SEELE (Rebuild)

''This article is about the organization from the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series. For the organization from Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, see SEELE.
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SEELE (ゼーレ) was a mysterious group of beings shown in Rebuild of Evangelion to have significant influence over NERV.

Profile
SEELE's goal was to start the Human Intrumentality Project via an "impact" event. The project was meant to exterminate all life on Earth and replace it with lifeforms born with the "fruit of life". The Near Third Impact would have been Gendo Ikari's scenario of the project if it had succeeded, while the Fourth Impact was SEELE's scenario. SEELE's original plan was to resurrect Lilith, but that clearly failed. SEELE's back up plan also failed as Evangelion 13 was deactivated.

SEELE is shown to have major control of NERV and funds its operations. However, unlike the original anime they seem to have considerably less direct control over the ensuing events.

Post Near Third Impact
At some point following the Near Third Impact, SEELE fell silent and remained so by the time of Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo. Gendo explained to Kōzō Fuyutsuki that the Human Intrumentality Project would be enacted in accordance with the Dead Sea Scrolls, so there was no need for SEELE to speak. Presumably, SEELE was certain that with the failure of the Third Impact, the planned Fourth Impact would inevitably follow their designs and achieve their desired outcome, and therefore they had no need to relay further instructions.

Fourth Impact
As the Fourth Impact began, Fuyutsuki deactivated the SEELE monoliths one by one, killing them, while Gendo bade them farewell. Gendo reveals that SEELE were lifeforms (whether human or otherwise is not specified) gifted with the "fruit of knowledge" who altered the "shape" of their souls to be able to live indefinitely. SEELE apparently assisted human evolution through the ages by granting humans the gift of civilization. Gendo described shutting SEELE down as an act of respect and gratitude for SEELE's aid because their souls were being returned to their rightful place. SEELE 01, the last to be shut down, broke its silence and told Gendo that their wish for mankind had already come to pass, and expressed its final hope that the instrumentality of humanity would occur, along with the "peaceful purification of souls". Despite the certainty that their scenario would come to pass, the Fourth Impact was halted soon after SEELE is shut down.

As they were deactivated, the usually opaque black SEELE monoliths turned white and translucent. Each monolith revealed an anatomical diagram of a brain inside it, which flashed and faded as they were shut down.

Senior Officers

 * Keel Lorenz

Trivia

 * In the Evangelion Rebuild series, on the backs of the SEELE monoliths appears the symbol of the one-eyed pyramid (a symbol of providence, commonly taken as a symbol for the ) surrounded by three checkered squares (a symbol). Both of these groups are real-life  with supposedly great political power and influence over the world. This was likely added to make SEELE seem more similar to real world secret societies. Conspiracy theorists say that the Illuminati agenda is to unite the world under one government - a goal very similar to SEELE's. Media carrying Illuminati symbolism are considered by conspiracy theorists to be indicative of plans for world domination.
 * The logo was changed for the Rebuild of Evangelion series to that of a snake curled around an apple in between the seven eyes. On the apple the name SEELE is written, and beneath this the motto "Überm Sternenzelt richtet Gott, wie wir gerichtet", a quote from the poem "Ode to Joy", which translates as "Above the starry firmament God judges, as we judged". The poster also featured the subtitle "God's in his Heaven, all's right with the world". The curled snake is possibly an analogy to the serpent from the Bible, a symbol of from the snake that lured Eva (the name "Evangelion" is an extension of her name, as in the sense that Evangelion is a creation of man, as Eva was a creation of God) to eat the forbidden fruit, represented by an apple. The apple is likely a reference to the fruit of the from the Bible. The seven eyes are the same as the ones on the face of Lilith, the Second Angel, the progenitor of the human race Adam's first wife.
 * SEELE's membership appears to have been reduced, as there are only seven SEELE monoliths, as opposed to the twelve seen in the original series.
 * In the English subtitles for the Amazon releases of the Rebuild films, SEELE 01 is identified as "Kiel", but this name is not part of any spoken dialogue. In the original Evangelion series, SEELE 01 was a human named "Lorenz Kiel".
 * The emblem was redesigned by.
 * The illustration on the back of the monolith was a leftover from the TV series and it was illustrated by.

Notes and references

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