Ah. Well I'll take your word for it. I wasn't too sure about units 5-13. I don't remember seeing them in the series. Though now that you mention it I remember that the model didn't have the power cable thing that the others do. I guess it would be because of the s2 unit.data_link wrote:The general consensus is that it overrides the original episodes 25 and 26 - i.e. it's more canon than the series. Let me explain:neoolong wrote:Actually I haven't. You're probably right then since I haven't seen it yet. Is it considered canon to the series?
The original episodes (and I'll try not to give too many spoilers) took place mostly inside the character's heads during third impact (a.k.a. the Human Instrumentality Project). Ep. 25 was basically a huge investigation into the psychology of the main characters, which is considered canon. Ep. 26 dealt with larger philisophical issues and took place entirely in Shinji's head and dealt mostly with larger philisophical issues of what defines a person. Of course, nowhere in either episode is the actual mechanism of third impact shown. This was one of the two main complaints of fans about the ending (i'll get to the other one in a minute).
In response to overwhelming pressure from fans Gainax studios (the producers of Evangelion, in case you didn't know) released two movies - Evangelion:Death and Rebirth, and End of Evangelion. Death and Rebirth consisted of two parts: Death, which was a 63 minute recap of the series up through ep. 24, and Rebirth, which was episode 25'. The prime indicates that itis the version of the episode seen in the movies, which is completely different from the corresponding episodes in the series. This episode covers the actual RW (as in, not in the character's minds) events leading up to third impact. There is nothing in this episode that contradicts things in any other episode.
The second movie, End of Evangelion, includes epidoses 25' and 26', which shows the conclusion of third impact. I should warn you before watching that episode 26' is very... disturbing. Even by Eva's standards. Anyway, this episode is fully consistent with the rest of the series also, except for one BIG difference:
At the end, Shinji does NOT accept human instrumentality, and returns to Earth.
This is completely the opposite of what happened at the conclusion of the series. However, the ending of the series was highly unrealistic in the eyes of most fans, and inappropriate to the theme of Evangelion, which was the second major complaint I told you about earlier. It was in response to this fan pressure that Gainax changed the ending for End of Evangelion.
Anyway, most fans accept both the episodes and the movies as canon, except on the sole point of contention: did Shinji accept the HCP? to which the answer is a resounding NO! Neither Gainax nor Anno Hideki has released any kind of official policy regarding Eva canon. So, in this case, I guess what is and isn't canon goes to opular opinion. It should be noted however, that while the final result of third impact is sometimes disputed, all other aspects of both the movies and series are unanimously accepted as canon, including the existence and capabilities of units 5-13, which were also referred to several times in the series.
Suffice it to say that at the most potentially lethal and dangerous, Evangelion is probably one of the two strongest, with the other being SW.
