Suzaku and Lelouch awaken on an unknown island, unable to remember what happened just before regaining consciousness. Suzaku finds Kallen nearby, and is shocked to find that she's a Black Knight and Japanese. He detains and arrests her while, elsewhere, Lelouch finds Euphemia nearby. Lelouch is shocked to discover that Euphemia had figured out his identity.
Meanwhile, on Shikine Island, the Britannian military is desperately searching for Euphemia. Lloyd and Cecile meet with Prince Schneizel, who helped to realize Lloyd's visions of the float system and Hadron Cannon and put them to practical use. Schneizel reveals that he ordered the launch of the missiles to kill Zero, as well as the Hadron Cannon, because he was also going to attempt to rescue Suzaku before he could be harmed.
Back on the other island, Euphemia reveals that she had Lelouch pegged as Zero since the Lake Kawaguchi incident. She had not revealed what she learned to Cornelia because she isn't listened to, being a mere figurehead. When asked whether she knows anything about the death of Lelouch's mother, Euphemia explains that she knew nothing, but Cornelia had investigated her death extensively, having looked up to Lady Marianne when she was alive.
Eventually, hunger strikes. Lelouch attempts to dig a trap for wild game. On another part of the island, Suzaku catches fish for himself and Kallen. All the while, the Black Knights go into hiding in their submersible base. Diethard argues that the Black Knights should search for Zero, since the Black Knights are nothing without Zero according to him; while Tohdoh advocates a cautious retreat, as there is no guarantee that Zero survived. C.C. assures everyone that Zero was still alive, drawing the annoyance of Tamaki. Ohgi manages to reach a compromise, electing to wait until the following day before sending search parties.
That night, as Lelouch and Euphemia dine on fruits the princess found (to the great pain of Lelouch's pride), Suzaku and Kallen have fish. Suzaku tries to convince Kallen to leave the Black Knights, but she rebukes him, and tells him that he is a shame to his father's name. Suzaku reveals that his father didn't commit suicide: he was murdered by his own son. He compares his father to Zero, both justifying unneeded deaths. Kallen asks him what purpose the death of her brother Naoto served before falling asleep.
Euphemia and Lelouch gaze at the stars that night, much like back when they were children. She questions if they can go back to the way things were.
Schneizel's Avalon touches down on the island that night, uncovering an archaeological find from around the time of the Shinjuku incident. Inside, they find the "Thought Elevator". Other similar artifacts had been found across the globe, with this one being the only one not under direct Imperial control, leading Bartley, who had been saved from imprisonment by Schneizel, to speculate that Britannia's aggressive campaigns of expansion were to gain control of the artifacts. To study them, Schneizel brought an experimental Knightmare Frame, the Gawain, and its Druid System.
Eventually, Lelouch, Euphemia, Suzaku, and Kallen reconvene while looking for search parties. Lelouch, as Zero, takes Euphemia hostage and demands Suzaku release Kallen. As tensions flare between them, the stone slab they stand upon suddenly glows red with the same sigil as Lelouch's Geass, and collapses into the cave where Schneizel is researching the Thought Elevator. Seeing the Gawain nearby, Zero commandeers it with Kallen and makes his escape, blasting through enemy Knightmares with its Hadron Cannons and taking flight with its Float System.
Immediately after their escape, Suzaku is placed under arrest for violating military protocol. Before being sent to the deserted island, a desperate Lelouch used his Geass on Suzaku, giving him a simple order: "Live!" Under the influence of Lelouch's Geass, Suzaku let Zero go and escaped with his life, an act of insubordination that Suzaku cannot even remember committing.
To make matters worse, Cornelia learns of ships from the Chinese Federation launching an invasion on Kyushu, flying the flag of Japan.
