Original artwork, not a still
The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed!
— Code Geass · 2006
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the Black Knights' creed in one sentence: violence is allowed only to people willing to answer for it, which is also Lelouch's justification for everything he does. Fans treat it as the series' moral hinge, because Lelouch keeps breaking his own rule and the show lets the cost land on him. The inverted order, a villain's maxim delivered as a hero's code, is the point.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Code GeassShow the scene
The line is first spoken in episode 1, when Lelouch says it to the Royal Guard just before commanding them to die. It returns in episode 8, "The Black Knights": after a Japan Liberation Front group under Kusakabe takes a hotel full of Britannian civilians hostage, Zero and his new force free them. In his broadcast afterwards, Zero says the hostage-takers have been punished, as Viceroy Clovis was for the massacre of unarmed Elevens, and declares "The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed!" before calling on the powerless to rally behind the Black Knights.
Sources (3)
- Code Geass Wiki: The Day a New Demon was Born (episode)/TranscriptClosing sceneReference checked
- Code Geass Wiki: ZeroQuotesReference checked
- Code Geass Wiki: The Black Knights (episode)SummaryReference checked
Context reviewed
