How the New Code Geass Movie Connects to the Series

The new Code Geass film, Code Geass: Lelouch the Re;surrection, will be released in Japanese theaters this Friday. However, unlike the previous three recap films, this one is a completely new story. So, after the anime’s rather definite end, you might be wondering exactly how this film fits in with the TV series.

Well, long story short, it doesn’t.

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Instead of being a sequel to the two Code Geass TV anime, Lelouch the Re;surrection is a direct sequel to the Code Geass film trilogy that was released over the course of 2017 and 2018. These three films take the 2006 TV anime and cut it down from the original 52 episodes.

But while the stories of the TV series and films are quite similar–with most of the big events happening in both–there are more than a few changes. Most of these are minor–i.e., things cut for the sake of runtime or slight additions that help the abridged story connect together more coherently. However, there is one change that directly allows the new movie to happen: Lelouch’s classmate Shirley Fenette doesn’t die like in the TV anime.

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This is due to a chain of events across all three films. To start, Shirley’s father doesn’t appear to die during the battle at Narita. Because of this, she no longer has a reason to hunt down–and try to kill–Zero. She doesn’t discover Lelouch is Zero nor does she shoot Villetta to protect the secret. (Incidentally, Diethard shoots Villetta in the films instead.)

With no desire for revenge nor any knowledge of Zero’s true identity, Shirley never meets Mao, the mind reading Geass holder. (In fact, the whole Mao arc doesn’t happen in the films–he doesn’t even appear in them.) This in turn means that Lelouch never uses his Geass on her to make her forget about him.

Now, all that doesn’t mean Shirley is completely oblivious to all that’s going on. She does suspect Lelouch is one of the Black Knights (due to the timing of his disappearances and how he seems to be avoiding her). However, she backs off when she feels she’s getting too close to his potentially dangerous secret life.

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In the middle of the second film (which corresponds to the opening episodes of the second season of the TV anime), Shirley’s memories are modified by the Emperor to forget Nunally and to think Lelouch is normal. However, when her memories are restored by Jeremiah, he immediately confronts her–warning her that she will almost certainly be killed if she gets directly involved with what’s happening. She takes Jeremiah’s advice to heart.

This means she never confesses what she knows to Rolo and so he never kills her in a fit of jealousy.

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However, later, after the Emperor’s death (and Rolo’s for that matter), Lelouch calls her before starting his grand plan. She confesses her feelings for him and asks to join him. However, he rejects the idea of dragging her into the darkness of what must be done and hangs up on her.

This leaves her on the sidelines for Lelouch’s mission of world conquest–unable to do anything but watch.

However, on the day of his victory parade through Tokyo, she is among the members of the crowd, lining the route. As the new “Zero” dodges bullets and weaves between mecha, Shirley seems to know what’s coming–just like the slyly grinning Jeremiah does. So when Zero draws his sword before the final blow, she ducks down, hiding her eyes from what’s about to happen.

As the closing narration begins–half of which is narrated by her–we see that Shirley and Karren have returned to school to live their peaceful, everyday life. But it doesn’t quite end there.

In the epilogue C.C. recieves a letter from Shirley and Jeremiah:

Dear Ms. C.C.:

Greeting. I am certain that you continue to lead a healthy everyday life.
Now I have planned to hold a tree planting ceremony at my “Justice Gentlemen Orange Farm”.
Apologies for the short notice, but I would appreciate it if you could participate.
Wishing the sun would rise again for us here in France.

Respectfully.

Jeremiah Gottwald
Shirley Fenette

And it’s this letter that leads to C.C.’s role in the new film.

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