Mari Discussion/Speculation: Version 2.22

[ZapX]

I'm rebooting this because we need to keep some order and not just have a ton of different treads about Mari (or whatever other subject).

DO NOT talk about inane crap like "MARI SUE" or "MARI'S OPPAI ARE HAWT" or "MARI IS A FAR".


Any of that junk will be summarily deleted. This is for serious discussion and speculation about Mari and her role in the films.

Now, post.

[NAveryW]

I thought of this while at lunch:

-Kaji apologized for sending Mari off to pilot on such short notice and called her a "little troublemaker".
-Unit 05 self-destructed right after the Third Angel's core burst. Watch closely: the Third Angel did not explode. It was Unit 05. Kaji's statement "Looks like Unit-05's self-destruct mechanism functioned properly," should erase any doubts.
-"Well you told me to enter into Japan covertly!"
-Mari tells Shinji to keep their meeting a secret.

Conclusion: Mari did something or discovered something she wasn't supposed to, hence the "little troublemaker" comment. As a result, someone (Seele?) deliberately sent her off to die in a battle against the Third Angel. In the event Mari survived, Unit 05 was rigged to self-destruct upon the Third Angel's defeat. However, someone else (Kaji?) discovered these plans and manipulated the course of events so Mari was jettisoned upon Unit 05's destruction. Consequently, Mari is "on the run", hence the need for covert entry into Japan and the request that Shinji not tell anyone they met.

Just a hypothesis. Please poke holes in it if you find any perforations.

[slothen]

Don't forget the Seele guy's "Blah blah blah hurf durf this solves the issue of unit 05 and the third angel something something DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE."

[NAveryW]

Don't forget the Seele guy's "Blah blah blah hurf durf this solves the issue of unit 05 and the third angel

That was Kaji.

something something DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE."

Did you just quote Family Guy? Don't do that. Stop it.

[Mr. Tines]

I still don't know why they changed her from being an American -- though fixing the Kanon 2002-esque chin was no bad thing

SPOILER: Show

[the_seventh_child]

I

Any of that junk will be summarily deleted. This is for serious discussion about Mari and her role in the films.

Now, post.

If you want serious discussion about Mari and her role, then you might actually have to wait for the next film, cause her role in the second movie was not what we call that much expanded. So, inane-crap are bound to appear in the early stages of that thread. Just saying.

[NAveryW]

I still don't know why they changed her from being an American

I'm assuming you're joking for now, but if you're not, it's almost certainly a coincidence.

[ZapX]

Seventh Child: Yeah, you've got a point there. I'll change that to "discussion and speculation". My main point was "let's not let what happened to the last Mari thread happen to this one". That thing was 43 pages of bad news.

[slothen]

That was Kaji.
Did you just quote Family Guy? Don't do that. Stop it.

this is what happens when i quote without referencing the script. Here's Kaji's quote:

This "accident" solves the issue of the Third Angel and Eva Unit-05.
This will deal a setback to the Marduk Project at Betania Base.
Everything is proceeding according to your scenario. [emphasis mine]

[Fallingtogrey]

SEELE may as well be talking like Sith lords with minor roles tbh.

[Reichu]

-Kaji apologized for sending Mari off to pilot on such short notice and called her a "little troublemaker".

He was literally calling her a "problem child". What I got out of it was that he was joking around with her: 'I know you're a troublemaker, so don't have too much fun out there.'

[UrsusArctos]

There's also the bit of "mixing a child up in adult affairs", which suggests that there is something very ominous going on with her as well.

[Mishrak]

I thought of this while at lunch:

-Kaji apologized for sending Mari off to pilot on such short notice and called her a "little troublemaker".
-Unit 05 self-destructed right after the Third Angel's core burst. Watch closely: the Third Angel did not explode. It was Unit 05. Kaji's statement "Looks like Unit-05's self-destruct mechanism functioned properly," should erase any doubts.
-"Well you told me to enter into Japan covertly!"
-Mari tells Shinji to keep their meeting a secret.

Conclusion: Mari did something or discovered something she wasn't supposed to, hence the "little troublemaker" comment. As a result, someone (Seele?) deliberately sent her off to die in a battle against the Third Angel. In the event Mari survived, Unit 05 was rigged to self-destruct upon the Third Angel's defeat. However, someone else (Kaji?) discovered these plans and manipulated the course of events so Mari was jettisoned upon Unit 05's destruction. Consequently, Mari is "on the run", hence the need for covert entry into Japan and the request that Shinji not tell anyone they met.

Just a hypothesis. Please poke holes in it if you find any perforations.

This lead me to think about what she did with Unit 02. I mean, to unlock that Beast Mode thingy (whatever it was called)...um what the heck was that? Maybe that's what she discovered? So many questions.

Also I was reading in a different thread about her saying she was going to "Give you an arm." when she wasn't able to force synchronization with the Eva in the opening battle. Was she talking to the Eva? I've watched it a few times and it sure seems that way. That would line up with her ability to tap into some unknown aspects of the Eva as I mentioned above. I agree, there's definitely some ominous stuff going on.

[Sailor Star Dust]

There's also the bit of "mixing a child up in adult affairs", which suggests that there is something very ominous going on with her as well.

...And a scene or two after, Mari herself says something about "Mixing up adults in my affairs." Clearly whatever's going on with Mari is relative to both sides, as it were.

[Gendo'sPapa]

This is why I'm not yet bothered by Mari. Rebuild is one story told over at least three films. Right now Mari has just entered the world and while everyone knocks her for being "just another pair of tits with glasses this time" it's pretty damn clear she has some significant role to play in the overall story. What that role may be is still uncertain. Pilot of Unit 08- possibly. Pull a Nono from Diebuster and actually be Eva Unit 07 (unlikely but a goofy idea of Imaishii proportions). Pull a triple cross (hold finger to lip like Dr. Evil) and be the one who kills Kaji. Who knows.
You look at Lord of the Rings trilogy as one story and if we based characters on just one film then Samwise would just be fat comic relief as far as film one is concerned.
So yeah, I'm in Mari's camp. She hasn't been given room to be fully developed yet as a character but that's coming along.

[AuraTwilight]

And apparently her sense of smell is ridiculously good and has this weird fetish for LCL. Chalk that up to Mari's wierdness and hax, because I rarely see it commented on.

I know LCL stinks and all, but Shinji fucking showers, you guys.

[DarthGendo]

My thoughts.

Mari is connected to Kaji.
I think by now I don't have to point out, how.
I'll just explain what she was doing on Bethany Base. (BB from now on.)
BB was experimenting on the 3rd Angel.
We see human-drawn markings, wires and even an entry plug. On the wide screen of BB tactical center we can see "Test Subject: 3rd Angel."
From Kaji's words, Angel was found in permafrost.
Now, what we see in RoE2? Angel is not attacking, penetrating deeper into the base.
He is trying to escape.
Fifth Eva's purpose is to prevent this.
Now this makes a perfect sense. Just look at Eva-05.
Wheel drive. Perfect for moving inside the base. Works on electricity via cables just like a trolleybus. That means it can move only inside the base. Rocket engines for emergencies.
Now what Kaji said? "Eva-05 and Angel are taken care of. Everything looked like an accident." So this was his and Mari's job.
He was to create a diversion and free/wake the Angel, she was to neutralize him and destroy Eva-05 in battle so it would look like an accident.
From Ritsuko's words "Now Russia and EU will ask for help from Asia."
Obviously, this is profitable for Gendo in some way, 'cause this was his plan.
I think BB is not a part of NERV, but part of IPEA. Here's why. When Eva-05 boots up, we can see the line "Manufacturer: IPEA"
And don't confuse this two organisations. IPEA's staff may be dressed like NERV officers, but they're not connected to NERV. Remember, when Eva-02's core is pulled out, we can see huge words on the walls that say "KEEP OUT. Above the line is a jurisdictional area of NERV. Below the line is a jurisdictional area of UN IPEA." (This bothers me. NERV is a part of UN too... but, whatever.)
We also see SEELE logo on Angel's forehead and BB wall plates. This means, IPEA is installed, just like NERV, by SEELE.
It seems, IPEA is just a puppet for SEELE operations. If SEELE do something really important, they do it on the Moonbase, where it is extremely difficult to go. Not mentioning infiltration.

Mari is connected to IPEA de-jure. De-facto, she's working for someone else. Maybe, for herself.
Mari is not connected to NERV EU.
Reason for my choice of her official affiliation. "Only Europeans have the launch codes for Eva-02". Mari had them. Who can has the codes? NERV EU for sure. And UN IPEA. (if not, Kaji would have just given it to her. He's a spy, who was in Europe for 3 years afterall.) Why not NERV EU? Simple. Mari is not an official pilot NERV is aware about. Just like about Kaworu. She goes covert inside Tokyo-3, inside NERV.
Reason for my choice of her actual affiliation. Her actions on BB.
Her infiltration of NERV means she is not working for Gendo. Otherwise, why to hide?
After Kaji's monologue inside the plane, Mari mirrors his words, but she talks about adults. Does this mean Kaji and Mari see each other not as partners, but as tools they can use?

Other important stuff.
Mari's synchronization with Eva-05 was her first. She knows the process' theory though. She is the only pilot aware of the Beast mode on Eva and it's consequences. She never met any of pilots like Kaworu. She is one of chosen children. See preview of RoE3. Four children in front of Kaworu. Mari - Asuka - Rei - Shinji.

My conclusion: Mari works for herself, but in pair with Kaji. Just like partners on two sides of barricades. I don't have any suggestions about her cause and final aim. Maybe it's simple as changing the world she sees fit, battling SEELE, Gendo and their plans. But it won't go that far until she finds out about them. And I don't think she knows more than Kaji does. Or maybe she works for someone mysterious a-la G-man?

My subjective view on the matter. (offtopic)
Now the first feeling I had about Mari and everything concerning her is that she reminds me of a fanfiction character.
Come to think of it. How many times have we read about a new character, who is certainly must be an Eva pilot, who knows about piloting more than others do, who knows about what's going on more than others do, who plays some major role in K. process (Mari's conversation with XXXXX, Mari's connection to other "destined" children) and who is a spy. (In b4 Mari's sapping mah EvangeLION!!!)

[DarthGendo]

http://www.evangelion-not-end.ru/all-news/news-of-rebuild/1210-2010-04-01-11-30-07
Sorry, I don't have an English translation.
It's an interview with Rei's and Mari's seyus: Megumi Hayashibara and Maya Sakamoto.
The interesting part is, of course, Sakamoto's.
She was discussing her character with Anno. And that's what Anno said:
"I want Mari to destroy old Eva."
Sorry, if it was posted before, but anyway, I think it belongs in here.

[NAveryW]

Against all logic, that currently seems awesome. Hopefully it'll result in something that actually is awesome and not just a terrible idea.

[the_seventh_child]

I'll be straight. I believe and I want to believe Rebuild is a sequel.
There are too many things that are fishy about it.
Mari's being one of those.

Technically, that cannot stand at all. Sequel is a cinematic work whose narrative continues that of a preexisting work where the original characters had developed etc. etc.
Now, the sequel word, had acquired a loose term label nowadays, so. People can still use it and mean something else actually.

Anyway, your Mari-tl;dr, did have some interesting points i must admit.