Episode 25'
| Episode Information | |||||||
| Episode #25' | |||||||
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| Written By | Hideaki Anno | ||||||
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| Directed By | Kazuya Tsurumaki | ||||||
| First Aired | 7-19-1997 | ||||||
| Video Release Date | 9-24-2002 (US-DVD) | ||||||
| Angel Appearances | Lilith | ||||||
| Eva Sorties | MP Eva Series, Eva-02 | ||||||
| Episode chronology | |||||||
| ← Previous | Next → | ||||||
| "Episode 24/Death" | "Episode 26'" | ||||||
Contents
Synopsis
Episode 25' is the first part of The End of Evangelion, which ends the series.
The episode begins immediately after the events of Episode 24. Having been left alone at the lake by Misato, Shinji is despondent after having been forced to kill Kaworu, and is unsure of what to do. The depressed boy visits the comatose Asuka in her hospital room, begging her for help because he's "Scared of Misato-san and Ayanami." Desperate, he repeatedly asks her to help him. Beginning to cry because Asuka's not responding, Shinji manages to shake her so hard that Asuka's vital monitors and hospital gown become undone, exposing her breasts. Shinji masturbates at the sight, but feels even worse afterwards, stating: "I'm the lowest".
Late that evening, Misato sits alone in her car, contemplating everything she has learned over the past few days. Seele is planning on initiating Third Impact, so they can bring about the Human Instrumentality Project and end mankind's existence as individuals. And as Kaji predicted, they need Eva-01 to complete their plan.
Seele hold a last meeting with Gendo and Fuyutsuki to deliver an ultimatum. Keel tells them that with the Spear of Longinus out of their reach, their only chance to start Instrumentality is by using Eva-01, Lilith's only true offspring, and demands that Gendo hands it over it to them. Gendo, having his own plans for Instrumentality, refuses, telling them that "death gives life to nothing". Keel then ends the meeting by declaring "Then you deserve death." Fuyutsuki reminds Gendo, that whatever happens next, they must see to it that Yui's last will is fulfilled.
Early the next morning, Misato sits hidden deep within in the Magi's server room, trying to hack the computer for more information on Second Impact. The servers are suddenly locked down, and she thinks she been discovered, but quickly realizes that the general alert is blaring, so it must be something else that is afoot. As she heads towards the Command Center, Hyuga briefs her over the phone, telling her that the UN has revoked Nerv's special status and the organisation is under orders to surrender to the Japanese government. At the same time, Nerv's international branches have set their own Magi computers to try and hack into the main Magi.
Gendo has Ritsuko brought out of solitary confinement, in the hopes of having her repel the hacker attack. The distraught Ritsuko is rather disgusted that the man who discarded her so callously expect her to jump at his command, but nevertheless agrees to help out Nerv. She is able to quickly program a firewall and uploads it into Caspar so the Magi won't be taken over. Gendo, Fuyutsuki, Misato all realize, however, that this was just the beginning, and it is only a matter of time before Seele makes their next move.
With the hacking attempt stopped, Keel declares that it seems like a peaceful takeover has been made impossible and now orders the JSSDF to attack Nerv Headquarters and take the Evas by force. Having been giving the order to begin the attack, a large JSSDF detachment, consisting of infantry, armored vehicles, and attack helicopters, destroys all of Nerv's surveillance equipment on the ground level, before they begin the invasion proper by converging on the Geofront. The experienced soldiers face little resistance from the ill-equipped Nerv personnel, and indiscriminately slaughter them as they come across them; even attempts at surrender are refused and answered with lethal force.
As Misato directs the defense against the invaders, Fuyutsuki laments the futility of her efforts, saying that it will only be a matter of time before Nerv is overrun completely. Just then Gendo rises from his seat and starts heading for Terminal Dogma, asking Fuyutsuki to see the fight through to the end. Fuyutsuki in turn asks him to send Yui his regards.
Knowing that the force's main targets will be the Evangelion pilots, Misato orders that they be placed in their Evas for safety, despite Asuka still being comatose, Rei having gone missing, and Shinji dangerously close to being caught in the cross fire. Asuka and Evangelion Unit-02 are sent into the bottom of the nearby lake, while Misato decides to personally head out to save Shinji, handing command over to Hyuga.
Gendo discovers Rei within Terminal Dogma, staring at the destroyed copies of herself. As Rei coldly stares at him (this seems to go unnoticed), he tells her that the promised time has come.
Misato arrives just in time to save Shinji from being killed by some JSSDF soldiers. She decides to head towards the Eva Cage to get Shinji inside Evangelion Unit-01 safely, despite him being passively uncooperative, and having to literally be dragged in tow.
Misato manages to recover her car, and during the drive towards the Eva Cage, she explains her findings to Shinji; telling him that she was able to discover the truth about what caused Second Impact[1] and passes this information onto Shinji; Seele was behind Second Impact and is now trying to trigger Third Impact by using the Eva series. The reason behind it all is the conflict between the Angels and humanity. It turns out that humanity is born from a source of life that's equal to Adam known as Lilith, and that Adam's offspring were simply "humans that gave up human form", meaning humanity and Angels are one and the same, yet also were unable to coexist. Misato also states that Mankind is the final Angel, the Eighteenth Angel.
Meanwhile, Asuka awakens in the bottom of the lake to the sounds of war, surprised that she's alive. She begins chanting over and over to herself that she doesn't want to die as Kyoko's voice replies. Kyoko says repeatedly that Asuka must live on; but twice pleads Asuka to die with her[2] Realizing that Kyoko's soul is within Eva-02, Asuka reactivates the Eva and surfaces above the water and together, mother and daughter proceed to fight the JSSDF, who suffer heavy losses as they are unable to get past the Eva's A.T. Field. Though they manage to cut the umbilical cable, Asuka refuses to let that stop her.
In response to Eva-02's awakening, Seele orders the Kaworu Dummy Plug-equipped Mass Production Evangelions, Evas 05-13, deployed, which worries Nerv since they happen to be equipped with S2 Engines. Through the phone, Misato tells the revived Asuka to hang in there with fighting and that Shinji will be there to help soon. Asuka, having fully regained her confidence, stares down the eight white Evas and replies that she will defeat them all with the power remaining on the internal battery if necessary.
Misato ends up getting shot by a soldier while protecting Shinji. In an elevator shaft that's scheduled to soon be detonated, she tries to get him out of his suicidally-depressed state. She tells to him that he does have value in his life so he shouldn't give up so easily. Misato gives Shinji her father's Cross[3], making him promise that he'll find out the meaning of his existence as well as return to her once he does this. Kissing him goodbye, Misato tells Shinji that they'll "do the rest when [he] gets back", which causes the stunned Shinji to fall back into the elevator[4] , taking him to Eva-01. Collapsing from her wound and bleeding out on the floor, Misato calls out for Pen Pen and asks Kaji if she did the right thing. The floor she's on explodes just as a Messenger of Rei III appears.
While Asuka and Kyoko's battle rages on[5], Shinji discovers he can't get aboard Eva because the whole area, Unit-01 included, is covered in hardened Bakelite. At the same time, Ritsuko appears to Gendo and Rei and holds the former at gunpoint, admitting that she changed the Magi programming to trigger Nerv Headquarters's self-destruct mechanism at her command in an effort to die together with her mother and extract revenge upon Gendo. But as she pushes the button on the remote supposed to trigger the self-destruct, nothing happens as Casper rejects the command. As Ritsuko is momentarily distracted by the shock that Casper "chose her man over her daughter", Gendo sees the opportunity to turn the tables on her, drawing his own gun. Gendo says some unheard last words to Ritsuko, an in response she bitterly calls him a liar. Gendo then shoots Ritsuko who falls over backwards into the LCL pool behind her. The last thing Ritsuko sees before she dies is a Messenger of Rei III staring back at her.
The members of Nerv realize that there's not much time left before Eva-02's internal battery runs out, since only less than a half a minute remains. Asuka defeats the final Eva Unit, claiming that she "can't lose (because) Mama's watching over her". Eva-02 uses her A.T. Field to stop a Heavy Spear that appears, when it suddenly turns into a copy of the Spear of Longinus. The Spear breaks through Eva-02's A.T. Field, and stabs both the Eva and Asuka in the eye just as Eva-02 runs out of power[6]. The Mass Production Evas reactivate while Asuka starts repeatedly chanting that she'll kill them. Reaching out for the Evangelions overhead, Eva-02 apparently goes Berserk while Maya begs for Asuka to stop.
In the midst of saying "I'll kill you", another copy of the Spear appears, slicing both Eva-02's and Asuka's right arm in half. Suddenly, multiple copies of the Spear shoot down from the sky, killing Asuka. Maya screams through the intercom that Asuka is dead, but Shinji replies there's nothing he can do. All of a sudden, Eva-01 breaks free from the hardened Bakelite, much to Shinji's surprise.
Eva-01 extends its A.T. Field with such massive force that it blows up the Geofront pyramid. The Eva then ascends from the wreckage, hovering on wings of light. Inside the entry plug, Shinji looks to the sky and calls out for Asuka. Seeing the MP Eva Series carry Eva-02's remains, Shinji's eyes contract as he begins screaming.
The credits for both Episodes 25' and 26' roll.[7]
Notes
- Whether or not The End of Evangelion and the final two episodes of the TV Series are literally concurrent, complimentary, or completely different endings is something that's still a matter of debate.
Analysis
Quotes
- (After masturbating by Asuka's bedside)
Shinji: "I'm the lowest..."
- Seele Member: "The fate of destruction is the joy of rebirth."
- Commander Ikari: "Rei...You're here, after all. The promised time has come. Let's go."
- (Misato gives Shinji a farewell kiss)
Misato: "That's an adult kiss. Let's do the rest when you come back."
- Commander Ikari and Ritsuko:
"Ritsuko Akagi, truly...(His next line is silent)"
"Liar."
- (Original Japanese)
JSSDF officer: Evangelion Shogoki! (Evangelion Unit-01!)
JSSDF commander: Masa ni Akuma ka? (Is it the Devil?)
References
- ↑ When Misato discovers the truth about the Second Impact, the page she sees is actually some information about Gainax and their previous works with the words "Second Impact" written in various places.
- ↑ The meaning of this behavior has been subject to some debate. The prevailing theory holds that the remnants of Kyoko's soul were salvaged from her body after her death, and rejoined with her maternal aspect in the core of Unit 02. The voices Asuka hears thus come from her mother's maternal and broken halves, respectively. However, soul reunification remains a matter of speculation; it is never explicitly addressed in the course of the series (see Theory and Analysis:Eva-00's Soul for some discussion on the topic). Additionally, the effects of such a procedure on an Evangelion's behavior are unknown -- the inclusion of the insane portion of Kyoko's soul might lead to erratic behavior, all the moreso because of her suicidal depression. The lack of such behavior in Unit-02 has led some viewers to argue that the second voice Asuka hears might come not from Kyoko, but rather from her own memories awakened by Arael in Episode 22. The nightmare images seen at the end of the sequence are cited as additional evidence for this interpretation. While this approach resolves the objections raised against the divided soul theory, it is problematic in that it forces viewers to deem some dialogue real and some imaginary, despite the fact that there are no indications in the sequence that this is the intent of the scene. A final theory that attempts to resolve the issues raised by the other two holds that Kyoko's maternal aspect was broken by Arael's invasion and, like Asuka, longed for death. This theory does have some oblique support in the fact that Kaworu notes Kyoko's pain in Episode 24, but some viewers have objected to the notion that Kyoko's maternal aspect would ever wish for her daughter's death. Unfortunately, supplemental material does not address this sequence in sufficient detail to provide support for any of these theories; the true nature of Kyoko's dissenting voice remains a mystery.
- ↑ Misato giving Shinji her cross pendent, which was a gift from her father, could be seen as symbolizing "carrying the burden" of one Impact survivor (Misato survived the Second) to another (Shinji survives the Third). It also appears to be Shinji's link to reality, as its shown throughout Episode 26' during Pre-Instrumentality, and once Shinji returns to the real world in the final two scenes (Shinji is wearing the cross when saying goodbye to his mother and the during the final scene, the cross is nailed onto a piece of wood as a grave-marker).
- ↑ The elevator door that Shinji uses to reach Eva-01 is labeled R-20, a possible reference to Sadamoto's 1993 manga Route 20/R20, The Town with Gears.
- ↑ It has been suggested that Asuka was not in full control of Eva-02, but that Kyoko had taken charge as had Yui in the Eva-01 berserk incidents. Not only was Asuka suffering from a severe case of Battle Rage (similar to Shinji in Episode 19), but the Eva growls as well as moves of it's own accord (i.e.: jumping and spinning in the air) several times in battle, as well. The two BGM tracks that play during Asuka's revival are respectively titled Emergency Evacuation into Regression and False Rebirth, which seem to support this theory.
- ↑ This is the first time damage to the Eva physically manifests as damage to the pilot, possibly a side-effect of Asuka maintaining an extremely high synch ratio during this sequence)
- ↑ The Ending Credits song, which has credits for both Episodes 25' and 26' is the Rhythm and Blues song Thanatos~If I can't be yours~ sung by Loren and Mash. The music itself was used throughout the series as a BGM piece entitled Thanatos; though a rhythm-only version, Substitute Invasion, was used in The End of Evangelion during Misato's death scene.
| Episodes & Films | |
| Television Series | Episode 01 | Episode 02 | Episode 03 | Episode 04 | Episode 05 | Episode 06 Episode 07 | Episode 08 | Episode 09 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13 |
| Movies | Death | Rebirth |
| Rebuild of Evangelion | Evangelion 1.0 | Evangelion 2.0 | Evangelion 3.0 | Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 |
