Wow, this is an old topic, but I might as well reply.
Rei's character now completly represents "Running away from reality" The doll/ the waifu. Giving any substance to her would be the same as giving substance to otaku's fantasies. It just won't happen. There may be a goodbye scene, but it will something along the lines of her simply blinking away as if she was never there in the first place. Or Shinji and Rei's final meeting will simply be a "Will you face reality, or will you come to me and run away again?" open question kind of ending.
Even hoping that ReiII and Shinji will have a Romantic tragic loss ending, will probably be too much to hope for. As that would imply that Rei II and what she represents was something in the first place.
Can I just say how utterly insulting that would be if true? The reason I liked her and Shinji's relationship in Rebuild was because I liked seeing their interactions with each other, and how they slowly but surely opened up to not just each other, but also to those around them thanks to their interactions. Unlike so many other stories, their relationship happened slowly and involved not so much obvious ship tease, but acts of kindness and things that I find much more realistic than in stories that make romance the focus of the narrative. Him going to such great lengths to save Rei at the end was a natural progression I felt, and while he did nearly cause the end of the world, he didn't know about it, and when one is in the heat of the moment, with someone close in serious danger, I highly doubt you're gonna be thinking about what
might happen.
Yet apparently, despite all that, nothing will come out of this relationship. Rei II will get a bridge dropped on her, with Shinji rejecting her and her blinking out of existence just like that. All those heartwarming moments between them? Worthless. Why? Because Anno doesn't view these sorts of relationships as simply being two people bonding together in a harsh situation or time, and growing feelings for each other as a result. No, he only sees it as "running away from reality because you can't face it, and would rather just be with someone so you can be coddled from the harshness of the real world".
I'm sorry, but if that's what he's saying through them, then that is unbelievably infuriating to me. Being attracted to each other like Shinji and Rei were in 2.22 I feel is far more than that. You and that other person opened up to each other because you both found similarities with another, grew over the course of many interactions and meetings, opened up to not just each other, but through others as a result, and as a result, grew to care for each other. Which again, I feel is simply realistic. Yet Anno is saying that relationships like that are nothing more than the "delusions of otaku". I can't put into words how insulting I find that statement.
Proud fanboy of Rei Ayanami. :p