kiajun said: is this a human riding a robot riding a robot riding a robot?
No, that's just an Aleternate Future Simon on top of a battleship in space.
0xCCBA696 said: Pretty much. That's the end of the first scene in the anime, and is followed by a series-long flashback.
Except, this is the only time in the series do we see this version of Simon. GAINAX said it's one of the possibilities Simon could have ended up as in the future, but never did.
Gainax discovered that the only thing cooler than a boy controlling a giant robot is a boy piloting a giant robot who is piloting a bigger robot who is piloting a bigger robot.
We never do get to see this scene in future episodes do we? We don't also see human form Boota serve as one of Simon's underlings, Simon does not have his trademark goggles or shades here, here in this gif he has a coat similar to that of Space Captain Harlock where as his future self wears something of a normal coat with big collars.
And in episode 26 when Simon is escaping the Anti-Spiral trap this scene is briefly shown with some of the other possibilities, hinting at this scene takes place in an parallel dimension.
The ship Simon is on top of is also different to what Cathedral Terra looked like later in the show.
Plus in the commentary for episode 1, it is mentioned by the director this is a "what if" scenario, something Simon could have turned into, but never did.
Why do you think this Simon is nicknamed by fans as Garlock and the later Simon named Starlock, they're two separate versions.
