#ohgi

I would like to one day produce a comprehensive and extensive analysis addressing the betrayal of the Black Knights since I manage a Code Geass Facebook page and have noticed that most of the Hispanic anime fans don’t understand why the Black Knights betrayed Lelouch . Even in the Anglo-Saxon fandom I have seen opinions from people who attribute this to an error within the narrative and it is not. The Black Knights' betrayal was a meticulously planned chain of events that led to that unique outcome. But what can we do? Most of the Code Geass fanbase are Lelouch fanboys who will automatically hate anyone who opposes him without first putting themselves in their shoes and analyzing the situation.

Although this publication won’t be the analysis that I have pending because I don’t have enough time to elaborate it and, in addition, I need to return to the anime to point out each of Lelouch's mistakes (I left it in chapter 10 of R1), I’m going to talk about two crucial issues that came together to give us the betrayal of episode 19 of R2 and that no one speaks or notices, not even those who did understand the movement of the Black Knights and those are the insecurity of Ohgi (who plays the role of Judas/Pedro) and the distrust of Lelouch (who would be our false Messiah). Don't worry if you think I'm being superficial. There is a lot of evidence throughout the episodes and this is something that I must return to when writing the analysis. This would be an appetizer that will help me when that time comes.

1. Ohgi 

The first time I saw Code Geass, it caught my attention that Lelouch commanded other terrorists to confront his sister and the subsequent visits I still didn't understand. Until I rewatched Chapter 6 and caught a glimpse of a detail that had previously been overlooked.

Context: After Cornelia decimates numerous rebel strongholds, including a large one called Samurai Blood, in search of Zero, Ohgi contacts him to update him and express his concerns. Lelouch tells him to calm down and emphasizes that they would refrain from taking any action for now. Without further ado, he hangs up on her and thinks about what you can see in the image (”Maybe I should cut ties with them”). Lelouch finds Ohgi's attitude annoying and considers breaking ties with his resistance cell since he is realizing that they are depending a lot on him (and Lelouch prefers to distance himself). Hence, in the next episode, he establishes a connection with other terrorists.

With this brief scene, Ohgi's eneatype is more than confirmed: he is a Enneatype Six. What I mean by this? That his problem isn’t that he lacks the skills and qualities as his haters claim. Otherwise, then, it wouldn’t make sense for Zero to assign him as Vice Commander (which is the second in command) to an incompetent. 

His problem is his great insecurity. I began to suspect that he was a Six when, after Tamaki tells him that things would have been better if he was in charge and leaves Ohgi alone, he wails with a photo of Kallen's brother telling him that he is not like him in the sense that he is a good leader. I mean, Ohgi is agreeing with Tamaki to a certain extent. (Of course, as if Tamaki knows what he's talking about, since he's an extremely competent guy in his field...) 

Hence, he has no problem giving up the position to Lelouch, whom he judges to be a better leader (in fact, he himself reminds Lelouch in R1 episode 10 that he asked him to become his leader). And this is the essential problem of the Six. The emotional wound of Sixes is precisely their lack of self-confidence and, since they can’t trust themselves, they cling like ticks to people they consider more capable than themselves and for the same reason they can turn against those people, because they can't trust others either and Ohgi never fully trusted Zero, even when the Black Knights' suspicions were allayed with Taizo Kiririhara's approval, Ohgi kept trying to find out more of Zero's secrets. That's why he took Villetta in episode 14 of R1. Not only was it a Good Samaritan act, but because she mentioned Zero's name and he figured she knew something about him (in fact, you can see he doesn't trust her at first either because he watches her through a camera system he set up in his own house).

In my opinion, I find it funny that this is his enneatype since then it would be another literal case. Sixes are the most contradictory personality type in the Enneagram. They are the most loyal personality and in turn is the most treacherous (I think we can all tell Ohgi with those traits).

Character arcs typically revolve around overcoming their injuries in order to bring out the version of themselves, and Ohgi is no exception: he has to learn to trust himself in order to be the leader the Order of the Black Knights need and, by extension, to be able to restore their homeland to its freedom.

“Ohgi, don't you trust me?”

2. Lelouch

“Live with me or die with me.”

This image is taken from R1 episode 10 just like the one before that. What happened here? I will refresh your memory.

Diethard learns from Villetta and Jeremiah that Cornelia's squad and Cornelia herself are going on a hike in the Narita Mountains. Diethard, who is no fool, soon adds two plus two and understands that the purpose of the journey is to find the headquarters of the Japan Liberation Front and annihilate it (I remind you that the Japan Liberation Front is the resistance group largest area of ​​Area 11 and Cornelia set herself the task of destroying all the rebel strongholds in this area). Diethard immediately passes this information to the Black Knights with a view to being recruited (since then the Black Knights were expanding their numbers). Lelouch, who is also very perceptive, interprets this as the opportunity he has been waiting for to question his sister about her mother's death. But does he tell the Black Knights that they are going to Narita to fight Cornelia's army? Absolutely! He literally tells them that they are going for a walk through Narita (Ohgi was able to get an idea of ​​the purpose of that walk since he read the information from Diethard and Kallen, in the same way could guess since she heard what Ohgi communicated to Zero, however, Zero didn’t share his plans with them).

"Even messiahs have to perform miracles to be recognized as such"

I remind you that by this point in the plot, Zero and the Black Knights had faced terrorists, corrupt politicians, abusive soldiers, abusive corporations, and criminal syndicates. That is, they hadn’t faced Britannia. This was to be his first battle (with all its warlike implications). So the Black Knights, who thought they had gone to train, found out that they were going to face Cornelia's army right there, just a few minutes after the confrontation took place. For added finishing touch, Zero leads his troops to a point where they are surrounded by Cornelia's Sutherlands (this is to cut off all escape routes for the Japan Liberation Front). In other words, he deliberately dragged them into a blind alley, taking advantage of their ignorance.

Are you understanding the circumstances surrounding this battle? It's cloudy!

"Since you joined the Black Knights, you have two choices: live with me or die with me." This on the surface sounds epic, but, at the same time, it's pretty fucked up: Zero/Lelouch isn't giving the Black Knights a chance. Either they fight alongside him to survive, or they die together.

Now then, why was Zero not straight with the Black Knights from the start? What was the need to hide information from them? This is a specific situation. However, if we evaluate other situations a posteriori, Zero/Lelouch always handled all of his affairs with great secrecy. Let's go further, how much did it cost you to reveal his identity? Or why he didn't tell them about the Geass? (You don't have to answer me, just think about the questions). I understand that he would hide from the rest of the world, but why from his men? Was he afraid that they would mistrust his intentions? Did he think they would refuse to work with a Britannian prince who has a magic eye? Did he imagine they were going to desert?

“Weaks?”

The truth is that we could think of a lot of answers in an attempt to find a logic behind Lelouch/Zero's actions. But all the answers show a serious problem between the lines: Lelouch doesn’t trust the Black Knights.

Why? What reasons have the Black Knights given for Lelouch to distrust them? If it is the opposite case, we can list facts and concrete data that show why the Black Knights don’t trust Zero/Lelouch. Not so with Zero/Lelouch. He has no well-founded reasons. These people were transparent with Zero from minute one: they explained his discomfort and what he had to do to make them trust him. (Should the Black Knights be grateful to Zero/Lelouch? No, Larry, it is Lelouch who should be grateful to them because, despite his doubts and the little trust that Lelouch placed in them, the Black Knights followed him and believed in him).

So where does this suspicion come from? It’s an internal problem for Lelouch derived from his childhood traumas.

For those who don't know, the Enneagram is a complex system of personalities that divides them mainly into nine types, based on the theory that our personalities began as coping strategies that we acquired as children to feel safe in the face of trauma and avoid pain and stress, so that our personality can function as armor to protect us from outside threats and that even today said armor dictates how we should react to situations and even how we interact with our fellow men.

Lelouch is an enneatype 8. People who fit this personality type at some point in their childhood felt that they were unprotected by their parents. As a result of this traumatic event, these people have a terrible fear of being hurt, controlled and dominated by others; because they internalized that it wasn’t good to be weak and that they had to be tough and strong to fight and survive. Consequently, these people built a shell to face the injustices of the horrible world and protect themselves from others. Hence, these people have a tendency to want to dominate situations and people. I came to read that 8 people aren’t good teammates because they are naturally suspicious and feel more comfortable being in control of situations because they fear and hate being subject to the will of others. Frankly, it doesn't surprise me after reading that they would rather control and use people than trust them. Does this ring a bell?

Sounds like Lelouch's Geass to me. We literally have a scene from Charles and little Lelouch in which the father tells him that he and Nunnally are to blame for his misfortun because being weak and, from that point on, if he didn't consider it a problem before, now he does (commercial: I analyzed the roots of Lelouch's trauma together with Suzaku through the enneagram, if this goes well I can upload my analysis here)

For me (and any good understanding of the Enneagram and who has seen Code Geass): Lelouch's Geass is the manifestation of his ego's unconscious behavior patterns and his unconscious fear. Remember that Geass works differently for each person.

Although Lelouch rejects the Britannian ideology openly, he unconsciously assimilated it very well and in situations like these his cognitive bias comes to light (oh, the contradictions! Human beings wouldn’t be human beings without contradictions). I mean, other people can be vulnerable and that's okay. Instead, Lelouch can't allow himself to be vulnerable because that wouldn't be right. (It's somewhat curious. 

(Code Geass is an apology for the Enneatype 8, since its protagonist is an average 8 who faces a system whose ideal model of citizen is an insane 8. This is because the healthy 8 understands that he must use his strength to protect the weak, which is what Lelouch says in his speech, while the insane 8 believes that he must crush the weak through force, which is what Charles says in his speech).

Trust is an act of vulnerability because you assume that the other person won’t hurt you and that you can be yourself. In this case, it is something literal since Lelouch would have to remove his mask. Therefore, it is an act of exposure (the people who managed to gain Lelouch's trust had to fight to earn it; C.C. only meddled in Lelouch's life and helped him with some things to show him that she was on his side, Kallen had to to find out the hard way that he was Zero and thus, only to Sayoko he willingly revealed that he was Zero).

In conclusion, Lelouch and Ohgi distrust each other for different reasons: Ohgi is insecure and Lelouch isn’t willing to trust others because for his unconscious it is a sign of vulnerability (deep down, he is afraid of being betrayed). And when there is no trust between two people, they act behind the other's back. There are lies, there are secrets, there are betrayals.

Lelouch paid dearly (and well deserved) for not having opened up to the Black Knights. If he had trusted them and been honest, he would have no reason to hide anything from them, he wouldn't make stupid mistakes and then chapter 19 would have been very different (Goldilocks' scheming would have had no effect), do you realize that? I feel like Lelouch learned from his mistakes because I think Lloyd, Cecile, Sayoko and Nina knew about the Zero Requiem (besides Suzaku, Jeremiah and C.C.).

How painful! 😭

Anyway, the fanboys would continue to insist that the Black Knights are the ones with the problem and they will defend the mistakes of their god Lelouch, even if you show them with irrefutable evidence that Lelouch is a human being who screwed up.

c.c.: of course

c.c.: when you get shot, i sing "mmm whatcha say" as you fall to the ground no matter the circumstance.

zero: perfect

The Black Knights didn’t deserve an iota of the hatred they get. They were literally just an oppressed people misled by white saviour Lelouch who rose up against his manipulations in fury. Admittedly, they turned to another white saviour Schneizel, but they were planning to act independently from him. Their consistent portrayal as incompetent fools who can’t work without a Lelouch or a Schneizel to lead them only perpetuates these racist undertones. 

The fury of the Japanese people against Suzaku is more than justified. He’s a fucking class traitor. He allied with the colonists ‘in hopes of creating a better world’: idealistic bullshit that made him feel better about rolling over so the Brits would scratch his belly. I loved him at the start of the show, but he’s a perfect example of how someone can start out kind and earnest and gentle and end up making so many bad choices and acting horribly. Suzaku became selfish at the end of the show, so selfish that I could barely stomach watching him on screen. The fandom hates him because he betrayed your white fave. But he’s terrible because he rolled over and accepted colonialism, even becoming an active agent of it. 

Kallen benefits from the oppression of the Japanese people, whether she likes it or not. What makes her an interesting character is her choice to reject that benefit and to ally with her heritage. I feel like her white-passing privilege is what makes her support Zero so staunchly, but her choosing the Black Knights over him was the right decision.

Ougi had every right to be furious at Lelouch’s manipulation. In typical white saviour fashion, our dear princeling used the Black Knights as a pawn - and don’t even start about “he was doing it for Nunnally!” Usage is usage, and Lelouch used an oppressed class. 

Cornelia li Britannia is the epitome of white feminism. Feminism when it applies to white women in power who will do anything to oppress PoC. 

Let's not even get into how fucked up it was that Lelouch conquered the world. I understand he did it for his idealised version of good, but... It just doesn't sit right with me.

The show tries to make you feel sorry for a bunch of white imperialists while concealing what they've done. The Britannian monarchical system itself is so... single-minded. Not even the greatest of rulers can fix the inherent flaws with a monarchy unless they step down for democratic government. Nunnally may be kind and gentle, but in the end she too benefits from a centric power system.