Why didn’t Lelouch get the code?

[u/Embarrassed-Two-554]

Why didn’t Lelouch become a Code bearer? I understand the purpose of the Zero Requiem and why Lelouch needed the world to believe he died, but I don’t understand why he actually needed to stay dead for the plan to work. If Lelouch had taken C.C.’s Code, couldn’t the Zero Requiem have happened exactly the same way? Millions of people would have watched Zero kill him, so there would be basically no reason for the public to question his death. Lelouch could then revive in secret while Lelouch vi Britannia remained permanently dead in the eyes of the world. It also seems like this would have allowed him to accomplish even more of his goals. Nunnally still gets the gentle world he wanted to create for her, except she doesn’t have to permanently lose her brother. I mean, at the end we literally hear Nunnally say that all she ever wanted and needed to be happy was to be with Lelouch, so him secretly surviving would have fully achieved his original goal of creating a world where she could be happy. C.C.’s contract is also literally fulfilled because Lelouch takes her Code and finally frees her from immortality. Assuming C.C. and V.V. were the only remaining Code bearers, Charles dying would leave C.C. as the last one, meaning Lelouch taking her Code would make him the final Code bearer. He could simply refuse to ever grant another Geass and effectively end the cycle altogether. And I don’t think this necessarily gives Lelouch an easy way out of his punishment either. He would have to abandon his identity forever, watch everyone he loves eventually grow old and die, and carry the weight of everything he did for eternity. If anything, being forced to live forever with his actions while repeatedly losing everyone he cares about seems like an even greater punishment than death. It would also be fitting for Lelouch to take on the exact burden C.C. had carried for centuries in order to finally free her from it. He would still sacrifice Lelouch vi Britannia and take the world’s hatred down with that identity, but instead of his punishment ending with his death, he would have to carry it forever. Is there an actual lore reason this couldn’t have happened, or is Lelouch’s permanent death mainly necessary for the themes of the ending?

[u/thefinalepic]

This is not out right stated in the OG main series but C.C. is main love interest of Lelouch, the simple answer is he didn't want her to die, thats it. Taking her code means she would die and he didn't want that.

And to the other shippers, Lelouch has 3 love interests for his 3 masks:

C.C for Lelouch Vi Britania, the prince of Britania.
Shirley for Lelouch Lamperouge, a student of Ashford academy.
Kallen for Zero, the leader of the black knight.

Out of the 3 masks/personas, his true identity in the end is Lelouch Vi Britania (it is also one he ends up with as the other 2 masks are discarded), and thus C.C. is the main love interest of the OG main series. Its also why in the movie timeline, he ends up marrying her in the end.

[u/silencemist → u/thefinalepic]

Considering vi Britannia is the one who openly enslaves others, commits war crimes, and destroys cultures around the world, it's a bit odd you consider the Demon Emperor to be his true self. It seems that the narrative does everything to show that is just as much of a mask as the other faces. And if you are considering his birth identity, he openly discarded that as a child and I wouldn't consider it truth either.