I mean, she just seems to know what to say to keep someone in the dark. That's Lelouch's specialty... that and military strategies.
Lelouch is malicious, Jeanne in this story is hardly. And she's hardly scheming other than finding a way to save Kirei from being tainted further by Gil whereas lelouch treats people like chess pieces to be thrown out en masse.
The way the scene sounds does make her feel mischievous.
Jeanne was a military commander who had to deal with tons of people conspiring against her, yannow.
So she IS Lelouch. He had to deal with the same shit, and does it in the same way. Their ideals are different, their means seem to be the same.
No. N. O.
Lelouch had to deal with concealing his gender while on a mission from God? Jeanne used mecha pilots and a mind-controlling eye? What.He had to deal with the same shit, and does it in the same way.
Okay, both lead a rebellion/revolution. I will concede this point.Their ideals are different, their means seem to be the same.
Obviously there is no mecha and Geass involved Yet.
But both led a large scale war on something, had to conceal their true identities (her gender, his identity) and both seem to know how influence people. Sorry but Jeanne sounded like a seductress in the last part, and then she sounded mischievous and smug when dealing with Gil. Unless she's so naive that she doesn't understands the implications of what she's doing. She is being manipulative.
Yes, because Lelouch is clearly the first of his type.
Oh wait.
Or be getting the wrong impression, but unless she what she did was out of genuine pity, my point stands.
The way she did it does not strike me as naive in any way. The OMAKE with Gil is only making her seem more devious in my eyes.
Wow, Amaranth. I didn't know you were so limber.
'cause you're really stretching.
I swear I'm not going to eat gomu gomu fruits ever again.
- - - Updated - - -
This is manipulation to me since she knows what she's doing and she's trying to steer Kirei in a particular direction. The smile at the end pretty much reveals her true motives.Rather than answer, she rested her head on my shoulder. I felt the slightest bit of pressure from her chin; warmth came in waves from her breaths. It was a gentle rhythm. Soothing.
I felt knots loosen that I hadn’t known existed. Muscles relaxed. As if decaying tissue had slid off, leaving unblemished skin behind. I remembered strains of lullabies I’d never heard.
“Rejoice, then,” she said softly. “For you have been given your own impossible burden to bear -- and overcome. You have been challenged to prove yourself, Kirei.”
Her whispers tickled my ear. I could sense her lips curling into a smile.
“… I almost envy you,” she said.
And then, she drew back. Cold air returned where her face had been, and I could no longer hear my own heartbeat echoing against her. Like a blanket stripped away on a winter night.
I shook my head. It didn’t quite clear. There was still this warm miasma there, like an emotional afterimage. I allowed myself to sink into the chair for the briefest of moments. That sensation wouldn't completely fade until the next evening.
“Did you give your English judges this much trouble?” I said.
She arched an eyebrow.
“You’re a passable theologian for a young man,” she said. “I’ve argued with better.”
“…And the sugar-coated axe falls,” I said.
She brought a finger to her lips. The edges of those wide blue eyes crinkled as she smiled.
“Oh. Hadn’t you heard? Humility is a virtue, Kirei Kotomine.”
That's not manipulation. Jeanne is not lying; she's telling the truth. That's the whole point of the scene: Kirei tried to strike at the foundations of her character to shake her, but he bit off way more than he could chew. You don't get to become a saint and a martyr for your cause without having a substantial amount of hidden steel.
The whole idea of Jeanne manipulating anybody is ludicrous because not only it goes against what she is, but she does not need to.
You might be mistaking manipulation for deception there. Manipulating someone and lying to them isn't the same thing.