#snk 123 meta

[peachymess]

On Eren

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Snk, you keep me up at night. It’s 7am and I can’t sleep. It just hurts too much. All the fears hitting me at once. I need the next chapter, just to further the in-verse present time. Yet at the same time, I can barely read another word or I might perish.

Listen, Eren might have had a very black-and white sort of tunnel vision all his life. He may always have been rash and headstrong and quick to decide what he deems as right and wrong. And he might come down on what he deems “injustice” very hard. But that’s not all there’s been to him. He’s also always cared about strangers in need, his friends, the freedom we’re all born with and deserve to have. He cries for people’s fates, he smiles at others’ joy.

He felt hate, yes, but he also felt love. I’m just gonna go ahead and pick a side. I refuse to accept that we’re meant to land on the far-evil side of his spectrum. If his plan is exactly what he says it is, I actually accept it as IC, because given Eren’s circumstances, we can understand what lead him to become this consumed with hate and misguided action. However, even so, I don’t think that’s where he’ll be by the end of this story. He’s swinging, and he’s gonna land somewhere closer to the middle. I’m not talking redeemed, I’m just talking understood and hopefully reawakened from his hate-consumed state - unless we’re just gonna have a straight up “this had to be done for best ending” twisteroo.

The thing is. If his plan is what he says it is, it’s nuts. But it’s *so* nuts that it’s... almost cartoony. Because not only do we get the plan like he says, it also means that the bleak as hell narrative Mikasa gave this chapter, is meant to be correct. Paraphrasing to a dangerous degree, we can sum it up like this: “Eren is a monster and I’m starting to realize he didn’t become one; he’s always been one”. This, canonized, would erase the weight of any smile, care and love Eren’s shown to give from earlier years. It would mean that beneath care for his friends and laughter at the dinner table, his thoughts and goals were so ugly and selfish that it even at that point outweighed the “shallow” good he projected into the world. Not only does that set the bar extremely low for what people we are meant to consider “evil”, but it also flips the script of the entire story to be one of hatred and fake beauty from start to finish. If we’re told Eren’s meant to be evil masked as good from the get-go, 1. If we accept it, every happy interaction looks empty and pointless as hell and strips the story of its stakes to some degree, or 2. We realize it honestly doesn’t fit because his “good” feelings being genuine is why entire plot points work and the story developed in the way it did.

What I’m trying to say is this: Mikasa’s temporary conclusion that Eren might have been a monster* all along, isn’t correct (and it’s meant to be seen as a wrong read imo). But if his plan is what he says it is, he IS one, thus her conclusion would be correct. Which it isn’t.

Side note: while I believe Eren’s plan and Mikasa’s conclusion need to coincide (plan true = M conclusion true VS plan fake = M conclusion fake), there is an argument to be had that Mikasa could be wrong about Eren always having been a monster while Eren still truly having become one by this point in time. But I don’t believe so. For instance: if Eren wasn’t a monster before but has become one now, Mikasa’s closing conclusion (him being one NOW) is still correct - but the reasoning/buildup used to arrive at that conclusion, is wrong. It would be like solving a mathematical problem incorrectly but arriving at the right answer by luck. She’s asking herself if, looking back, she can actually see the seeds of his true form, where she previously saw him through rose tainted goggles. But if he truly was a good boy before, it would be unfair (and a waste of time) to put on the table, a plot point that’s synthetically explained/constructed, when there is a true calculation/formula to the conclusion since (if) it’s correct. And the other way around, if her conclusion is right, but the plan is fake, the “monstrosity” she’s caused to reflect on, is fake to begin with, so how can she still be right he’s a monster?

So, back on track, I don’t feel like Eren is meant to end on this 100% villain note. His plan of genocide, his on-the-nose villain final titan face, PLUS Mikasa’s “sike, he’s ALWAYS been a monster”... it’s just too much evil. Especially for a story like SNK. It feels to me, like this is the “the night is darkest before the dawn” part of the story, where we go from “he’s a pure boy”** to “my god... no... he’s actually a demon boy, god help us”. Mikasa’s narrative says this, and Armin is having that exact themed melt-down when his desire to see Eren as good, physically stops being compatible with what he sees around him. They’re both so scared of acknowledging Eren’s flawed, that having to accept it, initially feels like a much bigger deal, a much longer fall from grace. So we swing with them, from one outer point to the other. Panic mode... but it won’t end there. It’s too cartoony, too black/white still. Looking back, the good times they shared, they were real. And the pain he’s later caused, is also real. But he’s not setting out to do damage for the sake of damage. He’s not evil to the core. I refuse to believe that’s what we’re meant to be left with at the end; redeemable or not, his goal isn’t pain. A lie is best wrapped in truths, and Isayama is fueling our own fear of Eren’s monstrous side by making us do callbacks to things in the past that could be seen as seeds of evil. And to a degree he’s right. Eren is violent. To be honest, it never say well with me how he killed those men at age nine. I understood the “the end justifies the means” aspect of it, and I think that’s why I was able to let it slide despite the discomfort. Yet it never quite... fell to rest. A nine year old being able to stab other humans to death with no remorse and such violent words... should a nine year old child be able to do that, even if it’s for the greater good? I’m sure I’m not alone. And Isayama intended it this way, to be able to do this callback. It spreads uncertainty. You start to buy into it... Becayse it’s true to some degree: it’s messed up. Your regular kid couldn’t do something like that... But it’s not proof that Eren is evil through and through. It’s just presented in such a way that it makes for a compelling argument. And in the heat of the moment, it provides the “holy shit fuck” the story needs to make the stakes as severe as possible. Taking a step back, I refuse to believe it’s a true revelation, but an intensional gaslighting of his person, presented so we’ll swallow the bait. Eren having always been a monster incubating, is too cartoony to be the final note.

So the question becomes: is the plan true or false? Depending on the answer, we’ll have three different proceedings. In neither scenario, he’s means to be the evil monster he’s seen as right now, though. If the plan is true, he’s become this way through being misguided and lost in perpetual hate and pain caused by all the knowledge and visions. With this backdrop, EMA/SC will have to either take him out despite realizing/finding out the pain that corrupted him - so not hating him but having to end him all the same. Or, they manage to win through to him by countering the hate with love (he could still die though, we might be past the point of no return, ngl).

On the other hand, if Eren’s been playing the long game and about to throw them for a loop, the cast members will all learn this in time and come to accept the bittersweet outcome that after all will be the best ending they can ask for in a world with so much hate. Eren can still die, I’m not delusional (but here’s hoping he won’t).

*when I use the term “monster” - and “evil”/“villain” - I’m pinning that to a personality that intends harm with the end goal of harm. Just because he’s not a monster (if this turns out to be the case), that doesn’t mean he isn’t still in the wrong, antagonistic, irredeemable for actions done in the name of good, etc. This ramble meta is about Eren being a conscious agent of pain versus a bringer of pain yet an agent of “good” (not considering his performance as an agent of such).

**He was already tainted from the attack in Liberio, so while I say “pure boy”, I mean in terms of us/the characters still seeing him as originally good (possibly - but “I refuse to believe it” - bad).

Edit: while I say at the start that if the plan is true, he’s a monster, and later say it could be true and he’s still not a monster for it, what I mean is this: if the plan is true in the sense that he knows how evil and selective it is, and will fight for it till the end, then yes, he turned out to be the monster that Mikasa correctly realized him to be. If, on the other hand, erens goal isn’t the pain but the greater good, he’s a misguided “good boy” who caused more bad than good out of mistake. If this is the case, I also believe he will realize it before the end, to swing that morality pendulum back towards the middle. Hope that clears it up. It’s about intent.

Thus concludes my late night/early morning rambles. I’ve said it before, I’m fine with anyone calling me a naive idiot for still holding out hope, but I’m just not accepting that Eren going full Satan and us accepting that “surprise, he always was Satan” is what Isayama wants to leave us with.

Isayama say sike right now.

#snk #snk 123 #eren yeager #snk meta #snk 123 meta #’you never go full retard’ to quote a good movie lol #save me jesus

[lenok993]

I don't think this AU timeline exists and I explain why. As we know Grisha killed the Reiss family and stole the Founder Titan but he was influenced by beheaded Adult! Eren. If Eren from ch. 123 ran away with Mikasa he would never meet Ymir Fritz in PATHS. He would never travel into Grisha's memories. And he would never become the vessel for two titan powers of the Founder Titan and the Attack titan. Their decision created a time paradox. Maybe that's the main reason why Mikasa had her headaches, because her mind feels this paradox. This circle should exist, both of them should accept their destinies. Maybe these warm memories is Ymir's gift for Eremika, because she knows they both love each other and they deserve to know it.

#snk #snk meta #snk theory #mikasa ackerman #eren yeager #eremika #time paradox #mikasa's headaches #angst #my 2 cents #grisha yeager #zeke yeager #ymir fritz #if this au exists well then isayama doesn't know how time travels work #but i hope he knows #paths #snk 138 #snk 123 #snk 122 #snk 121 #slave of the story

[cosmicjoke]

Man, I love chapter 123 of SnK!  It’s really the last time we get to see every, core member of the SC together and not at odds, and there’s something incredibly bitter sweet about that.  I won’t talk about all the events in this chapter, or Eren’s behavior or motivations, because I know they’ve been discussed at length already, and since we already know how that all turns out, there’s no point.

One thing I want to talk a little about though is how it’s in this chapter where I think we really start to see a kind of open, deeply vulnerable despair in Levi.  I want to talk about why I think we really start to see that here.

In the scene following the incident with Ramzi, after Levi saves him from the angry mob, the SC members are all at Azumbabito’s estate, discussing what they overheard the crowd saying, about blood testing and their expressions of hatred and fear for the Eldian’s.  This was the SC’s first, real glimpse of the kind of prejudice held against their kind by the outside world, their first time really seeing it in action, and how deep it runs.

Levi’s expression in these panels strikes me as the most resigned, really, as the saddest, along with Hange I supposed, and I think it’s really important, and interesting.  Hange I think because they’re in charge of this mission, and the weight of its success rests on their shoulders.  But the reason for Levi is, I think, different.  It’s kind of easy, through the course of the story, to forget where Levi comes from, and what his background is.  He’s the only one there who came from the Underground City.  And the Underground was a place where the unwanted, rejected, disowned people of society within the walls went.  These were people who didn’t hold citizenship above ground.  A subset of people who experienced, every day of their lives, very real prejudice and tangible rejection from society.  They weren’t allowed to live above, would be deported back Underground if they attempted to leave, unless they were able to buy their way up, which of course most of them couldn’t hope to ever do.  They were, within the Walls, second-class citizens, or even less, considering they weren’t afforded the recognition of citizenry even.  And so, Levi, being from this place, being born into a place where he was automatically denied the rights and privileges and benefits of every person born above ground, born into a situation in which he was, through no fault or action of his own, deemed an undesirable, a pariah, determined to be a lesser being, by simple dint of his birth, he has here a unique understanding of what it is they’ve all just experienced.  Levi is really the only one among them who understands what it feels like to be prejudiced against, and how pervasive and impossible to overcome those prejudices can be.  I think this is why, while most everyone else in this scene looks almost angry, and even affronted, or just neutral, Levi has such a look of despair and resignation on his face.  He understands the pain of prejudice, because he lived a literal lifetime of it, for longer than most of the people in that room have even been alive.  

I think this also played a part in why Levi was the first and only one to act when the mob around them started really threatening Ramzi, picking him up and running.  Again, because of his experiences growing up, no doubt having been through something similar in terms of being regarded by others as somehow less than human, somehow less deserving of humane treatment, etc...  again, simply by dint of his birth.  Levi understood the danger of the situation, and how rapidly it was growing in danger, before anyone else, and he acted.  I don’t think it can be overstated at all, how important and meaningful is Levi’s experience with prejudice, with being treated as a second-class citizen, with being treated like a lesser being.  He’s really the only member of the SC who’s dealt with these things before, who lived such an experience before, and not for a short time, but for the majority of his own life.  It really allows Levi a unique ability among all of them to comprehend the battle they’re all facing, and a unique ability to understand the consequences and trauma one suffers from experiencing genuine prejudice.  It’s one reason I scoffed at Zeke’s proclamation that Levi could never understand what he’d experienced growing up, or what he understood about the world, because out of everyone in the SC, it was Levi who could have understood best of all.  But of course, Zeke never gave him the chance to even try.  

Also, Levi saving Ramzi was just such a genuinely heartwarming thing to witness.  Actions speak louder than words, and Levi’s actions always betray his soft heart.  I also think it’s interesting that he stops Ramzi from stealing Sasha’s purse, but then when Ramzi later steals his own, Levi just shrugs it off and says he doesn’t care anyway.  He doesn’t want Sasha to lose her spending cash, because she, along with the other members of the 104th, are all having such a good time, buying food from all the stalls, etc...  Levi is looking out for Sasha here, and wants all of the kids to have a good time, and at the same time, isn’t thinking about himself having a good time at all.  Levi really just gives off the impression here of severing as a supervising adult, haha.  He doesn’t show any real interest or concern with this big, new world around them, with all these things none of them have ever seen or experienced.  Instead, he tells Eren, Armin and Mikasa to “stay with the group”, observes with unease how Connie and Sasha and Hange are making too big a deal out of seeing a car, and how it’s drawing unwanted attention to them, keeps Sasha from being robbed, etc...  People make jokes all the time about Levi being a “parent” to the 104th, but it’s because he DOES act like a parent, his main concern being the safety and well being of his group.  I just think it’s incredibly sweet and endearing.  Levi’s just such a good person.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #Levi Ackerman #snk 123 #meta #thoughts

[aot-squad]

When Yalena said "you can't take violence away from people, right captain?" He truly felt that!

Violence is a big part of Levi character from the beginning and we all know by now the reason why, it’s because of his childhood in the underground city.

It's just his opinion, but it's also a fact! If there was another, more peaceful choice, do you think Eren wouldn't have chosen it?

━ You can't take violence away from people, right captain?

Who knows the answer more than a man sees violence as a method of discipline?

Levi early youth violence meant power and power meant survival! he has been around an environment of violence, abuse, and murder for a long, long time until it become a big part of his character.

I can see what you did there Yams and by returning to Eren, the answer is NO!

Just look at the fear in his face while taking about thousands of Titans crushing everything under their foot!

If there was another, more peaceful choice, Eren would gladly take it, but he has the memories of his father Grisha and Kruger so he knows that Marley/the world fear/hate them because they believe that they are all Devils, monsters that can turn into titans with the power to destroy the world.

Eren in the past used to see himself as a monster who has the power to fight other monsters (Titans), and day by day, he begins to discover that monsters are humans themselves!

Eren indeed went out with them to the outside world, but only to let them (Levi, Hanji & his friends) see with their own eyes the world's real view on them, because he already knows that.

He wasn't exited like them, because nothing was new for him. Everything is the same, and to make matters worse, upon their arrival to Marley for a peace summit, they faced a wave of hatred towards them.

There really was no other way. Eren and the Paradis Island had exhausted every possible option. Talking to the enemy will not help. They didn't want to fight, but the rest of the world believe it otherwise.

The entire world was against this small island.

I wonder what Levi has in his mind, because I don't see him showing anything indicates to us that he's against Eren.

Levi is a man who is capable to resort to violence as an option, and as for Eren’s point of view, violence might be the only way for the world to really unite.

I mean, would we have seen the development of Magath character in Snk chapter 128 if he hadn't been united with Levi and his squad + Hanji because of him? To stop him?

I can see it now! Eren is putting on a show of him being the bad guy/the villain like Levi did in the court, and this reminds me of some of his lines from the visual novel: Burning bright in the forests of the night

It was not just for show.

Being a soldier demands for haste, and he largely agrees.

Time is always ticking.

There is a time limit for choices.

While one hesitates, the choices become more and more limited.

And the right answer is never known until the very end.

So is Eren right or wrong?

Is there another choice?

I'll let you take a guess, but first you need to take a look at what Levi think about this matter:

That’s it. That’s exactly it.

Let all of them see the monster in you.

What is needed is not a lecture.

There is no time for words to make these fat, dull pigs living within the Walls understand.

What is needed is a lesson.

It’s to let fear take root.

Now, Eren Yeager is the enemy of peace. soon to become one of the world's greatest fears!

So, is Eren right or wrong? Bad or good? I say he’s neither. From the very beginning, Isayama has made it clear that in the world of SnK no one is really good or bad. No one is right or wrong. They are just humans with different ideologies and opinions.

It’s either die or fight for your freedom, and Eren chooses to fight for it, no matter how much violent he would use.

Thank you for reading, I truly needed to say that and more ❤

I hope we can get Eren pov soon and to know more about Levi thoughts.

#snk 128 #snk 123 #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #aot #snk #snk spoliers #levi ackerman #levi heichou #eren jaeger #eren yeager #snk meta #goes for #snk 130

[aspoonofsugar]

How do you interpret the scene when eren is asking mikasa about her feeling? You think he was hoping for a confession ? And do you think he ever considered her having romantic feelings for him?

Hi! I've been reading SnK pretty casually so far and it's backfired on me because I don't understand much of what's going on now lol. What I'm most clueless about is Mikasa's response and how "things would've turned out differently" had she told Eren she loved him. What would've changed? What does a declaration of love have to do with this? Sorry about the dumb question and thanks in advance!            

Hello anons!

Your asks can be answered together and they also give me the chance to share some thoughts on the chapter, so I hope you won’t mind if I use them for this.

First of all, I think that it is important to say that this chapter was what cruel, but beautiful means in a nutshell. As the meta I have just linked shows the theme of the beauty and cruelty of the world is a theme connected to Mikasa’s character and it is one of the major themes of the series.

This chapter explores it once more:

The chapter opens with Mikasa finally facing what she has been trying to supress throughout the whole arc, i.e. that Eren has always had a violent side since when he was a child:

Basically, she is finally being honest with herself, while at the beginning of the arc she was still defending Eren:

However, as this chapter shows she (together with Armin) has been feeling Eren drifting away for a while now, but she has simply refused to accept it:

However, because of Eren’s actions in chapter 112 and her current situation Mikasa has reached a realization and she has now become able to see Eren more clearly. Of course, even if she is more aware of it, she has still trouble acting over this new sense of awareness:

In the chapter itself she and Armin (despite both knowing deep down what Eren is up to) are still negating it and they are still trying to reassure each other about the fact that Eren is on their side. However, what they are missing is that it is not important whose side Eren is on (because yeah, Eren is not on Zeke’s side and he is definately acting to save Paradis), but if they can and want to be on Eren’s side at all. It is not about what Eren has chosen, but about what they themselves will choose.

That said, Mikasa’s POV is more complex than simply her recognizing Eren’s negative traits. As a matter of fact, by better understanding these traits she comes to better understand Eren as a person and she doesn’t lose the awareness that together with these traits Eren has still positive ones:

This is the panel the second anon asked about and it is representative exactly of this duality. The panel shows both Eren’s violent and cruel side and his warmer and kinder side. So, what Mikasa is saying here is that Eren was not born to necessarily become a demon and that up until the very end he had a choice and the chance to become someone different. Mikasa especially remembers that short moment between them because it is retrospectively clear that in that moment Eren was hesitating and suffering and was on the brink of making a final choice:

Here, Eren is crying because he recognizes himself in that child and his family. That child has lost his freedom because of the war, just like Eren, Mikasa and Armin did. However, even if Eren sympathizes with him, he is considering killing him together with the rest of the world. This is why Eren is in pain and in that moment of pain he is asking Mikasa for some kind of reassurance. Basically, Eren is asking for connection and Mikasa wonders what would have happened if she had managed to give him the connection he was striving for.

In a sense, the scene can be seen as a parallel to what happened here:

In the scene above, Eren hates himself and is about to give up, but Mikasa’s words manage to get through him and make him be willing to stand up again and to fight. (This scene also answers to one of the questions of the first anon. Eren might know that Mikasa has feelings for him because of this, or at least he might suspect it. Either way, it is not clear).

However, in chapter 123, this doesn’t happen because, differently from what happened in the Clash of the Titans arc, Mikasa is not able to be honest and direct with what she feels. If anything, she goes back to her comfort zone:

Despite her clearly being in love with Eren, she is not able to act on her feelings and to make their relationship progress. This can be seen as her putting up some kind of resistance to the idea of growing up and of letting go of the status quo to embrace a new one. This is also why her answer of Eren being family, despite highlighting familial love on her part, leaves both her and Eren unsatisfied. In a sense, it is an answer which is linked to the past and not to a possible future. And we, as readers, know that what has been bugging Eren is precisely a specific future he saw and which he is not able to ignore.

Basically, in the panel where Mikasa compares the two sides of Eren she is regretting the fact that they were not able to build a different future and she highlights that the present she is experiencing was not really bound to happen because Eren is a person and as a person he has always had different sides.

Mikasa’s convinction may be important for two different reasons.

1) It is a perspective which is not fatalistic and so it might contrast with the one Eren has apparently currently embraced according to which he is trying to realize a specific future he has seen.

2) It ties very well with one of the themes of the manga which is the necessity of understanding monsters and why they are born.

The chapter is called The Devils of Paradis Island and it ends in this way:

Eren’s design is very clearly meant to resemble a devil and he is clearly embodying all the fears the rest of the world has about Paradis and its inhabitants.

However, the chapter clearly shows us that Eren is still a person and not only that. It clearly shows that he is acting the way he is also because of what other people did:

The series starts by presenting us an enemy which was impossible to understand and which was representative of the cruelty of the world. The titans represented nature and its incredible strength and cruelty. The people with their connections represented beauty.

However, right now we are shown beauty and cruelty within the same person. Eren who is for Mikasa the symbol of human connection wants to wipe out humanity and he probably wants to do so in the name of those same connections Mikasa cherishes.

In conclusion, we can say that the chapter explores two main themes.

1) The beauty and cruelty of the world.

2) How monsters are born.

It does so through Mikasa and Eren’s relationship and it also suggests a vision of the world (Mikasa’s) which thinks things could have turned out differently.

I think that this chapter can be seen as the conclusion of the 104th’s discussion about Eren which has kept going throughout the arc and that started with Armin’s pov (chapter 106).

This chapter is actually very similar to Armin’s one because it shows happier times and how Eren has been struggling. It also clearly establishes that both Mikasa and Armin had realized Eren’s struggles, but refused to aknowledge and to address them in time and this is among the reasons which led to the current situation.

The two chapters are also important because they show that both Armin and Mikasa have to stop definying themselves in relation to Eren. They must stop following him and become their own people. To be more precise, Armin must accept that he and Eren’s ideals do not match and must act according to what he believes to be right and Mikasa must face and accept her complicated feelings for Eren and act on them of her own free will.

I hope this helped and sorry for my ramblings. Thank you for the asks!

#snk 123 #snk #snk meta #mikasa ackerman #eren jeager #eremika #asksfullofsugar #anonymous

[linkspooky]

See You Later, Eren

With all the time travel shenanigans lately we still have not got an explanation for the first scene in the manga, despite these chapters having already been connected to the present day (to you, 2000 years from now, from you, 2000 years ago). Due to the structure of the final arc paralelling the first arc, I believe that the meaning of Mikasa’s words will be revealed in either the final chapter, or the penultimate chapters leading up to the final. In other words these are Mikasa’s first words to Eren in the manga, and they will also be her last. Because these are the words she’ll say to him right after she kills him. 

EXPLANATION UNDER THE CUT.

1. Mikasa and Eren

There’s a reason that I believe it will be Mikasa to deal the final blow that stops Eren, that puts him down before he destroys the world and not Armin even though Armin is the “hero” of the story. The reason is Mikasa’s arc has always centered around Eren in a way that Armin’s hasn’t. Armin will always care more about the world then Eren, because he has things he believes in besides fighting the titans and survivings, he has dreams and the ability to see the greater picture. 

Armin’s role also isn’t to grow into someone like Eren or Mikasa who can take the big titan down all by themselves. In fact, him acting like this with Bertolt is something that while it won them the battle almost got himself killed.

It’s actually not that much of a change to his core character for Armin to sacrifice himself and fight head on with his own hands. In fact, he’s even willing to do this around people he considered his past friends. He was the one to expose Annie and suspect her first. The only real significant change is that Armin will have to break his denial over who Eren is, but if the choice was between Eren and the whole world from the start Armin would have always chosen the world over Eren. Armin’s not supposed to grow into a hero in the same sense that Eren and Mikasa want to be, by fighting things head on himself. He’s always been set up to become a demon like Erwin, that is make choices that will get other people killed and have confidence and live with those choices rather than constantly waffling and second guessing his chioces. 

Armin has regressed to his worst traits, that is letting his low self esteem constantly make him question his own decisions. At his worst he’s afraid to choose anything, because he doesn’t even want to decide, because deciding makes him responsible for the people he lost as a result of his decision. Armin killing Eren in a physical fight won’t really fix any of that. What he needs to do is lead, not attempt to do everything himself, or sacrifice himself so he’ll be the only one hurt. He’s the hero of the story, but he also needs to grow into a demon in a sense. 

Whereas, Mikasa’s arc has always centered around Eren for better or worse. Armin would choose the world over Eren, Mikasa would choose Eren over the world. 

To phrase this in terms of “Wants and Needs” which is one of the most basic ways to express the central tenets of a characters arc. Usually a character starts the story wanting something, only to get denied what they want and realize instead what it is they need. Or sometimes a character is given what they want, only to have it cause them to regress because it’s not what they need. 

Eren wants to stop being a person and exist for the idea of freedom. What he needs is to learn to be a person and accept the love of the people around him and see them as their own individual people too. In that sense, Eren is given what he wants after the timeskip, he’s powerful and cunning enough that he finally can win almost every fight he enters, takes other people’s agency rather than having his own taken, and powerful enough to stand up on his own and he becomes the major mover of the world rather than being moved by it, however that also means he severely regresses as a person and loses what he needs, his friends who used to surround him. 

What Mikasa wants is to always be close to Eren and never be separated from him. What she needs is to be her own person. This is set up as early as the Trost arc, and no Mikasa is not being slow in her character development because literally every single character is regressing to the major problem set up in the Trost arc, Eren wants to fight alone, Armin has no confidence in himself, Mikasa has to learn how to live even without Eren. 

Mikasa wants to live for the sake of Eren, to live vicariously through Eren as he was the one who showed her that the world was beautiful but that’s not living. Mikasa’s want has been denied to her again and again throughout the story.

Ironically the reason Mikasa is so capable, the reason she is strong and confident in ways Eren just couldn’t be at the start of the manga was because she never made any decisions for herself, and therefore never struggled with her choices or her decisions. It’s easy to do things if you say you’re doing them for the sake of others and therefore never have to hesitate. Mikasa believes the person who gives her a place to live in the world is Eren, and therefore she cannot survive without him. All of the beauty of the world and all of its ugliness are all tied up in Eren.

Eren and Mikasa’s relationship is beautifully complex. It’s not just onesided on Mikasa’s part, they are both codependent to each other in a way. The current Mikasa and Eren would not exist without one another because they have always relied on each other to survive. The thing is, while Eren always runs off, he’s always subconsciously relied on Mikasa to follow him and cover his back. He rebuffs her and pushes her away, but Eren also knows that she’ll chase him. From eren picking fights with bullies only to have Mikasa cover his back, to Eren ambushing Marley and knowing Mikasa would show up and save him and trusting her to do that when he started losing the battle fighting on his own. 

Eren loves and needs Mikasa to see himself as a person. She has always been the relationship that connects himself to his own humanity. Mikasa not only humanizes him, but she’s also the only one that can make him second guess his actions and what becoming the enemy of the world means he can’t be a human or by Mikasa’s side anymore. Mikasa makes him realize his own desires to be loved and accepted for the weak coward that he is, rather than having to be someone strong who always fights alone. However, at the same time Eren also resents Mikasa for making him feel this way, for making him feel so human. He hates that he always has to rely on someone, that he always has to be around her because it makes him feel inferior. I would say the resentment is mutual too on Mikasa’s part, as much as she loves him there’s a lot of negative emotions built up. She resents him for always running away from her, for not giving her what she wants. 

At the same time Eren is the person who first showed Mikasa there was warmth in the world, and treated her like a human when she was about to be sold by slavers. Mikasa wraps up all her personhood in Eren, but at the same time that makes her see Eren less and less as a person and more as a symbol. Which is why she can’t ever come to term with her feelings, she’s so afraid of losing their current relationship she can’t risk any change at all, even if it would be a positive one with her feelings being returned. It’s almost like Mikasa doesn’t want Eren to love her back in the same sense, because she doesn’t need it in her own mind, not really, she’s always been content loving him at a distance. Loving the idea of Eren has been enough to motivate her up until now.

But if Mikasa does not live on as a person, for her own sake and not Eren’s she can’t love him properly. She can’t really love him as a person separate from her unless she first takes that step back and realizes. Mikasa is so confused about her own feelings because she doesn’t want to think about them, doesn’t want to experience them, she just wants to feel for Eren, not herself. But that stands in the way of what she wants to do which is love Eren and be loved. What she’s wanted ever since the day he wrapped that scarf around her was the genuine human connection that that scarf represents.

It’s something that she realized all the way back in Trost, that she has to find a way to live without Eren. That’s what she needs. However, Mikasa doesn’t want to. Which becomes the source of her regression. 

Which is why the decision to kill Eren is so central to the development that she needs to go through. It’s even been set up by several different foreshadowing. One, Eren calls MIkasa a slave and the only way for slave to be liberated is by killing their masters, the people who seek to control them. Which is what Eren is doing right now, robbing her of her own agency and not letting her make decisions in the name of protecting her.

Eren is the one who called her a slave. Eren is the one who will die, freeing her. The breaking of their relationship is so necessary for Mikasa as a character that she’s already completely reevaluated the way she views things just from being separated from Eren. Mikasa, the one who wanted to believe in Eren the most is the also the first one to realize how misplaced her feelings for Eren were. 

This is exactly where her arc is taking her, realizing Eren is not the person he thought she was. Mikasa is coming the closest to realizing that Eren’s true form and that she has been seeing a different side of him all along. 

Which is why Mikasa has been reevaluating and remembering the first scene where they met. Their relationship is written so the begnnings and ends parallel one another. 

Eren showed her two things, the first being his violent murder of the two men attempting to enslave her, and the second being the beautiful connection. The world is ugly, and yet beautiful. This time Mikasa is having her agency stolen again, but not by slavers, but rather by the boy who once rescued her. This time Eren has taken the place of the slavers, trying to steal away from freedom of others for his own goals.

Therefore, to free herself Mikasa needs to do what Eren encouraged her to do in the scene. To take the knife, and fight back, fight for her own freedom by killing the enemy in front of her. Even if this time the enemy is the person she loves. No, because she loves him she must be his enemy. The scene is a reversal of their first meeting, instead of being the helpless girl Mikasa must take knife in hand and show Eren the cruelty of the world and also it’s beauty. 

2. An Ugly, yet Beautiful Relationship

The story has always framed Mikasa’s love for Eren as a complex thing. Despite it being the source of her strength, it is also, something that denies her from accomplishing what she needs to. Mikasa always fails in critical moments with consequences because of how she rushes after Eren. She cannot stop Annie from kidnapping him and it results in Levi getting hurt, she fails to stop Reiner and Bertolt from taking him. Mikasa’s desire to put Eren before everything else in the world is something the story consistently denies her and that leads to her failure. Her codependency with Eren, has never been a good thing and always is framed as a flaw. As beautiful as the connection between them is, it’s also ugly. It’s a metaphor for the pain, but also the comfort of all human connection itself. Mikasa’s desire is to connect, Armin’s is the world, Eren’s is freedom from everything. 

The same way what Eren wants is naive, a freedom that means he’s allowed to do absolutely everything and he’s so strong he has total control over everything and therefore never has to lose another person again, Mikasa is just as naive. What she wants is a connection that will never hurt her, and never fray or break. The reason the red scarf represents the red string is because it’s just as naive, it’s a fantasy about being destined to be with another person and always be by their side, and always following them no matter where they go or how you are separated. Mikasa’s desire is to be always tied to another person, but that comes at the cost of being her own person. 

That’s why the idea that her love for Eren is not her own, but rather a product of being an Acerkman shakes her so much. Because Mikasa deep down knows she needs to love Eren as a person, and also needs her feelings to be her real, and owned by her alone. Even when she was on the brink of death she realized that if she died, the memory of Eren would not be able to live on with her. 

Which is why Mikasa parallels Levi so heavily, because Levi also had to make this choice as well. He had to be confronted with who Erwin was as a person, the good and the bad and choose to let him die instead of continuing to be by his side. 

The only way Levi could ever understand Erwin such an important person to him was not by forever being by his side, but instead telling him to die and continue to live on in Levi’s memory. 

Levi lost the person most important to him, but he also gained understanding for who that person truly was. He was finally able to reconcile his feelings for him. Levi finally saw Erwin as a person, and not just a demon he had to rely on. He also realized that everyone was actively making him into a demon and denying him as a person, and Erwin himself was responding by diminishing his own personhood. 

Erwin is given solace and allowed to die as his own person, rather than having to continue to be the devil. Which also, parallels Eren’s own situation greatly because Eren WANTS to become the devil because at this point he believes it’s the only way for him to protect his friends. He no longer allows himself to be his own person the same way Erwin did, and no longer lets himself be loved as a person. 

The reason the only deaths in the series that are shown to be freeing are Erwin and Kenny’s is because they literally spent their entire lives NOT BEING PEOPLE, the same way that Eren is trying so hard to deny himself as a person right now. The only choice they get really is the choice of death, because they made all their other choices for the sake of other people. 

Which is where we return to Eren once more. Eren denies himself as a person and wants to become a devil, a special existence that can hold the fate of the world in his hands, but at the same time he needs, craves, to be loved as a person. To be accepted for the weak person he is rather than the strong person he pretends to be. Which is why Mikasa sees this moment as so cirtical. 

It’s entirely possible that Eren had made up his own mind at this point, that he was already going to commit to the plan, but the reason Mikasa believes this to be the critical juncture where the path split off is because what Eren is asking here. He’s asking her specifically, do you love me as a person? or do you love me out of obligation? The one person who loves him as a person, Eren is having doubts and is trying to reconfirm his humanity in the face of everything he is about to throw away to become a devil.

The same way Mikasa bases her entire personhood around Eren, Eren’s humanity and his connection to the beauty of the world has always been in Mikasa’s hands. She has always represented the connections he needs, but the one he denies himself.

Which is why Mikasa sees this as the critical point, regardless of whether or not what she had said would have made a different. Because Mikasa realizes now, all along she wasn’t seeing Eren as a person. Wasn’t loving him as a person. Which prevented her from truly loving him or acting on his feelings. 

The only way Mikasa can love Eren as a person is to be his enemy, to confront him for what he is now, and what she realizes he’s been all along. She has to confront the ugliest side of Eren, instead of only looking at the beauty of their bond. 

Both Eren and Mikasa are blind now. Eren has forgotten about the beauty of the world that Mikasa represents, and Mikasa has forgotten until just now about the ugly and violence of the world that Eren represents by only focusing on the beauty, which is why they need a confrontation with each other to be able to see both. 

Mikasa needs to remember Eren violently murdering those slavers like they were not even human beings and the fact he went out of his way to kill people. Eren needs to rembmer the action of himself wrapping the scarf around Mikasa and how that connection did more to save her than his violence for her sake ever did. 

3. See You Later Eren

This is going to be a short conclusion to my post, and also offer a prediction. Why do I think “See you later” is going to be said after Mikasa kills Eren. For two reasons, one Mikasa has been the one to deal the final blow on two of Eren’s biggest foils, Annie and Reiner, and this is also exactly how she says goodbye to them before killing them.

Mikasa fights two Eren foils. Armin takes down Bertolt. Armin’s enemy is himself. Mikasa’s enemy has always been Eren, which is why choosing to oppose him, and therefore choosing her own personhood is so central to her arc. 

As established by Eren, the Ackerman’s are connected to and can open the paths in the same way that the royal family, and those connected to the control coordinate are. Which is why I believe, in conjunction with Mikasa’s literally directly stating that she could have chosen to take a different path that after killing Eren, the two of them will be dragged into the paths the same way Zeke was with Eren after Eren lost his head.

That by killing him first Mikasa will show Eren the ugliness of the world, it’s violence, but at the same time she will be the one to comfort him and give himself peace and reassurance that while he was alive he was loved as a human. Which is what she needs to do to become her own person, because all along she has asserted that her strength is not hers alone, but Eren, her decisions are not hers alone but done for the sake of Eren.

Mikasa has to tell Eren once again that there is a kind boy still inside of him, he’s still the one who promised to wrap the scarf around her, and helped her out when she was cold. But the only way for her to do that is by finally confronting his ugliness and letting go of him. 

Mikasa will kill Eren, but then in the paths remind him of the beauty of the world he tried so hard to destroy. Allowing Eren to die as himself, as a person who was loved instead of the enemy of the world. Allowing Mikasa to finally love Eren as a person like she’s always wanted to rather than loving the idea of him. Eren will die but Mikasa will finally be able to live on as her own person. 

Which is what Eren should truly desire ultimately. The freedom of the ones he loves. Their happiness. Even if he can’t be around in their lives. Mikasa’s last words for him are “See you Later” not “Goodbye” because even if Eren is no longer in her life, she’ll be able to see him again, her love for him, her memories for him will not disappear but rather continue on in the world even after his death. 

#aot meta #eren jaeger #mikasa ackerman #levi ackerman #attack on titan meta #shingeki no kyojin meta #eremika #the paths #snk 123 #aot 134

[yaboylevi]

Levi's distance from Eren

Since I'm not ready to touch the moral dilemma of the chapter yet, and anyway everyone is talking about ships, I'll just do the same - though, it's really not, I'm writing this as a character relationships' analysis.

Let me just preface this by stating that I am a little disappointed in everyone's blindness to Eren's sadness and...deep discomfort and depression, especially because he looks haunted in so many moments. Mikasa has had problems in the past with recognizing Eren's true emotions, so I may be more lenient with her than with Armin. However, Mikasa asked questions to Eren's cryptic statements, while at times it felt like Armin wanted to forcefully ignore Eren's sad comments. As for the others...well, whatever, their emotional relationship with Eren never really had any particular focus aside from short glimpses, and failure (e.g. in the Reiss cave). Aside from Levi. And Historia, who's not there.

Also, I get it that this is from Mikasa's perspective, so it focuses on what she saw and the events she attended to, therefore there may have been more instances where the others tried to get into Eren's head, but I am particularly dumbfounded at Levi's lack of involvement - although it is a recurrence in the time skip years in general, it seems. I can't wrap my head around this sudden change, like I've been wondering if it's "character development", if it's Isayama giving up on this duo's interesting interactions, if it's a matter of povs, or if there is something hidden there...about Levi's distance from Eren.

Especially when this below (heavily cut, the scenes were way longer) used to be Levi's level of attention, care, involvement - call it however you want - when it came to Eren feeling down.

Female Titan Arc:

Uprising Arc:

Again, Uprising Arc:

The Reiss cave, Uprising Arc:

Post RtS:

Etcetera... See how, in general, oftentimes Eren's friends+Hange don't know what to say/how to make Eren feel better in these situations, or straight up don't realize what Eren's been going through? (I'm not saying this is always the case, ofc!)

Yet, Levi always paid attention when he was present, and lent an ear or gave a word of advice.

Now, both in the flashbacks of the timeskip and the current timeline, he doesn't even speak with Eren. I'm guessing it's because all of these flashbacks are always told from someone else's perspective, but still...other characters have a voice in the matters at hand AND also when it comes to Eren. Not Levi, not anymore.

And something else that bothered me in chapter 123 was, how Levi, who is supposed to be Eren's bodyguard by choice, almost never even spared Eren a glance, even though they were undercover in enemy territory. He simply tells him "don't walk separated from the group".

We have seen how protective he acted during the time skip in Paradis, to the point that it seems all of the 104th were appointed to guarding Eren when Levi was busy elsewhere...

So I find it kinda weird how Mikasa seems to be the only one concerned with Eren's safety, in chapter 123, Levi merely calling Eren (and Mikasa and Armin) out once, never even realizing Eren isn't there with them anymore, when keeping him safe was supposed to be Levi's priority, his appointed mission. It's just...cold. And inexplicable, to me.

Like half of Levi's personality is missing.

#ereri #snk 123 #what has happened to Levi's character? #things just don't add up #add to this his ''we will talk later eren'' that was forgotten #i want to think Levi's pov is still partially hidden #snk #snk spoilers #snk analysis #snk meta #ereri meta

[marley-warriors]

Snk: The Ending- Eren the tragic Hero

I have finally gathered my thoughts and want to share what I believe might be the ending to snk.

Now just because I believe this too be a possible ending does not mean I love it or wish for it, it is simply the ending that I think is presenting itself.

I never thought Eren would go this far. Its not at all like him, so I don’t believe that he is the endgame villain. This is snk after all. Everything, including the characters and stories are morally grey. There is no hero, and there is no villain. It would make no sense for Eren to be a fully fledged villain by the end of this story.

Eren’s plan and motivation

Eren is probably presenting himself as the greatest villain of all, akin to the actual devil. But he is not. Eren has been preparing this role for many chapters now, becoming the villain of the story. But its all an act. Eren does not want to kill the whole world. Doing that would aid no one.

There are plenty of good non-eldians out there, and many innocent people. Meanwhile on paradise there are also bad people, such as the interior government and Mikasa’s traffickers. Both sides have good and bad people. Killing off all other races won’t help. In the end we would still have civil wars amongst Eldians, like in the Uprising. Just having one race left in the world won’t solve anything.

Eren isn’t one to kill innocents. He swore to kill the titans to protect humanity, but now is using titans to kill humanity. Or at least thats what he wants us to think. Even the attack in Marley now makes sense. Eren attacked Marley so he could be the big bad guy. He proved to be everything Willy said he was intentionally in front of an international audience.

If Eren really were destroying the world he would be no different from the first King. The first king wished for his titans to rule the earth forever and reign supreme above other nations. But we know that Eren hated the first kings ideology and vowed to end it. Still right now he is being exactly like the first king to act the role of a villain.

Eren is trying to be the main villain for the world so everyone can group up against him. He needs to be the common enemy to the world in order to unite the other nations. That is the only way for Eren to end the firsk kings world, a world where titans rule.

[[MORE]]

Eren flat out says he is the bad guy, thats how hard he is trying to convince people.

But there is more. When Eren asks Reiner what his goal was, Reiner replies: “To save the world”

And Eren understans Reiner, even stating a number if times that “we are the same”.

Eren is the same in the way that his goal is to save the world, and because of that, just like Reiner he has to look like the bad guy. Just like Reiner was the bad guy trying to save the world, Eren now will be the bad guy to others in order to save the world. The attack on Liberio was the act that convinced the world that Eren was truly evil, but it was not enough. His friends had to believe it too. They all had to be distant enough from Eren to consider him a threat that needs to be stopped. And Eren succeded in doing so. The 104th had already been debating if it was best to pass on Eren’s titan. Eren just had to further alienate Mikasa and Armin.

I don’t think Eren will survive this. I don’t think he has any intention of surving. Eren broadcast his entire plan to the Eldians, which is not stragetic at all. Eren probably did it for that exact reason. He intends on being taken down and defeated. We know Grisha saw something horrible which made him question giving the power to Eren, but he did it anyway. Grisha only got a partial memory, probably from the rumbeling, but it is implied that another important transaction took place with Grisha and Eren that has not been shown yet. It may be the reason why Grisha gave Eren the serum after all. He must have seen a further memory, perhaps the memory of that ‘scenery’.

Eren has been alienating himself and been very cruel to his friends. This will make it easier for them to take him down. I think Armin or Mikasa might have to be the one to take Eren down. During the serumbowl Eren states that Armin will be the one to save the world.

The plan in Action

Everyone, both Marleyan and Eldian will unite to take Eren down together, but it will probably be Armin that delivers the killing blow. It is then that the common enemy to the world has been destroyed.

Further, since Eren freed Ymir, the last titan powers would die with him. Currently Eren is using her strengh, and if he dies the power of the titans will die with him. There will be no more Ymir building titan bodies out of sand ever again. No Eldian would ever be able to turn into a titan again, including the current shifters. That way Eldians will pose no more threat to the rest of the world. Further Eren will have also eliminated the wall titans. The wall titans had to be freed in order to remove them, hence no more dormant wall titans that could eventually break free or be used in future. Eren is making sure that he takes all titans away, including the wall titans.

Would this allow paradise peace? No, not at all. Other nations might fear a repeat of this event and continue pursuing the death of all paradisians. Further other nations won’t be that quick to forgive and move on, even if Eldians can no longer turn into titans. Eren knew this. Dying a villain will not be enough to bring the world together. Eren needs the right people in place.

This is why Eren tests Armin’s bond with the warriors. Eren has noticed that Armin has grown closer to the warriors, and more sympathetic towards them. We see this with Armins talks to Annie and Bertholdt. Armin will be able to reason with the Eldians on the main continent.

Eren’s second person of focus is Reiner. The final exhibition placed a lot of emphasis on Reiner so his final role will be important. Reiner will be the new Helos.

But Helos was never real. Helos is not a hero at all. Helos is just a story. None of it was true. But despite this Marley keeps on searching for their new Helos.

When talking about Helos the characterthat is focused on is Reiner. It is implied that Reiner will serve as the next Helos.

Just like the original Helos, Reiner too will just be an empty shell, and not a real Hero. Now why would Reiner serve as Helos when it was Armin that killed Eren? It is simple. No one will be willing to accept a Paradisian as their Helos. Armin will probably seek out Reiner for this role.

While no paradisian will be accepted, we know that there are advocates for mainland eldians. People will be more accepting of Reiner and more willing to listen to him. Perhaps Reiner’s half Marleyan blood will also play into this, which could contribute to a better understanding between Marleyan’s and Eldians.

In this case Reiner would serve as Helos, while Armin serves in a similar fashion to the Tyburs in Willy’s story. Reiner and Armin will join hands and be credited with Eren’s destruction. Because Reiner is presented as Helos people will listen. And it will be his ties to Paradise and Armin that will allow for the other nations to listen to Paradise. This way peace with Paradise will be possible.

Mikasa will represent the Asian-Paradisian side, Armin will present the Eldian- Paradisian view, while Reiner represents the Eldian-mainland view, and together they paint a complete picture and opportunity for nations to interact.

Of course this will not stop all wars. There will be more wars, and tough times, but Paradise will no longer be the centre of hate. Eldians will be able to live freely and build themselves up again. They will be free from persecution and hate for a while.

The only person who might know of Eren’s true goal is Historia. It may be why we saw her so upset in that memory shard. Perhaps it will be Historia who tells the others of Eren’s true goal after he has passed. Or perhaps Armin inherits Eren’s memories as he kills him. Either way I do think the main cast will realise that Eren was in fact not a villain, but the most tragic hero of all. A hero who took the burden of the world upon his shoulders and became the common enemy in order to unite the world, and grant his friends and people freedom.

#snk #snk 123 #snk spoilers #eren yeager #mikasa ackerman #armin alert #reiner braun #marley-warriors-of-demon-blood #snk metas #snk predictions #my meta #attack titan #colossal titan #ymir fritz #willy tybur #snk 124 #snk ending

[makiema]

Snk 123 and “Family”

Imo Yams deliberately emphasized on “family” during the EM talk and not made it a direct confession like with Falbi, to make the message sort of more universal for Eren. Like, family to him is all the people featured in 123, people he grew up with in Paradis. The final affirmation he needed before dirtying his hands rightly comes from the closest family member— Mikasa but I think what Eren realised is that, not only Mikasa, but all of them always genuinely loved him and cared for him.

All the superficiality like the Ackerbond and Titan Powers don't matter— Mikasa associates herself with him because she genuinely cares about him as family, and in a broader context, the same goes for all the others. This also explains Eren's eyes lighting up for a brief moment here in Chapter 105 right after Levi expresses his hurt and his utter disbelief regarding Eren's actions.

It is because Eren realizes how much they all love him simply for who he is and doesn't see him only as a victory machine and/or a savior. And this is exactly why he can't afford to sacrifice them, like he said before ; they're just too important and more than anybody else, because they know love. Love without the bounds of expectations and conditions.

And he loves them too, just as much as they love him; he even explicitly states that he wants them to live long, happy lives. In Chapter 123, that is exactly the vision that Eren gets when they engage in their drunken shenanigans. He observes them, he smiles assured because that is the image he knows he'll be fighting to protect from there on out— the image of happy families in Paradis with no fear of an impending danger that threatens to wipe them off the face of Earth forever. He feels too strongly for all of them and this deep, almost familial bond that he has formed with everyone in Chapter 123 over the years is what directly influences his last monologue.

Hence, the stress on “where I was born and raised.” The words carry strong familial connotations. Eren's choice was difficult. More so, because Falco and Reiner are people like him, those who wanted nothing more than creating a safer future for their families. This is why Eren is truly empathetic towards them. He understands.

But, when we're almost instantly yanked back into the grim reality that there can't be any appeal for appeasement with Marley, right after Mikasa says “you're family” and all the squad have a merry time, we're reminded that it's really one or the other.

It's up to Eren to choose: to give up on his own family (by pitying the rest of the world) or to protect them against the world. And he chooses what he'd regret the least, he chooses to protect his own.

On a side note, the fez haired kid reminded Eren that the world hasn't changed in 2000 years- he was affronted by the oppressive society just like Ymir had been in Chapter 122 and if Levi hadn't interceded for him, he'd be abused like Ymir too. I think this confirmed for Eren how oppressive governments that hold too much power will always continue to victimise and abuse innocent, naive children. It's a cycle of oppression that won't end, no matter the era in such a corrupted world. The world did not present him a middle ground. He found no hope there. Only war lust and racism. All of it culminated in him deciding to go ahead with the Rumbling because even after staying in enemy territory for so long, even after experiencing the world, he discovered nothing positive- it's just hate, inhumanity and oppression. He found nothing that suggested an improvement from Ymir's times. So, it can be said, that in the end he chose the hell of doing away with the entire outside world because that's the only way he can save his own little world- his family that raised him and loved him; he would take all the blood in his hand if it meant his people would have a future where they are free from oppression. What drives Marley to commit ethnic cleansing is pure abhorrence of the Eldian race. But, what drives Eren is his infinite love and tenderness for Mikasa, for his friends and for all his people- his extended Eldian family. He has been saying it from the very beginning: nobody has the right to take our birthright and our freedom away from us. And that's exactly the essential line of thought he's still following.

From a moral pov, it isn't right. Eren knows that. But like I've said before too, morality and freedom are two very different ideas and more than often, one doesn't comply with the other. Eren sees his reality as free or unfree and his actions are inspired from love for his people and are intended for achieving freedom. They have nothing to do with ideals. He knows there's no right or wrong if we take in consideration the narratives of both the sides. He knows Marleyans have enough reasons to justify their antipathy for Eldians just like, Eldians are not wrong in enforcing their right to life and freedom. That's why he doesn't sugarcoat anything and directly tells Reiner he might just destroy the world before waging war against Liberio. He knows exactly what he is doing. He's still chasing freedom, chasing a better and secure future for his people. He won't let his family die for naught. He isn't prepared to sacrifice them. And sacrifice them for what? Peace? Justice? There is no peace or justice in the outside world. Even if there are no Eldians, there'll be other refugees who'll have to take Marley's shit. (This point is proved by the fez haired kid) So is sacrificing his family for such a cruel outside world really worth the price? What does it matter if they're majority? Majority can be in the wrong too and their number certainly doesn't justify all their ill doings.

In conclusion, it would be genocide either way, the numbers don't matter. Either a small race of people take the brunt of the world or Eren does away with the world. None of the two course of action is ideal but at least, we can say after Chapter 123 that Eren is acting out of love for his family, but Marleyans are acting out of plain spite.

#snk #snk 123 #snk meta #snk spoilers #eren jaegar #eren yeager #snk thoughts #snk analysis #aot 123 #aot meta #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan

[super-peace-fangirl]

You guys, I felt so horrible for the SC crew here. Just look at their shocked and should I say hurt expressions when the guy in charge of the association community talked shit about them. They were there to get a chance to talk. Not only did the community not give them the opportunity, but they also bashed on the people of Paradis using insulting words and calling them as the "true devils" who need to be exterminated. Their prejudice really makes me sick. Their racist behavior is of course no better than what Eren's planning to do with the outside world in my opinion. Both Marley and Eren are just repeating the same cycle of violence and baseless prejudice which takes no one anywhere. Even if Eren does manage to save Eldia, it doesn't really make him a hero of war. The same applies to Marleyans.

#levi ackerman #hange zoe #levihan #snk 123 #mikasa ackerman #sasha braus #armin arlert #jean kirstein #connie springer #snk spoilers #snk chapter 123 #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #aot #snk #snk thoughts #eren yeager #snk meta

[nakamatoo]

Eren and Annie: Protecting the ones you love even against the entire world.

After chapter 123, I couldn’t help but find similarities between Eren and Annie’s drive to commit acts of violence that stems from protecting or ensuring the safety of individuals who are important in their lives, and the lengths they are willing to go to go in order to do so.

What I mean is, both Eren and Annie are probably the most emotionally driven characters in the series, and in my opinion they sort of parallel each other from their actions and stances they have taken throughout the series. And the core that pushes them to dirty their hands and walk into absolute hell....

Is love.

and the fear of loosing the people they care about because of the environment around them, and the uncontrollable circumstances that pushes them into a corner and forces them to act.

When we look at both Eren and Annie, it’s clear that they both possess such a level of sympathy and regret for the people that are forced to kill, that it haunts them mentally and takes a toll of their emotional state, to the point where they are unable to help but crack under the constant strain of realizing that they are the reason why people will die/or have will die.

Eren breaks down crying because he knows his actions will most likely result in the death of the boy from chapter 123. Annie apologizes to a dead corpse because it was her involvement in the fall of wall maria that resulted in the deaths of so many eldians living in paradise.  The thing here is, both have an understanding of the consequences that their actions will ultimately cause.Unlike reiner, someone who had to lie to himself constantly in order to cope with the amount of bloodshed he caused, Eren and Annie never fool themselves into believing that what they are doing is for some noble cause that they have to do, but  as a necessary evil that they have no choice but to push themselves into in order to ensure the safety of their loved ones.

Annie wants to go back home so that she can see her father again, as well as guaranteeing a level of safety for him in the internment zone.

And Eren’s desire to protect his home and friends, thus ensuring a future where they can live long and be happy.

What’s even more ironic is that their desperate need to act is a result of their environment constantly pushing them into a corner and forcing them to perform these violent acts. I don’[t think its any surprise that out of all of the shifters we have seen thus far in the series, Eren and Annie have been shown to physically murder people using their titan forms, more so than any other character who is a shifter.

They are put into situations where the only thing they can do is move forward and walk through hardship of bloodshed and sadness. They understand the severity of their actions, but never once make excuses for themselves or tell try to justify that what they are doing is right. 

But what they also understand, is that no matter what, nothing can stop them from doing what must be done in order to achieve their goals.

One is resolute to go back home to her father

And the other is determined to destroy the entire world if it means protecting his home.

It’s funny because out of all of the other characters in this series who could have an inkling of understanding of what Eren is going through, Annie is probably one of the characters who has actually stepped in his shoes and has a full understanding on the his mindset and motivations.

#ereannie #ereani #Eren Jaeger #Annie Leonhardt #snk 123 #snk #snk meta #snk analysis #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan

[hamliet]

Would you consider Eren to be a tragic hero? And how do you think he could have better resolved this conflict?

I’ll answer the second part first! He could have better resolved it with.... (drumroll, please):

Communication!

Don’t put the onus on Mikasa: tell her what you want to hear from her (pretty clearly it was romantic feelings). Don’t vanish on your friends; Armin and Hange were working on a plan. Ask for help. Doing it all on your own, resorting to genocide--it’s a terrible plan lol. Eren’s plans have never, ever gone well when he’s relied solely on himself. He’s always needed Mikasa and Armin, Levi and his squad, Historia. 

As for tragedy:

Yes, I consider Eren a tragic hero. Like Macbeth, Eren’s tragedy is such that he’s now the villain in his own story.

Like most tragic heroes, Eren undergoes a tragic fall as a result of one flaw present from the beginning of the story. His flaw is a double-sided coin: it’s his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. Eren believes humans deserve to be free, but he also believes that that he can impose this belief on them (as we’re seeing to an extreme degree right now). That isn’t freedom; or, perhaps, that’s the paradox of freedom: that true freedom might mean letting people choose not to be free if they so please.

Eren’s belief is fundamentally a good one. People should be free. Prejudice is horrible. However, Eren is also rash and prone to trying to establish freedom through violence, which has escalated from the time he was nine years old to him now slaughtering the entire world. Violence in SnK is never endorsed (though it also empathizes to the point where it isn’t quite pacifistic): rather, violence is depicted in all of its consequences, both occasionally good and often the terrible.

Eren’s version of freedom requires redefining what people are, which we have seen since he referred to Mikasa’s human traffickers (truly among the worst, not denying that) as “animals.” It is tragically ironic because this is exactly what Marlay does: define Eldians as blood of the devil, refuse to consider them human, treat them like livestock and weapons of mass destruction, and kill them.

Eren leaping straight to genocide is the same thing. He’s become the ultimate monster he always vowed to destroy (I do think that he’ll end the titan curse by dying).

It’s incredibly tragic. Brilliant writing, but tragic.

#ask hamliet #snk 123 #aot 123 #eren jaeger #snk meta #mikasa ackerman #eremika #tragedy #tragic heroes #Anonymous

[lenok993]

Mikasa’s thoughts

The Rumbling horrified everyone. Look at Mikasa’s expression 

I’ve found this line is too ambiguosus. I don’t think Mikasa as a character is so naive and overthinking her relationship with Eren. Nothing can’t change him and his desire to move forward. Her love confession? Nah. She saw the beautiful part of this world thanks to him but..things changed. 

So what if this scene has a different meaning..

and this line “Perhaps everything was decided from the start...regardless I can’t help but think if back then I had a chosen a different path.” actually means Mikasa feel her responsibility what happened in 844 and deep down in her soul she has some regrets that she saved Eren? Don’t forget she is a soldier.

#snk #mikasa ackerman #mikasa #eren yeager #snk 123 #i think it's the best option #snk meta #character growth #snk thoughts #snk theory

[jeanandthedreamofhorses]

Judging Absent Eyes

The migrant boy’s severe persecution for an extremely minor offence reminded me very much of Ymir’s predicament in the previous chapter.

Both of them are presented as small and isolated, surrounded by taller figures with obscured eyes. They are representative of the World at large - the majority’s persecution of the minority.

As slave and migrant (and potential subject of Ymir) respectively, both of them are dehumanised, justifying the gruesome corrective violence the powerful wish to inflict on them.

This is of course the predicament of the Eldian people as a whole, and seeing how the majority treat the migrant child helps cement Eren’s conviction that peace with the rest of the World is impossible.

#shingeki no kyojin #snk 123 #snk meta #snk spoilers #aot spoilers

[kdtheghostwriter]

SNK 4-Pack

Just to avoid any confusion, yup, it’s just what it says on the tin. I’ve gathered my thoughts on four chapters here. A combination of IRL obligations, lifestyle and equipment changes all of which has been more or less rectified. For now lol. To those who reached in the past months, I appreciate the thought. Apologies for keeping you waiting. Accept this humble offering and enjoy the new chapter release.

123 - Turn Me Loose

We’re in a very distressing place both in-story and IRL. So here:

It’s Mikasa’s first taste of ice cream. Feel better? Cool. Now let’s talk about the end of the world, pls.

 I’ll get the obvious out of the way first. Just what did you think The Usurper meant when he said [checks notes] “I’m going to put an end to this world?” This isn’t Sword Art Online. He wasn’t talking about a virtual world. It’s closer to the SpongeBob bit where Squidward runs into his place of work to exclaim that robots have taken over the world, before he clarifies “Our world!” Paradis was merely a blip on the radar before the Royal Family lost the Coordinate. It was fun at first to rattle their cage and watch them war with eachother. Now the war is about to leave the shores of the Island and no one is laughing.

I don’t have much to say about this development in particular because I predicted it nearly one year ago. No one wanted to hear it, but I said to any ear that listened: if Eren is going to play the Bad Guy, he needs to be the Bad Guy. You can go back and read it. I said Eren Jaeger will be the new villain of the story. Well, there’s a word we use for the person who wants to exterminate all life on Earth and it’s not Samaritan.

But for every villain, a foil must rise. Reiner is the easy choice here. Not the wrong one, but easy and predictable. Eren and Reiner have been intersecting since the 104th squad’s first expedition. When Eren could have hidden during Marley’s 11th hour raid of Paradis, he chose to confront Reiner and expose himself for the sake of a fight he knew he would not lose. This is why I don’t have Reiner in this role. Reiner’s role is what we all thought Eren’s was up until Chapter 120 or so. He is Lady Fate’s whipping boy. Beating him down again and again while calling him and dummy for trying to resist against his lot in life. If Reiner steps to Eren this time, it will be more than just humiliation awaiting him. Yes, it’s still Mikasa. I doubt Eren’s plan (whatever the full scope of it is) can even be stopped but if it can she is the one to do it. It can only help that she has the God of Destruction on her side.

 Getting ahead of myself, though. We have the famous confrontation to speak on. You know the one.

I understand the sentiment by Eren here but he was never going to get an accurate answer. At least not immediately. The poor girl is shocked. She’s been interrogated time and again about her loyalty to Eren and what exactly it means. The one person who has never questioned her further is the man himself. One can imagine how long he’s sat on this inquiry. He knew what he had to do. No answer she gave would have diverted his path, but maybe he wanted one last thing to feel good about before he doomed the world.

Either way, the team runs in to interrupt them like some teen movie and they all proceed to get drunk with the family of the Middle Eastern boy they aided earlier. Ever since this type of story analysis was popularized online (and especially on YouTube) people have fallen into the habit of using the word “filler” without knowing what the word means.

 Because we are consuming this series week by week and because Eren’s descent into arch-villainy has lasted well over a year at this point this current disaster really does feel like it would in real life. A long, brutal decline with only one outcome and no way to stop it. This chapter was a palette cleanser after months of endless despair. If you can remember there was indeed a time where everyone was friends and Eren wasn’t trying to KILL THE WORLD. This chapter was a reminder of that. The faintest light shines brightest in total darkness. That light is what Mikasa is doing her best to hold onto.

  124 - All Falls Down

The most interesting part of this chapter, which is largely set-up, is Jean’s assessment of the situation from his perch on a rooftop. It’s muted and resolute. The usual emotion is missing entirely. The fire is gone as he accepts the world’s creeping fate. The story’s most morally consistent character is seen trying to work out the thought process behind ending the world. They’re our enemies. They were going to attack us eventually. We were sitting ducks. Maybe this was always going to happen. His last observation is less rhetorical. In order to protect his friends, Eren has sacrificed the entire world. This includes the Subjects of Ymir who all received Eren’s message from the last chapter.

No time to contemplate that horror with the fresh hell of Zeke’s titanized victims running wild in Shiganshina which sounds mighty familiar. There’s a poignant scene that follows of the 104th cutting down their fellow soldiers, many of whom helped train them. It shows how far they’ve come and the overall affect their adventures have had on them that they are able to destroy their comrades without hesitation.

Ah! But this is SnK after all. The horrors are often double stacked. The time has come to decide which titan Falco gets fed to. Before anyone can note what terrible timing this is with a horde of Titans destroying the village around them, Connie makes an executive decision to nab the unconscious boy and feed him to his stranded Titan mother in his hometown.

Of course, no one believed at the time that Connie would be able to go through with such and act especially on someone as sweet and naïve as Falco, but it really drives home the not-so-quiet desperation of these characters and how each of them reacts to it. Mikasa and Jean are both trying to keep a level head. Armin isn’t in hysterics by any means but is missing his usual confidence. Connie, having already lost his best friend and half his squad is the first to let the despair of the situation get to him. It’s the same reason Armin volunteers to go after him. No it won’t solve any of their macro problems but reconciling with young Gabi and feeling like a hero again can at least make you feel useful in the face of your best friend trampling the world underfoot.

 The reveal of Annie at the very end of this chapter after more than half a decade gone is classic Isayama melodrama and it’s one of the reasons that, despite monthly leaks, Shingeki no Kyojin is still a worldwide best-selling phenomenon. I don’t have much else to say about it other than having her gasping for air like a fish out of water after being encased in a Disney Princess Prison was a nice choice. One would have to think that seeing Annie again would have some sort of affect on Eren even in his current Kaiju state. Eh, I’m getting ahead of myself though.

 Stray Thoughts

- Jean continues to be my favorite character in the story. With Pixis gone and Hange out of action, he’s the easy choice as acting Commander. Leading his own squad and the neighboring soldiers into battle against the rampaging Titans is heroism that stands out even more after sitting through months of the Jaeger Brothers’ power play.

- Shadis returning to aid the cadets that beat him down at Floch’s behest is all you need to know about his character. He’s a gruff man and his stint as the Survey Corps Commander left him emotionally busted. However, he never once forgot why he started doing this in the first place. He can’t save the world but he can save these kids, dammit.

- All Titan hardening has been rendered inert by Founder Ymir throwing off her chains. This includes Reiner who reveals to Gabi that his Titan’s armor fell off as the walls came down. Nothing in SnK happens on accident so we’ll put a pin by this and see where it goes.

- Reiner explains to a distraught Gabi, who is looking for Falco, that Eren is extra unstoppable because with full control of the Founder he now has full control of all Eldians. One has to wonder if the Ackerman Loophole is still in effect.

- Gabi used the same gun that started The Rumbling to save Kaya from a 2m Titan. Alright, jokes aside, I can put on my critical hat and say that this callback to Sasha was a bit ham-fisted and you could have found a less visceral way for Gabi to realize the error of her ways. (Avatar: The Last Airbender will always hold the title for this trope.) All that can be true and I still like Gabi showing some agency here. Being insistent on finding Falco and helping him is pretty key development imo. He’s the main reason she’s still alive.

125 - The Next Step

Annie is me when I write exposition. I know you think it’s “boring” and “filler” or whatever but I don’t care! Shut up and learn something for once, eh?

Anyway.

Annie and Hitch have catching up to do. I was about to say they were former roommates but as noted above, Hitch spent four years watching over the captive soldier. Now that she’s free and the world is ending she sees no reason to hold on to her backstory any longer. Annie was adopted and the man who trained her was also the man who raised her. It wasn’t until she was about to set sail for Paradis that he showed any remorse for her indoctrination. Even still, Annie never forgot his words and has been trying to get back to him as soon as she can by any means she can.

Taking off my critic hat I have to wonder what her mindset was locking herself away in that crystal. Obviously if she hadn’t the outcome is almost certainly being devoured by Eren or someone else as they were but a few short months away from learning the truth behind Titan Succession. Still, there’s no guarantee that she ever escapes at all. I was half convinced that Isayama was working toward the biggest troll job in the history of fiction by ending the story with Annie still in captivity. He didn’t though, so we have the rest of the narrative to work out what that means.

Sorta like these two.

Eh, he’s not wrong but his frustration is misdirected here. Mikasa asked a very valid question about what to do about the World Killer that happens to be their (former?) best friend. Mikasa is the only one in the group asking this question because she’s the only one that no longer id’s Eren as the hero of Stohess. Connie is a minor distraction especially compared to the army of Colossals; Armin knows this too but Connie is a distraction from the creeping dread that Eren is now unstoppable.

And Mikasa’s face here…oof. That’s two of her soon-dead Titan Bros who have yelled at her today. Should it hurt more? Probably but she is so far past hurt feelings at this point. She’s a soldier and she has work to do. Asking for a directive isn’t something to get triggered by but Armin is at his breaking point here. The little things that add up to make your shit sandwich 12 feet high. And so we hope that his side quest brings him peace.

I love this character.

He never once falters in his moral fiber. The depression keeps him from recognizing this but he is indeed special in his own way. After all is said and done that’s really all that can be expected of us. Shadis, ever the mentor tells his kids not to be heroes. Really, this quote can be transplanted to our current political situation IRL. There’s a lot of things wrong with the current system and we’d all like to make it better but we still have work and school and various other obligations to deal with and those don’t go away because we want to “make a difference.” The time will come to make your voice heard. Be ready when it happens, not before.

I do like how Shadis basically accepts his fate as a sacrifice to Floch’s faction as his only other option with the other heads of military dead are going on the run like Solid Snake and he is not about that life. He would rather take the rest of his lumps and be done with it.

This Fucking Guy

This is peak Lord of the Flies shit. Society has dissolved and the chain of command has been broken so just do whatever, dude! Think about what Armin said before. History always repeats itself without the proper prevention. The best prevention, of course, being education. Floch is the best example of why eliminating one side does not truly extinguish conflict. Even at the start we see various Shiganshina residents rightfully blaming Eren for his role in the destruction caused by the walls coming down.

The only way to reach consensus is with terror. We got a mere preview when Zackley got TNT’d so many moons ago. Now we see Floch Forster doing his best Neegan impression, splattering a volunteer’s brains across the floor. I won’t repost it but that panel is probably up there with Ymir’s cannibalization for most visceral of the story. Brutal in its suddenness, it almost becomes a smash cut. After so much death and destruction this act of violence isn’t lost in the pages because of how much grislier the executions are rendered. The intimacy of a human ending another’s life without the aid of a fleshy mech. I digress, though. Floch must be stopped or the future of Paradis is sealed, Rumbling or not.

 Stray Thoughts

- “I’ll tell Connie! That even as a Titan overturned on her back, his mom is fine as she is!” My goodness this story is dark.

- I have been mercifully absent from fandom developments, so I have no idea if people are still as turnt about the Gabi character as they were when I left. With that said, it’s fun to see some good logical development, just like every adult fan of this series predicted there would be.

- Again, is Kaya being saved by Gabi in a direct parallel to Sasha doing the same a bit on the nose? Quite so. It isn’t good or bad and, honestly, judging by some meta I’ve seen in the past I don’t blame any author for erring on the side of the obvious.

- Have I said this next one before? Who knows? Reviving Erwin on that rooftop instead of Armin wouldn’t have changed much besides short-term strategy. Once the Usurper started down the Dark Path even Commander Handsome would be powerless to stop him.

  126 - Hold the Line

Levi and Hange are on the lamb in the Forest of Big Ass Trees and the set up for this detour is a solid string of pages with Hange building shelter, tending to Levi’s wounds and picking off the new Survey Corps members that have been sent by Floch to find them be cause War is Hell.

This opening stanza is good because it highlights one of my favorite aspects of this character: their resourcefulness. First impressions being what they are lead people to take a throwaway joke about Hange keeping a pet Titan and let it inform one-note headcanons of their entire character. It shouldn’t be said but I will anyway. Hange is a clinical genius with a sharp wit in compliment. Their best skill is problem solving which would explain partially why they work so well with Armin. However, their particular thought process makes the kind of executive planning required from a Commander extremely challenging. Hange is better at devising a plan then receiving the instructions necessary to carry it out, if that makes sense.

Isayama, per usual, doesn’t spend the whole chapter on backtracking. He could have maybe but we do still have a story to get through. Isayama is a good author to study for improving your exposition. He conveys so much information with so little real estate. I still struggle and I’ve been at this for years.

I digress, though. Now we have Theo Magath lifting his gun to a crippled Levi in order to cope with the fact that he is A) stranded and B) not even slightly in control of this hopeless situation. So he listens and it turns out all four of these folk want the same thing, which is Zeke’s head on a platter. A very popular menu item to be fair.

For the uninformed here I am a fan of good dark comedy. This panel right here had me howling. As predicted by [checks notes] everybody, Connie did not have the gumption to callously lead this innocent child to their death. In one last effort to preserve his own conscience he explains that his Titanized mother who has been stranded for four years needs to be cleaned. Like you do. Every little detail eight down to his face when he thinks Falco has him made is so well done.

Of course, Armin and Gabi show up just in time. Armin, still haunted by Levi’s choice to save him, makes a bet on Connie’s bond with his squad that he did not seem overly confident in being correct on. Can’t truly call yourself a 104th alum until you’ve accepted your own untimely death.

 Skipping ahead a bit now. Floch is very busy being The Worst and if there hasn’t been a better collection of panels to illustrate the moral of the story. Yelena and Onyankapon have been lined up and are set to be publicly executed for their “crimes” against Eldia. The notable bit here for me is the way Isayama depicted the spectators. The have gnarled, twisted visages, some of them literally frothing at the mouth. You see, because extremist nationalism is bad and racism makes you ugly in every sense of the word.

Jean is tasked with gunning down Onyankapon but fires four rounds into the ground instead. This begins a series of Hashtag Machinations that will no doubt become clearer as the story unfolds. Jean and the two POWs escape in the Cart Titan’s mouth and the rest of the 104th leaves to collect Reiner and try to (somehow) stop Eren.

They had to try. Even at the cost of their own security it is difficult to agree with mass genocide. Having Annie on the team will be interesting as she and Eren were close. What’s left for me to wonder is how they plan to reach Eren, physically or otherwise, while he’s like…that. Every month more questions for each answer but after a decade you get used to it.

 Stray Thoughts

- Pieck’s surname is Finger? Or is this some Hange headcanon?

- We know Isayama is a big GoT fan. Apologies if this take has appeared elsewhere but an Ackerman keeping their promise seems to be his version of a Lannister paying their debt.

- Years after his death, the spirit of Erwin lives on in these characters. For some, it inspires strength; for others, only guilt.

- I’ve gone back to the interaction between Mikasa and Louise several times to try and get between the lines. Mikasa asking for her scarf back seems self-explanatory since it’s hers but Eren telling the girl to “throw it away” intrigues me. Seems to me that of all the things he had to give up to walk this path that his relationship with Mikasa is what he mourned the most in that cell.

- Always a good time to see Jean being a clever boy.

- Hange/Pieck banter is not something I knew I needed until I read this chapter.

- Hange’s fierce protectiveness of Levi makes more sense when you realize that these two are the only ones left of their original squad. The veterans of the military have all been cleared out, some more violently than others.

- It’s all but stated outright that Ackermans are part Titan. Goes a long way to explain their freakish strength and athleticism and their durability. Evidenced by the fact that Levi was apparently further from death than Zeke after the latter blew them both up.

#snk meta #snk 123 #snk 124 #snk 125 #snk 126 #eren jaeger #mikasa ackerman #armin arlert #jean kirschstein #floch forster #yelena #onyankopon #pieck #theo magath #hange zoe #levi ackerman #annie leonhardt #hitch dreyse #keith shadis #louise #floch is in the bag

[arlertt]

i want eremin angst to end this series. like people unite against eren and they succeeded to stop rumbling. hooray eldians will be called heroes. and eren already defeated and about to die. he saw armin crying. armin confessed before eren dies that he loves eren too much but he cant let the genocide happen and that he has to do this, and that’s why loving eren hurts armin so badly.

Well Eren said it himself! A few others have said that this feels like foreshadowing to them and I agree! It's a weird line to throw in without it holding any substance. We havent really seen Armin in action since, either. He had to be given the colossal titan to serve some function or it's just a waste?

At the final exhibition Armin’s 'tagline' was "is it truth or friendship that he has chosen to believe in". Its come pretty clear within recent chapters that Armin has deluded himself into thinking that Eren is still good. Even when the rumbling started to happen he was screaming at Mikasa that ren is still on their side. That it's "obvious".

That isn't to say that armin I'd blindly loyal to Eren. He snapped before when Eren was saying those awful things to Mikasa. Not only that but he was able to bite back at him even when he was beat to a pulp. Not to mention that it got to Eren. He knows to hit him where it hurts.

I think Armin definitely has the capacity to snap out of his delusion that Eren is still a "good guy", it's just that he wants to cling to what he knows. He wants Eren's friendship and he wants to see the good in people. But if Eren wants to commit mass genocide, we know that that's something Armin is so ardently against. Armin believes in peace.

I cant imagine Armin standing idle following from 123. I think an Eren vs Armin battle of some sorts is imminent. I would like to say Armin will be victorious, but that's wishful thinking at this point. We'll just have to see.

(Also wouldnt it just be POETIC if Eren was demolished by Armin after he said this. Do it Isa dont be a coward ! )

tldr: armin snk hero endgame

#meta #rachel writes #anon #asks #armin arlert #snk 123 #snk #eremin #ig