The angel strikes the core with its arm, sparks scatter and there are thuds!
SE <<(thuds)>>
It does so another time with its left hand!
UrsusArctos: As a tie in with Cut 062, the bone stump sticking out of Eva-01's left arm is a probable reference to Anno's father losing his left leg and having a stump of bone sticking out of it, and Anno's own statement about how he "can't love anything perfect" as a result. This changed in Rebuild 2.0, where Eva-01 loses its left arm but it appeared like a clean cut, which was a little odd. Of course, what happens to the lost arm in both is quite different too...
Mbryo: The durability of cores seem to fluctuate throughout the series. It's usually implied that they are made of sturdier material when compared to the rest of Angel(or Evangelion) bodies, seeing how it took multiple hits from Unit 01 to crack Sachiel's core in Episode 02. But in Episode 08, Gaghiel's core gets destroyed from a direct, close-range shot from the main battery guns of two warships. Powerful for conventional weapons, but probably much less destructive than the might of a berserk Eva unit or Zeruel's toilet paper arms. Perhaps exposed cores are naturally more durable than internal ones, which would make a lot of sense.
