Talk:Lelouch vi Britannia vs. Light Yagami/@comment-28492650-20180816220101

It was clever, but I think there were 2 discrepencies.

Considering their mutual and rarely-unsurpassed genius, I'd have expected a very complex battle of wits that would've culminated in a relevation of their respective personalities--and that climactic moment being the most decisive factor--a testimony of the most detrimental character flaw. Instead they both seemed uncharacteristically clueless and blunt during their encounter and discourse.

Secondly, and maybe most importantly, as expected with most intellectual battles, this was decided by the contender that acted first. Usually, this means relying on luck, or a recklessly surprising action, or a lure that leaves your opponent more exposed that oneself. In this case Light took initiative...not out of panic or calculation, but as a common thug. The story self-corrected when LeLouch atypically froze up---so throwing canon out the window, from a pure storytelling perspective, it works. ---until Lelouch removes his mask!!

Now, regardless of the Death Note rules about how accurate a name needs to be, once Light could see his target's face, he also sees their name, and Ryuk--regardless, one of the two would know the right name to write down as soon as LeLouch's face was visible. Which would give Light the upper hand because LeLouch apparantly wasn't smart enough to do his homework (like L did), figure the face/name thing out, and in turn, counter Light's knife thrust with his own distraction.

In summary, as it was narrated, Light should've won because his sight-based ability, was accessible before LeLouch's sight-based ability.