I kept wondering about that short bit in the recent trailer of Midori, the Wunder bridge bunny, screaming at someone similar to how Ritsuko was screaming too. Which gave me the following theory that either Midori (and maybe Ritsuko) is a NERV spy working undercover to screw up Wille's plans as Gendo intended. The scream could be reacting to Gendo getting hurt by the gunshot and not wanting for him to die, why and what her connection is to Gendo would have to be found out when the film comes out but what do y'all think?

I wouldn't give a rats ass if some rando character that was just introduced whose only quality is pink hair and whiny attitude ended up being a nerv spy. Now if it was Ritsuko, then we're talking cause then not only you'd have the betrayal of at least 14 years of trust between Misato and Ritsuko. it would open up some possibilities like highly convenient time the mark-9 arrived to get Shinji in 3.0.

Maybe they're both spies for NERV. It would also accentuate Gendo's reputation for liking them young and having Anno's response to the MeToo movement considering if they move for Ritsuko being sexually abused by Gendo when younger like in NGE.

Somewhat unrelated, but some people think that Mari is:

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ✧
I always thought IPEA was the branch created by SEELE in case NERV went rogue

If this does confirm that, then Kaji is in the know as well. The interactions between Misato and Kaji in 2.0 would give her more information and move her in an anti-NERV direction. SEELE is still not out of the picture yet (I think).

I think Midori may actually be arguing with Misato and Ritsuko about letting Shinji pilot Unit 01, as she is frightened of him and what he can do inside an Evangelion. She may also be the one to have harmed (shot?) Misato.

When Shinji is brought on the Wunder deck she seems to be the one more disturbed by his presence (her eyes are twitching while the rest of bunnies are perfectly still). She is also the one bridge bunny doubting Misato's decision to counterattack the Mark.04C the most, as she doesn't want to die yet.

She has a big distrust in Shinji and she also doesn't seem to blindly believe in Misato, so that would make sense to me. Shinji's aggressive reaction may not be to Gendo but to Midori/Ritsuko attacking Misato.

My personal guess is that Misato, Ritsuko, Shinji and Midori are in one scene, Gendo is a red herring and in a completely different scene with a Rei clone and Fuytsuki.

FelipeFritschF wrote:Somewhat unrelated, but some people think that Mari is:

There is so much bad information in this graphic, not the least of which is that Mari tried to land a headshot on Eva 13 and stopped 4th Impact when Seele was literally on the doorstep of victory. If she's a spy she's the worst spy in the history of espionage.

It also carries over Seele being an influential force in the UN from NGE which is never established in NTE. The Instrumentality Committee doesn't exist anymore and the mention of the UN was scrubbed out of their HIP reports. In fact, the IPEA (the UN agency overseeing the Eva project) seems to outrank Seele considering Chief Inspection Officer Kaji gets intelligence reports on their top secrets projects like Marduk and the Mark.06.

Gendo doesn't even need to have a spy within Wille. He's able to predict how Misato will respond and lead her along by applying the right pressure using the fleets of Evas Nerv now has under their control which can also act as eyes and ears in the field. 0706 had Ritsuko suggest that Fuyutsuki was somehow directing the 4444C which means there's a flow of information between the Evas and Nerv. They also have Kaworu and his super senses/telepathic powers. Boy can somehow detect where Shinji is from a different celestial body.

BlueBasilisk wrote:There is so much bad information in this graphic, not the least of which is that Mari tried to land a headshot on Eva 13 and stopped 4th Impact when Seele was literally on the doorstep of victory. If she's a spy she's the worst spy in the history of espionage.

Which is why I think that Mari is actually a weird triple agent, working for her own goals. This is pretty much confirmed anyway in 2.0's opening scene, where she talks about using NERV as a tool for allowing her own agenda to happen. But if her goals still haven't been completed after 14 years, that's kind of weird. I imagine the final movie will address what exactly she's up to.

No chance.

Double agents is also kinda dull and a bit much this late in the game.

Regarding the shot in the trailer: Midori is the new audience surrogate, taking over the Maya Ibuki role, during the NERV Control Room - now Wunder Control Room - scenes.

While everyone is a cool professional who are analytical and always in control when the shit starts - like Ritsuko & Maya were in the Paris Mission - Midori is the one who provides an emotional response/outlet for the audience by having a natural “what the hell are you gonna do! Oh my god! We might die!” reaction. These are trained professionals so its natural their response to a moment of chaos is to stay calm and in control at all times but if everyone in the scene is at that level it removes a lot of tension and excitement for the viewer cause everything feels controlled. It lessens the tension of the scene.

Having one character in the scene who reacts to moments of panic with concern, worry or simpler fear provides an outlet for the audience to give in to those moments of concern and worry. It enhances the tension of the scene.

“Ritsuko and Maya seem so cool so everything must be okay BUT Midori is freaking out so maybe it won’t! Maybe they are gonna all die!”

Now that Maya, like the rest of the original NERV crew, has gone through 14+ years of hardship on the frontlines she is now a more emotionally reserved and battle hardened warrior having seen some shit so she won’t be giving into panic during the times it looks like they’re going to fail.

But Midori, the newest team member, isn’t battle hardened and will panic at the moments when doing so will provide the action scenes the emotional button it needs.

No spy. No double cross. Just a rookie panicking in a group of professionals so the viewer can feel the right emotions when needed.

Joseki wrote:I think Midori may actually be arguing with Misato and Ritsuko about letting Shinji pilot Unit 01, as she is frightened of him and what he can do inside an Evangelion. She may also be the one to have harmed (shot?) Misato.

When Shinji is brought on the Wunder deck she seems to be the one more disturbed by his presence (her eyes are twitching while the rest of bunnies are perfectly still). She is also the one bridge bunny doubting Misato's decision to counterattack the most, as she doesn't want to die yet.

She has a big distrust in Shinji and she also doesn't seem to blindly believe in Misato, so that would make sense to me. Shinji's aggressive reaction may not be to Gendo but to Midori/Ritsuko attacking Misato.

My personal guess is that Misato, Ritsuko, Shinji and Midori are in one scene, Gendo is a red herring and in a completely different scene with a Rei clone and Fuytsuki.

Very interesting analysis, Joseki. I am now hoping that is the intended scenario the filmmakers will take.

^^

It's hard to judge because we miss the context, but at least to me Ritsuko seems to be the one almost panicking and Midori seems enraged.