[EVA] Concurrency tangent (WAS: Alternate Rei on DVD cover)

[Gwern Branwen]

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 9:09 PM, Peter Svensson <sun1jack at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Anyway, just because there is a statement of "they're smiling due to
>> Instrumentality" or what have you, doesn't mean it's because Instrumentality
>> was actually accepted.
>
> There really isn't any dialogue in the TV ending that seems to imply that there's a way to return to having physical form. That's part of my argument for the two being separate mind you, that the two versions of Instrumentality we see don't entirely mesh up on the logistics.
>
> Also, if you're going to argue that the filmbooks are irrelevant, do that rather than the "Well, it says that they're smiling because of the Instrumentality but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are Complemented in that scene!" as it's rather weak to argue from. I'm okay with saying that the filmbook at that point is just the personal interpretation of the person compiling it. That I happen to agree with it is irrelevant. ;)
>
> I think that the final scene makes a lot more sense if you take it as "Shinji is finally able to join the collective after realizing his self-worth, the limbo he was in shatters as he becomes one with the Complemented Humanity." rather than "Shinji realizes his self-worth, Instrumentality shatters and he is reunited with his loved ones."
>
>> Why in the world would
>> Shinji feel the need to say goodbye to Yui if everybody stayed as one being
>> in Instrumentality? And for that matter, Shinji would have lost his
>> individuality had Instrumentality been accepted.
>
> Well, my take on the final scene of Episode 26 is that he has in fact lost his individuality, given that everyone now has the same reactions and the same words of praise, and that at the end Shinji transcends his individual form to speak as a faceless narrator.

But as I said last time, they *don't* have the same reactions or even
the same words.

--
gwern