Final predictions for Final [Serious]

[eldomtom2]

I am still a believer in Loop Theory/time travel in some form, but the only thing I'm absolutely positive on is that Misato is going to die saving Shinji.

[Blockio]

-Ancient bird people

Hadn't been aware this was a theory as I spent an evening a month ago ecstatic, imagining myself to be the cleverest person on Earth for thinking that the ADAMs don't actually have globby alien heads, but Angel/Sachiel faces hiding in plain site:

Can't claim that one for myself xD
A solid while ago Reichu brought up that there is quite a lot of bird imagery going on with everything pertaining to Seele/the FAR, starting with the angel masks and long Adam faces, but also the owl-like helmet for Mark.06 and so on, and the idea just kinda took off from there

More Getter Robo references with Lilith

Ah, somebody's read Shin Getter!

Not read per se, but I did watch Armageddon earlier this year and the visual parallels with the Shin Dragon were rather.... particular xD

[pwhodges]

the only thing I'm absolutely positive on is that Misato is going to die saving Shinji.

Do you have a specific reason, or is that just because it happened that way in another somewhat similar story?

[eldomtom2]

It's basic storytelling instincts. And the fact that something similar happened in EoE, though without the complete fallout between the two that was in Rebuild.

[Lacissal]

^oops actually meant the Getter Robo Go manga (I still haven't watched the OVAs yet). The ending/last chapter has a lot of visual similarities to Giant Naked Rei rising above earth in EoE and Yui flying off into space, and then goes a bit Ideon.

a lot of bird imagery going on with everything pertaining to Seele/the FAR

Yeah, one of the main things in Rebuild has been making the iconic beaked Angel face more prominent, with Tunniel, Clockiel, Sahaquiel, Lilith's new mask, the Wunder, the SEELE mask on Mark.09's core and the Mark.10 and Paris units.

I was thinking if you reversed the colours on this art of Lilith it might approximate the ADAMs at 2nd Impact

SPOILER: Show

[Blockio]

^oops actually meant the Getter Robo Go manga (I still haven't watched the OVAs yet). The ending/last chapter has a lot of visual similarities to Giant Naked Rei rising above earth in EoE and Yui flying off into space, and then goes a bit Ideon.

Heh, seem like we're talking about two different versions of Lilith here :P

Yeah, one of the main things in Rebuild has been making the iconic beaked Angel face more prominent, with Tunniel, Clockiel, Sahaquiel, Lilith's new mask, the Wunder, the SEELE mask on Mark.09's core and the Mark.10 and Paris units.

That is definitely true, but they've also done it in some more sneaky places, together with some Nadia parallels that Reichu has pointed out in one of her threads that also serves to further that idea

[FXArmaros98]

-Ancient bird people

together with some Nadia parallels that Reichu has pointed out in one of her threads that also serves to further that idea

Maybe we will discover that the members of SEELE before transferring their minds and souls to the Molonites wore a mask similar to that of Lilith and to the faces of certain Angels thus making a parallelism with the masks they were wearing by Gargoyle and his followers.

A solid while ago Reichu brought up that there is quite a lot of bird imagery going on with everything pertaining to Seele/the FAR

one of the main things in Rebuild has been making the iconic beaked Angel face more prominent, with Tunniel, Clockiel, Sahaquiel, Lilith's new mask, the Wunder, the SEELE mask on Mark.09's core and the Mark.10 and Paris units

Yes the birds mean something to me in these films, I mean when Shinji sees the Rei Quantum at the beginning of 1.0 they appear, the same thing is repeated in Until You Come To Me. Then there is detail that we should not overlook: the song Tsubasa Wo Kudasai (Give me wings). A song about the desire to have wings for free as a bird is present in 2.0 when Shinji decides to take Rei back and then we discover that one of Misato's worst memories of the 2nd Impact is the fear of the Adams' wings.

[ChaddyManPrime]

If I recall correctly, I'm not the biggest fan of the topic, but aren't Greys supposed to have the faces of owls or some such?

Like when some people have recovered memories through hypnosis or what not, they have images of the big eyes, no nose, and white faces but it's not actually images of aliens but memories from when we were infants and our minds couldn't understand faces very well.

[kuro hazama]

So many thoughts, no particular order

-Really crazy ending ala eoe, metanarrative galore.
-Misato dies.
-Rei voluntarily dissapears, Shinji has to break gendou´s cycle letting go of Rei to make the decision Gendou couldnt with Yui.
-Healing the earth(reverting the L field) will be rather simple the same way the field was generated in the first place, just by willing It with the spears.
-Rei and Kaworu will be the big time message providers, and will thematically close everything not unlike how the summarize things at the end of eoe.
-8+2 could totally appear based on the overlap thing.
-The secret of the S-DAT is that It was originally Yui´s(Gendou gave It to Shinji, but were did he got It?, also the storyboards had the first closeup of the sdat after the scene where Gendou explains he threw away everything from Yui), Shinji has to give It to Gendou for reasons (ReiQ will basically reveal this), Shinji may end up keeping It at the end so Gendou and Yui are with him always, and realize they always have been through the good and bad times.
-White infinities are just the failed infinity reverted from being core matter at the very end and being dispersed across space(we´ve seen those hovering in the air at high altitudes for whatever reason and the black moon may be taking them with Itself up to space)
-Full flashback for the time skip.
-Not a prediction at this point exactly since Sagisu spoiled It, but I knew that song of Nadia(you know which one) would play at some point, guessing Its Misato dying, Rei´s farewell or the very end.
-All the pilots are artificial humans built for whatever purpose seele intended as provisional parts of the plan, Shinji was Gendou and Yui´s secret ace, Gendou(and Yui?) had written a whole plan based on having Shinji systematically checkmated into wanting the same as Gendou(sacrificing everything to reunite with someone on Unit 01), so a more-than-human-built-with-secret-superpowers Shinji has been manipulated to whatever end Gendou has that also somehow differs from seele´s concept of artificial evolution.
-Not only the original would be canon, everything will be tentatively canon, and then finished, really think they are going with an umbrella aproach.
-Wille crew appears to be boarding something at some point based on Misato being hurt(possibly even facing Gendou) and Aoba and Hyuga having a little bit more tactical outfits, in which case I want to see Ayanami ground troops fighting wille´s forces.
-There are factories for every pilot model, Kaworu´s on the moon, smol Asuka coulld be either a flashback or another Shikinami type roaming around.
-Whatever was the big idea with Mari will finally be revealed(I mean whatever idea they had before discussing even her characterization)
-Fuyutsuki will have something big going on as he appears to be totally human while Gendou already has or will sacrifice his soul(the former by becoming a cyborg and digitizing his soul like seele apparently did, or the latter by going into eva nº13, maybe with the key)
-Seele may be revealed as an alien lifeform that came to understand the deal with the seeds and the fruits and came to earth to start their own evolution experiment/project by using the human race since ancient times, not unlike a twist on Nadia.
-If Anno wants to go true to some unrealized ideas from Nadia, then I could expect most of the wunder crew to die(but he may have got tis out of his system with eoe.)
-Sort of happy ending for Shinji at least, or not as bleak as eoe´s bitter undertones for the last scenes.
-live action sequence or somehow crazier
-I would fully expect a trailer for Ultraman If not before the film got delayed in january and the trailer was revealed not long after.
-at least 2 insert songs based on the cue list Sagisu posted.
-Old plugsuit/cage is part of whatever crazy idea theres for the end, some like to think time travel, but I think Its more reasonable that a good chunk of even the action stuff like 01 vs 13 takes place in a not phyical world after complementation starts where they wrestle control over the impact.

Maybe some hopes too
Takahashi song somewhere(anywhere!)
Mark 06 and every underutilized eva gets to do something cool, want to see the MP Mark 06, Unit 07 too.

This at the top of my head.

[AWinters]

Hiding this because my predictions are partially based on the manga. I believe the rebuild is tied to the book, not the anime.
Hidden for the benefit of anyone who hasn't read the manga:

SPOILER: Show

- We will see some history like in "The Birth of NERV".

- Some filler from the missing years. Misato and Kaji investigate NERV and uncover some unforgivable corruption.
It will result in Gendo murdering Kaji, but I think Misato will witness his death this time and kill Gendo who will be rebuilt into a cyborg and revived by SEELE. By the time this was done, Misato had outed him to her colleagues, taken the MAGI and the Evas and destroyed HQ.
I think Kaji's death is what turned her into what she is now (cold and salty).

- Mari is secretly working for Yui to rescue Shinji and give him a shove in the right direction. Wille have no idea.
Just like in the manga, they met in college, but in this universe, she was the first ever subject of the contact experiment during her first year of college and has stayed 16 ever since due to the curse of the Eva.
It'll bring a whole new meaning to "they experimented back in college".
Maybe they experimented the usual way too. I mean, I got the implication that Mari did have a crush on Yui in the Manga.

- Shinji will kill Gendo in the end.

- Instrumentality will take place and Kaworu will be the inquizitor in it. I just haven't decided which outcome he'll be pushing Shinji towards.

- Some confirmation of a multiverse. I think it will link back to the manga. (I think this because the trailers have shown blatant scenes from the books).
It will end in the same way as the manga. I hope that Kaworu shows Shinji the dimensions they've met in previously and reveals all (I first got this idea from one of the earlier trailers where it looks like they're sitting at a piano in that church where they first met in the manga).

[Orpheus388]

Now I don't really follow and think about the deeper lore and such like a lot of people here do. I could easily be missing some big and small details that would point to obvious directions the story could go. But heres mine mostly based on what I think of the films proceeding this and and the films title.

- Like others have said there will be flashbacks to contextualize what happened to Shinji and Kaworu between 2.0 and 3.0. and everyone treating Shinji like hes Charles Manson will be justified. Possible that after successfully "saving" Rei he uses his boost in confidence to pull some ep19 "Fighting is a man's job!" shit that leads to some terrible shit going down and Shinji ending up in whatever that giant cross in space was. All of this will be Asuka telling Shinji what happened and why hes such a brat.

- Second part of the film will be Asuka, Shinji, and Rei making their way back to Willie. Mari and Asuke will also their part to fight against Nerv initiating Shin Impact using their Dark Wunder.

- The two Wunders will battle and nearly destroy each other, Asuka and Maris Eva's will be damaged enough that they have to trust Shinji with getting back in Unit 01 to fight Unit 13. Some BS happens that gives Shinji a choice to fix the world after he fucked it up so bad.

- This will lead to him seeing an alternative world. The 1.0/Thrice Upon a Time half the movie. The first 4 episodes of NGE will be remade again in live action in a more grounded world with no Eva's or Angel's or Rei or Kaworu. And in this more grounded world Shinji has to find it in himself by himself to stand up to and get closer to his father. Ditto for his relationship with Asuka in this live action world.

- Whether an ending to this would be Shinji questioning himself like he does at the end of EoE. That his connection with his father and everyone are just flukes and he'd end up the same way as he was eventually, retreating into himself and ending on some ambiguous image of him at the phone hesitating to call Asuka or Gendo. Or he goes back to the anime and Shinji does something to destroy all the Evangelions once and for all, "Sayonara, all of Evangelion" and use his experience in the live action world to be a changed person and let's go or Rei and Kaworu and connects more fully to Asuka as a human being. Though that would be kinda blunted by how little attention their relationship has in NTE compared to NGE so who knows. Mari will fully justify her existence in Rebuild by marrying Asuka btw.

- Ritsuko will kinda dissapear halfway through the movie. Not because anything dramatic happens. She'll just be come so irrelevant that the story has no time to cut to her and most people wont notice the first time they watch because she's just got nothin much going on in these movies.

[Gus Hanson]

Of all the predicted deaths, looks like all the smart money is being bet on Misato mostly. Prison truly is a boring place, if you know where that reference came from you win the world!

[Sailor Star Dust]

Overall, I'm letting the madness wash over me once I get to watch the movie, but:

・Instrumentality with all its metaphysical fun times = very yes. If the film's plot is played straight, that's where a lot of those seemingly weird "time loop" shots (e.g. Shinji in Eva-01's cage) occur.

・Whenever Shinji's back in Eva-01, he metaphysical/spiritually finally gets to catch up with Ayanami and Yui. Probably super emotional, especially if {near the end of the scenes, or film, or whenever} this'll involve "Sayonara, Kaa-san" farewells to both.

・Shinji's "3 film" parallels of struggling and reaching for something within Eva-01 is a positive echo in this conclusion. A good contrast to 1.0's Operation Yashima compared to the bittersweet 2.0 saving Ayanami and 3.0's "oh, shit!" pulling out the Spears.

・Either a post-credits scene or near the end of the film: the Curse of Eva lifted (the kids don't have to pilot anymore) = the Pilots are actually adults in the final scene or two. Whether this includes Shinji and actually something "shippy" depends on how generous Anno's feeling towards the fans

・Somewhat of a happy end, Earth's been restored to blue seas and full of life. I'd hope the body count wouldn't be nearly as high as EoE, but my fingers are crossed it's something of a satisfying and happy conclusion for Shinji with at least some of the New Movie's cast!

[GhostlyOcam]

I'm on a "mental detox" phase where I try to not expect anything at all, but it's fun to make predictions anyway so here's mine:
- Even more Nadia references in the lore and music.

- A closure to Shinji and Rei's story (both PokaRei and ReiQ) in a bittersweet way, I feel they've always been the main "Main Characters" in Rebuild and their relationship is the most Impactful (lol) from what I've seen in the three films.

- Glimpses of the Children's pasts/backgrounds, not necessarily detailed but just enough to give us the general idea who and what they actually are in this continuity.

- There will be Birth of NERV-like flashbacks being spread in the 2.5 hours runtime that explain the things we've missed out in the last 14 years, with some glimpses to even more distant past (e.g. the truth of Second Impact 30 years ago and NERV's origins). I think they can pull this one off just fine considering NGE did that in a single 20 minutes-ish episode.

- Time travel/loop thingies do happen, but it's exclusive inside the Rebuild timeline than going into full Turn A Gundam-style meta route.

- There will be a reversed version of EoE's Third Impact for "Final Impact" where the coreified Red Earth turns into a beautiful blue planet once again set to an uplifting orchestral Sagisu music, which will be a triple reference to End of Eva, Yamato, and Anno's legendary cut for DAICON IV opening:

[ElMariachi]

And this thread pops up just when I did my big post in the "Possibilities and Theories for NTE" thread!
So, my predictions based on my other post of what I think (hope) would happen in Shin:

- Shinji will partially get out of his catatonia after a heartfelt talk with Asuka in the desert, part of her backstory will be revealed here (and/or some flashback on the start of WILLE so he can get some context of the wider world)

- they'll reach a place where WILLE can pick them up and will be transferred in a "Lilin city", one of the bastions of humanity established in a place protected from core corruption thanks to sealing pillars, Shinji will see by himself that there's still hope

- Shinji and Rei Q will stay in the Lilin City while Asuka will be sent back to the Wunder

- A big chunk of the movie will be a slice of life of Shinji finding his place in this new world, interspersed with the Wunder's everyday life and battles, so we can get to better know this world and get attached to it and the people WILLE tries to protect, like the first half of 2.0, but set in the post 3I world. Part of it will be Shinji meeting the adults Toji, Hikari and Kensuke

- Hikari and Toji are married and with kids, because of course they are

- Rei Q will change her first name but keep the Ayanami last name, to remember from where she comes from. Shinji will change his name to Shinji Ayanami, to honor his mother and distance himself from his father

- The images in the trailer of Shinji in his old plugsuit and EVA-01 are all doctored by Khara, it'll be a completely different Eva that he'll pilot, to symbolize that he metaphorically took off his bike's training wheels and is now at the same level that the other pilots: if he screws up, there won't be mommy to take the wheel and beat up the bad guy anymore

- Instrumentality will actually never happen this time

- There won't be a magical instant purification of Earth thanks to an Eva and the spears, as Q already hinted that it would involve an Impact and the end of humanity as we know it, the purification of the planet will be a slow affair, with humanity working together to cleanse it bit by bit

[eldomtom2]

, and Anno's legendary cut for DAICON IV opening:

I strongly doubt there will be any Daicon references - Anno of course is not on good terms with Gainax anymore, and furthermore, like all artists looking back at their early works, I don't think anyone involved with Daicon IV is that proud of it anymore.

[GhostlyOcam]

Well, I wouldn't rule out even a faint possibility considering in the previous two films he injected elements fro KareKano and Nadia which also had notorious productions problems that made him bitter.

[Zusuchan]

Shinji being up in space for a long time in a mecha and then coming down to see a different world can be seen as a Gunbuster reference, actually-and if that promised mish-mash of Unit-08+Unit-02 happens, then we'll get an even clearer reference to that OVA.

For that matter, I'll just share Blockio's prediction that Asuka and Mari will die as part of a Gunbuster reference.

[DevRei17]

Take all of this with a grain of salt.

SPOILER: Show

Shinji and Mari is the endgame ship.

SPOILER: Show

The final battle is between Shinji and Gendo in the middle of fourth impact.

SPOILER: Show

Misato and Asuka die.

SPOILER: Show

Mari is super central to the plot, more than Asuka, Misato, or Rei.

[Saint Eva]

Okay from last few years I have thought a lot about plot and theories, may as well post those predictions now :

After Avant 1, The trio will travel through the ruins of Tokyo-3 and desert. Asuka will explain some stuff here. Shinji will start to come out of his catatonia. Soon they will be picked up by Wunder, which will later land in Lilin City (I like to call it Tokyo-4) being protected by artificial AT field and hex-sealing pillars. Shinji will be given the SDAT player by ReiQ, and placed in isolated cell. He'll soon have visions from Kaworu.

Shinji isn't in any condition to be questioned so he'll be treated in a medical facility. Being impaled by two spears have left Shinji with scars on his upper body.

Shinji will wake up in the hospital and be greeted by Kaji, who's a high ranking member of Wille, and who has personally taken to look after him. Kaji will tell him that his and ReiQ's freedom will be restricted. He'll explain some stuff and tour of the new city. Give him and ReiQ to do little job like cooking or something like that.

Shinji will have a reunion with Toji, Kensuke and Hikari. They'll tell him how upset they were that he left without saying anything and how glad they are that he's back. Also Toji and Hikari are a couple. PenPen is revealed to be alive and has been living with Suzuhara or Horaki family for last 14 years.

Slice of life stuff happens. Shinji and ReiQ will try to find their place in the new world. Him and ReiQ will hang around with Kaji, Toji, Pen Pen etc. 2.0's equivalent of aquarium, food or farm scene happens. ReiQ will have flashbacks of being activated by Fuyutuski.

Some more visions by Kaworu and Rei 2. Flashbacks of the time skip. Secrets behind Seele, Kaworu and Mari will be revealed.

Kaji will take the role of a father figure. Explain some personal stuff, specifically the change in Misato and discuss that promise he made Shinji do 14 years ago. He'll end it by imparting him with some wisdom of life.

Wille will do their own stuff. Character development for Wille members. Gathering resources from around the world, while preparing for the final battle.

Final battle and 4th Impact happens around the black moon. Wille tries to stop it while fighting Nerv's Evas and Dark Wunder. While successful in stopping 4th Impact, Dark Wunder manages to destroy Wunder and steal Eva01, taking it back to the floating pyramid (Or Eva01 will do a heel turn, revealing that it was in Yui's control all along and she's in cahoots with Gendo).

Wille is in dismay over what to do since their Evas and Wunder are all broken down. While Wille heads are frantically searching for a strategy, Kaji will receive a message from Shinji, who's now feeling motivated enough and cares about the world. He decides to confront his father, so he can convince to give up or at least buy Wille enough time to come up a plan.

Rest of Wille will oppose except Misato. He'll have a heart to heart talk with Misato, and she's tell him that she believes in him and it will end with them holding hands (reference to scene in 1.0 and 2.0).

Shinji will have final talks, with everyone telling him to give his best and they believe in him, while Misato will personally escort him to the pyramid (reference to their first meeting) and Gendo will allow them to enter, since he himself has plans for his son involving piloting and his old plugsuit.

Insert a frantic scene of FrankenEva 02+08 being built to battle MP Evas for something while rest of Wille also does some helpful shit.

Shinji and Gendo will have their long awaited father-son talk, and Fuyutski will also be involved. In the process, somehow both Misato and Gendo will be injured. Gendo will be revealed to have transferred his soul in Eva13. This time Misato won't die cuz Shinji promised Kaji he'll protect her. She'll escape alive, Fuyutski now has enough and blows up himself and Nerv Pyramid.

Shinji finally for the last time gets into the robot and has an epic spear duel with Eva13 in the Lilin city. Shinji wins. Fatality!

Eva01 have stopped working. Shinji talks with Rei 2 and Kaworu's soul. Shinji and Rei smile and hug. Kaworu and Rei 2 depart Earth while planet will be slowly repaired and healed by humanity.

Wholesome stuff happens. Toji and Hikari have a baby. Misato and Kaji decide to get married. Kensuke finds a nerdy girlfriend. Asuka and Shinji shows hints of love. ReiQ is now has her own personality. Shinji will get ready to finish his schooling and will be joined by ReiQ. Mari also does something. Happy Ending!