Does the rebuild one still exist or did it become the world where Shinji is at the station?

I don't think so since you see the world going on, Asuka returns to Kensuke's house, etc
To me the train station scene is mostly symbolical of the end of Shinji's, Eva's and even Anno's story.

Just food for thought: a lot of disappointment with the way Thrice resolves its character relationships has to do with the characters, essentially, parting and not explicitly shown to be in line for a reunion. Perhaps it was decided that instead of prior endings where Shinji reconciles and integrates, the more fitting end to his character conflicts is to get as far away as is feasibly possible, and for Shinji, a fictional character, this involves the filmmakers deciding to use their unique powers to grant him a reality bounce. At the core of Shinji's character is the wish to not be where he is and that's basically where he ends up. Anno has previously willfully shut down the whole apparent "escapism is bad" message people have attributed to him and has said, actually, it can be a great experience overall to run away--Shinji is always shown to grow in these instances, they facilitate instead of prevent growth. Or perhaps in the case of Thrice, Shinji has earned the right to run away without it being an unhealthy decision, and this equates to freeing himself from the narrative without that being destructive to those around him and himself.

In other words, I've seen some take issue with the fact that a narrative pre-occupied with the conflict of not running away then concludes that way ... but I find it hard to believe such a pointed decision was made in error. Or at least, I don't believe it's a contradiction.

FrancoDaniel wrote:Does the rebuild one still exist or did it become the world where Shinji is at the station?

The Rebuild World still exist. That's why Asuka returns to Earth close to Kensuke's house. Shinji has just erased the corification of the Earth (making the planet habitable for humans again).

Now, it isn't so clear which place the train station is (A new World? A place of transition?). I think this is left to interpretation.

Well, at least it is implied that it's a different place from the rebuild world. Remember Shinji was stuck in the Minus Space and Mari reached out to him only for her Eva Unit to dissappear and leave them stranded there with no way for them to return to their original world.

So my guess is that they ended up in a new world they created inside the Minus Space, 'cause there was no way for them to return.

Axx°N N. wrote:In other words, I've seen some take issue with the fact that a narrative pre-occupied with the conflict of not running away then concludes that way ... but I find it hard to believe such a pointed decision was made in error. Or at least, I don't believe it's a contradiction.

Yeah I think it could be different depending on how you look at it. Technically, to make a new start, one would have to create a new world for themselves. In reality, we move house, change jobs, travel, go to new places etc etc.

AsukaShikinami10 wrote:Well, at least it is implied that it's a different place from the rebuild world. Remember Shinji was stuck in the Minus Space and Mari reached out to him only for her Eva Unit to dissappear and leave them stranded there with no way for them to return to their original world.

So my guess is that they ended up in a new world they created inside the Minus Space, 'cause there was no way for them to return.

I think a new World is a good possibility. It would explain why Rei and Kaworu appears there, since we never knows what happens with them after the Instrumentality.

I'm not totally sure Shinji and Mari couldn't return to the Rebuild World, but it's possible they decided to start a new life there.


PS: I know we tend to assume the redhead woman is Asuka, but the scene never focus on her. Even the script for that scene never mentions Asuka (although it mentions Kaworu and Rei).