Inside the President's office at L.S. Production, Lin Zhiyan stole a moment from his work to browse online discussions about the second season of Lelouch.
"Why isn't Rolo dead yet? Damn it! Wasn't he supposed to be used up and discarded like a rag?"
"Old Thief Lin, give us back Shirley!"
"They already tortured Shirley in the first season, and now they're doing it again in the second. The worst part is she didn't die at the hands of an enemy, but at the hands of her own people. It's just too infuriating!"
"Shut up! He's just a rag. What do you mean 'own people'?"
"Five episodes at most. Rolo has to die within five episodes, or I'm dropping this animation."
"Exactly! If Rolo survives until the final episode, I'm never watching another one of Old Thief Lin's animations again."
"Hurry up and squeeze the last bit of value out of that rag and throw him away already. It's too frustrating."
Discontent and frustration echoed everywhere.
After watching for a while, Lin Zhiyan couldn't help but muttered to himself, "They call him Lord Hayashi when it's exciting, but Old Thief Lin when it's brutal. These fans are so fickle."
After muttering, he secretly calculated.
Episodes 15 through 19—exactly five episodes.
He must die within five episodes. Perfect.
He could satisfy everyone's demands.
However, he sensed the audience would soon forget this demand as the animation grew increasingly brutal.
For instance, although the Geass Order was annihilated, it wasn't Lelouch who killed Leader V.V. The Britannian Emperor did, a man who possessed a powerful Geass himself. By killing V.V., the emperor gained immortality.
When Lelouch pursued V.V., he was drawn into a mysterious space and confronted the Britannian Emperor head-on. He tried to use the King's Power to kill him, but failed.
Instead, the Britannian Emperor used Lelouch to draw out C.C.
Finding C.C., killing her, and seizing her power—that had always been the emperor's sole ambition.
For the first time, C.C. revealed her long-hidden wish: to be killed.
She had once hoped Lelouch would kill her in the future, freeing her from the curse of immortality. Now that the Britannian Emperor possessed the power to kill her, her wish could be granted if she simply cooperated.
Lelouch was initially shaken and at a loss. It wasn't until he entered C.C.'s spiritual world, witnessed her past, and conversed with her past self that he understood.
Upon returning to his own consciousness, he successfully persuaded C.C. to change her mind through his "silver-tongued tactics," preventing her death at the hands of the Imperial Emperor.
The two then escaped, trapping the Imperial Emperor in a mysterious dimension.
Lin Zhiyan naturally altered some of the more grotesque and disturbing scenes that would make viewers uncomfortable. However, the event still resulted in C.C. losing her memories, a cruel twist for her.
Yet, the true torment was yet to come.
With the Imperial Emperor trapped in the mysterious dimension, Nunnally's safety was temporarily secure. Lelouch seized this opportunity to form the United Federation of Nations to oppose the Britannian Empire. He then dispatched troops to the Eleventh District, preparing to reclaim Neon and rescue Nunnally.
However, before the battle could begin, the Britannian Emperor appeared on television, taunting Lelouch.
Realizing Nunnally was in danger, Lelouch sought out Suzaku after the decisive battle began and pleaded with him to protect her.
Suzaku initially responded with cold mockery. When Lelouch kowtowed, Suzaku stepped on his head, pinning him down and demanding answers about Euphemia and Shirley.
Lelouch knew that even if he told the truth, Suzaku wouldn't believe him, and it might only further damage his image in Suzaku's eyes, making him less likely to agree to protect Nunnally. So, he took all the blame upon himself.
Fortunately, after years of knowing Lelouch and having experienced similar situations himself, Suzaku understood Lelouch's intentions.
He reached out to shake Lelouch's hand in reconciliation and agreed to his terms. But just then, agents of Second Prince Schneizel intervened and arrested Lelouch.
It turned out Suzaku had long been under suspicion and surveillance.
Suzaku himself was unaware of this, but in Lelouch's eyes, he had been betrayed by Suzaku. Fortunately, he had made prior arrangements, allowing him to escape in the end.
By episode 18, unable to rely on Suzaku's help, Lelouch had to fight in the war while simultaneously dispatching people to the government building in an attempt to rescue Nunnally.
The great battle was spectacular, with both sides trading blows in a back-and-forth struggle. However, the Black Knights held a slight advantage, and even Suzaku's Lancelot was nearly destroyed.
Just at the critical moment of life or death, Suzaku, influenced by Lelouch's previous command to "live on" using the King's Power, pressed the button to launch Freya.
Realizing the danger, both armies hastily retreated, followed by a nuclear explosion.
Everything in the vicinity was swiftly obliterated. Countless people were unable to escape in time, including a shot of Nunnally caught in the crimson glow of the nuclear blast.
She survived, but such a scene would instinctively lead viewers to believe Nunnally had died—in the nuclear blast, at Suzaku's hands, or indirectly due to the power of Lelouch's Geass.
The death of Euphie in the first season was devastating, and Shirley's death in episode 13 of the second season was equally heartbreaking. However, neither of them held a place in Lelouch's heart comparable to Nunnally's. After all, Lelouch's transformation into Zero and his rebellion against the Empire were driven not only by revenge for his mother but primarily by his desire to protect Nunnally. The emotional impact of such a plot twist would be immeasurable.
Of course, in the two to three weeks before the eighteenth episode aired, Lin Zhiyan, who held complete control over production decisions, could have changed anything he wanted. However, this was a crucial plot point—a single change could unravel the entire narrative—making it difficult to alter even if he'd wanted to.
In the first season, he only made minor adjustments. For the second season, he significantly altered the Black Knights' exile overseas, but that kind of change wouldn't have diminished the animation's overall quality or affected the plot's direction. Now, the "Nunnally potentially dying in the nuclear explosion" plot was absolutely unchangeable.
There was no avoiding the pain. The best approach was to lie low recently, declining all interviews and television appearances, and staying at the company or at home as much as possible, avoiding crowded places.
If the audience couldn't find him, even if the animation's content became excruciatingly painful, the backlash would be limited to online criticism, posing no real danger to his life.
No big deal.
Once the painful arc passed, the animation would quickly return to its thrilling pace. By then, the audience would likely have forgotten the agonizing moments, and a wave of applause and cheers for the satisfying conclusion would likely follow.
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