Trapped in the otherworld with the Sword of Akasha, Lelouch demands to know from Emperor Charles why his mother died, and who was responsible. Charles calls Lelouch out on the hypocrisy of demanding truth when he has shrouded himself in lies, and the two argue about the nature of truth and lies, with Lelouch stating that lies are how people survive, and Charles debating that lies are how wars start and create suffering.
Suzaku meets up with C.C. and Marianne, still possessing Anya. C.C. explains that Lelouch and Charles are in "C's World", a collection of human unconsciousness that can be likened to "God". With C.C.'s aid, Marianne enters C's world, leaving Anya's body unconscious in the real world.
Lelouch is shocked to find his mother with him and Charles upon the Sword of Akasha. With her present, Charles finally reveals the truth behind Marianne's death...
As a child, Charles was far too familiar with the danger that comes from lies and deceit, as the Britannian royal family was embroiled in constant civil war over the throne, his own mother being but one casualty. Thus, he and his elder brother, the man who would become V.V., made a vow to never lie to each other, and to create a world without lies. To that end, they hatched the plan to use the Sword of Akasha, and the "Ragnarok Connection", to kill "God" and create a world that was free of lies, where all souls of humanity would be laid bare and everyone would know each other's hearts. They found like minds in C.C., who used to lead the Geass Order, and Marianne, with all four agreeing to aid in the plan. However, V.V. began to grow jealous of Charles's increasingly close relationship with Marianne. Thus, he convinced Marianne one night to meet him without her guards and gunned her down.
With her dying breath, Marianne used her own Geass, bestowed upon her by C.C., to transfer her soul into the mind of a witness: a young girl who had come to the imperial court to learn etiquette named Anya Alstreim.
Afterwards, Charles staged a terrorist attack, with Nunnally set up as a fake hostage, using his Geass on her to rewrite her memories and induce blindness. He also used his Geass on Anya, causing her to become unable to form new memories. Charles would realize V.V. lied to him about Marianne's death not long after. Charles exiled Lelouch and Nunnally to Japan to protect them from V.V., and kept Marianne's body in a secret location so she could use her Geass to return to her body and back to life.
As Suzaku and C.C. appear on the Sword of Akasha, having overheard everything, Charles uses the Code he took from V.V., and uses C.C.'s Code, to activate the Ragnarok Connection. It is explained that for the plan to be a guarenteed success, two Codes were needed: one from V.V., and the other from C.C. Lelouch intervenes, however, stating that he rejects Charles and Marianne's vision of the world. He explains that people lie not just to survive, but because there is something they seek. The world his parents envisioned would be closed, complete, and stagnant: it wouldn't really be a living world. In spite of Charles and Marianne's honest intentions, they had abandoned Lelouch and Nunnally in a foreign land to pursue their own selfish desires.
Charles taunts Lelouch, telling him that the Ragnarok Connection could not be stopped. Lelouch, however, puts into action one last plan: using his Geass on "God"! Now realizing who he truly is, Lelouch uses his Geass on "God", to compel the collective unconscious of humanity to not stop the march of time. His Geass becoming so powerful that it encompasses both of his eyes, he declares his wish for "tomorrow"!
His plan works: "God" bends to his will, and the Ragnarok Connection is destroyed, completely undoing Charles and Marianne's plot. Afterwards, Charles and Marianne's bodies begin to disappear as they are absorbed into C's World. Charles warns Lelouch that by rejecting his world, he would inherit Schneizel's world; but Lelouch is resolute in his defiance of Charles's vision.
Charles and Marianne's bodies dissolve away into nothingness. With the Emperor dead, the question lingers as to how Lelouch, Suzaku, and C.C. proceed from this point...
A month passes, with Charles having been missing in that time. At the imperial capital of Pendragon, however, word arrives that the Emperor has returned.
To the shock of the royal family and all present, it is not Emperor Charles that appears, but Lelouch vi Britannia! He declares himself the 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, and that he had slain Emperor Charles. When royal guards go to apprehend Lelouch, Suzaku appears to guard him. Lelouch goes on to declare Suzaku to be not only his personal knight, but of the highest possible rank within the Knights of the Round: the Knight of Zero!
Lelouch then uses his Geass to compel the royal family and court to accept him as their new ruler.
Schneizel watches these events unfold on television, and ponders who would win control of the entire world in the end...
