Shirleys Feelings Were One Sided.

“Shirley’s feelings were one sided.”

Tell me you don’t know how basic storytelling works without telling me you don’t know how basic storytelling works 🙃 Lelouch is venting his feelings of loss to a now amnesia having Shirley and it immediately clicks in her mind that he is talking about a person he was in love with.

“I don’t know.” Doesn’t detract from this at all. At first I thought it was just added in for extra angst, but now I’m thinking this part of the dialogue is just as loaded as the last. “Right now, I don’t know anymore.” this almost sounds as if prior to the mess with Zero and Mao, he knew he had growing feelings for her. But now he’s so numb inside (rewatch the scene and just look at how lifeless he seems, especially the eyes!) that he doesn’t know how he feels anymore. If Mao’s arc wasn’t obvious enough for you, R2 says hello. Is it unusual for Lelouch to be devastated by the death of someone he cares about? No, but it is unusual for him to change his plans and mercilessly slaughter a group of people he collectively deems responsible for her death (even saying he’ll bring back the corpse of her killer to her as a gift, yandere much?).

Both times their partings were filled with so much emotion, this part got me good 😭 Shirley intuitively knew what was coming, and she would rather live with the memory of her father’s death at the hands of the man she loved than forget about Lelouch completely. That is how much she loves him. And Shirley means so much to Lelouch, he says himself that her smile saved him every day. She gives him peace amongst his brutal war against Brittannia. But Lelouch would rather her not suffer even if it means he loses his connection with her.

Her death scene is just as impactful in showing how much they care for each other, and is also a direct parallel to R1 when Shirley loses her memories. It is heavily implied that after they die they will both be reborn and find each other again. They even have their own love song. In this life they couldn’t be together because of the war with Brittannia, but in the next life….

Shirleys Feelings Were One Sided.

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