Compiling official Rolo Lamperouge info

Okay, just listening to this, I don’t know if the one who cultivated flowers last year was Rolo or Nunnally. It probably suits Nunnally better, and perhaps there’s a scene like that somewhere in the previous Student Council HOPE CDs, which focused on season 1. Nonetheless, this Lelouch is supposed to be speaking after his real memories are back, because the rest of the CD takes place somewhere around Turn 5 (right after Suzaku has returned). Therefore… Is he simply coming up with some excuse so “you” won’t be suspicious that, in your memories, Lelouch’s sibling used to like flowers, but now he doesn’t anymore? But "you" never even met Nunnally, right? I believe the Student Council members were the only ones Charles used his Geass on, since Turn 5 says that everyone else, including teachers and students, returned to Britannia. Wouldn’t that mean that, other than Shirley, Milly and Rivalz, nobody else currently studying at Ashford could possibly keep lingering memories of Nunnally being Lelouch’s sibling, since they all enrolled at Ashford last year, at the earliest? If Rolo has no interest in flowers and never did, why make up some story about him secretly liking them but not wanting to admit it? Could it be that Lelouch is in fact talking about Rolo and not Nunnally? If there’s a scene somewhere where Nunnally cultivates flowers with Milly, I'd be sure that this is 100% referring to her, but I have no confirmation. Also, Shirley said Rolo’s face looks like a girls’ in one drama CD, but other than that, we don’t see people going around claiming that Rolo looks androgynous, at least not often enough for Lelouch to bring it up simply because everyone does. So, I think it’s cute that he makes such a comment unprompted. The mere fact that he actually noticed Rolo’s facial features instead of ignoring him due to there being no need to pay attention to the face of a borozoukin --- As for volume 5 (official samples here), there are two main Rolo moments: 1)

At school, Milly explains that she’ll soon leave in order to go to the Chinese Federation (while Lelouch is also there, but they don’t know). Shirley notices that Rolo is nervous, but Rolo pretends that he is not. The reason he’s nervous becomes obvious the moment Sayolouch enters the scene: The first thing she says is “That’s right, Shirley. You look cute today, too!”. Rolo’s “Brother!” reaction makes Sayolouch ask “What’s wrong? Is there anything weird?” and Rolo whispers to her “Yes, there is! Brother isn’t like that! Behave more normally!”. Rivalz wonders whether Lelouch was imitating someone, and Rolo quickly explains that he is and that “Brother got hooked on a series we watched yesterday.” That seems to convince them not to question Sayolouch any further, although, a bit later, when Milly is worried about the president tasks that she won’t be able to carry out while she’s away, Sayolouch confuses everyone again when (s)he offers to take care of everything. Rolo sighs with exasperation.

The story jumps to after Milly has left and Sayolouch is taking care of all the tasks. (S)he makes ninja-like "Ha!" "Ho!" sounds while working. Rolo: Bro-Brother! You are overdoing it! If you don't take a break, it's bad for your body! Sayolouch: Hm? Is that a- Rolo: IT IS! It is a thing! So… just take a moment… to wipe your sweat… Sayolouch: Really? If you say so, okay. Rivalz: Haha. Rolo really cares about his big bro, huh? Shirley: He really does. Although I think he is worrying a little too much. Rolo: Ahaha… *dead inside*

Afterwards, everyone else continues working while Sayolouch rests. But then, Shirley finds a maid headpiece on top of a table! Shirley and Rivalz have no idea where it came from. Rolo, panicking, suggests that perhaps someone used it during a school festival, but Shirley doesn’t remember any item like that. And, if that were the case, they still can’t explain how only one part of an outfit got inside the Student Council room. Rivalz jokes that maybe it’s someone’s way of asking Shirley to wear it, which she finds creepy. Rolo proposes the idea that a student probably just gave it to Lelouch so he’d bring it to the room, but Shirley insists that there’s another odd factor, which is that she has the feeling that this headpiece was worn by someone she once knew. Rivalz feels the same. Sayolouch shows up. Shirley is about to ask him about the headpiece, when Rolo... uses his Geass to remove it from sight. Shirley and Rivalz are puzzled, as they could have sworn it was right there, but Sayolouch believes that the tiredness and the heat caused them all to collectively daydream. He offers to prepare some tea so they can rest. Rivalz jokes that Lelouch just wants to take a break again, and Rolo emphasizes it (to Sayoko) that, indeed, Lelouch gets tired quickly when doing physical activities, so he totally just wants to take a break. Rolo is the one who is definitely the most tired. Afterwards, they all drink the tea that Sayolouch prepared (because, again, Rolo has to remind everyone that Lelouch just prepared tea in order to distract them from Sayolouch saying strange things, such as randomly telling Shirley that a maid headpiece would look good on her). Rivalz and Shirley are amazed by how good Lelouch is at preparing tea, and they think the taste feels nostalgic. And, to his own surprise… even Rolo finds it tasty. His "Ah... Hontou ni oishii" is really cute. What am I saying, everything he does in this CD is really cute.

The setting is that, in this world, people have magic that allows them to summon Knightmare Golems, but not everyone belongs to the same rank: people like Kallen and Suzaku are S ranks and they summon the strongest Knightmares and such, but Lelouch and his friends, Shirley, Rivalz and Milly, and also Nunnally, are Ds. For some reason, Rolo is instead a B, though! Summoning magic from this AU kind of parallels piloting skills, but also Geass, I think? And Rolo is both a skilled pilot and a Geass user in the original, so I'm assuming that's why he gets to belong to a higher rank.

Lelouch: I'm home, Nunnally, Rolo. You were both doing homework, huh?

Rolo: Yeah, Nunnally was teaching me the theory. I'm behind everyone else, so...

Nunnally: That's because of your chronic heart condition. It can't be helped.

Rolo: No. As a class B, if I could enter the Owner of Rounds through achieving excellent grades, that would make your lives easier. So I'll do my best.

Nunnally: I'm sorry, Rolo. Not only are my legs incapacitated, but I'm also a class D, therefore... Lelouch finds this society unfair, where one's rank/class determines the treatment they get, their opportunities in life, etc. He himself ends up becoming a rank S through training his magic for years, but he knows that his little siblings have physical handicaps that make it difficult for them to improve their ranks, no matter how hard they try. The rest of the event is quite long and I skimmed through it a little, not gonna lie, but mainly it focuses on a Knightmare Golem tournament at the school which Lelouch is actually using for his goals. The participants' strong attacks (Kallen and Suzaku, powered up by everyone's magic) will help him unseal "the witch without a name": this AU's C.C., who was sealed in the past because people feared her. Lelouch had already come into contact with her when he was a child, and he had been training his magic ever since in order for her to grant him the wish of "a world that isn't bound by power," for his siblings' sake. The story is almost over. A week after he unseals C.C. and makes his wish, we see that everyone is happier now. Kallen's mom is healed because her illness was magic-related, and the same goes for Nunnally and Rolo:

Rolo: Me and Nunnally too. It seems that a magical power dysfunction was one of the reasons for the strain on my heart and Nunnally's legs being incapacitated. Nunnally herself adds that she'll be able to walk again one day. However, when the student council friends ask them if they too haven't seen Lelouch since last week...

Rolo: You are right. We haven't been able to meet Brother after that.

Nunnally: We don't know where Brother is either... So Milly decides that they should go search for Lelouch together, and they all agree.

Milly: Of course! It'd be too cruel for him to leave behind his dear little sister and brother, no?

The ending then shows Fukkatsu!C.C. telling this story to some NPCs, so I guess she was the narrator all along. Which means C.C. was the one who decided to change Lelouch's motivation in life to be Nunnally and Rolo instead of just Nunnally? Thanks... ---

I said most of his lines are the same as R2's, but the events themselves are more similar to the movies, because Shirley never dies. The biggest difference is that in SRW DD there's a noticeable time gap between Turns 18 and 19: Lelouch doesn't completely lose his will to live after Nunnally "goes missing," as he nonetheless wants to defeat Charles, so the story continues with Lelouch still keeping Rolo and the others around after FLEIJA. He never flies into a rage at Rolo (except for the "Don't lie to me!" moment during that phone call, but that's it). So Lelouch/Zero has been pretending that he's fine for some time (days? Weeks?), but he does miss Nunnally:

C.C.: That locket... It's pretty.

Kallen: Rolo, whenever something happens, you often grasp it tightly, huh?

Rolo: I calm down when I hold this. Because it's what I really wanted... The precious birthday present that I received from Brother. (They are so friendly! Cute)

Lelouch: No... That was something to give Nunnally...

Rolo: Eh?

Lelouch: ...!

Rolo: Wasn't it a present for me? (Turn 19.02's Rolo was very aware that Lelouch's kindness wasn't for him. This Rolo is a bit slow instead.)

Lelouch: ...

Kallen: (Lelouch... It seemed like he had recovered, but he's been carrying the loss of Nunnally all this time, after all…)

Lelouch: Sorry, please forget what I just said. Rolo, the fact that you are my precious little brother doesn't change.

Rolo: Brother... (Hello, Geass writers, will Rolo ever be allowed to smile for more than 10 seconds?!) While this conversation is taking place, Schneizel and the Black Knights are talking. Soon they are all going to turn against Zero. And that's when...

Rolo: Yes. I rescued you from that place with my barrier of absolute suspension. Rolo rescues Lelouch, except in this version, there hasn't yet been any scene of Lelouch telling Rolo that he hates him!

Lelouch: So that was it, indeed. Rolo, don't overuse that power.

Rolo: It's okay. At any rate, I'm going to protect you no matter what. (Rolo, "daijoubu" doesn't mean "I'm ready to give up my life"...) Cornelia and Anya attack, and Lelouch gets more worried:

Lelouch: Using your Geass over such a large area...! Rolo, your heart won't be able to take it anymore...!

Rolo: Don't stop me, Brother! I...!

Lelouch: Stop, Rolo! I... hate you!

Rolo: !?

Lelouch: You can't replace Nunnally! I don't need you anymore! So... Holy tsundereness, they managed to make Lelouch's "I hate you" adorable?! In this context, he's clearly only saying that to stop Rolo from sacrificing himself, and he even adds "So..." at the end, to make it more obvious that he means "So stop using your Geass!" But, unlike that IF route from Taisen Z Saisei-hen, this Super Robot Wars won't spare Rolo's life:

Rolo: ... That can't be, Brother. Because... Rolo's and Lelouch's lines afterwards are the same as R2's, the only difference being that, in this story, Lelouch didn't say that he wanted to kill Rolo.

Rolo: It's a lie, right? That you hate me... ---