Baz wrote:Also, my suspicion is that the reason she started falling apart at the end was because her "Rei" ego was disintegrating due to her new-found awareness of Lilith's soul within her, and not because of anything else. In addition, this was something that both Gendo and Fuyutsuki knew was going to happen eventually and it was one of the inevitable causes of the third impact. A counter-argument to this is that Kaworu wasn't falling apart, but we don't really know when he was awakened to his SoL identity. Hmm. Or maybe he just had no attention of falling apart until he found his original body.

I still don't think the meds, or lack of meds, had anything to do with her falling apart.

Plotwise the pills are a good explanation for Rei's decomposition. We can then interpret that because of her rebellion against Gendo, she stopped being a good girl and didn't take the pills anymore.

If you believe that Rei stopped taking the pills in order to spite Gendo, you are left with a contradiction in EoE:
1) Gendo wasn't surprised that Rei was falling apart, which would mean that he knew that she stopped taking the pills, but
2) Gendo still fully expected Rei to cooperate with him, which makes no sense if he already knew that she was rebelling.
How can you reconcile these?

Baz wrote:If you believe that Rei stopped taking the pills in order to spite Gendo, you are left with a contradiction in EoE:
1) Gendo wasn't surprised that Rei was falling apart, which would mean that he knew that she stopped taking the pills, but

When was Gendo surprised of anything? Even when SEELE is breathing under his neck, he keeps his poker face.

2) Gendo still fully expected Rei to cooperate with him, which makes no sense if he already knew that she was rebelling.

The same way he expected Ritsuko to comply and activate the firewall.

Oh, I don't know how much Gendo actually trusted Ritsuko at that point. He didn't bat an eye when he learns that she betrayed him. In contrast, he is quite shocked when Rei betrays him.

Baz wrote:Oh, I don't know how much Gendo actually trusted Ritsuko at that point. He didn't bat an eye when he learns that she betrayed him. In contrast, he is quite shocked when Rei betrays him.

I wouldn't describe it as trust. Gendo doesn't trust nobody. The way he deals with people is like an abuser his wife. He beats her, but he knows she will return to him.

Gendo is such a person that he expects from you to obey him even if it's obvious you got hurt. He commands Shinji to pilot after all the shock Shinji passed. He commands Ritsuko to activate the firewall even if his mistreatment of her is full clear. The same thing with Rei. He doesn't ask her if she's alright, she has to fulfill a purpose.

Maybe he became so remiss he doesn't get anymore hints if this dog/master relationship can last anymore. That's why Rei's decomposition and the cold stare she gave him before didn't start a click in his mind.

The thing is though, Gendo created Rei, and as such he on some level believes that he has full control over her. In that sense, Rei is probably the only person he trusts, which is why he was shocked when she stopped obeying him.

Timstuff wrote:The thing is though, Gendo created Rei, and as such he on some level believes that he has full control over her. In that sense, Rei is probably the only person he trusts, which is why he was shocked when she stopped obeying him.

He was shocked because of the emotional bond - Yui. He doesn't care so much about Rei as about what she represents. Her physical resemblance to Yui just adds fuel to the fire. Rei as herself is expendable as Shinji or Ritsuko.

Just a nitpick here: Gendo did not "create" Rei. Rei "salvaged" herself, and was subsequently copied physically by some unnamed team at gehirn/nerv. gehirn just helped with salvaging too many empty versions of her.

And plotwise, there's very little going for the pills being related to Rei falling apart in EoE. Also, she "rebelled" against Gendo only after she realized that Shinji was in trouble. Sure, she may have broken her previous bond with him prior to that, but it wasn't until she had a good reason that she actually rejected Gendo, just going along because there was nothing else for her to do. Also, if the declining ATF was due to pills, then there's the need to explain, still without them, the part when it returns and she takes in gendo's arm.

A bit more on this topic though, i think it may have been her visit to the reiquarium that sparked her declining/unsteady? ATF (or perhaps it was a self imposed destrudo effect). I say that because it was after she visited the reiquarium that she "found out" who she was, and that was a bunch of Rei parts floating around in LCL. and because the ATF is what essentially determines the body, by seeing "herself" as floating parts without ATFs of their own could have done it. Moreover, i think this also makes sense for Gendo's line of Rei's ATF weakening because when he found her, it was in the reiquarium so he may have realized that was happening. It would explain why he wasn't surprised anyway to see her arm fall off. Timing wise, it is also somewhat consistent as before her visit to the reiquarium, she was fine, albeit still questioning who she actually was.

(Edited for accuracy, and added some things...)

We know Rei takes a lot of meds, but we don't know what for. The only thing I can think of is that it has something to do with the fact she doesn't menstruate. The problem with that is we don't know if she wants to have kids, and if she did, how would she get fertility drugs anyway? It would look suspicious if a fourteen year old started taking them, and I doubt Gendo would buy them for her, considering he doesn't intend to let the world last long enough for Rei to have babies anyway. Your thoughts?

Also, not sure if this belongs in Chit-Chat or Discussion. Help?

Fertility drugs. That's one I haven't heard before.

One theory proposes that they have to do with maintaining her body. We see in EoE that she's literally falling apart, because her AT Field is unable to sustain its form. This suggests that due to some weird interaction between her soul and her body, the two lack compatibility; the pills may be a method of balancing the two and helping her maintain her form.

Smash Genesis wrote:We know Rei takes a lot of meds, but we don't know what for. The only thing I can think of is that it has something to do with the fact she doesn't menstruate. The problem with that is we don't know if she wants to have kids, and if she did, how would she get fertility drugs anyway? It would look suspicious if a fourteen year old started taking them, and I doubt Gendo would buy them for her, considering he doesn't intend to let the world last long enough for Rei to have babies anyway. Your thoughts?

Also, not sure if this belongs in Chit-Chat or Discussion. Help?

It seems highly unlikely to me that Rei would want kids...
And Gendick wouldn't allow it.

The medication is most likely for pain. She does get hurt a lot after all.

she pops those pills so that she won't literally fall apart

Xard wrote:she pops those pills so that she won't literally fall apart

And that's why you should stay in school and keep away from drugs, kids. Poor Ayanami.

So her organs continue functioning.

It's just ecstacy. Even Rei has a hard time getting by in the ghetto.

Didn't the EoE-Poster (or the paphlet?) include the words "stop medication" somewhere...?

They may just have taken her off the things since she was meant to be "used" soon/so her stability would deterioate to the point that allows the merging...