Theory and Analysis:Final Scene in End of Evangelion

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The final scene of End of Evangelion is, to this day, still hotly debated. It is a culmination of story's themes and narrative in just a few, earth-shattering minutes. This article, however, will deal with the more objective aspects of this scene that can easily go unnoticed even to the most observant of viewers, thanks to its cryptic and deliberately ambiguous construction. There are, however, several details present in this scene that can help elucidate Shinji's state of mind. This article is under construction.

Passage of Time

After rejecting Instrumentality, Shinji is seen emerging in the Sea of LCL. In the following scene, Shinji sees Rei, and seems shocked to see her there, and even more so when he realizes Asuka is there. As Shinji notices the girl, he moves towards her and begins to strangle her, without a clear reason. The generally accepted interpretation is that he was trying to determine whether she was real or if they were still experiencing Instrumentality. Shinji's state of mind can seem a bit jarring, as he seemed content and willing to face the future just a few minutes earlier in the movie as he said goodbye to his mother Yui, even if he was still uncertain he could achieve happiness.

Instead, Shinji seems slightly unstable and fraught, as attempting to strangle Asuka again seems like quite an extreme action. It is interesting to note that time inside Instrumentality itself is relative, and the sequences presented in he movie don't follow a completely linear fashion, thus, while Instrumentality itself takes less than an hour inside the movie, it is entirely possible that Shinji only returned to the real world much later, and might have spent quite some time alone in the beach before Asuka showed up, as some elements in the scene indicate:

- Misato's cross is rusted

- There are several pieces of wood of an unexplained nature (explained below)

- The moon cycles change between the first post-Impact scene when Lilith is dying to the ending scene.

Under construction.

Alternate Endings

End of Evangelion has two discarded endings, Last A and Last B. While Last B was far more bleak than the the ending present in the final movie, Last A is still somewhat similar to the one in EoE, with the most noticeable difference being Asuka's final line being altered.

Last A

You already know the beginning of this one (a beach, petrified headless Evas, etc).

Then, we see the graves Shinji made (it's stated by Anno it was _he_ who made them). The names of all main Eva characters are written on them, except for "Ayanami Rei".

We then see Asuka's grave.

And Asuka's foot kicking it to the ground. ^^;

(you can still see these graves in the actual ending... no names, but there is Misato's pendant nailed on one of them, and an other has been kicked down ^^ )

We then see Shinji and Asuka on the beach... and you know that scene, too (but this draft demonstrates that Shinji and Asuka didn't just wake up there after Third Impact... they've been living here for some times... meaning they _could_ be the two only humans willing to return, after all... ^^; )

When Shinji starts crying, Asuka was supposed to say something like "Idiot (baka). No way I'll let you kill me" ("idiot" was removed in the storyboards... and the whole line was modified, eventually).

Then, the ending music (so, there was one... ^^ ) was supposed to begin, and the staff credits were to appear (Anno suggests a horizontal scrolling, like in GunBuster, I guess).

We were to see Eva-01 lying on the Moon, and woman's hair showing from its broken mask (but her face remains unseen).

Behind Eva-01, you could see Earth, entirely red.

And the Black Moon, destroyed.

The camera goes to the sun, then to the stars.

Credits end.

"Shûgeki" ("the end").

Unlike Last B, Last A does not clash with the ending as present on EoE at all, except for Asuka's final line - changed when Anno asked for Yuko Miyamura's (Asuka's voice actress) suggestion, as he was still unsatisfied with this line, which sounds excessively playful with the "baka". , Asuka was the one Shinji had "hoped/wished for") However, the fact that Asuka imagines herself with her arm bandaged seems to indicate she is not completely healed yet, much like Shinji's fraught mental state does.

Nonetheless, the fact that she has chosen to lay by Shinji's side at her own initiative and chosen to react to him with open affection, instead of aggression and hostility like she has done many times before, symbolizes, at least, the beginning of her growth. Likewise, Shinji being taken aback by this sign of acceptance, which mirrors Yui's own caress a few minutes earlier in the movie as he leaving Instrumentality, also shows how overwhelmed he is to be accepted, and might be ashamed of the way he has treated Asuka. Nonetheless, the movie leaves open where they will go from there, if they can grow and learn to love themselves or not, but it leaves the possibility open.

See also

Theory and Analysis: Shinji and Asuka's Relationship: One More Final

Notes and References

This article was mostly built out of the following forum threads, please refer to them:

http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/2270/Passage-of-Time-EoE-Final-Scene/

https://forum.evageeks.org/thread/18923/Did-Last-A-actually-happen/

This article bears the unpleasant designation of "Stub." This is a Bad Thing. Provide a great service to NGE fan-geeks everywhere by making it awesomer!