Philosophy of Code Geass: Does public opinion change based on who's in power or who wins the war? Does victory triumph over morality?

            Some say that history is biased. Based on who wrote the material, who was their audience, when it was written, and why it was written, a source can be riddled with biased remarks made by the author. Bias can also be affected by the political climate and how the country is feeling about a certain topic. History and what the public thinks changes based on the group that is in power.

Clovis la Britannia

            In Code Geass, when Clovis orders the massacre of all the people in the Shinjuku Ghetto for the sole purpose of recovering his treasonous science project, it is quickly covered up. Clovis is viceroy of Area 11 and controls what information is released to the public (episode 1 & 2).          

            Winston Churchill stated, “Historyis written by the victors”. This means that history is dictated by the winner of a battle because they control the history books. They decide what happens after the war through their actions. If they used anarchic methods, such as torture, to achieve their goals, they would cover it up. They will also deem what is the best punishment for the conquered. They will decide to either be merciful, treat the captured with humanity, and allow them to prove their worth or punish them with manual labor, loss of freedom, and even executions. The defeated suddenly become evil monsters, while the victors are heroic saviors.

            Let’s say for example that England had won the revolutionary war. Since they have won the war, their opinion is the only one that matters. In their eyes George Washington is a traitorous upstart that lead the rebellion against his own king while Benedict Arnold would be hailed as a hero who risked his life by gaining spying of the patriots and leaking information on battle strategies to the British troops. Of course, the patriots won the war and gained its independence from England so in reality Washington is the father of our nation and Benedict Arnold is a traitor.

            If history is written by the winners of a battle, than we can say that how the world perceives certain issues is dictated by the ideals of the winners. What would have happened if the confederacy had won the war instead of the union? Would slavery still exist in America? Imagine if World War II had been won by the Nazis; would we have inherited their hatred of Jews and started our own persecution? Would the existence of concentration camps have remained hidden? According to History.com, people did not know the existence of the concentration camps until a year after they were created. It wasn't until the near ending of the war that America publicized it. Luckily, we did win the war and the killings stopped. Because we won the war, children were taught that Hitler was a madman and the true atrocious conditions that the Jewish people and the adversaries of the Nazis were treated to.

Philosophy of Code Geass: The Power of Kings

Power, so many people crave it, but is it a double edged sword? I believe that having power makes you lonely. People who are in a position of power are lonely most of the time because they have to separate themselves from the people they are commanding. They can’t have friends because it could interfere with important decisions that have to be made.

For example, it is discouraged for an employer to have an intimate relationship with his/her employee because it can lead to problems in the workplace. Let’s say that Tim is the manager of a local sporting goods store and Jill is the clerk and they are involved in an intimate relationship. Customers start complaining that Jill is rude and unpleasant but Tim ignores their complaints because he doesn’t want to fire Jill because that could lead to problems in their relationship. As a result, word spreads that the store does not have good service and the business falls into ruin. Because Tim did not keep a certain distance from his employee, he was not able to make effective decisions that were crucial to the success of his business.

Lancelot Albion vs Guren

For Lelouch's case, he has to make hard decisions that no one will make or will like but that's what being a leader is about. He cannot get too emotional and breakdown if one of his soldiers dies in a battle. Take for example Lelouch’s relationship with Kallen/Karen. When Kallen was kidnapped by the Britannians at the Battle of Xiaopei (R2 episode 10) Zero had to make the choose of either saving Kallen and put the entire Black Knights at risk or leave her behind and fight to rescue her on a later date. Because he was friends with Kallen it was a hard decision to make. Maintaining distance between a leader and his subordinate can lead to effective working conditions.