As Sam mentioned earlier in the thread, my computer rebelled for a week. But now that I've seen the episodes, I can get on with my Suzaku defense
As for 13, I shed some tears for Shirley. Her death scene was really sad and Lelouch attempting to Geass her into surviving was heart-breaking. I thought it was a beautifully done scene.
I was a little iffy about the idea of Jeremiah changing his loyalty to Lelouch, but seeing it in practice has really allayed any fears I initially had.
I was really hoping Suzaku would take Shirley's worRAB about forgiveness to heart, but it seems to be the other way around. Had Shirley not died, he might have, but with that happening, things changed. My initial reaction was that Suzaku is being an idiot for thinking that Lelouch killed Shirley. He knew that Lelouch cared about her. However, Lelouch also cared about Euphie, and with Suzaku, things relating to Lelouch will inevitably turn back to him killing Euphie. Of course he's not being completely logical here; that part of Suzaku died with Euphie and Zero's unmasking. Is he a hypocrite? I think so, but he's also human and trying to deal with it. Lelouch hasn't exactly acted innocently either, so neither is really helping the situation. This is exactly why I'm looking forward to Turn 17.
As for his actions with Kallen, for one thing he hasn't done anything yet. It would not surprise me in the least if there was some sort of interruption. It was mentioned that Suzaku referred to Kallen by her prisoner nuraber rather than her name. I saw that as Suzaku dissociating himself from personal interests. After all, he's had bad luck with personal interests and his work coming together. On the simplest level, Suzaku is a soldier and Kallen is an enemy soldier. They both run the risk of this very sort of thing happening every time they step onto the battlefield and they know it. It may seem ugly, but that's war. Suzaku, I think, is at his wit's end. In his heart, I think he knows Lelouch is Zero but can't act on it until he has confirmation. And with Lelouch being Zero again, that once again goes back to Lelouch being Euphie's killer; if he killed Euphie, who's to say he wouldn't kill Shirley? Suzaku never got the truth about Euphie's death, so he doesn't know.
As for Lelouch himself, he wasn't acting real innocent either. I liked how he fooled V.V. into thinking he was at Ashford right before storming the base. But the assault on unarmed scientists and children was disturbing to me. I understand what they were involved in was disgusting, but they weren't soldiers, so such a massacre is hard to watch. This sort of massacre is what Zero and the Black Knights have been fighting against and now they are doing it themselves.
However, I did like that Lelouch went to extreme enRAB to avenge Shirley. It just showed how much her death is really affecting him, and despite what he is doing, it makes him more sympathetic.
I also liked the team-up with Lelouch and Cornelia to take out V.V. She's awesome and Jeremiah rescuing her was pretty sweet, too.
And now with the Emperor himself showing up, things seem to be moving in a very, very interesting direction. Can't wait.
