Episode 14

Episode Information
Episode #14
Title 1: {{{japanese_title_k}}} {{{japanese_title_r}}} {{{japanese_title_e}}} Title 2: WEAVING A STORY
Written By	Hideaki Anno,
Directed By
First Aired
Video Release Date	{{{video_release}}}
Angel Appearances	None (recap of all previous angels)
Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"Episode 13"	"Episode 15"

Overview

This episode is in two parts: The first part being a clip show presented to the Human Instrumentality Committee of Seele, reviewing the attacks of all Angels up to this point. The second part includes a poem in which Rei contemplates her own existence, and a cross-compatibility test between Rei's and Shinji's Evas.

Synopsis

The episode begins with a clip of Sachiel's attack, at first showing how normal weapons prove ineffective against the Angel, before the Evangelion is deployed. Recorded statements by Misato and an excerpt from an essay by Toji Suzuhara (whose sister was hurt in the battle) are included.

Next comes the attack of the angel Shamshel, along with part of an entry from Hikari Horaki's diary. The clip of Shamshel's attack ends with a statement that a final report on the analysis of the Angel's body has yet to be filed.

Ramiel's attack is accompanied by another excerpt, this time from Kensuke Aida, who mentions Rei Ayanami's selfless protection of Eva 01 during the battle.

Gaghiel's attack is notable in deviating from the scenario envisioned by Seele. However, the committee decides that the results were within "the projected parameters" and that "necessary adjustments could be made". A full third of the U.N. Fleet is described as being lost, and it is further mentioned that all the lost vessels are American, but the French committee member comments that the loss was actually minor.

Israfel's attack, Sandalphon's attempted capture, Matariel's and Sahaquiel's attacks all follow in sequence. When it comes to Ireul's invasion, the facts are listed as unconfirmed, although it is rumored that the Angel penetrated Nerv headquarters. This causes a great deal of concern among the committee, despite Gendo's reassurance that no such attack ever took place.

The meeting ends with Lorenz leaving all matters of crime and responsibility to Gendo, and adding that he does not need to create a new scenario.

The second part of the episode contains a poem by Rei Ayanami, contemplating the nature of her own existence, and asking questions about herself and about human beings. After the poem, Rei is seen during a cross-compatibility test with Eva 01, in which her synch ratio is reported to be almost the same as with Eva 00. However, the second part of the test- Shinji's synch with Eva 00, goes bad when the A10 nerve connections are complete. Eva 00 goes berserk in the same way as it did during the flashback in Episode 05, although Shinji escapes with only minor memory loss.

Fuyutsuki and Gendo discuss about the committee, the eleventh angel's invasion and Eva 00's berserk incident, at the end of which Rei is seen back in Eva 00, carrying the Spear of Longinus.

Notes

• This episode is basically a clip show, done to save production costs for other episodes. The first half is purely clips from old episodes with some voice over narrations, while the second half is still created mostly just by recycling animation from previous episodes.
  • The clip-show recycling of scenes is most obvious in the scene of Eva 00 going berserk: the animation of Eva 00 going berserk from Episode 05 was clearly just reused and recolored to change Eva 00's armor from orange to blue, and it is not equipped with shoulder-armor pylons, because it didn't have those yet in Episode 05. Eva 01 and Eva 02 are also animated in this episode without shoulder-armor pylons to try to stay consistent about this, as if there was a reason that they were taken off of each Eva for the test; presumably it was cheaper to draw a new shot of a stationary Eva 01 without shoulder pylons (one frame), than redo the entire complex scene of Eva 00 going berserk. However, the end shot of Eva 00 bashing its head against the wall is entirely new.
  • A conceit of this episode's clip show format is the explanation that it is a "review" of reports on all Angel attacks by Seele. However, this quickly runs into complications as the episode is obviously just reusing footage from past episodes, much of which could not possibly have been captured by surveillance cameras i.e. looking at the Evas from the Angel Israfel's viewpoint, getting a view inside Gaghiel's mouth from the inside looking out, shots showing both Sandalphon and Eva 02 in the same frame while they are in an active volcano and nothing else can be holding a "camera", etc. etc.
  • Oddly, the "recap" footage of Sahaquiel exploding in Episode 12 is actually noticeably different from the animation of the same scene which was originally used in Episode 12.
• In this episode, we first learn the names of the Angels, from the Third Angel (Sachiel, which Shinji fought in the first episode) through the Tenth Angel, named Sahaquiel. Presumably, the names of the Angels are derived from the prophecies in the Dead Sea Scrolls about the coming of the Angels.
• Ritsuko's "mutual compatability experiment" marks the first time that it has been attempted to switch Eva pilots between Evangelions. Rei could synch with Eva Unit 01 fairly well, but when Shinji tried to synch with Eva Unit 00, it went berserk. Later, in Episode 19, a desperation attempt is made to use Rei as a pilot for Unit 01, but the Eva actively rejects Rei. Evangelions are thus permanently associated with exclusively one pilot, and while Ritsuko considered the experiment enough of a success to begin work on the Dummy Plug system, pilots are never really switched between Evas in the series.
• First mention of Seele's use of the Dead Sea Scrolls as a guide for their "scenario".
• Misato's narrated report on Eva Unit 01's fight against Sachiel commends Shinji on his performance under duress in his first battle. However, Shinji himself didn't really defeat the Angel; Eva 01 went berserk and he wasn't in control of it. This might be a hint that Gendo is hiding information about the Evas and their ability to go berserk. At the least, Misato is "out of the loop" and doesn't seem to understand that Shinji wasn't really controlling Eva 01 when Sachiel was defeated.
• In Seele's briefing, it is said that one third of the UN naval fleet in Episode 8 was destroyed by the Angel Gaghiel. Their dialogue also reveals that the "green"-colored Commitee member represents the United States. According to the Instrumentality Committee, Gaghiel's attack "deviated from scenario", although the Committee comfortably writes off the massive naval losses in the encounter as "fortunately minor". This betrays the extreme callousness of the committee towards anything but their own project. Critically, the committee have failed to realize why the attack deviated from their scenario - Gaghiel was attracted to Adam, who was being smuggled aboard the convoy. It seems that according to Seele's "scenario", the Angels would only ever attack Tokyo-3.
• Ireul's invasion of Nerv in the previous episode was a genuine cause of concern for the Committee, who feared it might cause Third Impact. Gendo invites them to examine the Magi's data recorders, but they know he can fabricate those. Ultimately, Seele chooses to wave off Gendo's smokescreen, ignoring it as Gendo saving face.
  • The committee members are extremely distrustful of Gendo, the Russian (blue committee member) going so far as to say "distorting the truth is your speciality". Chairman Kiel appears to be the only one willing to trust Gendo for any length of time.
  • Fuyutsuki is just as antagonistic towards the Committee, saying that they have nothing to do but complain. Gendo, however, is willing to test their patience.
• This is the second time that Eva Unit 00 has gone "berserk" for no clear reason (of course, this is because the animation of Eva 00 going berserk here is just a re-use of the footage of it going berserk back in Episode 05). Rei's simulation body, connected to Eva 00, was also infected by the Angel Ireul last episode, and in similar fashion the simulation body Rei was in raised its hand towards the control box, but Ritsuko blew its arm off with demolition charges before it could do anything.
• Asuka sarcastically taunts Shinji by asking if being in Eva Unit 00's Entry Plug is like being in his mother's womb.
• After mentioning the Eva 00 berserk incident, Fuyutsuki himself feels that Gendo is too concerned with Rei.
• The Spear of Longinus is first referred to by name, and this is the first time it is seen outside its wrappings. When it first appeared in Episode 12, it was wrapped in tarmac and it was unclear what it was.
• According to the radio broadcast heard in the background when Asuka is laying in bed, political unrest is still taking place in the Nansha Islands in the form of terrorist suicide bombings, 12 years after China and Vietnam went to war over control of the island group's resources in 2003 as a result of post-Second Impact tensions.
• The shoulder-armor pylons on Evangelions do not actually contain any biological part of the Eva, underneath the armor. The entire pylon is just an extension of the Eva's outer armor. As seen here, the pylons can actually be removed should the need arise, in this case to fit them into external restraints; besides Eva 00, both Eva 01 and Eva 02, which always had shoulder-armor pylons, are here seen without them.
• Ritsuko and Maya discuss how the "mutual compatibility experiment"'s relative success means that they will now be moving foward with the development of the "Dummy Plug" project, though Maya expresses trepidation about it...
• Animation goof: briefly when Asuka is taunting Shinji, when the shot is focused on Asuka again and she's asking aloud why everyone always pampers Shinji, the visual intercom box with Shinji displayed inside says that he is broadcasting from "Eva-01", even though for this episode only, he's actually in Eva-00.
• During the clip-show montage of images from earlier in the series, a shot is show of when Shinji fell on Rei in Episode 05 with his hand directly on Rei's breast. When this episode aired on Adult Swim, this shot was edited out of this episode. Of course, the brief shot of Shinji's hand on Rei's breast was edited out of Episode 05 as well when it originally aired on Adult Swim, so the flashback to a removed scene was simply not used.

Analysis

It is revealed later in the series that the soul of a human being is contained inside of an Evangelion unit in order for it to operate, and such a soul probably needs to be the mother of the pilot: Eva Unit 01 contains the soul of Shinji's mother Yui Ikari, and Eva Unit 02 contains the soul of Asuka's mother Kyoko (the maternal part of it, the removal of which caused Kyoko to go insane). It is implied that all of the potential pilots pooled into Shinji's class 2-A, also have no living mothers (Kensuke, Hikari, Toji), so it is possible that Eva Unit 03 contains the soul of Toji's mother. However, Rei Ayanami has no mother, she is a clone: so what is the identity of the soul contained in Eva Unit 00? This is a major unanswered question of the series, and similar to other great unanswered questions from completed fictional works, no definative answer will ever be reached unless new material is released on the subject by the series' creator. Evidence supplied on-screen suggests the following possibilities:

• It may not contain a soul at all.
  • Other evidence would seem to indicate that an Eva requires a soul of some kind to function. Ritsuko specifically says in episode 23 that "inside the empty shell of each Eva is a human soul."
• In episode 5, Misato asks Ritsuko why Eva Unit 00 went berserk; Ritsuko pauses and considers something, before dismissing it and saying to herself "no...it can't be that...". This would seem to indicate that if there is a soul in Eva Unit 00, there is some significance to its identity (i.e. it is not just the soul of a random person). Ritsuko could possibly have contemplated whether or not Rei 'remembered' her murder, lashing out from within the Eva in despair.
• It may contain the soul of Rei I. When Shinji is in Eva 00 and sees a vision of Rei, he says "This impression...it's Ayanami, isn't it?". Later, in episode 23, Rei is confused about what is trying to communicate with her during the Angel's attack, and asks herself: "Is it the me inside the Eva...?" (before realizing that it is the Angel). Also, when Unit 00 goes berserk in episode 14, Maya Ibuki in the control booth specifically states that the problem isn't coming from the entry plug, it's coming "directly from the Eva itself". That's when Shinji starts to feel "Rei" trying to communicate with him. During this, there was an actual montage of frames showcasing Rei Ayanami. Seconds later, a warped impression of Rei rushes towards the viewer, giving the impression that it is indeed Rei inside the Eva, the entity that causes Unit 00 to wreak havoc in the containment room. This is probably the most obvious case for Rei, as time and effort was made by Gainax to actually create that sequence.
  • Ritsuko later ponders with Gendo, saying: "If Shinji or Rei ever learned about the secrets of the Eva, they would never forgive us." This might suggest that Rei was the soul in Eva 00; however, it could equally refer to the fact that the Rei clones were used as the Dummy Plug system, and not to the soul used in Eva 00, so it does not strongly point one way or the other.
  • During the interchangeability test with Shinji and Rei, Maya Ibuki states that Unit 00 and Unit 01's "personal data patterns" are similar, and that the similarities are what made the test possible to begin with.
  • Evidence against this theory is that the vision Shinji sees of is a teenaged Rei (like an imprint of Rei II), not a vision of the child Rei I, who was never a teenager. Of course, Shinji never saw Rei as a child, and the "vision" that he had inside Unit 00 was an "impression" (in on-air dialogue), not necessarily a reflection of Rei's age. This wouldn't be a problem if there were simply multiple Rei souls, but Ritsuko later spoke as if there is only one Rei soul being used at a time.
• It may contain the soul of Naoko Akagi, Ritsuko's mother who killed herself after killing Rei I. Unit 00 seems to lash out at former enemies of Naoko Akagi: Gendo Ikari (the man who she loved but was in fact only using her), Naoko's daughter Ritsuko (who is now in a romantic relationship with Gendo, thus "competing" with Naoko), and Rei II (who Gendo cared about more than Naoko herself; Naoko already killed Rei I). Eva Unit 00 also bashes its head against a wall, as if trying to destroy itself, which if Naoko's soul was used, involuntarily, would explain why.
  • Strong evidence against this theory is that Naoko, upon committing suicide, was an already-dead corpse. She never engaged in a contact experiment with Unit 00; there is no implication that she was even involved in anything of that kind. However, Ikari Yui is confirmed by the series to have sacrificed herself during one, and Sohryu Zeppelin (Asuka's mother) is confirmed by the series to have suffered a mental breakdown after hers. Those two souls are confirmed to have resided in Unit 01, and Unit 02, respectively. However, Rei I was also already dead, killed by Naoko, if her soul was to be used in Unit 00. But, as Shinji learns later on in the series, Rei is not exactly human.
  • Nothing implicating Naoko being in the Eva was ever mentioned in the series. Ritusko herself never acknowledged the soul within Unit 00 as her mother (though she never clearly hinted at exactly whose it was). The only indication the series gives to Naoko's legacy is the personality imprint within the original MAGI supercomputers.
  • Ritsuko clearly stated that Unit 00 was after her. She may have pondered it after the first incident, but came to a resolute conclusion after the second incident. There is no indication in the series that Naoko, if inside the Eva, would have any reason to attack her daughter, as while Naoko was alive Ritsuko was mildly resentful of living in her shadow but they were still on fairly good speaking terms. A possible reason for her to lash out at Ritsuko would be because Ritsuko had "replaced" her as Gendo's love interest. A potential flaw in this is that it is unexplained how an Evangelion could become aware of a secret relationship.
  • The series states that Eva pilots need to synchronize with the soul contained in an Eva in order for them to function. It is strongly implied that the soul has to be that of the pilot's mother, however, it is also not definitively said that the Eva will not function at all if the Eva is not the pilot's mother. It would be extremely difficult for Rei II or Shinji to synchronize with Unit 00 if the soul inside was Naoko Akagi's, who was not their mother. Of course, this may explain why Eva Unit 00 does not function as well as the other Evas and goes berserk on several occasions; an Eva could function better if the soul inside is the pilot's mother. At any rate, if it is a requirement that the soul be the mother of the pilot and no one else, this would explain how Shinji was able to synchronize with Unit 00 (Rei being a clone of his mother Yui) and why it was regarded as impossible for Asuka to synchronize with it.
• The soul in Eva Unit 00 could actually be part of the soul of "Rei Ayanami", not the soul of "Rei I": the series clearly indicated that an individual can indeed remain alive and speak after a contact experiment: Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu. Only a part of her soul was transferred to Unit 02, her maternal aspects, though this loss drove her insane. A similar experiment with Rei may have occurred; part of her own soul may be in Unit 00. This may also explain Rei II's detached personality, her tendency to seemingly wish for death, and the difference in deameanor between her and Rei I.
• Episode 21 stated that the (fictional) field of science relating to Evas (which Yui Ikari specialized in) is the nebulously defined "Meta-Biology". This may serve as a magic wand of sorts on the series; for example, how the soul of Rei II could be transferred after she died, to Rei III.

Quotes

Original Japanese dub

• Chairman Keel Lorenz: "We won't let you rewrite our scenario, Ikari!"
• (Rei Ayanami recites a poem over a montage of images passing across the screen):
  Rei: "Mountain. Heavy are the mountains, Something that changes through the ages. Sky. Blue sky. Something visible, something invisible. Sun. Something unique. Water. Something agreeable. Commander Ikari. Flowers. Many of them alike, many of them useless. Sky. Red, red sky. Red color. Red color that I hate. Water flow. Blood. The smell of blood. A woman that does not bleed. Made from the red soil are humans. Made by Man and Woman are humans. Town. Something that humans made. Eva. Something that humans made. Humans are what? Something that God made. Humans are things which humans made. The things I possess are my life and mind. The vessel of a mind. Entry plug, the throne of a soul. Who is this? This is me. Who am I?..." (A new image is inserted, not from a previous episode, of an endless line of multiple copies of Rei, stretching out into infinity)"...What am I? What am I? What am I? What am I? I am myself. This object is me, the figure which forms me. This is the me that is visible, though it feels as if this is not me. A strange feeling. My body seems as if it is melting. I cannot see myself. My figure is fading away. I am aware of someone else. Who is there before me? Ikari-kun. I know this person. Major Katsuragi. Dr. Akagi. People, my classmates. The pilot of Unit 02. Commander Ikari. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?"
• Ritsuko: "So, Rei, how does it feel to be piloting Unit 01 for the first time?",
  Rei: "It smells like Ikari"

Official English dub

• (Rei Ayanami recites a poem over a montage of images passing across the screen):
  Rei: "Mountain, heavy are the mountains. But that changes, with the passage of time. Sky, blue sky, what your eyes can't see; What your eyes can see. The sun, one, only one. Water; it is agreeable. Commander Ikari. Flowers, so many the same, so many without purpose. Sky, sky of red, red the color, the color I hate. Liquid flows, it drips, ripples, and pours. Blood, scent of blood, woman who does not bleed. From the red soil the humans come. Humans made by man and woman. City, a human creation. Eva, a human creation as well. What are humans? Are they creations of God? Humans, that which is created by humans. This is that which is mine. My life, my heart. I am a vessel for my thoughts. The entry plug, the throne of the soul. Who is this? This is me. Who am I? ..." (A new image is inserted, not from a previous episode, of an endless line of multiple copies of Rei, stretching out into infinity)"...What am I? What am I? What am I? I am I. This object that is, is myself. That which forms me. This is the self that can be seen, and yet this is not like that which is myself. A strange feeling. My body feels as if it is melting. I can no longer see myself... my form, my shape fades from view. Awareness dawns of someone who is not me. Who is here? There? Beyond me, here. Shinji. This person I know. Major Katsuragi. Dr. Akagi. People, my classmates. The pilot of Unit 02. Commander Ikari. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?"

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!