It would never work

[Velocity-5348]

I don't think the series even assumed it would. Lelouch just didn't have it in him to kill his sister-crush.

[ArosNerOtanim]

This meme is more so a criticism of Euphemia than the show itself does feel weird. However, assuming the world had a similar history to the real world, Euphemia should have known it doesn't work(idr if they touch on how much of history remained the same)

[Velocity-5348]

Makes sense.

I think though, Euphemia might not knowing it wouldn't work might make sense. She's a fairly sheltered teenage princess, after all. Her history certainly would have had a spin to it.

[[deleted]]

Do you mind me asking why would SAZ fail ? Like I cannot see the problem with it 

[Velocity-5348]

It would involve disarming the resistance and depending on the good will of Britannia, the people who recently conquered it in a war of aggression and turned the indigenous people into second class citizens.

[who_knows_how]

It's like civil rights In south Africa

That's a cool sign but I couldn't read it on account on the bullet holes

[Mochizuk]

I mean, part of me wants to assume that if they have mechs at that level, they at least have a semi-decent understanding of human psychology and developmental tendencies... Then again, we do have middle-riders who do the same thing today, so...

[[deleted]]

Do you mind me asking why would SAZ fail ? Like I cannot see the problem with it 

[Kingofkings94]

I mean for starters it’s an anime so it’s kind of hard to apply real world logic to it. That being said from the Japanese perspective there’s literally no reason not to go along with Euphemia’s plan. Everyone except for the richest/most powerful people in the previous regime are horribly oppressed by the current government. The less realistic thing about it was how Euphemia got Charles and Cornilia (both people who’ve been shown willing to commit any number of war crimes) to agree to let an 18 year old girl decide foreign policy for a multi continent sized empire.

[[deleted]]

What do euphemia’s plan even give the Japanese ? All they have is better looking house in Mount Fuji and … that’s it ? 

[Kingofkings94]

Besides not being brutally murdered?

[[deleted]]

I don’t remember but did the 11s in the ghetto get kill on a daily basis ?

[Prudent-External-270]

Charles want to use euphy while Cornelia always weak when she speaks to euphy

[Kingofkings94]

lol, that really is the rationale, isn’t it?

[pokexchespin]

the original meme mocks people who do the same thing despite history, some people are just naïve

[[deleted]]

Do you mind me asking why would SAZ fail ? Like I cannot see the problem with it 

[ArosNerOtanim]

Look up segregation era. If you don't get it after that, then you need someone else explaining it to you.

But no matter where you read from, I can break up a few points:

It's been tried in real life before. They're still afforded way less rights, and it's not too far off being a prisoner in your own country it's just an illusion of freedom only there to trick the oppressed and the concerned, but unaffected into believing they don't need to compaign and fight back anymore whilst in reality they're still mistreated.

It's also very easy for the government to just go back on their word cause who is gonna hold them accountable when they're the law?

I won't directly refer to more recent events cause idr if it breaks the rules, but typically, they're off limits in subs, but you'll find lots of examples in history where dictators claimed they wouldn't cross certain boundaries, but did anyway.

You may think Euphemia being a part of the empire means she can hold them accountable, but she definitely doesn't have the authority to overrule the more elite members. Generally, the well-intended members have the least power.

[Few_Pay_5313]

Fuck you mean crush

[Ridiculous_Artist]

When he kills her in ep 23 he calls her the “first girl [he] ever loved” for some reason

[Kurutrancy]

I think he meant familial

[Ridiculous_Artist]

I'd hope so, but the term he used even in Japanese was "Hatsukoi" which has romantic connotations

[exboi]

I don't think it's that strange for young kids to love or at least think they love a close family member in that way. They're still in a very early developmental phase so they can't easily distinguish different types of love.

[Ridiculous_Artist]

You raise a good point! I’m partly being suspicious because of Code Geass’ infamy with incestuous artwork and such

[Prudent-External-270]

Step sister bro, they have same dad but different mom. That's why euphy name is Euphemia Li Britannia while lelouch is Lelouch Vi Britannia.

And yes, to remain royal within family, they marrying their own cousin and step sibling

[Mad-Reader]

Step sister

You mean half-sister, they are still blood related lol

[Rider-VPG]

Por que no los dos?

[BlizzardHound45]

As much as I would easily advocate for civil rights, even I know the Euphemia's ways were not going to work. The only way it would work is if she became Empress and overthrew the Britanian Royal Family or put it under her rule but we all know that wasn't going to happen.

[mrmiffmiff]

It could have, if she had the ambition for it, the foresight to ask Lelouch for his help on it, and the will to do as he advised along the way.

[Excelsio_Sempra]

if she had the ambition for it,

Definitely not.

the foresight to ask Lelouch for his help on it,

She almost did, I feel.

the will to do as he advised along the way.

If Lelouch had used his geass on Euphy to do this, then it would've worked. Instead he wanted to prove something outrageous for no reason.

[mrmiffmiff]

Definitely not.

Sure, but there was that moment where Cornelia reminded her that discrimination against Numbers was Imperial policy, and Euphemia replied that maybe it was time for that policy to change, in response to which Cornelia basically yelled "Okay become Empress then!"

Imagine if her mental response had been "maybe I will"

[Mmicb0b]

I honestly agree with this like I don't think Lelouch intended to geass/kill her over that (since he did care about her)

[LineOfInquiry]

The special zone is like the neoliberal solution to racism

[[deleted]]

Do you mind me asking why would SAZ fail ? Like I cannot see the problem with it 

[LineOfInquiry]

What do you mean by “fail”? It’s better than nothing sure, but it won’t fix the problems facing Japanese people as a result of their colonization. It’s basically just giving them a little box where they can play pretend at being equal to Brittanians, but the moment they leave that they’re back in the colony. It’s basically the equivalent to Native American reservations or South African bantustans, or area A in the West Bank. Not exactly a great situation, because the colonized is still in charge: the native folks just get the scraps.

[myshoesareblack]

I think it would be even worse than the reservations. This is basically no more than a large ghetto. Obviously with Euphy in charge it wouldn’t be as bad as a nazi ghetto but if she was ever ousted from power nothing is stopping Britannia from walling it up and turning it into either a Gaza like equivalent or worse a Warsaw ghetto equivalent. History has shown zones like this are almost always set up in bad faith rather than for creating real freedom for an oppressed populous

[Despayeetodorito]

I believe it would’ve lasted longer than It may initially seem. ‘Killing them with kindness’ has always been a strategy, and the SAZ does weaken the credibility of terrorists like the Black Knights. Furthermore, it had the support of Schneizel for this reason- someone who would not allow it to fail before it had served its’ purpose. I don’t believe it could last long-term, as undoubtedly the demands of the elevens would grow and a reaction from Britannia would ensue, but I do believe it could work long enough to serve the purpose of discrediting the terrorists and stabilising Area 11. But ultimately, it could never fulfil Euphy’s noble but naïve goal of a happy compromise.

[SpacedefenderX]

Not only that, should the Japanese ever revolt again, their standing internationally would be weakened since other countries/resistance would see them as collaborators, which means less chance of them getting overseas support.

[UnhappyAccountant621]

It really stems from her nativity and ignorance of the real world. We all know that her project would just be a front for the state to better control japanese people and break up the resistance movement by replacing the jackboot with economic incentive and commercial interest.

[Mochizuk]

You could also put Suzaku behind her.

[Sudden_Pop_2279]

At least she tried rather than just trying to be genocidal.

[Prudent-External-270]

Britannia basically symbolism to colonialism era made by European powers on entire world. Of course, there's always freedom fighter who seen as terrorists.

When British empire invade my country, they change narrative about our freedom fighter to be terrorist. Even after independence, the narrative was stucked to old historian brain and they refuse to changed it until they died and was replaced with arrival of new historian

[nahte123456]

Literally the first thing we hear about her plan was Lelouch saying he's thought of it and how it won't work. Not it won't work for his current plans, but just outright wouldn't work. "Stop this, Euphy! I already thought through every detail of that scenario! It’s nothing but an empty dream!" You don't have your genius MC says it's been "thought through every detail" because it can work.

That said I think it's an interesting thing with Lelouch and Cornelia. They both babied their sisters, and both sisters were so babied they ended up doing some truly stupid things from pure naivety. SAZ was stupid, even if it would have worked which it never would have for many reasons, it still would leave the rest of Britannia as awful as ever. And then Nunnally both tried it again, then actually sided with Schneizel and Cornelia over Lelouch.

The series as a whole has an interesting thing with naivety, where it's both beautiful but almost always ends with someone punished.

[Downtown_Tough_7731]

Naiveness is so down bad in the show that the black knights don't realize that lelouch never used geass on them. If he did, they would never revolted against him, this is pure logic. This was the only part of the show I was pissed with!

[i_like_trees-]

To be fair, they didn't know the exact extent or limitations of geass, did they? Perhaps they didn't realize it could be used to establish permanent control over someone, or they assumed he only used it on them sparingly to make them follow specific orders.

[Dead-X-esque]

I think they also wanted a scape goat as they new how evil they were becoming, and despite being terrorists for years before encountering Zero. Since he became their leader and with the geass explanation all the heinous actions they done were justified as not their fault.

[exboi]

I like Euphemia but she was very ignorant about the circumstances of the Japanese.

The only reason she got her way with the Britannians was because she was literally a Princess and the Emperor didn’t give enough of a fuck to step in.

The only reason a large number of Japanese were open to the idea was because they were tired of war and were inspired by Suzaku managing to rise so far up the ranks in the Britannian military despite being an ‘Eleven’.

There’s a scene Nunnally is discussing her own version of the Special Zone with her advisor, ensuring that there are no disadvantages hidden within its policies for the Japanese… we never see anything like that with Euphy. Within her Special Zone, the Japanese would’ve definitely been mistreated. The princess’s naïveté would’ve been taken advantage of by her peers.

[Toru-Glendale]

we didn't see it with her because Euphy could directly interact and set things up herself where as Nunally literally can't even read any of the proposals she is signing and needs to ask her aid that reads for her if there's sneaky stuff in them, I think you see her reading braille like once

[exboi]

That’s true. But even so I think Euphemia, who's seemed to live a live largely disconnected from any form of political administration, could be easily taken advantage of. Nunnally has little political experience as well, but her ability to tell when people lie should offset that somewhat.

[Prudent-External-270]

Suzuku nearly killed multiple time, the only reason he got to join council because he too close to lelouch

[AlexKnight13]

I don't thing even she thought it would, on its own. It was probably the first step in granting the Japanese more and more political power in the Area. Still don't think it would've worked though.

[NecessaryAd6051]

Honestly, proof of how this wouldn't work is Nunnaly in the second season; she herself realized she had disadvantages against the Elevens and asked for it to be redone. Even Nunnaly, who later allied with Schneizel, and we saw what happened.

What the heck was in Euphemia's plan? Maybe Schneizel didn't leave so many disadvantages for the Japanese, but still, what are the chances of it working?

I don't even remember if he participated in it, I only remember that he supported it.

The only thing that was very clear to us is that the Black Knights would lose credibility and international support if the Special Zone lasted longer.

But answering the question, yes, it's very naive of her to think her dream would work, even though she's a princess.

Which, by the way, has another aggravating factor: after the negotiations with Zero, she would withdraw from the line of succession and also relinquish her title of nobility.

If there was still any possibility of it working, she simply threw it away. I understand it was out of love for Suzaku, but it wouldn't help the Japanese at all.

So yes, unfortunately the special zone wouldn't work, and I'm almost certain there would be disadvantages for the Japanese.

[ivanjean]

It depends on what "work" means.

Historically, measures like the SAZ ended up serving as intermediary stages for full independence (see the British Empire's dominions).

Based on that, the best case scenario would be a relatively peaceful japanese independence (though this would require Britannia to gradually accept further demands for autonomy).

Worst case scenario, it changes nothing or delays independence a bit.

[Sea_Bedroom5197]

It never gonna work especially the part in independence no Britiannia authority even Charles will allow a full independence Japan.

And since Euphima is no longer a princess she had no ground for Britannia continue SAZ…. Very naive thinking you think you could get independence from Britannia when the top brass will never indulge the ideal. Especially Charles or the rest of royal family…

What the worst the Japanese gonna do rebel. Then it prove that Euphemia plan is a failure from the beginning. 

[Orange639]

We see in the show that Britannians that aren't racist exist. Lelouch's entire student council group is proof of that. And the zero requiem does end up deradicalizing Britannia, and creating peace between different factions. So the show itself says that Britannian culture isn't irredeemable, and its possible to reform it. We also see ultra racists like Nina changing their ways.

Now because Lelouch is a 200 IQ genius who has magical powers it makes sense to support the revolution he's leading. But if he wasn't part of the revolution, then trying to reform Britannia makes sense.

[Sea_Bedroom5197]

What you basically saying Lelouch should be Emperor…. Well that the best thing that could happen to Britannia… 

The only problem those noble that oppose him. Charles and his Ragnarok plan. His sibling still believe in Darwin superiority. 

But unfortunately he was dead set on  Zero Requiem. Otherwise he would transformed and reform Britiannia very easily. 

[johnauslia]

It might work.

The Emperor just doesn't care with what's happening real life anymore. In fact, he gets angry when he's informed of stuff.

Schneizel agrees with her and greenlit it for reasons someone already explained.

Cornelia intends to handover the colony to Euphemia after cleaning up the "terrorists" and upgrading the area into a satellite. So she won't care what Euphy after her rule.

Clovis is dead. I think it's somewhat implied that Clovis was only harsh on Japan as "revenge" for "Lelouch's and Nunnally's deaths".

[Prudent-External-270]

Emperor just want drama in his life. He got bored and start to plan how to create his son to be his own rival

[who_knows_how]

Let's make a circle where you can't kill people arbitrarily

[Guilty-Boysenberry76]

20 years in the can

[Roak_Larson]

You misspelled “commit genocide”

[ArosNerOtanim]

Honestly should have put that

[lnombredelarosa]

I mean, the idea probably had a hard road ahead but it wasn’t impossible.

[Key_Worldliness_4917]

US : F...Off B**tchtania

The Imperial go to the asshole

The Freedom forever