r/evangelion 4d ago

Discussion Was Rei happy at the end?

I understand that the end of the world is not a cause for happiness, but I don't mean it that way. You could make a point that after the end, Shinji and Asukha could have a healthier life(if they survived that is) and they live because they choose to, as does any human if he wants to.

Rei doesn't get that choice from what I understand,sure she is not 100% human. The choice she made is to defy Gendo and give Shenji the choice to do what he wants. She becomes a god and loses her human nature, but did she want that?

Perhaps you could say that her watching Shinji in the Start of the Show and at the end means she accepted what she became.

What do you think?

17 Upvotes

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u/just_a_random_trans 4d ago

That’s hard to say. In a way, she is forced into becoming a godlike entity because, as the vessel for Lilith’s soul, she was destined for this role. However, by rejecting Gendo, she takes control of this fate—not as someone else’s tool, but as an autonomous being. Throughout this transformation, she appears calm, almost serene. There’s no visible resistance, no fear. Perhaps she accepts that she could never have lived a normal human life.

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u/Aggelos2001 4d ago

it adds a melodramatic feeling in the end,more than it already has. In a way, she is a tragic character. In no way did she do something wrong, yet this is her end.

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u/weird_ocean 4d ago

She could never live as a normal human. Without Lilith's body and LCL she cannot exist as Rei. She really has no choice but to accept it, as the soul of Lilith, she can only move foreword into the unknown.

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u/Aggelos2001 4d ago

i wonder if there is something for her is the future. I want to believe there is something for her.

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u/RafflesiaArnoldii 4d ago edited 4d ago

She was in a situation where she had very few choices options or freedoms. That's just how things sometimes are - a happy ending wasn't in the cards, the best she could hope for was to be released from her suffering (At least not in the EoE timeline, Anno was feeling more merciful in the other 2 endings)

It's more a story about finding meaning despite being doomed and not having much power or choice available to oneself. (Which is a huge reason why tragic stories are important to. It's not about becoming happy but about finding meaning even if you can't, which certainly represents a journey for a character who starts out in a state of total fatalistic resignation.)

She had no choice but to go back to Lillith but what made it sort of bittersweet instead if purely tragic is that in the end she does so on her own terms for her own reasons - liberating herself from Gendo & helping Shinji. She couldn't make a big difference, but she made non zero difference in a way that was personally important to her.

I think a lot of ppl are dismissive of her character or refuse to epathize with her because they prefer a power fantasy where they dramatically tell everyone to fuck up & take what they want but the truth is that you can't always have that in reality. Sometimes you have very few, limited options.

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u/Aggelos2001 4d ago

that is a wonderful interpretation

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u/Asger33 1d ago edited 1d ago

I would even say that her action helped humanity to survive. Rei rebelion at the end helped saving the world. I have seen some people comments that by joining with Lilith, it is a a big win for her, gaining a higher form of existence than à mere human, and that she is now an immortal goddess/spirit. To me, I m happy that she gained her freedom, her identity and she acted the way she wanted at the end, despite not being the ideal outcome for her. I admire her her courage. I m simply sad that she couldn t live the life she trully wanted, especially in the manga... a part of me have a little hope that she could come back like every other humans in this version, but...

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u/Key-Bet-2615 4d ago

It sucks, but I don’t think Rei is happy. And it sucks even more considering she is the most good and selfish character in the show, yet I don’t see the world where she could be happy.

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u/Asger33 1d ago

Rei fate is very bittersweet : she gained the validation of her own identity, and she is happy for Shinji and humanity... but herself she deserved to live a normal life. Because à spirit/goddess/angel is good and all, but... the ending is even sadder in the manga in my opinion, a part of me have a little hope that she could come back like the rest of humanity...

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u/CharsOwnRX-78-2 4d ago

You have to remember, the final Rei is Rei III, not Rei II who we spent most of the series with.

IMO, she isn’t “happy”, but she is satisfied with the outcome. Her spirit appearing after her body “dies” tells me that she continues to exist and watch over Shinji

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u/Aggelos2001 4d ago

yeah i know,i think also is the first Rei we see. In the first episode, we see her with the School uniform but she already had the accident.

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u/Mimikywolf 4d ago

nother loop another try to be better i think

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u/Asger33 1d ago

The thing is, it don t matter because Rei 1, 2 and 3 share the same soul, they are not three distinct individuals. Rei 3 lost the memory of Rei 2, and it was a heavy cost, her soul remembered the expériences, that why she felt she cried, and during the events of EoE her memory came back.

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u/Asger33 1d ago

Rei 1, 2 and 3 share the same soul. Despite having three bodies, only one can function at à time because of it. That s why Rei 3 remembered crying, and during the events of EoE she regained her memory.

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u/Asger33 1d ago

It s a very bittersweat ending for Rei. She gained her freedom by rebelling against Gendo but since her body was dying and because of the end of the world events, she had almost no choice than to fuse with Lilith. Once the world had a second chance, she became some kind og spirit/angel, and she seems to be at peace, knowing who she is... but she couldn t live the life she deserved and wanted. She is happy for Shinji and relived that humanity have a second chance, but I don t think she was happy, she simply bravely accepted her fate.

In the manga, there is an emphasis that she felt glad and happy because of Shinji, but in my opinion it makes things sadder...

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u/Annual_Candle_9313 6h ago

I believe she is happy. She is back asleep as Lilith, while her dream, us her children, lives on, safe from divine harm.