is the seventeenth episode of the Anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''.
ADV's packaging for the Region 1 release of the series refers to this episode as (the company's emphasis), although the title mentioned in the eyecatches remains '''FOURTH CHILDREN'''.
Disaster strikes unexpectedly when .
- An S&2 Engine (or "S&2 Organ") is what gives the Angels their infinite power supply. NERV was trying to reverse-engineer artificial S&2 Engines of their own for use in the Evas, to remove the time limit on their field operation caused by power restrictions.
- Maya Ibuki says that there are 32,768 possibilities to what caused NERV's 2nd branch to disappear. Still, as they point out it's not entirely clear ''what'' happened to NERV-02 other than that it "disappeared"; there was no explosion, it simply vanished. Two possibilities discussed are that:
- ---1-All matter in the surrounding area was instantly converted to energy, completely vaporizing everything.
- ---2-The activation of the S&2 Engine opened up another into in the previous episode.
- Toji jokes that Asuka Langley Soryu and Shinji Ikari argue like a married couple, embarrassing them both.
- Shinji and Toji go to Rei Ayanami 's apartment to drop off homework; while there, they do some housecleaning. Rei is surprised when she finds them working and says "Thank you" to Shinji. Later, she is shown lying on her bed thinking, and realizes that Shinji is the first person she's ever said "thank you" to; she's never even said it to Gendo, despite their apparent connection.''Evangelion'', Episode 5
- As Ryoji Kaji was learning for himself''Evangelion'', Episode 15 , the Marduk Institute does not really exist: NERV handpicks potential pilots. Shinji's class, 2-A, is actually a pool of potential Eva pilots gathered together by NERV.
- ---The series implies at several points, including this episode, that a condition for being an Eva pilot candidate is for the child's mother to be dead. Hikari Horaki cooks for her sisters because her mother is dead, and Toji says that no one cooks for him at home. His comments about his father and grandfather and being the only family member able to visit his sister in the hospital''Evangelion'', Episode 3 imply that his mother is also dead. Kensuke Aida also says that his mother is dead.''Evangelion'', Episode 4 Shinji's''Evangelion'', episodes 15 and 21 respectively and Asuka's''Evangelion'', Episode 22 mothers are also "dead."
- Although Misato Katsuragi is "left out of the loop" on the true nature of the Evangelions, the Human Instrumentality Project , and NERV's secret plans, she is seen in the opening scene of the episode being interrogated by the Instrumentality Committee, a subsection of SEELE )
- Although the S&2 Engine sample was lost in the disappearance of NERV-02, Gendo Ikari says that the relevant data is stored in Germany , so work on the S&2 Engine project will still proceed.
- Shinji's synch ratio is worse since his mental ordeal fighting Leliel; because of this, Misato feels he is particularly vulnerable at the moment, and does not tell him who Unit 03's pilot is.
- The episode's title is not a misspelling: in the original Japanese dialogue, the individual Eva pilots are always referred to using the plural "Children." However, the official English dub modified this to "Third Child", etc. to avoid confusion.
- The USA demanded the right to build Units 03 and 04. Unit 04 was built at NERV's 2nd branch in the Nevada desert, and Eva Unit 03 was built at NERV's 1st branch in Massachusetts. It was said that the USA's government was reluctant to commit to construction of more Evas due to their extreme cost, but that they would probably change their minds given time.''Evangelion'', Episode 7
- Unit 04 never actually appears on screen, but according to official Gainax -produced material, it was physically identical to Unit 03, but was silver instead of black.
- Unit 03 is referred to as a "Production Model" Eva, just like Unit 02, even though their heads are conspicuously different; Unit 02 has four eyes while Unit 03 has two, and their heads are shaped differently.
- The color scheme of Unit 03 - mostly black with white highlights and a purple "collar" - directly parallels the colors of Toji's jacket.
- According to Shinji's teacher, the global human birth rate has been decreasing ever since Second Impact , for unknown reasons.
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