It clarify, our hypotheses themselves are by definition not canonical. Only what we are shown and told directly in the show is absolutely canonical. However, our best hypotheses piece together what is canonical into a cohesive and consistent explanation of the often unexplained elements of the show. Despite Reichu's modesty here, the Eva-01--Lilith surrogate mother origin theory is actually one of the better explanations we've managed to come up with over the decade(s).
That Eva-01 was originally tied to Lilith is reasonably clear. We have the image shown above, Yui's connection to Rei along with Rei's connection to Lilith, and finally we are told by Keel that Eva-01 is Lilith's "Bunshin". The only ambiguous point is Eva-01's connection to Adam.
The Eva's in general, and at times Eva-01 in particular, are linked to "Adam" on several occasions. The main difficulty is in the "Lilith" reveal in episode #24. But before discussing that:
#16 (Referencing Eva-01 directly)
Ritsuko : What kind... what kind of monster have we copied from?
Misato (MONO): I know that the Evas aren't just copies of the First Angel.
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#20 (Referencing Eva-01)
Misato : What does that mean?! Just what is an Eva?!
Ritsuko : It is something created by man in man's own image.
I really can't describe it any other way.
Misato : Something created by man?
Didn't you just copy what you found then at the South Pole?
I'm sure the original would be appalled to hear this.
Ritsuko : This is not just a copy, because it is imbued with a human will.
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#21 (Referencing Eva-00)
Akagi : Yes, it is an Eva, made from Adam by man.
Fuyutsuki :An Eva?!
Gendo : This is the Adam Revival Project, generally known as Project E,
and this is our mockup, Eva Unit 00.
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#23 (Referencing the Eva Series)
Ritsuko: But then, they tried to resurrect God on their own.
The result was Adam.
And imitating God, they created people from Adam.
The result was the Evas.
Shinji: People? They're human?
Ritsuko:Yes, they're human.
The Evas do not intrinsically have souls,
but they have human souls embedded in them.
(Given his reflections in #24, Shinji's words and Ritsuko's here relate directly to Yui in Eva-01)
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#23 (Referencing the Eva Series)
Kaworu : The Eva series.
Born from Adam, they are an abhorrent existence for humans.
And the Lilim will even use them in order to survive.
I can't understand.
.....
The Eva are made of the same body as I am.
Because I am born from Adam as well.
I could merge with them, if only they didn't have souls.
Unit 02's soul has shut itself away for now.
Time and time again, the Eva series is linked to
Adam. However, then we have our big reveal
#24
Kaworu : Adam, our mother.
Must all who were born of Adam return to Adam?
Even at the cost of destroying humanity?
No! This is...
Lilith?
So the big angel on the cross was really Lilith all along. But the question for us is:
Does the Lilith revelation invalidate everything we have been told up to this point? In particular, does it invalidate the established connections between Eva-01 and Adam?
If we argue that it does, then to what extent does this apply to the other Evangelions? Recalling all of the
failed Eva-00 prototypes were all the successful Evas actually grown from Lilith? Were other Eva's sourced from Lilith and not Adam, but grown separately? Was Adam ever the source of Project-E material? What about the previous statements? How should they be revised/interpreted, or which ones should not be taken literally? Which ones are "wrong"?
The beauty of the surrogate mother theory is that it allows us not to revise any statements at all. We don't have to come up with alternative explanations or interpretations of existing information because Eva-01 can still be a copy of Adam but also born from Lilith. It explains why the "conjoined" image is significant, and why Eva-01's possesses both Fruits during 3I ("A child of both seeds" as Bagheera mentioned)
#26' wrote:Fuyutsuki: The Fruit of Life possessed by Angels,
And the Fruit of Wisdom possessed by humans...
Having obtained them both, EVA-01 has become like a God.
And now it has been restored to the propagule of souls... the Tree of Life.
The hypothesis is not strictly canonical, but it explains so many things, so neatly, that it's become a firmly accepted interpretation of the show.