Theory and Analysis:Dummy Plug Plant Images

Background

One of the most mysterious aspects of how Evangelion became the show we know today is the Tank Images. When the home video version of Episode 23, known as Episode 23' or the Director's cut or NPC version, was prepared, mysterious images were added which flashed off and on in the Rei Tank in the background. When they went back and remastered Ep. 23 for Renewal, these images were removed, making the scene resemble the Originally Aired version. We have been unable to find the reason they were removed, but it could simply be because they were hard to see and distracting. The other changes still stood, e.g. there were still many more Reis in the tank. Thus the Renewal/Platinum version of Episode 23 is sort of 23'.1. This article will examine the Tank Images, identifying the easy ones, (these are mostly ones that were lifted from elsewhere in the series, or re-used in the Extended Opening), will theorize about the ones that aren't so easy, and will admit that some can't be made heads or tails of. Ritsuko's dialog will also be provided. Some of the images hace "clean" versions from the Extended OP, Series OP or Episode 21. These will be included for comparison purposes.

The Images

Ritsuko: "The things here are dummies. And nothing more than parts for Rei."

Screenshot Notes	Dialogue	Screenshot
This first one is easy: Adam being excavated in Antarctica.	"Humanity found a god and, in their joy, tried to make it theirs. And so they were punished."
A closer angle on the above.
This is Adam in Giant of Light form during Second Impact.	"That was fifteen years ago. The god they had gone to such lengths to find also vanished completely."	File:Tank image 03a giant.jpg
The Wings of Light unfold over the doomed Katsuragi Expedition.
A satellite view of Second Impact.
A newspaper article on Second Impact.
The United Nations demands answers. According to the script, the man in the foreground is the U.N. Director. As it appeared in Episode 21, Keel and Gendo can clearly be seen in the background.	"But then they tried to revive the god on their own."
Under the rightmost Rei's chin you can see a man aparantly staring down at something. The rest of the image is very hard to see.
All anyone can see here is bubbles, or perhaps enlarged molecules.
This is Lilith's Head, upside down.
In this image, Eva-01 is literally growing on Lilith.	"That god was Adam. And, from Adam, humans were created in her image. Those were the Evas."
A low angle on the above.	Shinji: "People? They're humans?"
This is the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls from the opening credits.	Ritsuko: "Yes, they're human."
This seems to be a group of men in heavy overcoats or parkas trudging through the snow. Perhaps they are investigating second Impact.
This image shows a bearded man, but he doesn't seem to be Gendo. In fact, he looks more like Lincoln than anyone else. So it's unknown who he is. Another man can be seen in profile in the lower left.	"The Evas do not intrinsically have souls, but human souls reside within them."
This is a piece of equipment of some sort, with a man in a parka standing beneath it. It closely resembles a Russian Soyuz space capsule.
The blob near the top of this image resembles a brain.
A man reading a book, which is opened to a page that seems to show embryos in various states of development. Is this tome a part of the Dead Sea Scrolls that explains Angelic Anatomy?	"They were all salvaged."
This seems to be a drawing of sunflowers.
The American, French, and British Seele comitteemen.
This image shows more bubbles.	"The only vessel that contained a soul was Rei. "
This one is well nigh impossible to see. Someone please tell us what it is. It seems to exist only in this version. Note: some people see the blob in the lower right corner as a woman in an ankle length skirt, but this seems a lot less likely when you see the shot in motion.
This image shows another brain, this time in an x-ray or CAT scan.
This one seems to be a model of molecules.
This is the most remarkable, and hardest to understand, of all the Tank Images. This is Fuyutsuki's report on second Impact, but it has a different photograph clipped to it. (The original was a picture of the Giant of Light.) This change must have been deliberate. It seems to show an object floating in water. There is nothing else here to provide scale, so we can't even judge its size. It's unknowable what this thing is, but as it's clipped to Fuyutsuki's report, it must have some connection with Second Impact. Here are two likely theories: 1. One possibility is that it is Misato's escape capsule, but it doesn't seem to be remotely the correct shape for this. 2. As it is likely that Second Impact scattered Adam's embryonic children about the world to begin their incubation period, it might be an egg-case containing an Angel, the Adam Embryo itself, or even Kaworu. (Or perhaps both the last two, as there appear to be two connected bodies in the photo.) In the absence of any other proof, these must remain theories.	"She was the only one born with a soul. "
This looks like one of the large steel doors in Nerv Headquarters. You can see the number "42" written on it.	"The Chamber of Guf had been emptied."
Yui speaking to a man in glasses (A technician?) before her Contact Experiment. The script refers to the outfit she is wearing as a "Divesuit", rather than a Plugsuit. Apparantly it was specificly designed for contact experiments rather than piloting. It seems to be equiped with wings.	"The Rei-like things here have no souls."
A close shot of the above.
A photograph of Yui on a report of some sort, or perhaps an Id card. In the full opening version,part of the Eva Graveyard is visible in the background.	"They're just vessels."

This is the end of the images.