I didn't care much for Marianne's revelation, and the next episode made next to no sense to me. I'd say just skip all the emperor nonsense, watch the very end of the episode, and continue from there.
Personally, as much as I loved the first season, I tempered my expectations going into R2. For the most part, I just wanted to see how the story ended. That's not to say I didn't like it, but that desire got me through these two episodes, which I felt was the low point of the series. If you don't care, there's really no reason to continue.
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Black Turtle: Guru Champion