nerv bae wrote:The instrumentality picture wall shows us that only Shikinami Type 0278 and 0313* survive, and I think one of these must be the original because otherwise we would have three Asukas to keep track of rather than two. Call 0278 the original (whether born naturally or in a test tube) because she is kept center-frame during the picture wall zoom out. Then, either the memory with toddler Shinji is 0278's, pre-cloning, later transferred to 0313 (and presumably also to the hundreds of other clones), or the memory with toddler Shinji is 0313's, post-cloning, and original Asuka 0278 never experienced it. Either way "our" Asuka 0313 has the memory and gets to look back on it during instrumentality.
*Staring at the picture wall a bit, I think there are 555 total Shikinami Types, in 15 rows of 37, so that 0278 is dead-center.
Some relevant threads, for reference:
- 1) Will Asuka's Angel Contamination Play A Role In 3.0 + 1.0?
2) about the pilots being mentally/psychologically enginnered
3) Thrice Upon Time questions regarding Asuka and Ending.
4) Asuka's rejection letter
I think there are 555 Shikinami clones. As support, here's Euro NERV's picture wall seen in Asuka's instrumentality sequence, with my markup in purple and blue:
Purple is what we know for certain: the three pictures indicated are numbered 0241, 0278, and 0313.
Blue is what I determine based on two assumptions:
- 1) The pictures are arranged in a rectangular grid.
2) Picture 0278 is in the exact middle of the rectangular grid, because it is kept centered during the sequence's zoom out.
Et voila, 555 Shikinami clones. But is there additional support for this?
Support 1: Here are the cloning tanks seen in Asuka's instrumentality sequence, with my markup in purple:
Each purple line indicates a column of tanks, of which I count 19. In the central columns, I count 8 to 10 tanks per column. Assume then that there are an average of 9 tanks per column; 9 times 19 gives us 171 tanks. This many tanks can produce 555 clones in 4 batches, and so if gestation is quick enough the age difference between batches won't be too great and they can all battle royale somewhat fairly.
Support 2: Here are some portions of 2.0's 9th angel sequence inside Unit 03's entry plug, during which a large number of purple crosses appear. I've read speculation that the purple crosses are the souls of the deceased Shikinami clones, embodied somehow as or with the 9th angel. So, let's count the purple crosses using a computer vision tool:
I haven't shown the entire output of the computer vision tool in these gifs, because it's too large, but from these you should get an idea of what the tool is doing: each time it sees a purple cross, it draws a markup rectangle around it and tracks its path across the screen. The accuracy of the computer vision tool is not perfect, but I think it's within 10%, and it counted 471 purple crosses. Tantalizingly close to 555!
So, that's what I've got: I think the picture wall implies 555 clones, and this is supported by the number of cloning tanks and purple crosses.
Todo: I gotta retarget the computer vision tool at the 3+1 entry plug sequence with blue crosses:
Haven't read any speculation that the blue crosses are like the purple crosses, but still might produce an interesting result.