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Essay: Unit 00 on Berserk Mode, Episode 05 of Neon Genesis Evangelion

Hi, all! I’m back with another essay. It’s very short, since I’ll mostly be compiling theories from other reddit users. I feel like a lot of these comments need to be put out there and pieced together, since these ideas complement each other. I’ll be adding my other thoughts as well.

In episode 05, most of the plot was dedicated to Rei and Unit 00. In one part, Unit 00 was undergoing an initial activation test, and a first-time experience for Rei piloting the prototype EVA. Once activated, Unit 00 begins to go berserk, seeming to kill Rei from the inside and then eventually smashing the glass wall from where Gendo and Ritsuko were behind.

It’s not as often as we see Unit 00 going berserk. There were only two cases of this unit going berserk; this episode being the first one, while Ep. 14 being the other but involving Shinji.

In a Reddit post addressing the entry plug structure differences in each EVA unit, a comment thread initiated by u/Dracsxd and replies coming from u/Chronochonist was posted:

u/Dracsxd:

Well there’s always how 01 was the only unit that could go berserk reliably. 00 only did when the trigger was Gendo/Rei and not an angel/the pilot’s safety, and 02 couldn’t until EOE because of Asuka

u/Chronochonist replied:

It's more likely that 00 is targeting Ritsuko, not Gendo. Gendo isn't present in the test in episode 14, while Ritsuko is present in both, and Ritsuko herself even vocalizes her thoughts it may have been targeting her. If part of Lilith's soul that constitutes for Rei I is in Eva-00, it'd make sense for it to target the person who looks most like Naoko.

u/Dracsxd replied to u/Chronochonist:

Yeah but it as clearly trying to crush both Gendo and Rei specifically, not Ritsuko. Both times it was punching in their direction when they were isolated and Ritsuko was in the same room a bit away (more so with Rei, Ritsuko was quite away yet 00 was still 100% aiming for Rei and not her)

An interesting comment reply by u/Chronochonist piqued my interest regarding this interpretation:

Most fans know that each EVA unit houses a soul in order to function. As I have previously noted in my previous essay regarding Rei’s monologue:

I'd like to think that these androids can't really fully function without any sort of sentient control. It can work as a robot, sure, but it needs a soul to control itself. The entire plot of Evangelion revolves around the contact of souls. You aren't living if you don't have any soul, which is probably the reason why these living beings (Angels, EVAs) absorbed a part of Kyoko Sohryu's soul, and fully absorbed for Yui. Them inhabiting this new body shows that they have abandoned their human forms, and have fully committed to these androids. This is further proven when Yui intentionally made herself be absorbed in 01 as a way to become god and live indefinitely. She has abandoned her transient human body and has since lived in 01. Therefore, it is only right that Rei saw this form of Yui, rather than her human body.

EVA 01 houses Yui Ikari, Shinji’s mother, while EVA 02 houses Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu, Asuka’s mother. It is also possible that EVA 03 houses Toji’s mother prior to infection. However a question poses, “who inhabits EVA 00?” Most units are inhabited by each of the children’s mothers. But you see, Rei doesn’t have a mother. So who could have been inhabiting the robot and how can it go berserk? The answer is that Rei is the mother. Still, in my previous essay, I have talked about how Rei, specifically Rei I was made from the flesh AND soul of Lilith, mixed with some other parts of Yui, but not her soul.

It is clear that Gendo had two intentions with Rei I: the first one being a coping mechanism with the loss of Yui, and second; a way for him to test the waters of his plans of triggering instrumentality to reunite with Yui via the Evangelion. Rei was very much the center of attention for Gendo, as not only did she look similar to Yui, but she was his magnum opus. The key to all his plans as Rei I had the full soul of Lilith which would be critical when merging with Adam later on.

Rei was valued at a young age, however since Lilith’s soul is not keen to human interaction, this puts an end to her life when Naoko Akagi chokes her to death. Now the question arises, “where was Rei I put after?” It is later revealed that she has clones that can replace her upon death, but it is unknown whether there were already clones during the early years of Rei. We can see that in the Dummy Plug Plant that these Rei clones can disintegrate when Ritsuko destroys the entire plant. Rei I would have disintegrated as well but since we already know that their souls or lives can be harvested through LCL, it’s not far off that Lilith’s soul was retrieved. However NERV still lacks the skills in harvesting souls (Yui incident), so it’s also a possibility that only a part of the soul was retrieved.

As I have said before, the EVA units require a soul to fully function and is done by absorbing parts of the soul from a human candidate. We know that NERV still lacks the skills to fully retrieve souls, but we also know that the EVA can absorb parts of the soul. This was the case for Kyoko Sohyru, which was the reason why she was driven insane since half of her soul (the good one) was unwillingly separated from her other half (the bad, suicidal one). This might be the case for EVA 00, one way or another, have absorbed Rei I’s soul, or was transferred to EVA 00 already but failed to fully retrieve the soul in once piece. This might be one of the reasons why this unit can function very well and synchronize with Rei after a few weeks of training.

However the initial activation test drives Unit 00 berserk and tries to hurt itself and then target Ritsuko and Gendo. Since we already know that EVAs can store partial souls, it is important to note that only Yui was the only soul who was willing enough to give up their body to be in the EVA. Which means that the remaining two souls were ripped apart unwillingly, and forced inside the units. Another thing is that this was the first time Rei has tried to interact with it, so this unit hasn’t been activated for a few years or so, meaning it was asleep the entire time.

This Reddit post is a good way too look at why Unit 00 went berserk, and was primarily because of Rei I/Lilith’s partial soul reacting to the world after some time:

It is understandable that Lilith doesn’t know how to react at all, given that she has barely integrated herself into humanity, let alone know all the social etiquettes.

During this scene, Unit 00 bashes its head onto the wall; the head contains the plug entry with the pilot in it, signaling that Rei I wants to kill Rei II. However Rei II is barely aware of the reason why, as each incarnation of Rei fragments Lilith’s soul. It can be similar to Kyoko’s situation, however the opposite, where the traumatized part of the soul was left inside the unit while the ever-so-curious side was left out in the outside world. It may be targeting either Gendo or Ritsuko as a form of rebellion and a trauma-response, as souls in the Evangelion universe can be “felt” or “interlinked”, hence Rei I may have felt that Ritsuko is the daughter of Naoko despite the appearance being different after Ritsuko dyed her hair. Another example of feeling another one’s soul was when Rei decided to obey Shinji instead of Gendo’s wishes during her return to Lilith, despite Shinji not directly calling out to Rei.

As for why it doesn’t go berserk in other episodes is left out to the audience, but it is possible that during the weeks of training with Rei II, they may have already adjusted to each other and may have even complemented each other (which sort of makes sense given that their souls are currently 50/50). From my previous post, I have interpreted that Rei has full control of the unit now when she says that the entry plug is the throne of the soul. Could that mean they have finally agreed to work together? Or is Rei I just choosing to be dormant since she was just a child?

A comment made by u/Rabdar under the same post is one way to look at the adjusments both Rei’s have made for each other:

Most definitely! For me she doesn't have purpose, and the only experience she has is the trauma, but when everything calms down and more things are figured out she is more on board with the program. She can help and she wants to help afterwards.

However a lot of people have said that it may be just Ritsuko being paranoid or her being unaware to what was actually happening during that time (although she eventually understands it better later when Unit 01 becomes berserk in later episodes and eats the Fruit of Life).

From the first Reddit comment thread, u/SaffellBot replied to u/Chronochonist:

It's is also worth keeping in mind that a better understanding can just place you on top of dunning mountain, give you confident - but not understanding. Certainly that reveals Ritsuko's feelings on the matter, but given her dialogue through the rest of the show I don't really consider her a reliable source of knowledge on how sentient beings work.

She's great at the nuts and bolts of how minds work, but when it comes to a holist approach needed to understand motivation out of actions she always comes up short.

I personally think unit 01 is trying to kill Rei. Killing Rei would make a meaningful change to unit 01s reality, and unit 01 has a strong supernatural connection to Rei. For unit 01 to target gendo or ritsuko would require a lot of knowledge about the human world that it doesn't seem like it would have, or that would be in character for the rest of the Eva's unconstrained actions.

Similarly, u/fiios from the second Reddit post replied:

Ritsuko saying it went after her is just classic Ritsuko paranoia. It above all likelihood doesn't care about her at all, it's just that Ritsuko feels very guilty about the work she does. She fears the EVA's, and acts like this on several occasions. She reveres them and fears them at the same time, because despite being one of the most foremost authorities on them - she doesn't understand what they truly are.

Another proof that Rei I/Lilith is in Unit 00 was from the Director’s Cut of NGE from Ep. 23 when Rei and Unit 00 self-destructed while battling with Armisael:

It has already been shown that the unit has taken the form of Rei with a halo, a sign that Rei is indeed Lilith, thus an Angel and is a bonus foreshadowing for EoE later on. Like I have said before, souls inhabiting the EVA units can manifest itself through their previous human bodies, like Yui’s silhouette appearing to Shinji. It’s also not far off that this soul manifested itself as its previous body Rei I. Kaworu later implies that they are one of the same kind—an angel and bearing the parent angel’s soul, as Kaworu gained the soul of Adam, which led him to inhabit and control his human body. This has been both shown in the manga and in the anime series. After their death, both of their souls can still be harvested and possibly united. Which is probably why Rei III begins to realize a lot of things regarding instrumentality, Gendo’s true attitude towards her, and her association with Lilith.

So my conclusion is…

Either way, whoever Unit 00 was targeting is subject to the audience. What you can pick up from this essay is that Lilith, specifically Rei I inhabits Unit 00. What you can also pick up is that souls can be fragmented, totally. It’s truly the choice of the person to manipulate their souls, like in the case of Yui committing her entire soul to Unit 01. Same applies to what Yui told Shinji after instrumentality: that if they can wish to come back in the physical world, they can come back anytime with enough willpower. I’d really like to imagine that upon the death of Rei II and Unit 00, the fragmented soul has found its way back to Rei III, and consequently, to Lilith and GNR. That would be pretty powerful considering Kaworu/Adam’s soul was not fragmented at all. Two whole souls would explain the power Rei can have which is probably why she was able to finally transcend time and unite with everyone’s soul before turning into fanta.

Anyways, that’s all for now. I’ll think about making some posts about Kaworu, but I haven’t dug deep enough for me to fully know who he is and what’s his purpose. Maybe I can do more for Asuka in future posts. Thanks for reading!

God's in his heaven, all's right with the world

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