ERGO PROXY FUTURE

 COUNTER ARGUMENTS

• The Cogito plan is probably designed to spread by a timer in X years, just in case the original human fails to come back or pseudo human fails. The original human was supposed to come back to earth before the X years. The autoreivs are supposed not to get infected and serve the original human. But the earth heals slower than they calculated. In the X year, the Cogito virus bursts. The X year happens before the main event or the centzon journey by the vast spread of the virus. That is why Pino, Kristeva and other infected autoreivs are told (by cogito programming) not to listen to proxy. They should have lived independently and became the new form of humanity.

• It is never explicitly explained why pseudo human is sterile. Is it biologically or psychologically? Re-l is surprised to see natural pregnancy in the cave. There is no sex scene, except Re-l and Vincent kiss. Even that scene seems awkward. Are the citizens so brainwashed/numb emotionally that they cannot have intercourse? But in Romdeau, pseudo human lives in families as husbands and wives. The biggest possibility is pseudo human is biologically sterile. MCQ explains that pseudo human inability to breed is derived from the creators, which is proxy. Raul mentions that Romdeau people are incomplete beings. ADW project proves this. Kazkis knows this. He probably tried for thousands of years to fix it, but he came to nothing. It makes him despaired.

LET THE IMAGINATION PLAY

There are survivors from Romdeau. Good does not wipe his citizens. Autoreivs gain humanity. Vincent is not totally alone facing the original human. But what purpose these survivors seek? To let them live side by side with original human? But the pseudo human cannot reproduce normally. They will die out in less than a century. Of course, there is still a proxy live. Remember the ADW project? It kills 90% Romdeau citizens. What happen to the 10%? Do they become fertile? The biggest possibility is no. Daedalus mentions that it is impossible.

The original human in the spaceship is certainly still selfish. Hanging in outer space for thousands of years does not change their nature. That is why they initiate the pulse of awakening. If they want a change of plan, they will not initiate it. They will not be happy finding most domes destroyed, a proxy survives and autoreivs are infected. There are probably not many people on the space ship. Surviving in a tight ship for thousands of years is not easy. There must be population control. What about their weapon spec? It is unknown, probably not their first priority. Surviving in outer space is their top priority. 

Vincent is Ergo who is superpower, immune to sunray, bullets, missiles or nuclear. Vincent without Ergo persona is calm and does not want to participate in any fight. But now Vincent embraces his both sides. Given the nature of Ergo Proxy series, destruction and tragedy are favorable for the writers. Real/Monad cannot really call Vincent’s future as beautiful. But the writers also like to give foreshadows. Hoody says that the Commune will be re-built. It is parallel with One’s task for Vincent, to re-shape the world.

The true chaotic evil character, who controls the grand scheme, only gets a few seconds of frames and the faces are not even shown.

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ERGO PROXY EPISODE 23: PLOT AND EXPLANATION

EPISODE 23 (PROXY / DEUS EX MACHINA)

---SPOILER AHEAD---

    

Proxy One opens with his catch phrase, I am you and you are me, which means he and Vincent are one and same. Vincent remembers when they met in bookstore episode. One sarcastically welcomes Vincent home after he ran away and erased his memory with the help of his love, Monad. Vincent is ashamed.

With a finger flick, One shows Daedalus is destroying the dome. One manipulated him to do it. Re-l urges to check it. It is actually useless, but Re-l insists to do what she has to do. One knows that Re-l and Vincent will survive the apocalypse. He planned it. Re-l asks Vincent to come back to her later. Re-l leaves Vincent and One alone.

Vincent puts on his mask. The mask he uses when he avoids his fate as a proxy and revenge tool. Vincent asks the question that has murmured since the first episode, ‘what is proxy?’ One explains proxy is the Creator’s (space human) agent to restore human race and the nature. He points the evil trap his Creator arranged for proxies. The trap is the pulse of awakening (is explained in The Context). After thousands of years serving the human’s goal, proxies are wiped out. Proxies cannot defy it.

Proxy One and Vincent have been worshiped, betrayed and driven to despair by their failed creations. They still loved their creation. One expresses his solitude and wants to be loved as well. One mocks Vincent that he is a puppet and an imposter. They fight.

One manipulates Daedalus to be destructive. Re-l finds the Romdeau collapsed is unstoppable. She meets Daedalus in the control room. Re-l is surprised that Daedalus feels sick of her. He never said this kind of thing to her before. Re-l does not care if Donov uses her as bait for Ergo/Vincent. She just wants the family love. Donov does not care about Re-l, he only cares about Ergo/Vincent. Daedalus cares about Re-l, but she does not see Daedalus the same way. It is a vicious circle.

Daedalus knows about the pulse of awakening. Proxies will be burnt in sunlight. Real roars. She is a grown up and becomes fully Monad. She grows a pair of wings and has yellow eyes. Probably this is the true form of Monad. Daedalus successfully revives a God. Real flies straight to Vincent’s location. Daedalus runs to chase Real but he is crushed by the rubble.

Monad finds Vincent stabbing One’s heart and One stabbing Vincent’s throat. Vincent’s wound is not fatal. One is annoyed seeing Monad. Monad tries to break their fight. They all realize that One is dying. One frankly says that he did his part by destroying pseudo human and domes. He gives the world for Vincent to shape. Vincent realizes that One’s plan: letting him to live to pass on the proxy/agent of death duties.

Real/Monad comforts Vincent that he does not need to save the world. She does not want Vincent to suffer any longer. The only way to overcome the suffering is by being dead (in sunlight). Vincent is tempted. He follows Real/Monad to fly. He gives One’s pendant back. It symbolizes Vincent rejects One’s task.

Romdeau falls apart. The dome is totally wrecked. Kristeva finds Pino’s harmonica with her letter for Raul. Pino reaches the vent plug she used to get inside to Romdeau. Kristeva finds Pino. She tells Pino to follow her free will. Pino sees her harmonica and sad because she remembers Raul. Kristeva gives the harmonica back and says that it is from Raul. They run out together.

Daedalus explains to Re-l that Cogito is built into the Proxy Plan. He calls it as mankind’s safety valve. He is truly a nosy genius. He concludes about the Cogito by himself. Infected autoreivs helps to destroy the original human main plan. They are not supposed to be infected when space human returns. Restoring human through Proxy Project is not the first option. The destroyed dome including pseudo human like Daedalus and Re-l is an obstacle to Boomerang Project (is explained in the Context). Daedalus shows the way out to Re-l. Even though Re-l brings many troubles for Daedalus, but she is his favorite version. She reluctantly leaves Daedalus.

Real/Monad and Vincent fly into the cloud. They see the sunlight for the first time in their thousands year lifetime. Real/Monad calls it the sacred eyes, a sign of earth recovery. Re-l is threatened by an armed autoreiv, but she manages to take it down. Vincent/Ergo feels Re-l is in danger. Real/Monad comforts Ergo/Vincent and persuades him to forget everything. Ergo/Vincent remembers Re-l. He does not want to forget anymore. He wants to live side by side with Re-l and face the life. Ergo/Vincent removes his mask. Using Vincent voice, he tells Real/Monad that Re-l is waiting for him. He gives Monad’s pendant back to symbolize he rejects Monad’s solution to forget everything. Vincent says good bye to Real/Monad and descents. Monad knows that Vincent will follow One’s plan. She cannot imagine what unpredictable event’s ahead. Real/Monad flies towards the sun to fulfill her raison d’etre. Real/Monad disintegrates is the last view that Daedalus sees.

Dying proxy One is pleased Vincent returns. He throws his proxy pendant and Vincent accepts it. It symbolizes Vincent accepts the duty being a proxy and the agent of death. One dies in sunlight. The proxy era is over, but Vincent/Ergo lives. Sunlight rains on Vincent.

The dome is totally collapsed. Re-l hangs on a railing above the burning ground. She hears Pino calling. ‘I have faith (in Pino)’, she says. Re-l does not know if Vincent survives at the time. Re-l lets her grip go. Pino catches her. Kristeva drives the Rabbit. She is there to protect Pino following Raul’s wish. Pino hears and sees Vincent. They decide to pick him up. Pino directs them. Some airplanes (from the original human) fly behind Vincent. Vincent knows the world heals .With Re-l, Pino and other survivors; he is ready to face them. Using Ergo voice and glowing proxy eyes, he declares himself as Ergo proxy, the agent of death.

Re-l and Pino graduate and receive humanity status. They are no longer robotic pseudo human and robot android but they are also not the original human.

Details and Easter Eggs:

• Proxy One keeps calling Vincent as his shadow because One is the original.

• One knows how it feels to be rejected by his creation. He probably has tried to live as a human and got rejected like Vincent or his creation alienates him because they are scared of him.

• All proxies in Vincent’s journey are analogous of One’s thinking towards his creation. He created Romdeau to make his creation happy like Will B. Good does. Pseudo human destroys each other again after proxy restored human population (Senex and Kazkis’ human destroy each other like Donov destroys Mosk). One is unloved and alienated by his creation like Ophelia proxy. He finds that his creation fails (sterile and inhuman) like MCQ and Kazkis. One has enough of humanity, then decides to destroy pseudo and original human.

• Of all the proxies in the series, only proxy One holds grudge towards his creator. Other proxies accept their fate to die in the pulse of awakening. Most of them even greet their death like Monad and MCQ. After their death, proxies are described to ascend to ‘heaven’, e.g. Monad ascends to bright light above the clouds to meet her creator and Kazkis unites with Senex. This is proxies’ logic. That is why they happily obliged to eliminate themselves. Proxy One believes that he will die in the awakening. But it is not for his creator, but because he feels obsolete and tired.

• Ergo proxy is both One and Vincent. Proxy 301 acted exactly like proxy One: fell into despair and left Romdeau. But Vincent Law is a persona that One does not have. Vincent Law is raw clay shaped by the journey on the Rabbit with Re-l and Pino. He sees life from another angle with the people he loves to support him. If proxy 301 did not experience the journey, he would end up just like proxy One.

• ‘Are you laying the entire burden on me again?’ asks Vincent to One. One gave Romdeau to Vincent because he could not stand the burden. Now proxy One gives Vincent the duty to re-shape the world.

• Vincent Law’s raison d’etre is not the same as other proxies after he lost his memory. Vincent’s raison d’etre is to find his role in the world, as a proxy or human. After the journey on the Rabbit his raison d’etre shifts to be living with Re-l.

• Re-l’s raison d’etre shifts to be to face the truth after she found out the truth of Romdeau and herself.

• Ergo/Vincent’s mask symbolizes he runs away and forget about the reality. He removes the mask when he does not want to forget anymore.

• ‘The moment the agent completed his task and the human race was restored, our body is readjusted.’, proxy One explains that the pulse of awakening readjusts Amrita cells to be vulnerable to sunlight.

• Proxy One comes back to Romdeau not to kill Vincent but so that Vincent kills him. He planned it all because he cannot defy the pulse of awakening. He must fulfill his raison d’etre (to die in the pulse of awakening). But he needs to let Vincent live as a revenge for his creator.

• One provokes Vincent to fight in order to get his proxy instinct out. He is the only one who can kill One because they are the strongest. He needs Vincent to get him killed before the sunlight reaches the earth.

• Vincent and One share only a pulse since they are a whole. Vincent survives because he breaks the pulse by killing One. Vincent Law’s Amrita cells are back to normal, immune to sunlight, after his pulse is broken. Notice that he stays in the shadow before One truly disintegrates. One planned his dead as a way to let Vincent live.

• ‘Is that you again Monad?’ proxy One asks. One can smell that Monad is there to destroy his plan like when she stole Ergo/Vincent’s memory. This is why One is annoyed of her. Monad is probably annoyed by him too for letting Donov destroying Mosk and pushing Vincent’s suffering. Despite they are lovers, their wishes are contradicting. She does not greet him. One is dying anyway, his burden will be over soon.  But Monad needs to lead Vincent to die to end his lover’s suffering once for all and to fulfill their raison d’etre.

• ‘She plagued you and yet she still loves you. She offered her love to flawed, broken souls and in that we found freedom.’ Vincent talks about how Monad loves One, the despaired soul. Monad (means the beginning of everything) is gentle, devoted and soft. Ergo (agent of death, death means the end) is brutal, vengeful and rebellious. They are like magnetic poles that attract each other even though they are contradict.

•  ‘A woman who sees the future’, One refers to Re-l who is responsible for Vincent’s choice. Thanks to Re-l, Vincent has a reality to choose.

• Real is not the original Monad we see in the early episodes. But she can be called Monad, because she has all features and characteristics that Monad has. Real vs the original Monad (both are Monad proxy) is the same case as Vincent vs proxy One (both are Ergo proxy). The clones have the memory and ‘soul’ of the originals. As for Re-l being a partial clone, she has Monad’s ‘soul’ (for loving Vincent) and Monad’s human physical appearance, but she is not a proxy and lack of Monad’s memory.

• It is poetic how they craft the twin, Re-l and Real. Re-l has demonic looking with sharp eyes, black clothing, black hair and even horn hair. Real has angelic looking with white clothing, white hair and angel wings. One of them leads to death. The other one invites to live the life, no matter what horrors lie ahead. Vincent chooses the demonic one.

• Ergo/Vincent is also depicted to have contrast split personality. Ergo is brutal, vengeful and rebellious. Vincent is soft, gentle and respectful.

• The survivors refer to autoreivs and pseudo human survivors (people escaping Romdeau at episode 21 and Will B. Good did not destroy his pseudo human).

• In the end, Vincent embraces both his human and proxy sides. He uses Vincent and Ergo voices, keeping Vincent face, keeping Ergo complexion, uses Ergo clothes and uses proxy eyes.

• Proxy One makes Vincent not only as a revenge tool for the original human. He also wants Vincent to re-shape and re-arrange the world. These are proxy and agent of death duties. Vincent accepts these duties.

• Remember that proxy One never orders Vincent to crash the space ships down. It is Vincent that declares himself as the agent of death. To let Vincent live is enough as a revenge. 

• The opening song by Monoral is for Vincent. Re-l completes his reality and makes him see the truth. Re-l’s existence frees him from his burden. He is waiting for Re-l to save him and completes his reality. The closing song by Radiohead is for Re-l. Her mind is restless with all the popping questions. She cannot always follow orders because she is not a robot. She is an oddball in the society.

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ERGO PROXY EPISODE 22: PLOT AND EXPLANATION

EPISODE 22 (BIND / BILBUL)

---SPOILER AHEAD---

   

Proxy One manages to stop the FP effect by ripping his right arm. He grows a new one in seconds. Raul nervously flees. One leaves Re-l and goes to his chamber. Kristeva goes to look for Raul to protect him. Like Iggy, Kristeva is still loyal to her master even after she caught Cogito.

Real enters the Regent chamber. She greets Re-l as her other self. Re-l thinks that she is another proxy trick like Ophelia proxy. Real declares herself as Monad and Re-l reminds Vincent of herself. She wants to save Vincent from his burden as a creator.

Daedalus comes to find Real. Real tells him that he wants to see Vincent, then runs away. Daedalus is surprised she is obsessed with Vincent just like Re-l. He bursts out because those two only care to Vincent, not him. He leaves Re-l to find Real.

The Collective explains that it was Ergo who built Romdeau including the dome, the city, the pseudo human and wombsys. Re-l concludes that each dome out there is built by a proxy. The Collective only knows Ergo/Vincent who built the dome because they never met proxy One before. It was Ergo/Vincent who gave Donov the charge over Romdeau. Ergo/Vincent left Romdeau in despair because her creation is imperfect (sterile).

Real finds Raul is looking for FP bullets in Daedalus office. Raul notices the red string in her hand. He cannot believe that Real grows at flash speed. Daedalus enters his office following the red string. He says that he throws all the FP bullets away. Raul is offended by Daedalus saying that he is not needed anymore. A gunshot is heard. Real deflects Raul’s bullet because he threatens to kill Vincent. Daedalus is disappointed knowing this reason.

Pino draws pictures in her old house while listening to piano melody. The riot approaches the house. Pino leaves to avoid it. Pino goes to the mall looking for Raul. Pino tells she learnt many kinds of feelings and she misses Raul. Wounded Raul goes back to his house. He finds Pino’s drawings. He takes the last drawing which directs him to the mall. He wishes to see Pino for the last time and forgets his ambition. Raul dies in the mall without seeing Pino.

Kristeva cannot find for Raul in his office. She finds the traces of blood and follows it. Kristeva finds Raul dead body in the mall. She sees his tears and Pino’s drawing. Kristeva interprets it as Raul’s wish to see Pino.

Pino’s drawings tell her story from the moment before she was not infected, met Vincent and took the journey, her friendship with Vincent and how she loves Re-l because Vincent loves her. The last drawing is her imagination to play with Raul again in the mall.

Re-l understands that Vincent erases his Ergo side to forget his despair. But she cannot comprehend why Vincent plans the Romdeau downfall. She weeps thinking how she is so drawn into Vincent and Vincent plans her to get him killed. He cries remembering the people around her, leave her. The Collective reminds her about her raison d’etre, to find the truth, no matter what other people say. She needs to find her own truth; the truth comes that from herself. The Collective shuts themselves because they fail their raison d’etre: to preserve Romdeau.

Ergo/Vincent walks around the city. He does not care his city is crumbling. Some citizens shoot him. He ignores them and walks away. Vincent comes to Donov chamber. He is confused that the Collective are silent. He is surprised to see Donov is dead.

Re-l points the FP gun to Ergo/Vincent. She asks why he comes back to the chamber again. Vincent surrenders and lets Re-l kill him. But Re-l figures that there is someone manipulating them. She can feel the difference of Vincent and One characteristic from Vincent’s answer. Re-l chooses not to use the last FP bullet. She shouts asking the manipulator to show himself. Proxy One laughs. He seems satisfied with Re-l’s work. He opens the way to his throne. Both Re-l and Vincent are surprised he looks exactly like Vincent/Ergo.

The throne behind a throne. The man behind a man. Literally and figuratively. The God above the leader. ‘The stairway to heaven’ where the ‘God’ is at.

Details and Easter Eggs:

• From the way proxy One rips his arm off and grows a new one, it was probably not a big deal for him to create his other self, Ergo/Vincent. The difficult thing is to make sure his other self carries out the duties he does not want to do.

• Real has the soul and memory of Monad, because she is Monad’s perfect clone. She feels Monad’s love for Vincent. She recognizes Re-l as her other self. Real also acts like Re-l, perceptive, nosy and curious related to proxy matter. This is something Daedalus did not predict to happen. He actually just needs her to be a Re-l who cares only to himself.

• Kristeva is similar to Pino. She can choose what purpose she will follow after losing her raison d’etre. She does not fall into confusion and seems to be able to hold on herself.

• The Collective and the Regent are sworn not to tell anyone about the proxy matter. That is why they always remain silent when Re-l and Raul ask about proxy. After Donov’s death, the Collective is freed from the oath and able to tell the Ergo history freely.

• Daedalus throws all the FP bullets to keep Real safe. He knows that Real is a proxy.

• Daedalus creates Real to fulfill his raison d’etre back. Real is Re-l’s substitute and Monad proxy, killing two birds in with one stone. He then suffers mental breakdown when Real also leaves him.

• Pino’s artistic ability has improved compared the time she met Timothy. She now can draw based on her memories and imagination. This is what makes her drawing an art. She does one of human characteristics, making art.

• Pino tells that she learned a lot of kinds of feelings and she misses Raul. Then the screen switches to Re-l. The journey also teaches Re-l a lot of kinds of feelings: sadness, happiness and love. She learns that her interest in Vincent grows larger. She realizes that she is in love with Vincent.

• Re-l’s truth is that she is a clone of Monad. She knows after talking to Real. She now understands why she is helplessly drawn into Vincent. She cannot run from her own feeling. Since she loves Vincent, she can tell the difference of Vincent and One. Therefore, she can tell that it is not Vincent who kills her grandfather. 

• Proxy One does not have any intention to harm Re-l. Instead, he uses her as a tool to lead Vincent to reality. That is why One is so pleased when Re-l calls his existence in the chamber. Remember the end of bookstore episode? The old man ends Vincent’s dream and shows Re-l’s face as the solution because Vincent lost his way. In the final episode, we will know that One actually plans to let Vincent and Re-l live after Romdeau downfall.

• Raul’s disbelief expression after seeing teenage Real tells that rapid growth is not something ordinary in Romdeau. It is probably the first time he sees the case.

• It is difficult to draw a conclusion about the concept of age, especially when it comes to proxies and their clones. Real becomes an adult not more than a month. Did Re-l grow in that way too, even though she is a human? How old is Donov Mayer actually? In Vincent’s citizen information, he is identified as 24 year old. Did Romdeau officials write 21 years old when they accepted Vincent in Romdeau? How long is the duration since Mosk attack to the main event? Is it 19 years, because Re-l is born after Monad was brought to Romdeau? Nobody suspects anything when Vincent does not get old for 19 years, even Vincent himself? Vincent is in denial after all. But Vincent serves in Disposal Unit only for 3+ years. Is Re-l age in citizen info a lie and she grows like Real? If so, Re-l is incredible to have a job in Intelligence Bureau in her short span of age. Another fact, Vincent first met Re-l when she is already a grown up. How long did it take for Vincent to arrive to Romdeau after the Mosk attack? The most possible explanation is Re-l grows normally. She first met Vincent when she was 16. Those 16 years are spent by Vincent to immigrate to Romdeau and lives without a job. The 16 years are also enough to make Donov becomes as old as the current state compared to when he was appointed by Ergo/Vincent. The second most possible explanation is Re-l also grows in flash speed. She can do the job thanks to maximum perceptiveness programming. Re-l is considered 19 years old because her knowledge and body structure are equal to 19 year old human. Re-l’s original age is 3+ years plus the duration Vincent journey immigrated to Romdeau (the duration can be 16 years but it seems impossible). Her childhood is the Vincent’s immigration journey duration. If Re-l also grows in flash speed, she also was designed, produced and groomed by Daedalus. There are facts that strengthen or weaken both possibilities. Probably there is something I missed or I just discover a plot hole.

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ERGO PROXY EPISODE 21: PLOT AND EXPLANATION

EPISODE 21 (PLACE AT THE END OF TIME / SHAMPOO PLANET)

---SPOILER AHEAD---

   

The trio reaches the outside of Romdeau. They hide the Rabbit in a cave. Vincent suddenly leaves Pino and Re-l as Ergo. Re-l leaves to look for Vincent and tells Pino to stay. Pino counts until 30.233 rabbits (33 hours) since Re-l leaves her in the boat. Pino cannot wait anymore, she goes to the dome. Citizens are seen leaving to the dome. None of them wears any environmental suit, which means the air is no longer toxic.

Pino enters the dome through the same vent plug she and Vincent used to escape in the early episode. It is opened this time. On the way inside, Pino meets many infected autoreivs. They are confused after they are released from their raison d’etre. They shut down themselves because they no longer have a reason to exist. Most of the autoreivs now is infected. They cannot be controlled by human anymore since they lose their raison d’etre. They try to escape Romdeau because people hunt them down.

Romdeau is in chaos. Riots and fire are everywhere. Re-l meets Vincent’s ex-boss and his subordinates. They are still hunting and destroying infected autoreivs. They still do their duties because they are promised that their immigrant status will be promoted into fellow citizen. Infected entourages leave their jobs after gaining free will. The Central Administration Bureau cannot fulfill their function because the human officials are so dependent on entourages. In other words, the government is collapsing. Because the citizens also rely their activities on autoreivs, the city is also collapsing.

During Romdeau downfall, Donov Mayer still has a thought to restrain the citizens.

Pino arrives at the city. She is in the middle of autoreivs genocide. Some autoreivs do not even fight back when they are burnt alive. Human is paranoid of what infected autoreivs may do. They think that all the chaos in the paradise is caused by infected autoreivs. Pino is seen by the Disposal Unit. They recognize her. They shoot at her, but Pino survives because she is blocked by another autoreiv. Pino runs to her old house, Raul’s house.

Re-l meets his boss, the Intelligence Bureau Chief in his office. He still clings into his usual job. He is in denial that his entourage is destroyed next to him. He is certainly incapable doing his job without an entourage or facing the current situation. He explains that the ADW project fails. ADW project is the project Raul ordered Daedalus to change the pseudo human nature to be fertile. Daedalus tried to remodel the citizens on the cellular level. It only results in killing 90% of the population. Re-l is speechless that her boss does not understand the reason behind ADW.

Re-l meets Daedalus. Daedalus thinks that she is Real. He refers Re-l as previous model and traitor. He realizes that he is talking to Re-l when Re-l asks about ADW project. Daedalus explains that he long to know that ADW project would fail, but still did it anyway because of Raul’s madness. He reveals that it was Donov who tried to kill Re-l not Raul. Daedalus smirks and drops Re-l in her murderer floor probably so that Donov can try to kill her again.

Vincent/Ergo goes to see Monad remains. He remembers the time he killed her and regrets it. He cannot believe what Donov did to Monad. He holds the proxy pendants and concludes one of those belongs to Monad by the Roman number. He still does not know who is the owner of pendant I. Vincent/Ergo meets Real there. Real grows into a teenager in a month. She is not afraid of him. She says she loves Monad like Vincent/Ergo loves Monad. Instinctively, she blushes seeing Vincent. She runs away like a teenager meets her first love. She then figures that he is Vincent.

Proxy One is seen riding a balloon aircraft. He jumps to the City Center building and causes the aircraft to fall. One enters Donov chamber. Donov and the Collectives think that he is Ergo/Vincent. They express their despair when Ergo/Vincent left them.

Re-l meets Kristeva, who is now infected. Together they enter Donov chamber and see proxy One. Re-l thinks that he is Vincent. One throws Donov's entourage away. The Collectives/Donov are surprised. One strangles Donov until he dies. Donov cries thinking that Ergo/Vincent betrays him. Re-l runs to check her grandfather, but One approaches her. Raul shoots One from the dark. The FP bullet hits One’s arm. One smiles not knowing what hit him. Raul laughs maniacally because he thinks he shot Vincent, his arch-enemy. The FP ray starts spreading through One’s body.

Details and Easter Eggs:

• Romdeau has evolved from paradise into a war zone. The citizens, who used to be slow reacting to violent, commit genocide towards autoreivs.

• Before entering Romdeau, Vincent gains most of his memory back. He remembers who he is and the sorrow being a proxy. That is why he leaves Re-l and Pino as Ergo and never turns to Vincent in the city.

• The Ergo silhouette Re-l keeps seeing is proxy One destroying the dome and making chaos by spreading Cogito. Two of proxy One characteristics are shy and working behind the curtain.

• There are many reasons why proxy One kills Donov Mayer: shooting missiles while he is at Mosk, wrecking Mosk and all the things Donov did to Monad. But One probably is waiting until Re-l comes to witness. 

• The irony is when Vincent’s boss says that they do not need entourages. In the first episode, he could not even approve anything without an entourage.

• It is funny how Vincent’s boss still expects to be a fellow citizen in a crumbling city. He even tries to look for a reward by greeting the Regent through Re-l. Some citizens do not understand that they do not live in a paradise anymore. Re-l cannot believe how ignorant they are in the current situation. She also cannot believe that she did not notice how fragile Romdeau hierarchy earlier.

• Despite knowing Donov tried to kill her, Re-l weeps for his dead. Re-l’s family love feeling is one-sided.

• Raul is a person who truly cares about Romdeau’s future. He indeed means well. But he ignored the Collective’s warning, then imposes ADW project. He (and Daedalus) indirectly commits genocide to his own people. At the end, he falls into madness and worsens Romdeau situation.

• Real is a perfect copy of Monad. She loves Monad as her other self like proxy One loves Vincent. Monad did not harm Re-l in the first episode because Monad knew Re-l was herself in another form.

 

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ERGO PROXY EPISODE 20: PLOT AND EXPLANATION

 

EPISODE 20 (SACRED EYE OF THE VOID / GOODBYE, VINCENT)

---SPOILER AHEAD---

  

Vincent is dreaming. He dreams that he wakes in Re-l’s body in Romdeau. He sees Daedalus and Swan. Swan is most likely proxy One messes with Vincent’s mind. The dream background takes place in Romdeau after their journey. Swan is assigned as Re-l’s psychotherapist. Her necklace glitters during the episode without showing what is on the tip of the necklace. 

Vincent has no memory of this place. How can this exist in Vincent’s dream? This is a very private place. In the dream, it is also known that it was Raul, who released the Rapture. It is what the Collective calls as Raul’s selfish action. The politic is also clearly explained: Donov wants Ergo/Vincent back. Re-l or Vincent have no idea of these. The person who drives the dream knows Romdeau inside out. He is proxy One. It is impossible another proxy knows, unless One share the information.

Re-l hides Pino in a basement. Pino wears her old black dress with her harmonica. She is angry towards Re-l. Re-l gives himself (Vincent/Ergo) to be detained in the Health Bureau facility. Ergo swears to kill her for her betrayal.

Swan points out to Vincent in Re-l’s body that Re-l feels guilty for giving him to the Regent. Re-l suffers split personality: Re-l and Vincent. The view suddenly changes from a consultation room into a kind of dark jail room. Swan/One wants to test if Vincent gets his memory back. He has not got it back yet.

Swan/One also wants to see Vincent’s desire. Vincent dreams he is in a meadow watching a plane flying in the blue bright sky. He dreams to be the Security Bureau Chief with Raul as his subordinate. Re-l is his fiancée. They are getting married soon. Re-l misses Vincent and hates not to see him. Vincent is a fellow citizen loved by everyone who meets him. Re-l is jealous because everyone loves him. Daedalus is Re-l’s little brother. These are Vincent’s desire.

The desire session is over. Daedalus tells that Ergo/Vincent is freed by Pino. He hands Re-l the FP gun for protection if Ergo comes. Swan stares at the gun. She confronts that it is Vincent in Re-l who let Ergo escaped.

Re-l is confused because of the split personality. Swan forces Vincent to kill Re-l to save her. Swan changes the view back to Vincent wearing Security Bureau Chief clothing. He and Pino free Ergo. Swan keeps ordering Vincent to kill Re-l. But then Vincent realizes that none of this is real because he will never give the proxy necklace to anyone including Re-l.

Swan is busted. She changes the topic. She accuses Vincent denying his own existence and his own self (as a proxy and the revenge tool). Swan says Vincent will never find a place where he belongs (if he keeps going like this). Swan/One expresses the anger when Ergo/Vincent gave back One’s necklace before the memory removal, "How cruel. I never took it off, this charm of yours. I hate men who stink of another woman (Re-l). I'm sure she (Monad/Real) feels the same way.” Vincent’s only reply is he will still protect Re-l. Swan says ‘take care’ and disappears. Vincent in Re-l form shoots Ergo/Vincent.

Vincent wakes up in the Rabbit. The group almost reaches Romdeau. Re-l says that she is as worried as Vincent about what will happen to both of them. They calm each other. She jokingly borrows the proxy necklace.

Details and Easter Eggs:

• The purpose of the dream is not to get Vincent to kill Re-l. One knows Vincent can never do that in real life. It is a test if Vincent recovers his memory yet. The answer is not yet. Then Swan/One tests if Vincent grasps the meaning of his existence. The answer is not yet. He is still drowned in his human desire: to live as a cogwheel citizen and marry Re-l. He provokes Vincent’s urgency to fight. Killing Re-l in the dream means Vincent kills his human desire. Instead, he kills Ergo, the persona One wants Vincent to have. One concludes that Vincent is still stubborn.

• Swan looks like the female version of Vincent. Vincent is a copy of proxy One.

• Swan does not reveal herself until Vincent confronts her. This is very proxy One, being shy. When she is busted, she can no longer play around and blabbers her true motives.

• Romdeau is located far away from other domes. The only proxy occupies Romdeau is proxy One. The proxies occupying Romdeau are proxy One and Real/Monad. Real/Monad has not realized her power or gained her full memory/soul yet. One arrives there before Vincent to destroy the dome. When Vincent’s group almost reaches Romdeau, proxy One feels them coming and starts the mind game.

• Re-l wears only one proxy necklace in the dream. The necklace is supposedly taken from Vincent when she betrays her. Why only one while Vincent has two? Because the other one is taken back by the original owner, proxy One. Re-l, according to One, is only entitled to hold Monad’s necklace, as she is her clone.

• Because it is Vincent’s dream, everybody has Vincent’s typical attitude. E.g.: Raul uses Vincent’s expression and Re-l is soft. Pino, however, is depicted differently from her daily attitude or Vincent’s attitude. She even gets her old black dress. Pino is the glitch that Vincent should have realized.

• From Raul’s display, Vincent does not seem to have resentment towards Raul. Vincent admires Raul as a good husband. He probably hears Raul positive side from Pino.

• Vincent probably does not know much about Daedalus. He thinks that Daedalus is younger than Re-l. Vincent sees their close relationship as brother and sister. Or maybe in real life, Vincent is jealous of Daedalus gets close to Re-l. He just hopes they are siblings.

• The dream shows how much Vincent loves Re-l. He even willingly kills his Ergo persona for her (Vincent dislikes it anyway).

• The hand gesture in the end, Re-l’s smile and good night greeting indicate how close Re-l and Vincent’s relationship.

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ERGO PROXY EPISODE 19: PLOT AND EXPLANATION

EPISODE 19 (THE GIRL WITH A SMILE / ETERNAL SMILE)

---SPOILER AHEAD---

  

This episode happens in Pino’s mind. A proxy named Will B. Good gets inside her mind. Pino wakes up on a dump. She is welcomed by two entertainer autoreivs, Arl and Pul. They tell them that she is in Smile Land, Will B. Good’s dome city. The city appears like an amusement park with tall buildings behind it. The buildings behind are supposedly where the citizens live and work. The amusement park is in the center of the city. It is designed to give eternal smiles to everyone. Arl and Pul are dumped because they lost popularity. They loses their raison d’etre: to entertain the guests.

While Pino talks with Arl and Pul, Will B. Good observes them through Rogi, a cricket autoreiv. Rogi is sent by Good to bring Pino to him. Pino exits the dump by grabbing a rope guided by Rogi. Arl and Pul also come along to meet Good to ask why they were made. Rogi tries to get Vincent’s weakness from Pino.

Instead of following Rogi through the underground, Pino follows Arl and Pul to the amusement park. Pino rides on one of the attractions, the spinning giant coffee cups. Giant dog masked officers try to stop her. But it only adds another attraction to the cups. The people are astonished by Pino’s smile. The security manages to catch them.

Pino and friends are interviewed by a dog officer and a cat officer. The officers also gasp seeing Pino’s natural smile. They are fascinated by Pino’s smile. Rogi rushes Pino to meet Good. He takes her directly to Good.

Will B. Good appears in 50ish year old man in a black suit. Pino suddenly sits in a chair in the middle of a movie theater. She watches Good in the scene explaining that he builds Smile Land as a controlled environment to keep people happy. He does not give understanding to his citizens about the world reality. Good’s lifetime ends with the awakening. He will bring down his world. But he does not want the citizen to fear it, but just to smile without even being aware of it.

Good once again try to find Vincent/Ergo’s weakness from Pino. Pino does not know. As an alternative, Good tries to find Vincent’s valuable belonging. Pino knows that the proxy pendants are very precious for Vincent. She pretends that she does not know. Pino does not believe that Good can bring her back to Vincent and Re-l. Good transforms Arl and Pul to be human/guests to convince her.

Good keeps smiling and forcing Pino to tell him about Vincent’s valuable item. Arl, Pul and the officers in the back seat accuse Good putting fake smile. He is frustrated being criticized by his creations. He blabbers that they are useless failed creations. They are insulted and beat Good. Running out of time, Good frankly tells Pino that he is a proxy. If he meets Vincent, they will fight. Ergo will win the fight then destroys the dome. He is tired of fighting and defeating proxies. He just wants to spend his last days in peace and smiles.

Pino wakes up in the Rabbit. The proxy necklaces still hang on Vincent’s neck. Pino can see Smile Land ahead. She begs Vincent not to go there. Vincent complies her request. Pino saves the Smile Land.

Ergo is depicted as city / world destroyer. Ergo/One does that, but Ergo/Vincent never destroys any living things except when he is cornered. Good is paranoid of Vincent.

Details and Easter Eggs:

• Pino develops in the episode. She is capable of lying, analyzing lies and staying loyal.

• Because this is Pino’s dream, some events belong to Pino’s subconscious. Arl and Pul’s question (why Good creates them) is Pino remembers why she was born. She then remembers Raul, her papa and her ex-raison d’etre, to be Raul’s child. Like a child, Pino chooses to play around rather than follow Rogi to meet Good. The dream crumbles when Pino notices Good’s lies. It causes the characters like Arl, Pul and the officers criticize his fake smile.

• Good chooses to come to Pino’s dream because she has the most suitable profile. Re-l certainly will not believe in such nonsense along with childish culture and he is too scared to face Vincent

• To get Vincent’s weakness is not Good’s purpose for entering Pino’s dream. From the beginning, he knows Ergo and his capabilities. He even knows how Vincent and Re-l look like. He knows he will lose to Ergo. In the beginning of the episode, Pino spills Vincent’s weakness: Vincent loves Re-l. If Good really has the intention to defeat Vincent, he will use that information. 

• The dream purpose is to prevent Vincent’s arrival. He describes the fun of Smile land to Pino. He praises Pino’s smile to lift her heart. He plants imaginative child friendship to Pino, something Pino always wants to have. He plays weak by letting himself be beaten to gain Pino’s sympathy. He even describes Ergo as a monster that burns and destroys the city. In the entire series, there is no single event where Ergo/Vincent becomes a destroyer. But these tricks are enough to make Pino to prevent Vincent goes to Smile Land.

• The pendants are very valuable for Vincent. But it is not Vincent’s weakness. 

• Arl, Pul and other dream characters do not exist. They are just Pino’s dream projection made by Good. But the city, the dome and amusement park do exist.

• Ergo/Vincent is popular among proxies. Even Good can feel him before he comes. Probably Ergo and Good used to know each other or maybe Ergo/Vincent becomes famous after MCQ show.

• Good shows that proxies can reach people’s mind without being near them. It is unknown how far the range of the ability. Good reaches Pino only when she is near his dome.

• Will B. Good is probably the sanest proxy in the entire Vincent’s journey. He keeps his citizens’ happiness even though he also hides dark truth.

• Good does not slaughter his citizens. Probably his citizens survive in the end, even though they have no clue what is going on.

• Good’s speech When two Proxies meet, they fight is true. Like Vincent, Good naturally does not want to fight. But he is pushed by his own program and beats other proxies.

• Even though this is a dream, the citizens projection is most likely true. The guests never put real smiles like Pino because they never have a hard time. They live in an amusement park where Good provides entertainment daily. They are simply numb.

• Good’s city is a reflection of Romdeau. Ergo (One and Vincent) and Good create a society in a perfectly controlled environment. Everything strays out of their purpose or function is discarded, like Hoody, Re-l, Arl and Pul. No crime or improvisation exists. Everyone is comfortable. They live a safe life and work according to their talents. But they also become numb since the city is monotonous. Ironically, the perfect system makes pseudo human lack of humanity. Ergo (One and Vincent) and Good realize this. Good chooses to leave it as it is. Proxy One chooses to destroy his shameful creation.

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