The Ragnarök Connection, also known simply as Ragnarök, is a term initially uttered by the Emperor of Britannia when Lelouch forms his Geass contract with C.C.

Resume

At first, though its exact nature was unknown, it was recognized that it revolved around the Thought Elevators. General Bartley deduced that the Emperor was spreading Britannian conquest and tyranny across the world in order to gain access to the Thought Elevators. It is later implied that Schneizel el Britannia may have caught wind of Ragnarök, intending to use the prototype Knightmare Gawain to study the Thought Elevators. Later, it is revealed that Bismarck Waldstein, the Knight of One, knew of the true nature of Ragnarök and Charles' plans.

Execution

In the second season, the true purpose of Ragnarök is revealed. As per a contract made between Charles zi Britannia and V.V. in their youth, with Marianne vi Britannia and C.C. joining in years later, they would destroy the gods and unite all humans, living and dead into one being. For this reason, the Emperor connected every Thought Elevator on the planet, intending to unleash Ragnarök using the Thought Elevator on Kamine Island. Through the use of the Sword of Akasha and the Thought Elevator, using two immortal Codes to operate them, the Emperor can erode the "masks" of the collective subconscious of human beings, forcing them to the surface and affecting reality. This would connect the minds of all humans, living or dead, forcing everyone to understand eachother, which would theoretically render conflict meaningless and create a truly peaceful world. The strength of the hivemind created is never specified, and although Charles and Bismarck both imply that humans will continue to have some independence after the completion of Ragnarok^[1], there is no assurance that Charles was not lying. The plan was ultimately thwarted by Lelouch vi Britannia, who decided that Charles's ideal peaceful world would in reality trap humanity into a static, unchanging existence that nobody wished truly for, and used his Geass to plead to the Collective Unconscious to keep existing and to keep time moving. It complied, and averted Ragnarok, fatally absorbing Charles and Marianne in the process.

Similarity In Other Media

• The concept of Ragnarök is very similar to the Human Instrumentality Project of Neon Genesis Evangelion, both in the idea and the way it is carried out: a plan where a secret cabal of the worlds' elite and powerful work to unite all of humanity into a single entity with the purpose of evolving/saving it. The major difference is that Ragnarök united all beings, living or dead, while it's up to interpretation if the Human Instrumentality Project united only living humans or if it united all humans who ever lived. Another difference is that Ragnarök was ultimately stopped, while the Human Instrumentality Project was partially successful.
• Ragnarök is also the name of what is essentially the apocalypse in Norse mythology. People would supposedly lose their senses and commit all kinds of atrocities. Many of the Gods would die as well. Odin is swallowed whole by Fenrir, Fenrir has his jaw destroyed and his heart stabbed by Víðarr, Jörmungandr (the world serpent of Midgard) and Thor meet in combat and kill each other, Freyr dies fighting Surtr, Týr and the hound Garmr kill each other, and Loki and Heimdallr kill each other. Surtr then sets the world on fire, and the Earth sinks below the sea, killing all but two people. Eventually, the Earth rises from the water, beautiful and lush, and is repopulated. This somewhat mirrors Charles' plan, killing the Gods and essentially destroying humanity to remake it into what he perceives as beautiful and right.