Chapter Summaries

Cornelia's rescue operation began as the hotel sank into Lake Kawaguchi, but Zero and Shadow Garden revealed that they had rescued all the hostages. After Shadow introduced himself as Mahiro, Luciano Bradley attacked him, and Mahiro prepared to respond with Nihility.

• Cornelia ordered a plan to rescue Euphemia and capture Zero, while Lloyd prepared to deploy Lancelot.
• The hotel began sinking into Lake Kawaguchi, and Suzaku rushed from the underground passage to try to save those inside.
• Anya photographed the sinking hotel and captured an image of a mysterious white figure striking Lancelot away from the ruins.
• Zero emerged with the rescued hostages, including Euphemia and the Ashford Academy students, and introduced Mahiro and Shadow Garden to the world.
• Luciano Bradley attacked Mahiro with his Knightmare, but Mahiro's barrier stopped the drill; Mahiro then invoked Nihility.

Mahiro and his allies overwhelmed the Britannian forces on the bridge, capturing Luciano Bradley and Monica while Gino was knocked away. Mahiro then used Nihility to decompose Luciano, as Cornelia and Lloyd recognized the immense significance of the Azure Dragon and its pilot.

• Mahiro tore apart Luciano’s Knightmare Frame and captured him after Delta and the other girls destroyed the Valkyrie Squad.
• Monica and Gino arrived to rescue Luciano, but Mahiro’s summoned Knightmare struck Tristan and Epsilon defeated Monica and took her captive.
• Cornelia recognized the towering Knightmare as the Nation-Protector Divine Machine, Azure Dragon, while Lloyd identified it as the prototype of all Knightmares.
• Mahiro stomped Luciano and asked what mattered most to him before declaring the answer was Nihility and decomposing his body down to its elements.

Mahiro and the allied forces fought through Britannia’s army to escape, overpowering Suzaku’s Lancelot and forcing Cornelia to choose between letting them go and suffering more casualties. Cornelia stood down after confirming the hostages were rescued and Euphemia was safe, allowing Shadow Garden and the Black Knights to depart with Monica as a captive.

• Suzaku charged Lancelot across the bridge while Anya bombarded the attackers, and Zeta intercepted Suzaku in close combat.
• Gamma fell while attempting her secret technique, but her sword released a devastating arc that cut through the bridge and Britannia’s forces.
• Zeta and the other attackers disabled and tore apart Lancelot, trapping Suzaku inside its cockpit.
• Mahiro confronted Cornelia from atop the Nation-Protector Divine Machine and asked whether she would let the forces leave or continue fighting.
• Cornelia ordered her army to stand down, explaining that the hostages had been rescued and Euphemia was safe.
• Britannia’s army opened a path for Shadow Garden and the Black Knights to leave, taking the unconscious Monica with them.

After the Lake Kawaguchi incident, Mahiro spoke with Lelouch about Cornelia recognizing him and Monica Kruszewski's capture, then discovered Kallen had identified him as Teacher Yotsuba Mahiro. Two weeks later, Mahiro handled Ashford Academy festival proposals while Lelouch and Kallen were away with the Black Knights, and Milly exposed a pizza-loving witch's suggestive letter that seemed to implicate Mahiro.

• Mahiro visited Lelouch's RV, reassured him that Cornelia's discovery would not endanger the Black Knights, and said he would keep Monica Kruszewski.
• Mahiro left the RV and confronted Kallen, who emerged from the shadows and identified him as Teacher Yotsuba Mahiro.
• Two weeks later, Mahiro worked through Ashford Academy festival proposals while the Black Knights grew in influence and Shadow Garden remained quiet.
• Mahiro rejected a proposal for a swimsuit maid café and spa, then Milly read aloud a pizza-loving witch's letter about a man who kept her from eating pizza.
• Rivalz and Milly suggested Mahiro might be the man in the letter, and Nina accidentally triggered an alarm on her computer.

Mahiro received Beta's report about the addictive illegal drug Refrain and ordered Shadow Garden to act against its distribution. After Beta left, C.C. woke and questioned Mahiro about the women in his Shadow Garden, insisting that her only concern was whether he would grant her wish.

• Milly chose making the world's biggest pizza as the school festival theme, and Rivalz suggested Shirley pilot the Ashford family's Knightmare to make it.
• Mahiro returned to the student council room and found C.C. asleep in his bed, then Beta arrived with an urgent report.
• Beta told Mahiro that Refrain was an addictive drug that let users feel they had returned to the past and was spreading through Area 11.
• Mahiro asked whether Ita had experimented on Shadow Garden members with Refrain, and Beta said Alpha had stopped Ita from testing it on Monica.
• Mahiro ordered Shadow Garden to take action against Refrain, and Beta left to notify Alpha.
• C.C. woke, teased Mahiro about Alpha and Beta, and said she cared only about whether he could fulfill her wish.

Mahiro and Shadow Garden raided a coastal warehouse smuggling REFRAIN, killing the traffickers while sparing the drug-seeking victims. During the attack, Mahiro rescued a maid who resembled Kallen by opening a way through the warehouse wall, and she fled into the night.

• C.C. watched the desperate crowd gather at the warehouse, where a Britannian gatekeeper demanded payment before letting REFRAIN buyers enter.
• Mahiro, Alpha, Beta, and Shadow Garden’s combat executives prepared to attack the smuggling port with seventy-six members, though Mahiro said fewer would have been enough.
• Delta stormed the warehouse while Shadow Garden surrounded the area, killing the smugglers as their bullets failed to stop her.
• Mahiro told Alpha to spare the ELEVEN seeking REFRAIN because they were victims, and Alpha went to inform the others.
• Mahiro noticed a maid who resembled Kallen hiding with her REFRAIN and made the wall behind her vanish, allowing her to escape.

Mahiro followed Kallen’s biological mother to the Stadtfeld villa, then stopped Kallen from intervening when Britannians attacked an Honorary Britannian in the street. The bullies realized Kallen was the Stadtfeld family’s young lady, leaving them frightened and unsure how to respond.

• Mahiro followed Kallen’s mother to the Stadtfeld family villa and identified it as Kallen’s home.
• The news credited the Black Knights with a raid that seized 350 crates of Refrain, confusing Lelouch and Kallen.
• Kallen saw Britannians beating an Honorary Britannian and prepared to step in, but Mahiro stopped her and warned that intervening could endanger the victim.
• Mahiro challenged Kallen’s impulse to kill the attackers, arguing that violence would not end the wider persecution.
• The bullies mocked Kallen and Mahiro until Mahiro revealed that she was Kallen Stadtfeld; their leader recognized her family’s noble status.

Mahiro explained to Kallen that he had no interest in liberating Area 11, saying its people had chosen submission and that founding Shadow Garden had been a whim. Kallen, furious at his indifference, tried to strike him, and the chapter ended with her glaring at him after he restrained her.

• Mahiro drove off the Britannian punks, then secretly reduced them to dust for harassing Kallen.
• Mahiro told Kallen that overturning the rules required the power to break them, and Kallen suspected he could overthrow Britannia.
• Mahiro bought hot dogs and ice cream for himself and Kallen, then discussed Area 11’s prosperity and the loss of Japanese dignity.
• Mahiro said he had no plans to help Area 11 because its people had chosen submission, and admitted that founding Shadow Garden and cooperating with Zero had been whims.
• Kallen angrily tried to hit Mahiro, but he seized her wrist and restrained her before she pulled away and glared at him.

Mahiro visited the Stadtfeld residence with Kallen and met her stepmother, who praised him while complaining about Kallen. Afterward, he told Kallen he had recognized the exhausted maid as her mother.

• Mahiro urged Kallen to influence others through her actions, then said he had originally come to visit her home.
• Kallen led Mahiro to the Stadtfeld mansion, where he introduced himself to the maid as her teacher.
• Kallen's stepmother welcomed Mahiro after learning his name and complained about Kallen's behavior at home.
• Mahiro declined dinner and left the mansion, while Kallen followed him outside.
• Mahiro told Kallen he knew the maid was her mother because their faces were similar.

Mahiro urged Kallen to reconsider why her birth mother had stayed in the Stadtfeld mansion and to speak with her. When Kallen found her mother abusing Refrain in a filthy storage room, she realized how deeply the woman had suffered and heard her promise that Kallen would be safe as a Britannian.

• Kallen told Mahiro she was tired of her birth mother, whom she viewed as foolish and humiliatingly devoted to her former lover.
• Mahiro suggested Kallen might misunderstand her mother's reasons for staying and advised her to talk with her.
• Kallen returned home, remembered her mother's mistreatment by the mansion's servants, and went to the isolated room where she lived.
• Kallen found her mother repeatedly running into a wall and discovered Refrain and injection needles nearby.
• Kallen scolded her mother through tears, called her Mom, and listened as the woman promised she would never leave her side and that Kallen would no longer suffer.

After Kallen reconciled with her mother, her mother collapsed from the effects of contraband drugs and Mahiro arranged her hospitalization. Kallen thanked Mahiro and began telling him about her childhood, ending with her fierce opposition to moving into the Stadtfeld household.

• Kallen regretted blaming her mother and promised to protect her, but her mother suddenly collapsed, so Kallen called Mahiro for help.
• Mahiro arranged a hospital room and a long leave from school so Kallen could stay with her recovering mother.
• Kallen reflected on her mother's sacrifices and wondered about Mahiro's identity and motives before asking to speak with him privately.
• On the hospital rooftop, Kallen told Mahiro about her childhood in a fishing village and the prejudice her mixed heritage brought upon her and her mother.
• Kallen recalled refusing to move into the Stadtfeld household because she resented accepting help from Britannians and worried about her mother and brother.

Kallen shared her family’s painful history with Mahiro, then renewed her determination to fight Britannia after her mother briefly woke and urged her to keep going. A week later, the Black Knights had gained popularity, and Lelouch learned that Cornelia and Euphemia would visit Ashford’s school festival.

• Kallen told Mahiro how she had misunderstood her mother’s reasons for enduring life with the Stadtfeld family, and Mahiro comforted her as she cried.
• Kallen asked Mahiro to help the Black Knights and offered anything in return, but he refused because she was acting on impulse.
• Kallen’s mother briefly opened her eyes and told Kallen to keep going, strengthening Kallen’s resolve to overthrow Britannia.
• The Black Knights’ campaign against Refrain had made them heroes to the Elevens, while Cornelia prepared to act against them.
• Milly told the student council that Cornelia and Euphemia would attend Ashford’s school festival, leaving Lelouch flustered as Mahiro watched Nina’s nuclear-fission simulation.

Cornelia confronted Mahiro at Ashford Academy, demanding to know whether he was Shadow and whether he had a role in Clovis's death. Mahiro agreed to answer but first asked her to release his collar, leaving their private conversation unresolved.

• Lelouch and Milly discussed the arrival of Cornelia and Euphemia, while Lelouch concealed his unease about the Knights of the Rounds.
• Cornelia and Euphemia arrived at Ashford Academy, where Euphemia greeted her former teacher Mahiro as reporters watched from outside.
• Anya photographed Mahiro and introduced herself as a Knight of the Rounds, and Gino joined them to exchange greetings.
• Cornelia grabbed Mahiro by the collar and demanded an explanation about his disappearance, his identity as Shadow, and Clovis's death.
• Mahiro reassured Euphemia and asked Milly to show her and the knights around the festival, then agreed to answer Cornelia after she let him go.

Cornelia confronted Mahiro about his role as Shadow and the death of Clovis, then left declaring that they would be enemies. Euphemia guessed that Zero was Lelouch, and Mahiro took her to see Lelouch and Nunnally while showing her around Ashford Academy.

• Cornelia asked Mahiro whether he had piloted the Azure Dragon as Shadow, and he admitted it while calling his involvement a whim.
• Mahiro denied killing Clovis and teased Cornelia with a hint that Zero might be a vengeful ghost; Cornelia left, saying they would be enemies next time they met.
• Mahiro revealed that he had known Euphemia was listening, and she asked whether Zero was Lelouch.
• Mahiro avoided confirming Lelouch’s identity and invited Euphemia to see Lelouch and Nunnally while enjoying the festival.
• Euphemia disguised herself and toured Ashford Academy with Mahiro, asking him about its buildings and stories.

Euphemia watched Lelouch and Nunnally from a distance, then resolved to pursue a conciliatory policy toward Japan despite Mahiro’s warnings. At the school festival, Milly worried about Mahiro while Lloyd focused on the Ganymede Knightmare and Cecile dismissed his lack of understanding of women.

• Euphemia decided not to approach Lelouch and Nunnally, and she and Mahiro secretly followed them to the villa.
• Mahiro told Euphemia that Nunnally’s legs had been healed and that her blindness might soon be resolved.
• Euphemia questioned why Zero fought Britannia and resolved to try to improve the lives of the Eleven as Vice Governor, despite Mahiro warning her to be cautious.
• At the pizza-making event, Milly worried about Mahiro’s meeting with Cornelia while Lloyd studied the Ganymede Knightmare.
• Cecile interrupted Lloyd and Milly, telling Milly that Lloyd did not understand women, and Lloyd replied that he understood the concept.

After the academy festival’s first day, Mahiro returned to the villa and found C.C. asleep in his bed. They discussed Marianne’s warning that their relationship could ruin her and Charles’s plan, and Mahiro revealed that he wanted to visit C’s World; the chapter ended as he noticed snow falling.

• Mahiro returned to the Student Council club's villa and found C.C. asleep after she had eaten all the pizza.
• C.C. woke as Mahiro tried to rouse her, and they traded teasing remarks before she got dressed and watched the news.
• C.C. told Mahiro that Marianne had visited her face-to-face through Anya Alstreim and wanted her to leave him.
• C.C. said she cared only about fulfilling her wish, then asked what Mahiro wanted to do.
• Mahiro said he wanted to visit C's World, and then pointed out that it was snowing.

Lelouch and Mahiro waited at the Japanese Liberation Front’s base in the Narita Mountain Range as Cornelia’s forces prepared to attack, while Mahiro searched for a hidden Geass research facility. As the battle began to loom, Suzaku questioned why Britannia would not demand the Japanese Liberation Front’s surrender.

• Lelouch used Geass to bring Mahiro and his people through the Japanese Liberation Front’s checkpoints, and the two waited while playing chess.
• Mahiro revealed that he had brought C.C. to Narita and that a subordinate had infiltrated the hidden research facility beneath the mountain.
• C.C. asked Mahiro about identity and the color of snow, and he told her he would give the snow colors of his own.
• Cornelia’s personal guard and elite Britannian units deployed at the foot of the Narita Mountain Range, with Suzaku’s upgraded Lancelot positioned behind the main force.
• Suzaku asked Lloyd whether they should urge the Japanese Liberation Front to surrender, and Lloyd said it was pointless because the fighters would face execution or imprisonment anyway.

Cornelia launched a massive assault on the Japanese Liberation Front at Mount Narita while Lelouch and Mahiro prepared the Black Knights to face the encircling army. As battle began, Mahiro agreed to confront the Knights of the Rounds, and Lelouch learned that Suzaku piloted Lancelot.

• Cecile silenced Lloyd after he made an awkward remark, while Suzaku monitored the mobile base vehicle.
• Euphemia questioned Cornelia's encirclement plan, but Cornelia ordered the operation to begin and led her forces toward the mountains.
• Shadow Garden and the Black Knights planted explosives on the mountainside as Ohgi and Tamaki panicked at the approaching Britannian army.
• Mahiro urged the Black Knights to create a miracle, and Kallen chose to trust him before taking her place in the Crimson Lotus Mk-II.
• Lelouch asked Mahiro to handle the Knights of the Rounds, then learned from him that Suzaku was Lancelot's pilot.

Lelouch launched the Black Knights’ attack on the Britannian forces at the Narita Mountain Range, triggering a landslide to capture Cornelia. As the battle escalated, Mahiro charged into the fray in his unidentified Knightmare, and Lelouch redirected part of his forces toward it.

• Mahiro warned Lelouch that using a landslide would leave no way back, and Lelouch said he had already committed himself to his path of vengeance.
• Cornelia led a direct assault on the Japanese Liberation Front’s headquarters and dismissed the defenders as unimpressive.
• Lelouch ordered the Black Knights to attack, and Kallen used the No. 3 penetrating electrode to trigger a massive landslide at Narita.
• Cornelia evaded the collapsing mountain, ordered the evacuation and rescue of her forces, and identified the attackers as the Black Knights and Shadow Garden.
• Mahiro charged down the mountain in the Nation-Protector Divine Machine, while an azure charged-particle beam destroyed most of Britannia’s airborne transport aircraft.
• Lelouch ordered the Black Knights to exploit the divided Britannian forces and sent B1 toward Cornelia’s position, using the route that led directly to Mahiro.

Lelouch lured Cornelia toward Mahiro's Nation-Protector Divine Machine, but Mahiro turned their encounter into a fierce duel and quickly overwhelmed her Gloucester. The Knights of the Rounds and Suzaku arrived to reinforce Cornelia, while Suzaku struggled with the deaths caused by the battle and spotted two enemies ahead.

• Lelouch used decoys to draw Cornelia away from her guards and toward Mahiro, while Cornelia willingly followed, hoping to restrain the Nation-Protector Divine Machine.
• Mahiro faced Cornelia in a duel, crushed her lance, and began dismantling her Gloucester as C.C. watched from the cockpit.
• Euphemia sent Gino Weinberg in Tristan, Anya Alstreim in Mordred, and Suzaku Kururugi in Lancelot to rescue Cornelia.
• Suzaku questioned the battle's devastation, and Gino warned him that his conflicting beliefs could get him killed on the battlefield.
• Anya alerted the group to two enemies ahead, and Gino recognized them as old acquaintances.