Eight years ago, in the year 2009 a.t.b., Lelouch vi Britannia confronts his father, the Emperor, about the death of his mother, Marianne, and the crippling of his sister, Nunnally. The Emperor dismisses Lelouch's concerns, calling Nunnally a weakling. In a fit of rage, Lelouch declares that he gives up his right to the throne. In response, the Emperor exiles Lelouch and Nunnally to Japan to serve as bargaining tools.
Back in the present, Cornelia promotes Suzaku from Private to Warrant Officer. Suzaku gets tutoring from Cecile, who was concerned that Suzaku would not fit in at school. Thankfully, Suzaku was fitting in nicely, thanks to an old friend. Back at school, Kallen and Shirley have an argument over a misunderstanding, with Shirley becoming convinced Kallen and Lelouch were an item; while Milly discusses an arranged marriage with her mother, one made to help restore the Ashford family's standing after the death of Marianne.
In Saitama, Cornelia has the ghetto surrounded, preparing an attack on a local resistance force. Cornelia has officers from the battle in Shinjuku with her, in the hopes that she can simulate the conditions in Shinjuku. A news report is made of the impending military operation in the hopes of drawing out Zero. Lelouch prepares to set out to meet Cornelia's challenge, in the hopes of discovering the truth behind his mother's murder. C.C. confronts Lelouch, using a gun to dissuade him from going out to fight Cornelia, since he would be putting his life in needless jeopardy that would leave him unable to fulfill her contract. Lelouch, realizing C.C. could not use Geass, herself, takes out a gun and threatens to kill himself unless she allowed him to leave. He tells her that until he received his Geass, he had essentially been a dead man walking, living without ever doing anything with his life, and that he would rather die than return to living like that. C.C. finally relents.
In Saitama, the Britannian military, under Cornelia's orders, begin to execute Elevens in the ghetto. Lelouch, disguised as a Britannian soldier, lures a soldier out of his Knightmare and uses his Geass to commandeer it. He begins to relay enemy movements to the insurgents in Saitama, helping them to claim Sutherland Knightmares of their own to fight back. Cornelia orders her forces to pull back, and Lelouch moves to blend in with the retreating soldiers so he can sneak behind enemy lines and confront Cornelia directly.
Back at school, Shirley describes to Suzaku how she came to admire Lelouch: she thought him as being standoffish and rude at first, but then she saw how he helped an elderly couple who were involved in a car accident with a more well-to-do man who was clearly at fault.
In Saitama, Lelouch sneaks into the enemy ranks as they gather around Cornelia's mobile base. He calls one of the insurgents and orders him to engage his Knightmare's IFF signal. This draws Cornelia's attention: she has a unit of her knights dispatched to destroy it, without confirming the pilot's identity. Lelouch orders more units to activate their IFF signals, and Cornelia has her knights sent to destroy them. Morale plummets among the insurgents: some escape while others surrender, only to be gunned down.
With the Saitama insurgents wiped out, Cornelia declares the mission complete and orders her units into formation, and then orders the pilots to open their hatches and reveal their faces. Faced with certain defeat, Lelouch is saved from exposure by the sudden appearance of Zero! Lelouch takes advantage of the situation to make his escape. He runs into Zero in the sewers, who reveals himself to actually be C.C., come to save him from dying needlessly. Lelouch resolves to raise an army, a nation, that can defeat Britannia.
