[EVA] Rei's Origins (repost)

[Greg Muir]

> >EVA still leaves behind a lot of questions, not good questions as a show
> >should stimulate but bad questions that relate to the basics of the show
> >that were not answered in the episodes or films. What force set all this
> >into motion? Is it God? Is it a highly powerful godlike entity
> within this
> >universe?
>
> I would suggest that God or some godlike entity is at least
> behind setting
> this whole thing up.  The importance of souls in NGE and the fact

This is implied due to the comments about God, playing God, souls, and all
the religious imagery. But nobody really mentions what is behind all this.
We have a theoretical God. Even an anthiest would feel comfortable in using
the phrase "playing god" to describe, say, Nazi eugenics experiments. It's a
convenient and descriptive phrase. However, we really gain no sense of what
the religion is from EVA. In a lot of ways it is similar to Dune. In Dune
there are heavy religious themes but we gain no real sense of whether there
is a God or not, in Dune the religions seem mainly to be cons played on the
unsuspecting masses, even if there are supernatural aspects such as Muad'Dib
and his powers.

> that the
> whole series seems like it was a setup by someone or something
> suggests that
> to me.  It would be too simple, IMO, to just pass of the angels
> as suddenly
> "being there", or "waking up."  That's crap, if you ask me.

Agreed, circumstantial evidence implies that this is all intentional. This
is actually what saved EVA for me. I was first introduced to it without any
explanation of the whole situation. I drove the friend who sent me the tapes
nuts poking holes in things.
1. Robots with extension cords are stupid. Why the hell would they design
something so deliberately stupid?
(Because they weren't intended as combat units, and engines were in the
works, just not soon enough to beat the first angel attacks. Still, the
extension cords *are* lame.)
2. If you're defending yourself against space alien attacks, why limit
yourselves to a single fixed location on the planet when the aliens could
attack anywhere?
(The angels had no other targets of interest, their only goal was situated
beeath Tokyo-3, thus it was perfectly reasonable to build a massive fortress
atop the prize.)
3. Why would a military organization use 14 year old pilots, emotional ones
at that? (Well, two of them were emotional!)
(This is because of the conditions of Second Impact, only those born after
the event could pilot the EVAs. Being 15 years ago, there you have it.)
4. Why are the angels attacking piecemeal?
(Because this is not a war, this is a test.)
5. Why did the angels wait to attack until giant robot defenders were
constructed on earth?
(Because the robots and angels are linked, there was no need to attack until
after second impact.)

> There's nothing
> like the angels, except for EVA, and EVAs were made from Adam and Lillith
> anyhow.  It would seem that they were there for a purpose, and a purpose
> suggests intent by an intelligent entity behind the scenes.  The
> fact that
> no God is really mentioned in the series doesn't mean that we
> can't theorize
> that something or someone is working behind the scenes.
>
Yup, we can theorize but the lack of anything more explicit I think leaves
too much open for theory. I'm still not sure about comments such as "the
other angels were only possabilities, humans are the reality." That's a
weird comparison. Angels and EVA's I can see a comparison between. Are
humans thus supposed to be taken as a whole, one giant Angel with it's mind
spread among 3 billion parts? No wonder the Angel from "Dance Like You Want
To Win" was jealous, it could only split in two!

The other question is "ok, if all this was setup, then why? What is the
point of this test?"

> The explanation I've heard is that the "Dead Sea Scrolls" is just another
> religious term used as a name for something else.  I don't know
> about that,
> but the information that the Dead Sea Scrolls give Gendo and
> SEELE might be
> a more general timeline, as opposed to technical schematics on
> how to make
> EVAs.

They were refered to as "secret dead sea scrolls" and the impression I got
from that is that they are from the same collection as the real Dead Sea
Scrolls, just kept hidden from the world's academics. It didn't seem to be
just a borrowed name like "the magi."

Also, the description of these scrolls was "prophecy." I do think it's cool
though if they are just an outline of what's likely to happen. In a way, you
could write a "prophecy" of the end of the world in the event of a nuclear
war, with examples of what would likely be happening towards the end, Cold
War style.

Let's see, that would go something like this . . .
And a fear will descend across the capitals of the great nations. The
leaders of the two great nations will take to their hidden fortresses, the
leader of the East in his great subterranian chambers, the leader of the
West to his flying citadel known as NACP. Each leader will open the Book of
Death known as Nuclear Football and read forth the sacred codes that will
prelude the destruction of this world. "We are at DEFCON-1," the western
leader's general says, "and your armies await your command."
The leader of the west turns to his general and says in a loud voice "We
have been betrayed by our enemies in the East. Lo, they have brought
destruction to their homelands, and ruin shall be upon them." The leader
picks up the Red Phone and commands the First Strike be let loose upon the
East.
>From the plains in the far west of the nation to the depths of the ocean
come the missiles of First Strike. They are Minuteman and Peacekeeper and
Trident, a thousand strong against the strength of the East. As they leap to
the sky on tongues of fire the do not go unnoticed by the Leader of the
East. The Counter Strike is launched by the East.
"Behold, the enemy's missiles have crossed our DEW Line."
The demon Fallout strode the land that day and for many years to come,
feasting on the bodies of the living.

Yeah, that is pretty cool. It ain't exactly a prophecy, just describes what
would happen in such a situation. Would be really funny if the divine
scriptures for some culture down the line ends up being their disaster
manuals.
"And lo, when the Master Control Alarm glows with anger, you must relieve
the Auxillary Pressure Lines lest the reactor explode with Wrath and
Destruction." :)