Recaps

Gendo Ikari survived an execution by the Self-Defense Forces, transformed into a being beyond humanity, and entered the newly created Unit-07 to pursue his plan for Instrumentality and reunion with Yui. Meanwhile, Shinji stopped the Third Impact from spreading, and he and Rei prepared to move out.

• The Self-Defense Forces shot Gendo Ikari, but he rose again and revealed that the Key of Nebuchadnezzar had transformed his body.
• Gendo Ikari killed the attacking soldiers and introduced Unit-07, a purple giant assembled from Adam's remains, the Womb Angel, Unit-03, and the Hail Angel.
• Gendo Ikari explained his plan to use Shinji, the S2 Engine, and two divine spears to complete Unit-07's pseudo-deification and initiate a fourth impact.
• Gendo Ikari entered Unit-07, which pulled the Spear of Longinus from Lilith and departed to seek another spear.
• Ritsuko Akagi feared the Third Impact had begun, but Unit-01's light faded without killing the soldiers, and Shinji spoke to her over the communicator.
• Rei Ayanami called to Shinji, who reassured her and ordered her to move out.

Nine Mass-Production Evangelions arrived in Tokyo-3 and fought the Power Angel, using their replica Spears of Longinus to break through its A.T. Field and pin it to the ground. As the units regenerated with their S2 Engines, they turned their attention to Maki.

• Nine Mass-Production Evangelions emerged from the hole above Tokyo-3, and Maki called out to them for help.
• The Mass-Production Evangelions ignored Maki and attacked the Power Angel with replica Spears of Longinus.
• The Power Angel struck back, destroying several units, but the Mass-Production Evangelions coordinated their attacks and pierced its A.T. Field.
• Eight replica Spears of Longinus pinned the Power Angel to the ground after its core cracked and its A.T. Field collapsed.
• The damaged Mass-Production Evangelions regenerated using their S2 Engines, and several turned to look at Maki.

Unit-01 transformed into a godlike form and defeated the Mass-Production Evangelions threatening the Power Angel. After the battle, Misato learned Rei was helping the United Nations Forces aboveground, while Ritsuko described Unit-01’s transformation as her gift to Shinji.

• Maki realized the Mass-Production Evangelions had turned their attention to Unit-01, which had become the battlefield’s greatest threat.
• Unit-01 caught a Pseudo-Spear of Longinus and hurled it back, pinning the Mass-Production Evangelion that had thrown it.
• Unit-01 annihilated another Mass-Production Evangelion and transformed further, manifesting six pairs of wings of light that terrified the remaining machines.
• Ritsuko Akagi arrived in the command room with United Nations Forces troops and told Misato Katsuragi that Rei was piloting Unit-00 aboveground.
• Unit-01 destroyed the remaining six Mass-Production Evangelions by piercing their Entry Plugs before they could detonate their S2 Engines.

The Power Angel absorbed two Mass-Production Evangelions and evolved, but Unit-01 crushed its core. Shinji then continued toward an unknown goal, while Gendo Ikari confronted Kaworu Nagisa in Unit-06, who said he had come to prevent Shinji from doing something he would regret.

• The Power Angel consumed two Mass-Production Evangelions, transformed into a humanlike form, and gained their S2 Engines.
• Unit-01 split the Power Angel’s AT Field and crushed its exposed core.
• Ritsuko Akagi urged Shinji Ikari to finish the fight, but Shinji said he still had something to do, and Misato Katsuragi gave him her approval.
• Gendo Ikari, now transformed through the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, faced Kaworu Nagisa in Unit-06, which carried the Spear of Cassius and an S2 Engine.
• Kaworu Nagisa told Gendo Ikari that he had come to keep Shinji from doing something he would regret.

Kaworu Nagisa fought Gendo Ikari in Unit-06 and was defeated after Unit-07 revealed hidden arms and killed him, but an explosion destroyed Unit-07’s core. Gendo took Unit-06’s core and the Spear of Cassius, only for Shinji Ikari to arrive and punch Unit-07.

• Kaworu Nagisa told Gendo Ikari he would save Shinji and challenged him in Unit-06.
• Unit-06 and Unit-07 clashed with the Spear of Cassius and the Spear of Longinus, and Kaworu pierced Unit-07’s abdomen.
• Unit-07 revealed hidden arms, trapped Unit-06, and pierced Kaworu’s head with the Spear of Longinus.
• A miniature N2 Bomb destroyed Unit-07’s core, but Unit-07 bit through Unit-06’s chest, ate its core, and regenerated.
• Gendo Ikari claimed Unit-06’s core and the Spear of Cassius, but Shinji Ikari appeared and punched Unit-07 in the face.

Shinji Ikari defeated Gendo Ikari in their battle beneath the Black Moon and rejected the world Gendo wanted to create. Gendo apologized before Unit-07 crumbled, and Shinji turned toward Lilith with the Spear of Longinus.

• Gendo Ikari and Shinji Ikari clashed as Unit-07 and Unit-01, their Absolute Fields shaking the underground chamber.
• Shinji used Unit-01's spears of light to trap and tear apart Unit-07, then drove the Spear of Cassius into its core.
• Shinji told Gendo that the world he chose was one without Absolute Fields, while Gendo admitted he feared loneliness and only wanted to see Yui again.
• Gendo acknowledged that he had abandoned Shinji and apologized before Unit-07 crumbled away.
• Shinji took up the Spear of Longinus and looked toward Lilith on the central platform.

Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi discovered that Shinji Ikari had vanished after merging with Unit-01, while Shinji awakened in a dreamlike world with his mother, Yui Ikari. He recognized the world was unreal and left to return to the people waiting for him, promising Yui he would come back.

• Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi reached Final Dogma and found Shinji absent from Unit-01, with no record of the Entry Plug ejecting.
• Ritsuko Akagi concluded Shinji had merged with Unit-01 as LCL after his synchronization rate exceeded 400%.
• Ritsuko Akagi vowed to bring Shinji back, while Misato Katsuragi panicked over his disappearance.
• Shinji Ikari ate breakfast with Yui Ikari in a dreamlike version of his home and described his complicated romantic problems.
• Shinji told Yui that their world was a shared dream and that he needed to leave for the people waiting for him.
• Yui Ikari said she could not come with Shinji yet, and he promised to return to her.

NERV ANIMA maintained its global Angel defense network while four Ayanami pilots returned to Tokyo-3. Rei Ayanami learned that her body's lifespan had been extended to thirty years.

• NERV ANIMA's five spaceborne Angel Type EVAs patrolled the globe as part of Misato Katsuragi's Sword of Damocles project.
• The chapter described NERV ANIMA's rise, SEELE's fall, and Ryoji Kaji's role in exposing the Human Instrumentality Project.
• Metatron, Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones returned to Tokyo-3 with Ayanami pilots in their cockpits.
• Asuka asked Rei Ayanami how much longer she could live, and Rei reported that her body could last thirty years.

After three years inside Unit-01, Shinji Ikari returned to the world and reunited with the women who had been waiting for him. He explained that he had stopped Third Impact by controlling the ritual, as the world prepared to hear that its celebrated savior had come back.

• Rei Ayanami and Asuka visited Unit-01 and Lilith with the Gospel Church, where Kaworu Nagisa preached that their God would return.
• Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi arrived to test their latest attempt to bring Shinji back, but Unit-01 suddenly moved and revealed him standing in its hands.
• Shinji descended from Unit-01, returned to ANIMA's command office, and had his long hair cut as the women gathered around him.
• Shinji learned that NERV had taken over Japan after the government collapsed and that ANIMA had publicized his deeds as humanity's savior.
• Shinji told Ritsuko that he had initiated Third Impact but stopped it through his will, explaining that he could control its ritual and neutralize AT Fields.

Shinji Ikari returned to NERV, where Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi confirmed his identity and discovered that he had evolved into a form of life unlike humans. After Asuka and Rei Ayanami brought him to his room, Asuka confessed how much she had missed him, and Rei arrived to find Asuka leaving.

• Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi examined Shinji Ikari and confirmed that he was himself, while Ritsuko noted his unprecedented physical evolution.
• Ritsuko promised to investigate Shinji’s condition and the Unit-01 issue, while Misato arranged a room for him at the base.
• Shinji asked Misato and Ritsuko to find the Re: Dead Sea Scrolls, then went to the dormitory with Asuka and Rei Ayanami.
• Alone with Shinji, Asuka admitted that she had missed him and explained that she had changed her appearance because she worried he would not recognize her.
• Rei returned with dinner and saw Asuka leaving Shinji’s room, reigniting her familiar anger.

After Shinji Ikari returned, the world learned of his resurrection and the Gospel Church treated him as its divine ruler. The chapter also showed the Ayanamis reacting in unison to something involving their eldest sister, then ended with Ritsuko Akagi teasing Shinji about Maya Ibuki.

• Trois learned that Shinji Ikari had returned from inside the white giant and struggled to sleep while thinking about him.
• Trois sensed something strange and found every Ayanami standing in her doorway, their crimson eyes meeting; they named themselves the Ayanami Army.
• Shinji Ikari woke to worldwide news of his return, and the Gospel Church's influence made him Japan's de facto leader.
• Ritsuko Akagi explained that the Gospel Church had abandoned plans for Shinji's coronation because its doctrine already regarded him as God.
• Ritsuko Akagi teased Shinji about having a child with Maya Ibuki, and Maya sprang up and shouted, "Senpai!"

Ritsuko Akagi explained that Shinji Ikari’s reconstructed body had stabilized and surpassed the Angels through the power of his soul. The group then reviewed Unit-01’s armor upgrade proposal and argued over Misato Katsuragi’s suggested name, Super Unit-01.

• Ritsuko Akagi told Shinji Ikari that his body had reached a stable, godlike state and that his halo reflected power from his soul.
• Ritsuko Akagi explained that Rei Ayanami’s body relied on Dr. Yui Ikari’s genes and Lilith’s cells, while Shinji said he could still distinguish Rei from his mother.
• Ritsuko Akagi handed Shinji Ikari a proposal to refit Unit-01 with Modified F-Type Equipment.
• Shinji Ikari rejected Misato Katsuragi’s proposed name, Super Unit-01, while Misato defended it and Ritsuko sided with Shinji.

After waking from a three-year absence, Shinji Ikari toured the transformed ANIMA base with Asuka and Rei Ayanami and met Maki and four Ayanami girls. The chapter ended as another familiar voice called to him from behind.

• Shinji Ikari visited the hangar and saw the 180-meter Unit-01 and the upgraded EVAs, including Unit-02, Unit-06, and Unit-08.
• Asuka and Rei Ayanami showed Shinji the hangar and explained that the pilots’ self-images influenced their EVAs’ appearances.
• Shinji saw the underground city’s surface section, Heaven, and the Strategic Self-Defense Forces’ transformable Akashima units.
• Maki rushed toward Shinji, but Asuka elbowed her before she could hug him; Maki explained she had been pardoned and was now Unit-08’s pilot.
• Maki introduced Trowa, Quatre, Chang, and Six, four girls with the Ayanami surname, whose feelings flowed into Rei Ayanami.
• Shinji patted Six’s head, then heard a familiar voice call his name from behind.

Shinji Ikari spoke with Kaworu Nagisa about the repeated cycles of the world and learned that this cycle was unprecedented. As Shinji accepted Kaworu as his pope, a force corrupted the EVA Archangel in deep space and turned its gaze toward Earth.

• Shinji Ikari talked privately with Kaworu Nagisa, who revealed that he was a Free Angel fitted with a coded detonator.
• Kaworu told Shinji that he remembered fragments of many cycles in which souls converged, and that Shinji had ended the last cycle by becoming a god and creating a new world.
• Kaworu explained that this cycle differed from all the ones he remembered, and Shinji said they would take a path with God.
• Shinji asked Kaworu to remain his pope and rejected the idea that Kaworu had to be destroyed because he was an Angel.
• An unidentified force breached the EVA Archangel's A.T. Field beyond the moon, infected it with dark-gold energy, and caused it to turn toward Earth.

Shinji Ikari tested the Akashima with Maki and returned to the base, where an emergency erupted as the five EVA Angels in orbit began descending. The commander ordered the control room to stay calm and respond.

• Shinji Ikari piloted an Akashima while Maki served as gunner, then told her it was a capable conventional weapon but far inferior to an EVA.
• Shinji Ikari and Maki returned to the base as the Child of God and his Personal Secretary Saintess amid reverent greetings.
• Maya Ibuki praised the Akashima combat test, and Shinji Ikari said it was a groundbreaking conventional weapon.
• After Shinji Ikari returned from his physical examination with Ritsuko Akagi, alarms sounded and staff reported that all five EVA Angels had left their orbits and lost contact with telemetry.
• The older woman serving as Commander-in-Chief reached the control room and ordered everyone to remain calm and continue working.

Five EVA Angels lost remote access and began falling toward Headquarters after their orbital systems went offline. Misato Katsuragi ordered an emergency response and called on Maki to help catch the falling units.

• Maya Ibuki reported that MAGI could not access the five EVA Angels, and Ritsuko Akagi showed images of debris from the units.
• The observation team spotted the Angels' FSB Flame Jets, and Ritsuko Akagi explained how the boosters enabled them to move through the sky.
• Chief Angel decelerated above Headquarters and stopped, leaving it set to fall toward the ground and cause widespread damage.
• Misato Katsuragi ordered an evacuation, classified the incident as an accident for the public announcement, and sent for the Ayanamis.
• Misato Katsuragi told Maki that she was needed to help catch the falling EVA Angels.

Maki and four Ayanami pilots deployed to intercept the falling EVA Angels while Unit-01 remained unfinished. Maki used Shinji’s AT Field technique to catch the Dominion, leaving Unit-08 unharmed and the impact damage limited.

• Misato Katsuragi said Unit-01’s combat modifications were not ready, so Maki prepared to deploy without Shinji.
• Misato sent the pilots footage of Shinji catching Arael as the five units received their interception coordinates.
• Shigeru Aoba reported that the Self-Defense Forces offered support, while Misato and Ritsuko discussed the threat posed by the falling Angels.
• Maki spotted the Dominion from Unit-08 and called on Shinji’s strength as she formed an AT Field to intercept it.
• Maki concentrated Unit-08’s AT Field, and the unit caught the Dominion as their fields collided.
• Unit-08 leaped clear of the dust cloud unharmed, while the impact left only a small crater.

Maki fought the Chief Angel until a Mass-Production Evangelion containing Shamshel’s hands ambushed Unit-08. As NERV prepared to respond to further Mass-Production Evangelions in Heaven, Shinji entered Unit-01, which rose into the sky and transformed around him.

• Maki dodged the Chief Angel’s cannon fire and discovered its S2 Engine had fused with its body.
• A Mass-Production Evangelion appeared behind Unit-08 and used Shamshel’s light spears to wound Maki and seize her Pseudo-Spear of Longinus.
• Two Akashima Units rescued Unit-08 as the Chief Angel fired, and Misato ordered the EVAs to prioritize the Mass-Production Evangelions appearing in Heaven.
• Ritsuko told Misato that Shinji had left to investigate and that MAGI had revoked her highest-level access.
• Shinji rose above Unit-01, entered its Entry Plug without auxiliary systems, and merged with the white-armored, halo-crowned unit.

Shinji Ikari wielded the Spear of Cassius as Unit-01 neutralized the attacking angels, while the pilots and crew discovered his synchronization reading was infinity. As the Mass-Production Evangelions were defeated, Quatre and Rei Ayanami were suddenly overcome by an inexplicable disturbance.

• Shinji Ikari grasped the Spear of Cassius, and Unit-01’s energy wave neutralized the AT Fields of the five attacking angels.
• Midori Kitakami and Maya Ibuki discovered that Shinji Ikari’s synchronization rate was infinity, while the control room confirmed the Mass-Production Evangelion had vanished.
• Maki’s Unit-08 destroyed Chief Angel’s cannon and overwhelmed it in close combat as the other angels shattered against the Ayanamis’ AT Fields.
• Quatre felt something pitch-black enter her and experienced a sudden panic as Great Angel broke apart against Seraphim’s AT Field.
• Asuka impaled a Mass-Production Evangelion with Unit-02’s Pseudo-Spear of Longinus, then saw Rei Ayanami’s Unit-00 falter and collapse.

Asuka destroyed the Mass-Production Evangelion’s cocoon, but an unknown Angel inside swallowed both Pseudo-Spears of Longinus before the Spear of Cassius struck and made it vanish. Afterward, Quatre, affected by the Angel’s strange resonance, kissed Shinji Ikari and clung to him for comfort.

• Asuka pierced the Mass-Production Evangelion’s head, then threw a Pseudo-Spear of Longinus into the cocoon on its torso to stop it from attacking Unit-00.
• The Mass-Production Evangelion’s own spear struck the cocoon, exposing a black sphere that Midori Kitakami identified as an Angel.
• The black sphere swallowed both Pseudo-Spears of Longinus and vanished, but a Spear of Cassius fell from the sky, shattered the Black Metal Plate, and caused the Mass-Production Evangelion to collapse.
• Quatre climbed out of Unit-08’s cockpit while feeling the lingering effects of the Angel’s resonance and went to Shinji Ikari.
• Quatre kissed Shinji Ikari and held his arm as the Ayanamis blushed, Trowa and Chang stared, and Six exclaimed that she was bold.

Rei Ayanami woke in the hospital after collapsing during the battle and learned that Quatre had kissed Shinji Ikari while the Ayanami sisters shared her dreamlike sensations. As the sisters confronted their feelings for Shinji, Trowa declared that they wanted the same intimacy Rei had shared with him.

• Rei Ayanami woke in the hospital and learned from Asuka that she had collapsed during the battle with the Night Angel, while Quatre had kissed Shinji Ikari.
• Shinji Ikari and Ritsuko Akagi examined the Black Metal Plate embedded in the Seraphim and discussed how the Night Angel’s Reverse AT Field had affected the battle.
• Quatre returned to the Medical Center with Trowa, Chang, and Six after passing a psychological assessment, and Rei told her not to hide her love for Shinji.
• Rei asked the sisters whether they had wanted to do more than kiss Shinji, and Trowa said they wanted the same intimacy Rei had shared with him.

A black armored giant appeared at the Seventh Ruins on the moon with four Divine Spears, and its strikes caused identical tremors around the world. As NERV ANIMA investigated, Quatre spoke unexplained words about a Great Flood and a plan, leaving the others uncertain about what was coming.

• Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi learned that synchronized tremors were striking the entire world.
• Shigeru Aoba reported an anomalous phenomenon at the Seventh Ruins, where a black giant appeared on the moon with a red spear and three more spears behind it.
• Shinji Ikari, Ritsuko Akagi, and Kaworu Nagisa recognized the giant’s scales and identified the spears as genuine Divine Spears that should have been lost in the Negative Universe.
• The giant struck the spears in rhythm, producing vibrations on Earth despite the distance and vacuum between the moon and Earth.
• Quatre unexpectedly spoke of failed performances, a Great Flood, and a plan, then said she did not know what her words meant.

A black giant on the moon used the Spear of Longinus to attack Earth, while Quatre spoke as if channeling the giant. The spear survived the United Nations’ Aton Hammer and began circling Earth, enclosing the planet in a vast beam.

• Quatre warned that Noah’s Ark must not sail in the wrong direction, and Shinji Ikari accepted that the black giant had come for him.
• The Spear of Longinus unraveled and reformed into a brilliant white spear as gravitational waves shook the air.
• The black giant hurled the spear toward Earth, and Quatre collapsed into Shinji Ikari’s arms.
• The United Nations’ Aton Hammer struck the moon, obscuring the black giant in dust while the spear continued flying.
• The spear grew to sixty-four kilometers long and began circling Earth at an altitude of twenty thousand kilometers, enclosing the planet.

A global upheaval began as the Spear of Longinus encircled and shrank the Earth, forcing Misato Katsuragi’s team to investigate Almaloz and his plans. The team connected his promised Great Flood to the failed Human Instrumentality Project, while Shinji Ikari declared that false gods must be slain.

• The Spear of Longinus triggered worldwide earthquakes, turned people into salt-like crystals, and was projected to encircle the Earth within six months.
• Rei Ayanami, Misato Katsuragi, Asuka, Ritsuko Akagi, and the others discussed Almaloz’s scales and Ritsuko identified the black plates as quantum resonance devices that transmitted energy and instructions.
• Asuka asked what Almaloz meant by their failure and a new stage, and Shinji Ikari connected his plan to the Human Instrumentality Project.
• Misato Katsuragi and the team considered whether Almaloz was linked to SEELE, aliens, or God, and discussed how humanity might survive his promised Great Flood.
• Ritsuko Akagi asked Shinji Ikari who he would choose for Noah’s Ark, and Shinji said he would choose everyone and that false gods must be slain.

Asuka prepared to join a six-EVA lunar reconnaissance mission to search for Almaloz while Shinji stayed behind to guard NERV’s base. As Shinji comforted Asuka and spent time with Six, Six kissed him and said it made her heart race.

• Asuka watched the EVAs undergo surgery and learned that the modified units would travel to the moon to search for the vanished Almaloz.
• NERV decided to leave Unit-01 and two other EVAs at the base to protect the Divine Spears and Lilith while six EVAs conducted reconnaissance.
• Asuka reflected on Unit-02 Allegorica, her connection to its soul, and her acceptance of her identity as a clone.
• Shinji Ikari inspected Unit-01 and recalled comforting Asuka as she faced the risks of the mission.
• Six ran to Shinji, leaped into his arms, kissed him, and said the kiss made her heart race.