It might take place:
- After the first series, which is the truth as far as we know right now.
- Before the original. Certain things like Noah's name due to what we learn of Earth in the original series and Identical Grandson looking characters, plus the mysterious nature of Nirvash and the Scub Coral can lead to this.
- In the Alternate Universe from the movie. As explained in the recap/prologue, Eureka apparently has to gather seven fragments scattered in another universe to prevent the end of the world. Unfortunately, she has to leave Renton behind...
- Some combination of time travel and alternate universes makes it 25 years after for some characters, but another time for others.
Renton wouldn't abandon Eureka and Ao over anything. We know this. However, he has yet to be mentioned and he hasn't even been seen in flashbacks. The only explanation is that he was kidnapped for some reason by something, or killed. Or perhaps it's a problem with the scub. In any case, there's something stopping him from getting back to his family, something even he can't overcome (at least without Eureka and/or Ao's help).
- Jossed. He's alive and well, but was kept busy by the other, presumably more important things. Eureka said that he was fighting something or someone, and episode 22 implies that it was some type of scub coral misuse.
- This one's a stretch, so stay with me here. Secrets claim to be the anti-bodies of the universe: they hunt for things that don't belong (Scub Coral and the Mark I's) The Scub Coral is shown to appear randomly and has existed since the early 1700's (as far as we know); this clashes with established history in that the Scub Coral was born from the wreckage of a space shuttle and some kind of extraterrestrial life in the original universe (established in the original Eureka Seven and further proven by the events of episode 14.) We know, or can assume, that before this point in the original history, Scub Coral does not exist in the original universe and thus conclude that the universe in E7 is not the same as the universe in E7: AO.
- We know from episode 13 that Renton is investigating the disappearance of the Scub Coral and used the decommissioned Gekko as part of the research, leading up to the events of the end of episode 12. With this, we can say that the Scub from E7 is disappearing into the universe of E7: AO.
- There is at least inconsistency with this theory, however. Nirvash spec2 should not exist after the events of E7. Which is really confusing since we can assume that all the events in E7 have transpired. Perhaps Renton built a new version of it.
- Confirmed by Renton in episodes 23 and 24. The Scubs from the original universe fled to many different alternate universes, including Ao's.
IFO's are said to have been reverse engineered from the original Nirvash, which was the only somewhat-sentient/intelligent LFO in the original series (barring theEND due to it's origins). Because of this, they can choose who they will start up for. With AO's message of not allowing the youth to follow in the footsteps and mistakes of the previous generation, they don't allow any "adults" to pilot them - only children are ideallic and fair enough for the IFO's to want to work.
Another point to their intelligence was revealed in a flashback in episode 3. Eureka is shown familiarizing the neo-Nirvash's key/bracelet so that it remembers Ao and allows him to pilot. It works.
- Slightly Jossed. Adults are shown to be able to pilot IFOs as well. However, children born in areas with high trapar concentration end up having better control over them. The main barrier seems to be getting the mysterious Third Engine to work, which so far only Ao has been able to do reliably.
- With what is now known about Elena, it could be possible something happened to Moondoggie and Gidget in Eureka's original timeline that forced Eureka to take Elena to this series's timeline for safety purposes.
- Jossed.
- Given the Mind Screw scenes in Episode 11, either this theory or the one above it is entirely possible.
- Jossed.
- Mostly Jossed. Generation Bleu and Christophe's intentions are genuinely sincere. However, it's their parent corporation that's a bit more unscrupulous.
- Jossed. Episode 20 pretty much confirmed that Truth is a Secret.
- Episode 22 jossed it completely, by showing us real Renton.
- Jossed.
- Or possibly the father of the Novak line...
- Seriously, though, let's look at the facts. Just before Dewey killed himself at the end of the last series, he revealed that he had a Compact Drive buried in his chest thereby implying that he had attempted to "merge" with the Scub Coral in the past. Considering that this enabled him to force Eureka to merge with the Scub Coral's Command Cluster and nearly bring about its destruction, there's a distinct possibility that traces of himself were able to live on within the Scub Coral even after his death. Now, let's switch to Eureka Seven AO where we have Truth: an Ax-Crazy White Hairlack Heart guy with an affinity for underage girls (i.e.:Naru) who is all but confirmed to be a "Secret": creatures revealed in Episode 15 to be hell-bent on ridding the world of the Scub Coral. Sound familiar?
- Maybe Jossed. Truth is confirmed to be a Secret.
- OTOH he fused with Scub, which kinda makes the above possible.
- Two things that indicate Elena might have Coralian heritage: When Generation Bleu talks about Ao's eyes in episode 5 the camera lingers on Elena for a moment. And in Episode 12, when Fleur asks Elena if she can see trapar, Elena does not say yes or no.
- It is interesting she quotes Rei Ayanami and Mikuru Asahina.
- She states pretty clearly to Ao in episode 17 that "she's the only one who understands Ao." Which if it doesn't mean she's his sister at least means she's connected to him in a significant way.
- Given her tone, It may have been an anime reference of some kind. It's just too vague to pin down.
- There's a chance it could be both a reference and foreshadowing at the same time. See above.
- Given her tone, It may have been an anime reference of some kind. It's just too vague to pin down.
- Jossed All hints are Red Herrings.
- Definitely Jossed. Ao's sister died during childbirth.
- It's Ao: Gender Bender ahoy! But it's possible the doctors were wrong, or it could be a changed caused by Eureka's time/dimension travel.
- She was miscarried: Eureka did say in Episode 13 the Scub could be dangerous for the baby.
- Given Episode 16, it's possible she was Ret Goned.
- This Eureka was from an Alternate Universe: Complicated, but possible if the Eureka that gave birth to Ao met an Alternate Universe Ivica.
- It's Elena: Thus embracing her destiny as a Rei Ayanami Expynote . The odd hair and skin-color can be explained by hair dye and tanning. Or alien genetics.
- Jossed. Suckers.
- It's Naru: Rather unlikely perhaps, but she does have strange abilities and an affinity for the Coral. Plus she is the only other person besides Ao that we've seen phantom Eureka appear to.
- At least it would explain Ao's Like Brother and Sister attitude, which landed him in so much of cold water in episode 22. Also useful for Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends.
- It's Maggie: The Trolling Creator answer. Note that she looks a lot like Eureka with hair dye.
- It's a Last Episode, New Character: The other Trolling Creator answer. Bonus points if she pilots the spec V in the opening, which practically looks like it's waving a Magic Wand around.
- Jossed in regard of spec V. Renton pilots it.
- It's Truth. Yes, incredibly far out there, but just for the lulz:
- He keeps denying vehemently that he's a secret; he claims he's from an entirely different world.
- The little truth-child (who we only see from behind) in the flashbacks would be around the right age for an older sibling of Ao's.
- Truth can transform into whatever, and so would be perfectly capable of making "herself" look like a boy.
- The secretly-a-girl, ax crazy villain has been done in other animes.
- Naru tells Ao in 22 that he and Truth are basically the same... foreshadowing perhaps?
- And the winner is miscarried! Well almost; she died shortly after she was born. But you know what, we'll take it.
- It'll be Simon's "I'm me" speech, said when she finally learns who she really is.
- Confirmed in a way. When Truth is erased from existence he reappears as an Archetype, possibly due to his being Half-Scub.
- Ao manages to fix the timeline but has to leave his friends behind to be in his correct timeframe.
- Eureka is still lost in the Time Space slip, so Ao leaves the universe to find her in Eureka Seven AO: The Movie.
- Naru has to die and 'become one with the Scub' or something along those lines to fix everything.
- There will be some kind of The Stinger at the end of the final episode that shows something still isn't quite right, or that someone lost is still out there.
- Confirmed. Lots of time travel shenanigans for the Mind Screw, and Ao returning his parents to their home universe while he's transported to a universe that may not even remember he existed for the Bittersweet Ending.
- Jossed. It's apparently called the Spec V3, combining elements of the movie's Spec V, and series Spec 3. Renton's dialogue hints that it may be the original Nirvash.
- Alternately, Elena will pilot theEND. We know that she comes from Eureka's 'verse, and we don't know who her parents are - as far we we know, it's Anemone and Dominick. Perhaps she uses it to help Ao out, while Fleur pilots with him (the way Eureka and Renton used to pilot, if the series' Second Love and/or Last Girl Wins direction is going to be true).
- This one is Jossed hard. Elena does not come from the E7 world, so there's no precedent to her being able to pilot TheEND.
- The series is certainly paced as if this is true. The action was kind of leisurely drawn-out and started picking up speed only by the end of the season.
- As of June 4, 2018, it's been roughly 6 years since the finale aired, and no such announcement has been made. Considering that the creators have moved on to making the Hi-Evolution movies, I think we can joss this one.
- Jossed considering the real Renton shows up.
- There are rumors that the show's original writer was fired or left the show early in development, meaning most of the story had to be written on the fly.
- Jossed. This is only the fate of an alternate Earth, not the original one.
- Confirmed. ONE MORE TIME shows Naru recognizing Ao and Fleur clearly identifying him.