It's amazing what good story can keep you from noticing. I never noticed something until I did the screenshots for this episode - all the "dream world" sequences are in letterbox widescreen format. I guess my brain naturally just makde the transition without me having to consciously think about the change. It made the screenshots that I use for each episode's montage difficult, but I decided to use the letterbox shots.

Summary:
The RahXephon is in trouble at the beginning of the ep: Ayato is screaming through the com, in obvious pain, while TERRA HQ is receiving danger alerts from the monitoring systems. Haruka is confused by the readings she is seeing. On the RX, Ayato is writhing in pain. The D1 moves towards the RX, and Haruka notes that the field it is emitting resembles the signal type of Tokyo Jupiter. She calls out his name as the Dolem comes closer to the RX. It restrains the RX and pulls it inside an undetectable field. TERRA is losing signal from the RX, and Haruka screams for Ayato to get out of there. It appears like the RX tries to sing, but it is enveloped by the field as it does. The D1 and the RX are lost. Haruka is distraught.

Ayato awakens inside what appears to be Tokyo Jupiter., but he cannot be sure he is really there, as when he looks in a nearby storefront window, he sees himself as still in his combat suit (while away from the window, he appears to be in his civilian clothes) He is surrounded by familiar sights, even running into Asahina and Mamoru. Interspersed with these images, there is a flash of another humanoid figure (it's hard to explain - you only see it every once in a while, for just a few frames). The people around the trio don't seem real, almost like shades of real people. Mamoru and Asahina don't seem to have noticed that Ayato was gone; they react as if he was just daydreaming and was out with them the whole time.

Mamoru convinces them to go to an arcade, where Ayato notes that it says that today's date is 7/25/2015, or back when he was inside.

(In a funny note, the 3rd place on the table is Buchi, the cat).

Later, as they walk through town, they stop to get a bite to eat. Mamoru's cellphone rings and he walks away for a moment to talk on it. While he's gone, Asahina puts her hand on top of Ayato's as they sit on the steps. Ayato looks to where Mamoru is, but he hasn't noticed. As Ayato looks back, Asahina has moved closer, saying she wishes things could stay like this. In a creepy moment, she says that Ayato has some BBQ sauce on his face... "Let me clean it off for you" as she moves closer and licks her lips. Ayato runs off.

Running through the city, he stops to rest, and notices a stuffed penguin wearing Mishima's scarf. As he watches, the penguin starts to wave, but then it pops like a balloon, which freaks Ayato out some more. Ayato runs again, we see the same humanoid figure for a moment, and Ayato finally stops, seeing Haruka in front of him. He asks her what she is doing here.

They go to a nearby bar (of some type), and Ayato asks if this place is in TJ and what year it is. Ayato continues to ask questions, but Haruka asks him why he isn't drinking. Ayato starts to drink, but insists that this is just a dream. He says he thinks it is a dream, but that its exactly like the TJ he lived in. He starts the thought "And hanging out with Asahina and Mamoru again..." which Haruka finishes "... makes the other world seem like a dream?" Ayato questions whether this is the dream, but Haruka asks him if it matters if "you're dreaming of the butterfly, or the butterfly is dreaming of you?" She continues to ask "If you believe that what you feel is real, doesn't that make it real?" She wonders why he chooses to suffer in silence if he can feel and enjoy this world. We see another flash of the odd humanoid (who seems to resemble one of the masked Mu people... it is not staggering to its feet) and flashing back, Ayato is on top of Haruka, with his hand on her breast. He pulls away, saying he's sorry, but Haruka grabs his hand and pulls him back asking him why he doesn't act like a man and stop holding back his desires just because she's older than him. She tells him to do what he wants - whatever pleases him. Ayato yells for her to stop this; that he's not restraining himself and he's not suffering in silence, but Haruka says he is lying, that this is what he wants and everyone knows it. She tells him to do it, that it's all his for the taking. Ayato pulls back, and looks at a nearby painting. In it, a long haired angel turns towards him, causing him to freak out. As he falls, Haruka gets on top of him, asking him what he desires, then asking "Can you play the music yet? Have you been tuned? Answer me." which causes Ayato to yell "No!" He flees into the street saying that he just wants to go home.

Taking the subway, Ayato gets off near his mother's home, where he rings the doorbell. His mother answers and he tells her that he is home. They're having a meal while watching TV, where Ayato comments that this isn't like her. She mentions that it has been a while since she cooked like this. Ayato is about to ask his mother a question, when he hears the TV news announcer's voice saying things like "Ayato... Ayato Kamina, can you hear me? If you can, you have to set your suit transmitter to C and give us some sign that you are alive..." TERRA is apparently calling him, but the voice is being
routed through the TV announcer, which is breaking up. Interspersed in the static, we can see the face of Reika Mishima. Just before it turns off, we can see Haruka's face for a moment after Mishima's. Maya shuts it off, saying they've been having a lot of interference. Again, we see the brief image of the Mu woman, who is getting closer to our perspective, reaching out towards the viewer.

In his room, Ayato keeps looking at his hand when his mother says he has a phone call. It's Mamoru, saying they were worried and that they'll see him in school tomorrow. Ayato lies on his bed saying that he doesn't care anymore, that this is his world and its where he belongs. He insists that he doesn't have to be scared nor feel any pain - that he doesn't have to worry about anything and as he breaks down into tears, he says "I just don't care anymore..." He then sits up and screams "Isn't that right? Isn't that what you want me to think?" He begins yelling "Leave me alone" and throwing books off the bookshelves in his room, but he soon notices that the books have no text or pictures in them - they're just blank pages. Just then, he notices his painting of Reika Mishima, and he hears her voice calling his name.

Back in "the real world", Quon is in her underwear on the floor staring into a mirror, rubbing at her lips and looking like she is terrified. Itsuki walks in, asking what she is doing and telling her to snap out of it. Quon says "No, Ollin, you can't...." In HQ, Megumi and Haruka are despondant, with Megumi telling Kim that the lifesigns on the suit keep fluctuating, going from active to negative, mostly negative. Kim tells Megumi they can't give up, but Megumi says its been several hours with no word. She picks up the headphone and yells for Ayato to answer her. She starts to cry, but Haruka picks up the headset, saying they have to let him hear the sound of their voices and that she's never giving up.

In the "dream world", Ayato hears Reika's voice saying "You must find me Ayato..." He screams out asking who she is, and for a moment he can see her, but just then Maya comes in and hugs him from behind, saying he should listen to his mother. Another flash of the Mu woman, and suddenly they're in a curtained room, with the covered Mishima painting on one side and on the other, a kid Ayato is playing with legos and his mother. They stand, watching the child Ayato play with his mother, while Maya's voice says "You are the rightful instrumentalist of the RahXephon" but says he must adhere to the score - that its too early for him to improvise when he hasn't learned to properly tune the RX. She insists that she gave birth to him and thus, he will stay with her. Another flash of the Mu woman, and when we flash back, Ayato has apparently rejected his
mother (it is left to interpretation whether he slapped her). She says he can trust her, but insists its not alright. She says she always cared for him, and he says that she never was near him nor there for him. On the floor behind them, the legos have been wrecked and the clothes of the child Ayato and younger Maya are empty. Ayato runs off, while Maya cries and says "You are my son..." before she starts speaking in another tongue.

Ayato runs, hearing the singing of Reika. He comes to a park area, where he finds Reika next to a lake, singing. He says "It was you, wasn't it?" She replies with a smile, "We do keep meeting." Ayato insists he wants to go back to the real world, to which Reika says "I don't know about that." Ayato says he can't exist in this world, that this world is sick, and he doesn't care which world is real - but he can't stay in this on, even if it might have been the world he wished for. Reika tells him that if he chooses to leave, he may have to confront some truths that he doesn't want to hear, but if he can
handle that, it might be possible to leave. She then pushes her hand into his mouth, forcing him to his knees, and pulls what appears to be a large log out of his throat. As she does so, the lake erupts, and the RX's command seat is there. Reika tells him that he may leave this place of his own will.

The throne is now inside the curtained room, but the curtain starts to lift as he sits in the seat and Reika stands in front. He thanks her for her help.

The RX's eyes open - the Dolem had a long appendage down the RX's throat (similar to the log in the dream world). The RX pulls the appendage out, freeing Ayato and the RX from the field. He quickly destroys the D1. Megumi remarks "He's incredible" then turns to see her obviously relieved sister. Ayato stares at his hand some more, then looks out at TJ.

Back at Itsuki's house, Quon is being watched and monitored by a number of medical personnel. In her delirium, Quon says "There you are, I've found you... Ollin."

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There is so much in this episode that cannot be summarized. To begin with, the conversations between characters often have a weight of tone in their voices that is open to interpretation. There's a great amount of imagery and representation in the visuals, constantly giving the viewer something to think about.

One might wonder why a Mu Dolem (assuming that's what the woman was) would set up a false world that Ayato obviously didn't fully want. Having things like Asahina seemingly try to seduce Ayato only serves to freak him out, and can only make it harder for the Dolem to control him, if that is indeed its goal.

The Haruka scene has a lot of seductive undercurrents - it is clear that there will be unresolved issues between Haruka and Ayato after his emergence.

It was interesting to see Megumi nearly as distraught as Haruka - a love triangle is definitely being set up. Will Ayato choose the older woman, or the sister of around his age?

You'll need to see most of the imagery to understand that I cannot begin to explain it all. We're left with more questions - why was Mishima in this false world, and why wasn't she a warped parody like the others. What was Maya talking about when she was so insistant that Ayato was her son and she did everything to care for him? And was this dream world a link to Tokyo Jupiter, or just a seperate reality created by the Dolem. That last part might seem cut and dry, but remember Maya's commentary in the last set of scenes in the Dream World - she doesn't sound like the musings of a Dolem trying to seduce or trick him into staying in the dream world. She sounds much more lucid in that scene.