The writing here reads exactly how Mao looked at the end of the last episode: absolutely riddled with holes. He met a totally satisfactory end after calling into question all sorts of character dynamics and aspects of the Geass power, serving as a manifestation of several of our main characters' deepest regrets and darkest thoughts. He was a threatening, malevolent presence that was genuinely interesting to watch onscreen. I mean seriously, for how solid the big-picture writing in this show is I can't believe anyone thought it necessary to prolong Mao's arc like this.
Mao's survival is one of the biggest asspulls of the entire series. We never see Lelouch give the police the order to "shoot" Mao (in fact his internal monologue while leaving the scene was "if you move you die"). Also, while we did see Britannian medical technology save Suzaku from a single bullet wound earlier on (and only because the bullet was impeded by his father's pocket watch), we haven't seen anything that would suggest it could stop Mao from bleeding out via the tens of gunshot wounds the police inflicted on him. Additionally, if the police not under the control of Lelouch's Geass were indeed treating Mao as a terrorist, there would be no reason for them to give him medical attention.
Suzaku's superhuman physical abilities are never explained in any way, and honestly require more suspension of disbelief to accept than almost any other aspect of the series. He dodges gunfire from an automated turret at POINT BLANK RANGE, runs up walls, and can kick through solid steel. That's all in one quick scene by the way. We also see him cut the detonation wire on a pendulum bomb swinging tens of feet above Nunnally's head, but we're not even shown how he reaches that altitude.
The final confrontation with Mao also yields more questions than answers. How did Mao rig this scale to the bomb in such a short time? Why did Lelouch not just push down on his side of the scale to save Nunnally? He could've easily overpowered Mao regardless of if Mao read his mind. Why did Lelouch never think to use his Geass on Mao before now? How come we never see Lelouch find anything that would lead him to the realization that he can use his Geass on himself? Even a quick shot of him looking at his reflection in the water underground would've been sufficient, but instead we get nothing.
In the end, the only real purpose this grossly unnecessary prolongation served was to reveal the fact that Prime Minister Kururugi's death came at Suzaku's hand and was not in fact a suicide. While delivered in ham-fisted fashion, the shock value was solid and it fleshed out Suzaku's character even more as a walking contradiction. It was also rather fitting that Mao was the one to reveal it. Suzaku and Lelouch's past relationship and individual philosophies also get expanded on a bit more I guess? So I'll still give this episode a 2/10 instead of 1. In all honesty though, I don't know if I've ever been this frustrated watching anime bar Tokyo Revengers and some especially awful Demon Slayer moments. This is easily the worst episode of the entire show.
Mao's survival is one of the biggest asspulls of the entire series. We never see Lelouch give the police the order to "shoot" Mao (in fact his internal monologue while leaving the scene was "if you move you die"). Also, while we did see Britannian medical technology save Suzaku from a single bullet wound earlier on (and only because the bullet was impeded by his father's pocket watch), we haven't seen anything that would suggest it could stop Mao from bleeding out via the tens of gunshot wounds the police inflicted on him. Additionally, if the police not under the control of Lelouch's Geass were indeed treating Mao as a terrorist, there would be no reason for them to give him medical attention.
Suzaku's superhuman physical abilities are never explained in any way, and honestly require more suspension of disbelief to accept than almost any other aspect of the series. He dodges gunfire from an automated turret at POINT BLANK RANGE, runs up walls, and can kick through solid steel. That's all in one quick scene by the way. We also see him cut the detonation wire on a pendulum bomb swinging tens of feet above Nunnally's head, but we're not even shown how he reaches that altitude.
The final confrontation with Mao also yields more questions than answers. How did Mao rig this scale to the bomb in such a short time? Why did Lelouch not just push down on his side of the scale to save Nunnally? He could've easily overpowered Mao regardless of if Mao read his mind. Why did Lelouch never think to use his Geass on Mao before now? How come we never see Lelouch find anything that would lead him to the realization that he can use his Geass on himself? Even a quick shot of him looking at his reflection in the water underground would've been sufficient, but instead we get nothing.
In the end, the only real purpose this grossly unnecessary prolongation served was to reveal the fact that Prime Minister Kururugi's death came at Suzaku's hand and was not in fact a suicide. While delivered in ham-fisted fashion, the shock value was solid and it fleshed out Suzaku's character even more as a walking contradiction. It was also rather fitting that Mao was the one to reveal it. Suzaku and Lelouch's past relationship and individual philosophies also get expanded on a bit more I guess? So I'll still give this episode a 2/10 instead of 1. In all honesty though, I don't know if I've ever been this frustrated watching anime bar Tokyo Revengers and some especially awful Demon Slayer moments. This is easily the worst episode of the entire show.
