>>4259645>Rei deserved better in either case.I think the implication from the rebuild ending was that original Rei II was able to coalesce the memories and experiences of all previous and future Reis after her including the Quantum Rei which was a recurring image in all 3 main versions of the story. And that Shinji basically lets her out of that weird pocket realm to live with the rest of them in that Village. So her ending in the Rebuilds seems a tad less tragic than of that in the Manga where she gives herself up for the world to go back to normal.
But Overall yeah Rei was definitely a character that suffered a lot and was quite literally a doll to be played with by everyone from Gendo to Misato to Shinji and even Yui to some extent. Probably the least sympathized character in the series which is a bit of a shame
