Sorry if it's a mess at the moment but I'm working on it as this has been moved to its own thread recently.
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So hey, before I go back to posting more about Kaworu I figured it'd be better to address this post that I couldn't do in that thread first. I actually did spend a week re-watching Rebuild multiple times and going through articles online, including the ones in Japanese about various Eva topics, so I hope this is enough to keep up with the years of speculation behind this impressive undertaking. Seriously, kudos to you Reichu. There's a lot going on here and I can only imagine the work it took to put it all here.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Are the Adams in any of the Evas or in the Key of Nebuchadnezzar?
-- Mark 06
-- Unit 01
-- Eva 13
-- Key of Nebuchadnezzar
Part 2: If not, then where or what are the Adams?
-- What the Adams are
-- The Past
-- The Future
-- "Adams Survivor" and "Adams Vessel"
-- Where the Adams are
Part 3: It's a cycle, not a loop!
(will be updated)
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Part 1: Are the Adams in any of the Evas or in the Key of Nebuchadnezzar?
A response to the ideas in The Four Adams are Eva-01, Mark.06, Eva-13, and the Key of Nebuchadnezzar and the Identities of the Adams.
Mark 06
Rather than an Adams, I believe Mark 06 is made out of the original Adam's body.
- The base body is incredibly similar to that of Lilith. They're both also masked in a similar fashion.
- The base for its body was found on the moon. In the old TV series, it was said that Lilith is of the black moon while Adam is of the white moon. It's not a stretch to say that the moon could actually be the white moon of Adam.
- This Adam was only dug out in the years after the Second Impact when the Adams appeared. To corroborate this, the red streak on the moon would have been on top of the dirt already covering Adam, assuming the streak is from the Second Impact as in the rejected storyboard.
quick reference to rejected storyboard excerpt SPOILER: Show
A giant spear is being transported to Antarctica.
A giant face covering the sky.
Four radiant giants with haloes above their backs and heads. Tails of light are extending from ?one back to another?.
The radiant giants extend vast wings.
The continent of Antarctica is turning into a red sea.
Something resembling a giant cruciform Tree of Life stands towering over the explosion center, remaining on a tilt.
The ocean surface is being stained red.
A girl beholds all this. The only human left alive at the impact center. It's a younger Misato.
A cross pendant, now a memento of her father, is in her hand.
Kaji (voice only): It was 15 years ago. An investigation of an object called Adam, discovered in Antarctica. Her father was in charge of it. Second Impact happened during the investigation. She was 14 at the time, same as you.
南極に巨大な槍が運ばれている。
天を覆う巨大な顔。
背中と頭上に光の輪を持つ四体の光の巨人。お互いの背中から光の尾が伸びている。
巨大な翼をひろげる光の巨人たち。
赤い海へと変わっていく南極大陸。
爆心地に傾いたままそびえ立つ巨大な十字型の生命の樹らしき物体。
赤い色が海面を染めていく。
を、見つめる少女。爆心地でのただ一人の生き残った人間。少女時代のミサ卜である。
手に父親の形見となった十字のベンダント。
加持の声「15年前に行われた、南極で発見されたアダムと呼ばれる物体の調査。彼女の父親はその指揮を執っていた。その調査中にセカンドインパクトは起こった。君と同じ14才の時だ」
A giant face covering the sky.
Four radiant giants with haloes above their backs and heads. Tails of light are extending from ?one back to another?.
The radiant giants extend vast wings.
The continent of Antarctica is turning into a red sea.
Something resembling a giant cruciform Tree of Life stands towering over the explosion center, remaining on a tilt.
The ocean surface is being stained red.
A girl beholds all this. The only human left alive at the impact center. It's a younger Misato.
A cross pendant, now a memento of her father, is in her hand.
Kaji (voice only): It was 15 years ago. An investigation of an object called Adam, discovered in Antarctica. Her father was in charge of it. Second Impact happened during the investigation. She was 14 at the time, same as you.
南極に巨大な槍が運ばれている。
天を覆う巨大な顔。
背中と頭上に光の輪を持つ四体の光の巨人。お互いの背中から光の尾が伸びている。
巨大な翼をひろげる光の巨人たち。
赤い海へと変わっていく南極大陸。
爆心地に傾いたままそびえ立つ巨大な十字型の生命の樹らしき物体。
赤い色が海面を染めていく。
を、見つめる少女。爆心地でのただ一人の生き残った人間。少女時代のミサ卜である。
手に父親の形見となった十字のベンダント。
加持の声「15年前に行われた、南極で発見されたアダムと呼ばれる物体の調査。彼女の父親はその指揮を執っていた。その調査中にセカンドインパクトは起こった。君と同じ14才の時だ」
Unit 01
It's already been commented on that Mark 06 was made differently from the other Evas on earth:
2.22 wrote:00:20:32,560 The construction methods being used on the Mark 06 differ from the others.
00:20:35,980 Getting to ascertain that is enough.
00:20:38,650 But there weren't supposed to be any plans for construction beyond Unit-05.
Implying that Eva-01 is a pretty standard model barring the integration of Yui in its core.
Another fact to back up the idea that Eva 01 would not have had an Adams body can be inferred from SEELE's attitude towards it and the other old units.
2.22 wrote:00:56:37,470 If you would approve the additional supplementary budget to repair Unit-00...
00:56:41,600 The prototype's function is beginning to grow obsolete.
00:56:44,850 Surely, you have no need of it.
00:56:46,190 Indeed. There are other matters that should be given priority.
00:56:50,030 The true Evangelion that we desire...
00:56:53,240 With its birth and the resurrection of Lilith the time of the covenant will be upon us.
00:56:58,240 The necessary rites must be performed by then.
00:57:02,120 For the sake of the Human Instrumentality Project.
00:57:05,130 I am aware of this.
00:57:07,090 All will go according to Seele's plan.
00:57:12,840 The true Evangelion.
00:57:15,930 To serve as its forerunners until its completion...
00:57:18,640 That's basically the job of all the current units, including Unit-01.
The importance SEELE placed on units 0 to 5 seem to only extend to their ability to defeat the Angels and as vehicles to carry out experiments. (Though not quite relevant to this conversation, SEELE seems to hold the same view for their pilots). Therefore its likely that they wouldn't have used an Adams/Adam body on units that did not have any relevance for them.
Core Status & IPEA Logo
Rather than possessing two cores, I see the one at the top being symbolic of the pilot's cockpit (thus a small sphere surrounded by casing), while the second one is the Eva's core. Also while the 3 eyes do resembles those of one of the Adams, it's possibly a coincidence or a visual nod.
Blood Type
While it's an acceptable assumption for A to refer to Adams rather than Angels, there are also other possibilities present.
For example, the blue **A' designation being different from blue 04 could mean that the blood type shows it as being artificial Angel-like blood synthesized by NERV/SEELE.
Mysterious Silhouette
This is a very mysterious piece of scenery indeed, but its highly unlikely that this has anything to do with finding an Adams body on the beach 14 years ago. For one thing, why would SEELE or Nerv want to leave clear evidence of such a find behind in a highly inconspicuous manner? The damage in this scenery is also very suspect. Note the hole like area where the buildings are protruding just above the outline. It's not the result of natural catastrophe to say the least.
If it wasn't for the fact the first 'Angel attack' is only just happening during that point in time, I would have assumed it was from an Angel attack but this is from before the 4th Angel even reached their shores. Also, Eva testing would be done under controlled conditions, so I doubt this was the result of an Eva test. I do have my own theory about this, but I won't elaborate on it for now.
Eva 13
Not much to say here except that I'd like to reiterate the alternative meanings of certain terminology present in the Identities of the Adams wiki page because I think they're worth considering.
The main connection between Adams and Eva 13 is what Mari called it when it awakened, "Adams' Survivor/アダムスの生き残り". While 'an Adams that survived' is probably the more mainstream interpretation, I believe it's also possible for it to mean 'someone/something that survived the Adams'.
There's also the awakening phase, 'pseudo evolution/false deification/疑似シン化' which is said to exceed that of Unit 01's. The definition the article's author went with was that the Evas 'not evolving into a new form, but returning to an old one' but 疑似 according to the Japanese dictionary is more along the lines of 'almost indistinguishable from the original, or that it may be considered the original', basically the deification/evolution the Evas undergo transform them into something godlike that's incredibly identical, or even on par, to a god.
goo.ne.jp dictionary wrote:https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/51668/meaning/m1u/%E7%96%91%E4%BC%BC/
1 本物によく似ていてまぎらわしいこと。また、そのもの。
2 そっくりまねをすること。
Note that I'm using this Japanese dictionary because the Japanese-English page does not provide the exact meaning, only a few English word equivalents that fit a limited amount of contexts.
Key of Nebuchadnezzar
The only thing relating this key to Adam or the Adams is it's similar presentation with the Adam embryo from the original television series. Apart from that, I believe this key is fundamentally different. But first, here's what Kaji and Gendo had to say about it:
2.22 wrote:00:13:47,740 {Kaji} The lost number that had been stored for safekeeping as the spare./The lost number that was being kept as a spare.
00:13:52,830 {Kaji} The waymark that will entwine God and soul./ The guidepost to unify souls unto god. / The guidepost that will link the spirit with the divine. / 神と魂を繋ぐ導くですね*
00:13:56,710 {Gendo} Yes.
00:13:57,830 {Gendo} It will open the door to Human Instrumentality.
00:14:00,960 {Gendo} The Key of Nebuchadnezzar.
*alternative translations and original Japanese text provided for context.
"The lost number that was being kept as a spare."
The wiki page used the idea of the Adams' Survivor to explain why it's a "Lost Number", but I believe there's another possible explanation for this part.
There are mainly two things in Rebuild that are meticulously numbered: the Eva units and the Angels.
Click on thumbnail to see a much bigger image.
In the bottom left corner of the key's orange container is a sticker that lists the key's Catalog number (blacked out), Specimen's Name (apparently written in a simplified version of the symbols on the Angel-sealing hex pillars), and a barcode for indexing/storage purposes.
The 'Specimen's Name' is of note in particular because it means that this key is the subject of research. Evas are built then monitored rather than studied at such a biological level, so the chance of this being an unnumbered Angel is incredibly likely.
Then there's the part about being "kept as a spare". Note that according to my assumptions about Mark 06 above, Adam the First Angel's body is used to create an Eva for SEELE's Human Instrumentality plan. It is possible that this key is another backup Angel that SEELE can use should Mark 06 fail somehow.
This also suggests that this unnumbered Angel has some properties similar to Adam without being a clone of it. Yet another tenuous relation between this key and Adam/Angels can be made through the design of the key and the usage of the Fruit of Knowledge and the Fruit of Life terminology in the rebuild movies:
included into spoilers to control post length SPOILER: Show
1.11 wrote:00:06:20,270 Just for your information, that thing was a mysterious life form we call an "Angel."
00:06:29,740 The 4th Angel...
00:06:31,610 It possesses an astounding regenerative capacity.
00:06:34,520 Complete by itself, it is a nearly-perfect living creature.
00:06:37,900 Of course it can regenerate.
00:06:39,060 Because Angels partook of the Fruit of Life, you mean?
00:06:42,190 Yes. They exist to exterminate us... we, who partook of the Fruit of Wisdom*.
*alternative translation of the Fruit of Life
3.33 wrote:00:51:21 {Kaworu} Old life is offered in sacrifice,
00:51:23 {Kaworu} so that new beings blessed with the Fruit of Life may be created.
01:16:33 {Gendo} Though you have all changed the form of your souls,
01:16:37 {Gendo} you are still creatures blessed with the Fruit of Knowledge.
Now as seen in the last quote above, when Gendo was turning off SEELE's monoliths in 3.33 he addressed them as beings who are blessed with the Fruit of Knowledge. Their powered down monoliths feature the prominent picture of a brain.
And in the other quotes, we see that the Angels and those headless red Unit 01 who failed to reach Infinity are associated with the Fruit of Life.
So basically,
Angels (excluding Lilith) = Fruit of Life = body
Lilim = Fruit of Knowledge = brain
So now the design of the key becomes important when you consider that it's in the shape of a nervous system without a brain, giving it a closer link to the Angels.
Connections to Blake
As for the circular designs on key and the connections to Blake, I'm afraid I can't really relate to this or how it ties in with the key being an Adams body.
I only see 3 loops (the others are shadows) instead of the 4 claimed by the wiki article. These may be an allusion to Infinity (if you exclude the top bit) or maybe even the concept of the Holy Trinity, but I think I'll have to excuse myself on further topics of which the Zoas concept is the cornerstone.
Part 2: If not, then where or what are the Adams?