact that they are friends and Lelouch wants to keep up this appearance, he seems to be frustrated with Suzaku's logic. "Idealist garbage" would probably be the term he'd use for Suzaku's beliefs.
Gawain's greatest story came in the form of The Green Knight. One day, while minding their own business, a green knight entered Arthur's castle and demanded to have a beheading contest. Without any thought, Gawain beheaded the knight. Everyone laughed, because this was kosher at the time, and thought the matter was over. But the knight's head jumped back onto his body and he told Gawain that in a year's time, he would have his turn. A year later, Gawain was out with a friend. His friend's wife was making advances (this would be the Christianized version of the Irish myth) and Gawain, wanting to appear as a good house guest, allowed her. She gave him a green sash which was tied around his neck. The next day, it was revealed that Gawain's friend was the green knight! Two times, the green knight swung his sword at Gawain's neck, but the sash protected him. On the third swing, the sword nicked his neck, but Gawain was safe. From this, Gawain learned that courtesy was not the same as moral purity. Some versions of this myth reveal that Morgana was testing him the whole time, though some people believe this to be merely a deus ex machina.
I would say that yes, it could have been Morgana testing him. Morgana was based on a Celtic great goddess. Initially, Morgana's role in the King Arthur myth wasn't malevolent. Once Christianity butted in, she was transformed into an evil witch, which is a way for a patriarchal society to take power away from female-dominated religions. Celtic mythology, which I've said before, is fascinating in that it consists of a warrior culture that masked female goddess worship. The grail that King Arthur sought is speculated by some to have contained menstrual blood, that in reality, King Arthur was searching for his anima. However, considering Morgana's role, this is indeed true in that the goddess she originated from was called Matron. If Morgana has this great goddess element to her, then perhaps she was testing Gawain's strength with his anima, as a man's relationship with his anima dictates how he treats women (same for women and their relationship with their animus). If Gawain didn't have a strong bond with his anima, he would have turned away from his friend's wife.
This might sound silly, but I like to see Guinevere and Morgana as the same figure. It makes sense. Break a great goddess into parts, as the ancient Greeks did, because it takes away from the goddess' power. Thus, instead of having a complex female figure who encompasses both life and death (Kali), the patriarchy can decide on what are "good" traits and call one part of the goddess a good woman and decide on what are "bad" traits and call the other part an evil woman. Matron's association with death was gifted onto Morgana and so she was called a witch. Perhaps Matron's association with life was gifted onto Guinevere, as when Guinevere was with men, they were prosperous (she was called the "white enchantress"). When Lancelot took Guinevere away from King Arthur, it was considered the reason for his downfall. Since she was his anima, for that to be taken away from him, King Arthur is no longer the man he was.
Euphy, as Suzaku's anima, is the Guinevere figure. She's a princess and even Nina says that she looks like a goddess when she stands tall. Her power comes from her inner strength rather than magical means. C.C. is the Morgana figure. She's often referred to as a witch and her power seems to be purely magical, although knowing something about how humans work helps. While Euphy is supportive of Suzaku, C.C. is the skeptic to Lelouch's plans. What is fascinating about the both of them is that they're seen as "lovers" to their male counterparts. This is a way of cutting their power. Suzaku needs Euphy to feel as if he's worth fighting for and Lelouch needs C.C. to criticize his thought patterns. They're highly important to the success of Suzaku and Lelouch's plans.
Also, not that important, but I'm glad this was brought up. Diethard offers Lelouch the help of the media to spread his message. Lelouch declines, as what Diethard is offering is a perversion of journalism. The information you receive through news is supposed to be objective. The whole point is that news is offered to readers without an opinion so that they are allowed to create their own opinion. Diethard insists that there is no such thing as objective information. I ran across this opinion when I was in a journalism class. Due to the internet, the lines between objective and subjective information have been blurred. Rather than find information from a reliable source, we usually depend on another person's opinion on the matter. The problem with this is that the truth becomes muddled. The only facts that are considered important are whatever will sell the opinion that this person is giving.
In turn, the truth is perverted. And this is what Diethard is offering Lelouch. Strangely, in Code Geass, the truth has already been perverted: Genbu said to have committed suicide when he was killed by Suzaku, and Marianne's death (Lelouch and Nunally's mother). So is it really a stretch to lie about another truth?