There will be spoilers in here
Okay. That was excellent. I have no exceptions to make, it was just good. I could talk about smaller details and I will soon, but the big picture is what made the episode here.
I didn't find 13 boring at all, it was classic Geass as far as I'm concerned. Not particularly heavy on action, but characters and plot development made up for that. Shirley suspecting everyone at first was a reaction I would expect--you know she's emotionally confused when she questions whether even Milly and Rivalz were in on it. I found her shift throughout the episode believable; being saved by LeLouch and Suzaku made her realize there was someone she cared about behind Zero's mask. LeLouch's outburst surely didn't hurt things either.
I am absolutely durabstruck over the way Shirley died. I was expecting her to get caught in the middle of a fight, or for some mad Gundamesque twist of fate to happen. Knowing that freaking Rolo did it just because she mentioned Nunnally is absolutely infuriating. I won't be getting over this. The little bastard neeRAB to die, and I sincerely hope LeLouch discovers the truth and plots out a cruel demise for him.
The death scene was done very well. To me there was some symmetry with young LeLouch screaming over Marianne's murder in the flasrabroadack, and the LeLouch we know completely losing it over Shirley. His attempt to use Geass to force her to live was heartbreaking. The one time that a Geass command really, truly mattered to him, it was for something he had no hope of changing.
In my parodies, I mocked the fact that the show seemed to be hinting at a different love interest for LeLouch from episode to episode. I was of the opinion that he should just have someone, and to have that be the end of it. I now believe Geass should not resolve this. Or rather, it may have just done so. I think it's clear by now that Shirley's affections were not one-way. It is already established that LeLouch ruled out a relationship with her because he didn't want her to get involved in what he doing like before. Most importantly, LeLouch's line about not wanting to lose anything again was a direct reference to the way he lost his mother and Euphemia. That's what he had in mind. While Kallen matters to him, would he have mourned her death the same way? With that level of unhinged grief?
As much as I hate what happened, credit has to go where it's due. In season 1 we were told time and again that this was the story of LeLouch and his rebellion first. And also that LeLouch's actions would have unplanned consequences, whether he wanted them or not. At last, after only seeing glimpses of it in R2 so far, it feels like that spirit is finally back. The spoilers for the next few episodes suggest that arc episodes are in our future. May it be so, and may they all be of this calibur. Because this, this was a Code Geass episode.
Grade: A