Tear Jerker / Code Prime - R1: Rebellion

As is the case will all pages detailing Tear Jerkering Moments, Spoilers Off

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R1: Rebellion

• The circumstances surrounding Shirley's father are just as sad here as in canon. He actually survives the rockslide at Narita, but ends up being captured by the Decepticons, along with the rest of the Code-R scientists. All that's left behind is his lab coat with his name tag on it. Shirley is left under the impression that her father is dead with no body found, and she does not take it well like in canon.
  • Likewise, Rai is wracked with guilt during the next few chapters over Shirley's father dying, as he was the one that caused the rockslide instead of Kallen, and it's also implied that he has a crush on Shirley.
  • A moment in Chapter 18 has Ratchet asking a guilt-ridden Lelouch if he intends to give up every time a friend of his loses a loved one because of him. Lelouch asks Ratchet if he has any room to talk, because he's a doctor and not a soldier, and doesn't know what death is. Ratchet's response is one of anger and sadness, and it makes Lelouch realize and regret what he said.
    Ratchet: Just because I'm a medic doesn't mean I don't know what death is! I've had more than my fair share of patients die on my operating table! And I've been on the battlefield and I've seen fresh carnage with my own optics! I couldn't even repair Bumblebee's voice box!
  • There's also Bulkhead and Wheeljack telling Rai about the Wreckers that they've lost over the years: Roadbuster, Impactor, Pyro and Rotorstorm.
    Wheeljack: There's a price to pay for being a Wrecker. We might be able to duke it out with the toughest Cons out there, but we can't win 'em all.
• Chapters 16 and 18 see Darlton lose his adoptive sons at the battles of Narita and Port Yokosuka. Alfred, Bart and Claudio are killed at Narita by Kallen, Bulkhead and Todoh, while Port Yokosuka see David and Edgar fall at Rai and Arcee's hands. At least in canon, Darlton was already dead when his sons died, and Claudio survived. Here, he lives to see all his sons die, and it's hard for him.
• When Lelouch uses his Geass on Cornelia in Chapter 22, he learns that if she ever found out that Lelouch and Nunnally are still alive, and the former is Zero, she would immediately defect to the Autobots and Black Knights to protect them. When Lelouch shares this information with Optimus later on, along with his personal history, he breaks down in tears and confesses that he truly wishes to have Cornelia as an ally, and he regrets thinking that Cornelia hated him and Nunnally.
  • Adding to that, Lelouch erasing Cornelia's memories of their meeting and Lelouch's unmasking. It's clear Lelouch doesn't want to do it, but he knows that erasing Cornelia's memories and having her as his enemy for now is the only way to protect her and Euphemia from Megatron and Charles. He even notes to himself the sad irony of it.
• Bulkhead slowly losing his memories in Chapter 24, and nearly becoming brain dead, is hard for his partner Rai and his best friend Wheeljack, but it's especially hard for Shirley, as she blames herself for causing the data of the Synthetic Energon formula to nearly consume Bulkhead's mind when she just wanted to try and contribute more to the cause.
• Chapter 29 has several of these:
  • When Euphemia tries to convince Cornelia to side with the Autobots and the Black Knights after learning the truth of the Cybertronian war, the two sisters get into an argument that ends with Cornelia backhanding Euphie when the latter accuses her of being just like their father with letting many innocent people suffer on a daily basis and refusing to do anything about it, and not caring about Lelouch and Nunnally being exiled and (supposedly) killed.
    • What makes it sadder for Euphie is she just found out the previous chapter that not only are Lelouch and Nunnally still alive, but the former is Zero, and yet she can't reveal his identity to Cornelia without fear of the information falling into the wrong hands. On top of that, had Euphie actually told Cornelia about what she learned, Cornelia, who admitted in Chapter 22 that she would turn on the Empire if she found out about this to protect Lelouch and Nunnally, would have no doubt said yes to joining the Autobots and Black Knights.
    • The fallout from the argument is this as well. Euphie leaves immediately, feeling hurt and betrayed while Cornelia is immediately hit with regret and horror over striking her own sister. After Euphie leaves, Cornelia silently agrees with what Euphie said to her, hating herself for not being able to protect Lelouch and Nunnally.
  • When Lelouch finally reveals to Nunnally that he's Zero, Nunnally tearfully replies that she had known ever since Lelouch's debut as Zero by recognizing his voice, but didn't want to believe it. Lelouch can only wince at this, realizing he had been making his sister worry about his safety from the beginning.
    • Lelouch revealing the truth to Nunnally is this as well, as Nunnally learns everything, including Suzaku killing his own father and being with the Decepticons, which hits her hard.
    • There's also the part where Nunnally tells Lelouch that she doesn't want to live in a new world if he's not a part of it with her. What hits it here is this is what Nunnally told Lelouch in the Code Geass finale as he was dying, and it was too late for him to realize how much he meant to her.
  • When Rai regains his memories, he tells Lelouch, Shirley, Bulkhead, Fixit and Optimus his backstory, and it's a sad one. Given a Geass by V.V. to protect his mother and sister, Rai lost control of it when Britannia invaded their island home, telling the entire population to fight back. The result was many people, including Rai's mother and sister, dying. Rai nearly shot himself in the head before V.V. showed up and put him in a Thought Elevator for seven years, where he didn't age. Using his Geass on himself to forget the traumatizing memories, Rai was found by Clovis and was made a test subject for Code-R, later escaping the facility during the Shinjuku massacre and ending up at Ashford Academy.
    • There's also the revelation that he's the illegitimate son of Charles zi Britannia. Rai does not take it well.
    • Rai's breakdown after telling his story is this as well, as he blames himself for his mother and sister dying, calling himself a monster. Shirley can only cry as she hugs him and tells him that he's not a monster.
• Chapter 32: Crosses with Nightmare Fuel: Euphemia being Forced to Watch as Megatron completely obliterates her attempt to establish a better world by having a Decepticon Pretender spark a massacre while wearing her face.
  • Suzaku drops pretenses and just blatantly asks Lelouch to let him die already.
    Suzaku:"Wha… why…? Why are always doing this…?! Ever since that night… You've always tried to get me to change my mind! Why?! Why can't you just let me be! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME DIE!?"
    • Suzaku's Villainous Breakdown in general. It starts when he sees Zero destroy the Euphemia Pretender, thinking it's the real Euphie. He nearly kills him before Nunnally intervenes and reveals that Lelouch is Zero, and the Euphie that was killed was a fake. In his state, he starts blaming Lelouch and the Autobots for everything before Lelouch tells him that he's mad at himself for not protecting Euphie and making it clear that Britannia and the Decepticons are responsible for everything, and Suzaku needs to own up to the fact that he had a hand in this as well, and has to take responsibility for it. It causes Suzaku to nearly shut down before Nunnally comforts him and convinces him to join the Autobots and Black Knights to save Euphie.
  • During the SAZ Massacre, Rai attacks Nonette, accusing her of helping Megatron and Charles with this. The only thing that keeps him from killing her is Nonette telling him that she would never do something so horrible, all while she's crying. Given how Nonette used to be Rai's personal knight, it hits hard seeing them like this. As Rai turns to leave, Nonette makes one last attempt to reach out to him, but Rai firmly tells her that as long as she continues to serve Britannia, he'll have nothing to do with her.
  • The SAZ Massacre is no less tragic then it was canonically — in the original series, Suzaku lied to a dying Euphemia that the SAZ was a success and the Japanese people were happy. Here, even though Euphie will survive to see the end of the story, she's now going to have to live with the fact that her actions are directly responsible for this bloodshed. Even though Lelouch managed to clear her name, it is unlikely the rest of world will be as quick to forgive such a tragedy, unintentional as it was, and Euphemia herself is more than likely going to have to deal with an overwhelming sense of guilt and shame for most of the foreseeable future.
• Chapter 33:
  • Euphemia is obviously completely beside herself for the slaughter at the SAZ and her jailer Airachnid is thoroughly enjoying her despair and rubbing even more salt in the wound.
  • Cornelia ends up joining Euphie as a captive of Airachnid's after her failed attempt to kill Megatron. Despite trying her best to show no fear, she's clearly worried not just for Euphie, but also for Lelouch and Nunnally, as well as Guilford and Darlton.
  • We learn what really happened to Skyquake; he tried to stop Megatron's poisoning of Cybertron's core, only for Megatron to attack him and leave him for dead. Ratchet was then forced to give him a Mercy Kill due to Dark Energon poisoning.
• Chapter 34: Among the gathered Imperial Family members at Pendragon is Laila la Britannia, Clovis' younger sister. The poor girl lost her brother a few months ago, and now she has to witness her entire world being destroyed. While most of her family deserves everything that is coming to them, what's happening to her is heartbreaking.
• Chapter 35:
  • Cliffjumper, mortally wounded by Luciano, takes the bastard with him, dragging his Knightmare down into a generator to be fried. As he does, he looks to a stricken Arcee and Kallen and gives them his last words: "I love you guys". The girls are left overwhelmed with grief as they helplessly look on, and Gino is left in shock and sadness.
  • Dreadwing covers Suzaku's escape with Euphie and Cornelia, setting a bomb in the Kamine island Energon deposit to blow up the Insecticons. Realizing that his injuries from the fight with Airachnid mean he won't be able to escape in time and ensure the bomb goes off, he chooses to make a Last Stand; he contacts the humans to give them each parting words, including calling Suzaku his brother, before triggering the blast. Suzaku and Euphemia are devastated from losing their friend. Even Cornelia is heartbroken as well.
  • Guilford is left as the only member of Cornelia's honor guard after Darlton is killed by an Insecticon. When Optimus and the Black Knights escape, Guilford stays behind to hold them off but is soundly defeated and captured. Before he loses consciousness, Guilford can only beg for Cornelia's forgiveness for failing her and Euphemia.
  • C.C.'s nightmare when Megatron uses his Dark Geass on her has her relive the torture she went through and the experiments that were performed on her, before being tied up and sealed in Clovis's containment sphere. The immortal girl can only beg for help as she's sealed away.
    C.C.: Someone! Lelouch! Optimus! HELP ME!
  • Lelouch's Geass-induced nightmare has him seeing his friends and loved ones burn away on crosses with Lelouch unable to do anything, even more so as Nunnally is burned to a skeleton in his arms while saying "You ate a thousand needles". The worst part of the nightmare is that Megatron designed it to slowly eat away at Lelouch's mind before killing him. And it's still going on by the end of the chapter.
  • Megatron also uses his Dark Geass on Optimus. The Autobot leader is haunted by the voices of all the people he had been unable to save on Earth and Cybertron. Optimus can only fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness for failing them.
• Chapter 36:
  • Everyone — Autobot, Black Knight, and civilian alike — being overwhelmed with grief at the thought of Lelouch dying from Megatron's Dark Geass.
  • C.C. tearfully admitting to the Primes while making a contract with Optimus that while she was a Death Seeker before, now she just wants to avoid losing her new friends.

R2: Revolution

• Chapter 1:
  • Gino had planned on sneaking away in order to rejoin the Autobots and Black Knights, only to try and help Anya (who he doesn't know is possessed by Marianne) and is captured.
  • Among the Britannian royals killed during the Decepticons' assault on other Areas is Victoria li Britannia, Cornelia and Euphemia's mother, who gets butchered by Airachnid.
  • Johann Schwarzer sacrifices himself to allow Marrybell and the Glinda Knights to escape. All of the Knights, especially Marrybell, are devastated by his death.
  • There's also worth mentioning Guilford's condition as a slave. The poor man is messy and unkempt, and his body is on the verge of collapsing from starvation. He can only ask himself how it came to all this, and beg for Cornelia's forgiveness.
    • It’s made clear that Guilford’s condition is the norm amongst every human enslaved by the Decepticons, even the children. Even compared to Britannia, it's soul-shattering.
  • It's pretty telling that an undercover Milly has no obvious reaction to the sight of her mother being dropped in a pool of molten metal while still alive.
• Chapter 2:
  • Kallen's taken a few levels in Knight in Sour Armor, being abrasive to Suzaku because she feels like he's replacing Cliffjumper.
    • It's all the more poignant considering Cliff, along with Arcee, was the first Autobot to befriend Kallen. He joked with her, watched her back while on missions, and comforted her often when the girl's spirits were down. Kallen outright said he was a lot like Naoto to her. And like her brother, he's dead now, and Kallen probably feels guilty that she couldn't save him.
    • Meanwhile, Arcee likely sees what her partner's going through; after all, Arcee had the same pain with Tailgate's death, only this time, Cliff's not around to lift either of their spirits. Arcee briefly loses her temper at Kallen's outburst that Suzaku's replacing Ciffjumper before calming down again.
  • Gino, Anya, Castor, and Pollux are all being forced to aid the Decepticons via explosives implanted in their Knightmares.
  • Optimus almost gets through to Anya with his Geass, but Marianne intervenes.
• Chapter 3:
  • Nunnally, learning about Metroplex's Heroic Sacrifice, briefly gains the hope that the Ark could transform into him before being corrected.
  • Toru Yoshida, who dies in canon, survives the Black Rebellion in this story, only to tragically lose his life against the Decepticon Springload. He manages to outlive his canon self by six months.
  • Wizard can take some solace in that he knows that Orpheus is okay, but he has no idea what's going on with Oldrin since she and Marrybell, along with the rest of the Glinda Knights, are still in hiding. He also wants to reveal his identity, as well as what he knows about the Geass Order, but can't because he's not ready to reveal his past sins.

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