THE DAY TOKYO-3 STOOD STILL

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“The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still”
Neon Genesis Evangelion episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 11
Written by	Hideaki Anno (creator), Yoji Enokido (script)
Original airdate	December 13, 1995
Episode chronology
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"Magmadiver"	"She said, "Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred.""

"The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still" is an episode of the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion.

[edit] Plot

The electrical power in Tokyo-3 is completely cut off as a result of sabotage by parties unknown, trapping most NERV personnel inside, and worse, trapping all 3 Eva pilots outside of the base. A new Angel appears and begins to burn its way down to NERV headquarters by using a corrosive acid attack, and everyone inside must struggle to power up the Evas, as the Eva kids try to worm their way back into Central Dogma through a maze of closed corridors and air ducts.

[edit] Analysis

• It is never explained who exactly sabotaged the power supply in Tokyo-3, and this remains an unanswered mystery of the series. It could have been SEELE, or the Japanese government, or an independent act of terrorism. However, Ritsuko noted that because the loss of power didn't result in Tokyo-3's destruction, it was highly probable that the power sabotage was meant to probe Tokyo-3: by examining the order in which power was restored in Tokyo-3, whoever turned it off would gain a detailed blueprint of how Tokyo-3 and NERV HQ operate. Having surmised this, Ritsuko created several dummy programs, restoring power to the base out of order, etc. trying to confuse whoever might be trying to gain reconaissance data on the base. Given that SEELE orders the JSSDF to attack NERV HQ in End of Evangelion, and Aoba noted to Hyuga that it seemed that SEELE had been planning this attack far in advance by cutting NERV's defense budget, it seems likely that the real culprits behind the power sabotage were SEELE.
• It is worth noting that Matarael is probably the weakest angel in the series (it is the only one to be killed with the Eva's artillery, its AT-Field is too weak to physically manifest, it has no beam attack, etc.). Were it not for the power outage, it would never have posed a serious threat.

[edit] Notes

• This is the first time that all 3 Evas (Units 00, 01, 02) are deployed at the same time.
• The JSSDF generals refer to Matarael as the "eighth Angel", even though its really the ninth Angel, and the NERV team inside Central Dogma refer to it correctly as the ninth Angel. This may be because, while the top JSSDF commanders know that the first Angel, Adam, is what caused Second Impact 15 years ago, they know absolutely nothing about the secret existence of the second Angel, Lilith, in Terminal Dogma.
• Asuka jumps in and assumes leadership of the group on her own. She takes a big risk in acting as the "defense", getting sprayed with corrosive acid, to make up for the perceived debt she feels she had to Shinji for him saving her life in the previous episode.
• Eva Unit 00 had retro-rockets in its shoulder-fin armor; it uses these to slow its descent when it makes a very long jump. Its unknown if the other Evas also have these, as this feature is never used again in the series.
• We see more of what an ordinary day is like for the NERV employees in Tokyo-3. Misato forces Hyuga to do her laundry for her.
• The Angel in this episode, Matarael, has what is probably the weakest AT field of any Angel seen in the series. It is destroyed by Eva Unit 01 simply firing its standard "palette gun" rifle at it; every other time a palette gun was used against an Angel it was ineffective at actually killing one. If the power hadn't been out, it would probably have posed a small challenge.
• Tokyo-3 is controlled by a trio of MAGI supercomputers, which were designed by Ritsuko's mother, who is now deceased. Ritsuko was not on good terms with her when she was alive.
• The title is a reference to "The Day The Earth Stood Still".