#I like Reiner a lot but let's not forget he's depressed and wanting to die way to much

[cla-oh]

Reiner deserve the love after failing 3 times to die and loosing his crush to a random character 💀

Also made memes with this because it was funny.

[lilydiaone]

Spoiler for 139 AOT

I know a lot people say they like the ending but personally I‘m really dissatisfied with it. It felt rushed and there are few characters whos end I actually liked. I‘m not gonna send death threaths over it like some people (that‘s messed up), still I like to make some points and see what the fraction that loved it has to say about it. I‘m gonna write down the ending of the important characters and what exactly I thought about it

Levi: I honestly liked his ending the best because I‘m so suprised he surrived at all. No but I liked how he ended up staying with Falco and Gabi, especially since he protected the latter in the last few chapters. I feel like he finally can live his life in peace. Really liked as well when he saw the rest of the deceased Survey Corp.

Gabi and Falco: Their reunion was really cute and I liked that. I do think after all these Falco being able to fly as a titan was kinda a plot device but I can live with it. However I wish Falco would‘ve been shown some reaction over his brothers death which he more or less caused. All in all I felt like everyone just kinda forgot Colt? Yeah but all in all okay.

Jean and Connie: Jean and Connies end was alright as well (though why did they thank Eren? but to that latter more). I‘m glad they didn‘t die and personally didn‘t feel it was neccessary for them to die. I also liked when they saw Sasha however I feel like they should‘ve seen Marco as well? Marco is singlehandly the reason why Jean joined the corps in the first place and I was bummed not to see him. I also would‘ve liked to see Connies mother... I would‘ve loved to see a reunin between her and Connie.

Pieck: I don‘t have much to say beside the fact, I‘m glad she surrived.

Reiner: Reiner is in my opion the one I was most suprised to see alive. I was sure he was gonna die but I‘m okay with it. The scene with his mother was nice and all but Reiner wanted to be a hero all his life and I‘m sad we didn‘t get to see more of it now that he basically is one. I also like to point out that Reiner was shown to be depressed and downright suicidal,this part of his story I feel like we didn‘t get any satisfactory conclusion. And his mother, we didn‘t see much of her but she felt a little out of character to me when she said she was fine with him not being a titan anymore when she pushed him into it since he was a child. But maybe she changed her mind with the rambling. Can live with that.

Annie: Her ending was alright as well but I feel like I‘m the only one who thinks her father is a bad guy. It‘s nice that he wanted her to come home but are we gonna forget that he mercilessly pushed he when she was nothing more but a child. Seriously he treated her horribly. I would‘ve like a solution with that. But you know what that‘s okay.

Historia: Her ending simply didn‘t make any sense. Back when she talked to Eren about what he was planning she was not okay with it but now she is the leader of the Yaegerists?! She apparently married the farmer which was kinda leftfield for me. It also feels like her pregnancy literally had no relevance for the story AT ALL. Like I was sure her baby would get a titan or anything but it was basically just used to sideline her, though I feel like they could‘ve sidelined her simply because she was the queen. Her ending didn‘t make ANY sense.

What truly made the ending horrible to me was the ending of the main trio. Here‘s why.

Eren: Look personally I was not a fan of Erens villian arc because such an emotional character suddenly was emotionless. I felt like you could‘ve handled it better. I even theorized he‘s only doing it because the other future he saw is literally so horrible there really is now other way but to become the villian. Eren killed 80% of humanity. That‘t a lot. He did it so his friends would be heros. AndI mean his friends alone. The rest of Paradis is fucked because everyone blames them. The worst thing is despite this plan, Sasha and Hange more or less died because of Eren. It is also rally shortsighted. The Eldians on the island are kinda worse off and I feel likeit was horrible of Eren to do this. In my eyes he‘s not redeemed at all. He‘s still a villian and a really bad one at that. The worst thing however was when everyone started thanking Eren, like his sacrifice was so great??? Like it literally benefitted 10 people at most. Killing millions of people for this was excessive and didn‘t change anything what he did. They all said him killing everyone was awful and if they instead of fighting him decided to stay on paradies the same thing would‘ve happend. It was still the same situation. why were they thanking him??? And it was revealed that he killed his mother by leading Dina to them. I‘m confused to why Dina couldn‘t eat Bertholt because that would‘ve meant they had another titan with Royal blood. I generally only see advantages to this (seriously can someone explain this to me???)

Armin: Honestly I‘ve been dissatisfied with Armins arc for a long time now. Back when Levi decided to give the titan to Armin instead of Erwin, I was a hundred percent sure it was the right move. Now I think this wouldn‘t have happened if Erwin was still alive. Since the very beginning Armin was smart and his smartness was played of as such an important thing but in the end it didn‘t matter at all. The only time I remember him using his brain after he became a titan was when they attacked Marley and even then Hange said it was was an Erwin like plan, so Erwin could‘ve come upmwith this as well. I held hope till the end that Armin would come up with some grand plan. He didn‘t he just talked to people (is this fucking Naruto?!) and then their minds were changed. His inteligence was totally forgotten. At the end he became the hero because he took credit for what Mikasa did (to his defence Mikasa didn‘t want it anyway but still). His entire arc was an disappointment and I don‘t understand why he was made Commander despite not doing anything other than crying over Eren when Jean was right there.

Mikasa: Mikasa was done by far the dirtiest. Like I can‘t even believe this. Personally I never liked how Mikasa was potrayed as totally dependant on Eren but this... Damn. The entire time I hoped Mikasa would realise that her love for Eren was not healthy especially when she stopped wearing the scarf. That did not happen. Look I know many people like Eren/Mikasa so I will not say what I thought about Erens admission that he wanted to be the only one she ever loved. What pissed me of was how the story tying Ymir and Mikasa together made no sense at all. Ymir loved King Fritz besides anything he did to her which is a pretty awful message but okay that wasn‘t the things that made me mad. Mikasa was the one that could stop it because she was kind of in a similiar position. Her relationship with Erem was toxic (before Eren/Mikasa shippers come for me it was when he was the villian and threathened to kill everyone, you can‘t deny that) and by breaking free of it Ymir would break free as well. But Mikasa didn‘t break free. She killed Ymir but we see her years later still pinning for Eren and sitting by his grave and fucking talking to him. How did she free Ymir from King Fritzs binds??? I really hate the idea that she never gets over Eren because after all that she still depends so much on him. Honestly by far the worst character ending.

All in all: All in all nothing really changed, everyone still hates Paradis making me feel like the rumbling was pointless. And I know many people say it‘s realistic and I agree it‘s realistic but why did Eren have to do that??? For what? The Eldian vs everyone else dynamic is still thereand nothing is solved. It just feels like there are gonna be many more years of war amd everything Eren did was utterly pointless. So yeah I didn‘t like it. It was rushed and just felt off. Still let me know what you think.

[ghostmartyr]

SnK 127 Thoughts

“Let us speak for 46 pages about how we still don’t actually have any real plan, we’re just all very against genocide (except Magath and Yelena) and very upset and feel like we should be doing something.”

The characters are sort of doing my job for me this month.

Maybe this whole post should just be illicit screencaps from Crunchyroll with me providing links and saying, ‘and here’s the panel that makes the point I whined about in this post here.’

That would probably provide more entertainment than whatever I’m about to come up with.

-sees the amount of swearing in the first section-

Hm.

First off, fuck Magath.

Like no, I’m sorry. This is not about what happened 2000 years ago. You know what it’s about? It’s about Marley sending in child soldiers to assault and rob a land that had caused literally no problems for 100 years. It’s about Marley doing this despite being aware of its own history, being that their personal hero collaborated with the First King of Paradis to make Marley’s independence possible.

You want to talk about history, Magath?

Jean isn’t the one who sounds like a child.

Jean is reacting to actual pain that he has experienced in his lifetime thanks to Magath’s very intentional military strategies.

Magath is blaming Jean and everyone else on the island for being born.

That is not equivalent.

That is not remotely equivalent, and while Eren is being a fucking bastard about it, Jean’s right. Eren has the power, means, and will to do all of this because of what Magath and Marley did to Paradis.

Magath doesn’t recognize Eldians as people.

The Eldian Empire was bad.

No one except Floch is disputing that. That is how you know that it is bad.

Marley, as well as the rest of the world, has been free from the Eldian Empire for over a hundred years, and in that time, all they have done is take every horrible thing about the Eldian Empire and exploit it for their own gains.

Magath doesn’t get to be angry that he lives off the backs of abused, brainwashed children that he treats like crap.

Years ago, the Eldian Empire was the worst terror in the world.

A year ago, it was Marley.

Now, it happens to be Eren.

And you know, I’ve been actively against pretty much everything Eren’s done. His plan, if he has one, has mostly managed to make everyone angry and get a lot of people killed who weren’t even involved in the beginning. He gets his head blown off close enough to his brother that he doesn’t die. That’s how the beginning stages of him committing genocide goes. He betrays his friends, makes his besties from childhood feel like crap, and honestly has just been a dick to pretty much everyone.

But at least Eren’s indiscriminate murder has the decency to actually be indiscriminate.

Marley takes children it despises and turns them into their willing slaves for the promise of a better life they have no intent of dispensing. They take these children, and full of hatred for the very ability, demand that they shorten their lifespan and murder people to prove that they’re a “good Eldian” who deserves to live.

Marley is why people can stomach rooting for Eren.

Because Marley is such an abomination that it almost feels worth it to destroy the world if it means Marley’s gone too.

Hell, I’m with Hange. There’s not an avenue where I accept genocide as a way to deal with any of this.

But if someone wanted to burn Magath alive, and we spent a dozen pages gloriously detailing his flesh curling off his bones, it would make me happy.

That’s a more dignified death than he’s given any of the children he’s forced into Marley’s wars.

He does not have the fucking moral high ground.

He's the one Jean should have punched. There is not a single person around that campfire that he has not damaged deeply, and noticing that Gabi is a little girl and he cares when she is in pain does not magically remove that.

Fuck Marley. Fuck Magath.

Grow the fuck up and stop viewing genocide as an acceptable response, you fucking halfwit child. You are the individual who saw four children off on their solitary mission to murder thousands of people. Two of them are dead. Two of them are deeply traumatized, with one of them wishing he had died.

But oh yes, Magath. You’re the victim, here.

Because you baited one angry idiot with the power of a god into destroying part of a city you didn’t give a damn about.

Truly, your justice is a thing to aspire to.

Perhaps Eren taking notes is the real reason we’re here.

Motherfucking fuck I hate Marley. I hate that Eren’s put any of these characters in the position where they have to put up with this shit for the sake of civility. I don’t have a problem with the Warriors. I don’t have a problem with the Survey Corps. I don’t have a problem with the kidlets. Hi Onyankopon, sorry about your life. Yelena has many problems, but she’s also attractive, so I don’t mind as much.

Magath, though.

Pieck, just eat him. Everyone’s too depressed to really throw down over it at this point, and the two small ones are so deeply traumatized that one more body really isn’t going to make much of a dent.

Jean’s clearly the star of this chapter, and a good deal of that comes from the potent hopelessness hovering over him like a rain cloud.

He can point to how bad everyone is at talking things out like it’s the key to the entire mystery, but the long list of problems Jean offers at the beginning of the chapter are still present. Unless they have a way to talk to every person in the world out of their (at this point, rather justified) fear and anger, Paradis and Eldians around the world are very much screwed.

Paradis has forever been running out of time against the hatred the rest of the world has for them.

They do have to fight against what Eren’s doing, and talking instead of blowing each other’s heads off is a good start, but it’s a good start thousands of years after the worst possible one.

And the last time they tried to talk to Eren, Armin punched him, and that was the most productive thing to come out of it.

Jean being the everyman who recognizes the heart of an average person because he is one has been a great tool. It’s still great, here. He wants to close his ears to all of this. He wants, desperately, to run away, because there is no good solution that doesn’t end in death.

When he joins the Survey Corps, they at least have Eren as a brand of hope. They can believe that years of the same tactics and bodies piling up won’t end the same way.

Joining this squad is all about stopping Eren, and despite having figured out their next course of action, no one has yet to provide a real idea.

Genocide is wrong, so you stand up and try to stop it.

That’s the only plan they have.

The Scouts from Paradis don’t even have the promise of saving the people they love if they stop Eren. Annie, Pieck, Gabi, Reiner, Falco... they have a home. The world might forget to hate them. They might get to go home and have a life after this.

The people sitting on the other side of the fire are fucking screwed. They’re fighting entirely for their principles.

...Also Yelena is here.

I do like Yelena.

She’s not the worst, because this manga has too many horrible people in it, but she’s delightfully terrible. I especially like how the fact that she’s actually from Marley hardly gives her any pause.

I do so like Yelena.

It’s a beautiful sentiment.

After all, everyone’s drunk on something.

If you can just save the world, what does the rest matter? What do the crimes that kept you awake at night mean, when you’ve accomplished something so miraculous? All the good deeds cleanse the rottenness, and maybe then the world rights itself and you can breathe again.

...Hey wait, where’s Reiner’s reaction shot to finding out Gabi killed Sasha?

...Did he even know Sasha was dead?

But I guess we’re doing Marco angst.

Wow. Marco angst in 2020.

I think my favorite thing about this chapter (outside of the fact that Mikasa still hates Annie and it makes me giggly because wow Mikasa) is that Annie does absolutely nothing while Jean’s beating the crap out of Reiner.

My less favorite thing is I’ve stopped enjoying Reiner getting the crap beaten out of him. It’s been done, and... really the kid just needs to have not been born into this particular life. Watching Jean beat him bloody is. not cathartic. It’s really just awful.

Annie dodging with her food is glorious, though.

Because while Jean beating up Reiner over Marco is sad and kind of miserable, Annie watching someone beat up Reiner after the years she spent putting up with Reiner and Bertolt brings it back to almost funny.

Until you look at Reiner’s face and go back to feeling bad.

-turns page back to Annie getting out of the way-

Much better.

Truly, I love Annie.

Her forgiveness status is interesting, though. I think besides Marco, she enjoyed more of the kills she’s responsible for than anyone feels a need to dig up.

She’s also been more alone than most of the others in the wagons, and essentially spent four years imprisoned for her crimes.

I’m not surprised she asked, because she’s Annie, but I’m a bit surprised we don’t have an answer yet. Probably too close to the end of the chapter to open up that can of worms.

If it makes everyone feel better, I think we know for a fact that Mikasa will never forgive Annie for anything, even if it only displays itself as petty brandishing of weapons every time they make eye contact.

It’s not even a ship thing.

I just love that Annie is the one person Mikasa can’t stand. They’ve been in one chapter together and Mikasa’s already pulling out swords. These two shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near each other. It’s perfection.

Then we get to plot complications that really don’t register as complications because like. Yeah, you guys need something to do while you figure out what the hell you’re doing.

Because you don’t actually have a real plan, just so we’re clear.

Killing Eren would result in all those Wall Titans operating under their own power.

That is not fundamentally less destructive.

Killing Eren has a nice ring to it, but much like talking to Eren, it does not solve any of the other problems looming ahead.

So you enjoy your little subplot with Floch!

It’s one of the last times your combined competence will have any meaning.

-looks over at Kiyomi-

Honest question, but why are you alive if Floch dislikes you enough to hold you hostage? If Eren’s gonna kill everyone, shouldn’t Floch be following suit and just do his Floch thing of murdering every slight inconvenience?

We’re in the boring stages of the finale right now.

No clear plan for either side to contend with. No real progress in any direction because the tiny squabbles are just a delaying tactic for the massive squabble that no one has an answer to. None of any of this chapter really matters except for clearing the air.

Which is not a useless investment, it’s just not very exciting.

At this point, no excitement is allowed, because there’s that One Huge Thing, and the entire story hinges on it. Maybe someone will die on the way to dealing with it, but that’s all the drama we’re going to get until we find out enough about the plot to have a future worth rooting for.

Right now, there is no good outcome for the people we’ve watched fight for 127 chapters.

Pulling a story along with that weight is hard, and I can feel my brain turning itself off until we’re back to a point where the story is permitted to address the stegosaurus in the room.

One more month.

Again.

Until something happens and we all regret everything.

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 105 Poll Results

RATE THE CHAPTER

1,749 Responses

78.5% of the fandom reacted positively to “Assassin’s Bullet”, rating it a 4 or 5. While still high, this is down 20% from last month.

"Did you not understand the contents?" - Isayama, probably

I cried because of a work of fiction for the first time because of chapter 105. Isayama has achieved something not even Up or Infinity War could not. Great writing on Isayama's part & I am excited to see where he takes this story to next. Also, WERE GOING BACK TO PARADIS AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

Holy fucking shit. I read the chapter before work and I lost my mind. I couldn't process anything and then Sasha was shot. I flipped! An amazing and incredible chapter.

My reaction to chapter 105 is basically just lying face-down on the floor.

EDITOR-KUN; YOU FAILED THIS FANDOM!!!!!

Depressing. Amazing. I'm dying.

ASIDE FROM SASHA’S DEATH, WHAT MOMENT WAS MOST EMOTIONAL FOR YOU?

1,722 Responses

Connie’s sweet OT3 embrace and admission that Jean and Sasha were special to him topped the list of emotional moments. “All of the above” and Eren’s mental breakdown at the news of Sasha’s death came in 2nd and 3rd.

At this point I numb myself and just ignore each chapter after I read it because it's getting too painful and I just wanna live my life you know

Attack on Suffering

Connie can not catch a fucking break.

Potato girl's death hit me hard, especially after that look on her face when Connie hugged Jean and herself. Poor Connie, the new master of suffering!

This chapter has had me so depressed. It's been days and I'm still not over Sasha, I still can't believe Potato Girl is gone forever. I'm worried for Eren, for what this loss of faith from the others will do to him, for the distance between him and Armin and Mikasa. Their strained dynamic is HEARTBREAKING.

WHICH MOMENT SURPRISED YOU MOST?

1,694 Responses

In a chapter filled with great moments, leaning the identity of Rope-kun was picked as most surprising with 30% of the vote. Confirmation that Zeke was working with Paradis came in a distant second.

I hate this.  I have resisted SO HARD, for SO LONG.  One hundred and five chapters later, I'm finally (FINALLY) invested in a Levi storyline.  How dare you, Isayama?  How dare you Jaime Lannister me this way?

I can't believe the paid actor bs was actually true lol. But I'm sure Zeke has his own objective and isn't actually on Paradis side even though they might benefit from his plans.

On chapter 105: arguably the best chapter so far in my opinion. It had so much going on. I was so excited to see the Zeke betrayal theory confirmed. Also even though Sasha is dead I feel really bad for Gabi. She's as much a victim in this as everyone.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW CHOKED UP WERE YOU OVER SASHA'S UNTIMELY DEATH?

1,743 Responses

We knew it was coming, we’ve been talking about it for years, still more than half the fandom was profoundly affected by Sasha’s death. At the other extreme, 22% expressed ambivalence.

SaShAaAaAaAaAaAaAaaaaaaaaaaa I will still be crying next month

I feel nothing about Sasha's death, mainly because she was saved by the editor before something I dislike happening. Another motive for my apathy related to her death is because of the massive nosense hate Gabi is receiving. People forget she's just kid, brainwashed and she doesn't know Paradis like we do or Reiner does.

Erwin was my favourite male character and Sasha was my favourite female character. Isayama Sensei, I don’t feel so good…

I can't really bring myself to care about Sasha's death. She's been dragged along for over 70 chapters now and it was time for her to die.

I have mixed feelings about Sasha's death. On the one hand I think had she died when she was supposed too, I would have felt more emotional about it. On the other hand, I'm glad there was another girl from the 104th still there during the RtS arc, and I liked her reactions there as well.

I'm still not over it and will probably be mourning Sash for the rest of my life.

I am still sad! I will be heartbroken if we see Sasha's family in the next chapter

WHOSE REACTION TO SASHA’S DEATH AFFECTED YOU MOST?

1,692 Responses

Isayama outdid himself with the various expressions of grief in this chapter. The fandom was divided three ways, but it was Connie’s quiet heartbreak that prevailed by a slim margin.

Now my two favourite SnK girls are dead. I knew that this could happen, but being killed because of Marcel or by Gabi... It was really twisted. Mikasa's cry broke me, because she was one of Sasha's best friends.

Eren's reaction to her death was very disturbing. At first I thought he was overcome with grief and crying, but upon further inspection he was laughing like a maniac.

we knew sasha was going to die for years now but that fuck! that really didn't have to happen!

Why did sasha have to die isayama :( She was a gorgeous woman with a great personality and just fjsfkskfkd FUCK OFF CONNIE DIDN’T DESERVE THIS KIND OF BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Isayama, why?

THE FANDOM IS DIVIDED ABOUT SEVERAL CHARACTERS. WHAT’S YOUR OPINION ON THEM?

Falco is best boy and Floch is worst. Isayama scored only marginally better than Zeke. Levi received 60 more marriage proposals than Eren. Yelena got the highest number of kisses.

We did some digging into the poll numbers to see which platform was most compassionate when it comes to Gabi. Discord and Instagram were the kindest, with  61% and 64% of respondents selecting “marry/adopt” or “kiss”. Tumblr was next with 54%. Reddit was the harshest. 2/3rds of all reddit respondents selected “kill” for Gabi.

OMG throw Floch out of the zeppelin the fucking shitbrain smartass.

WTF happened to Floch I thought initially he would be a voice of reason but evidently not…

Falco you cinnamon roll, too precious for this world, so pure and smol.

Gabi should feel the might of Ogweno's knee for all eternity.

Gabi is a precious bean! Don't talk to me or my daughter ever again!

Gabi can do us all a favor and swerve into oncoming traffic

Eren did nothing wrong

eren is irredeemable and now the villain.

Wanna kill and marry Eren at the same time.

I'm flying to japan to fist fight isayama

Definitely wanna marry Levi. Wanna hug all 104th squad (even sasha) and also the warriors and kids, they deserve it.

Isayama's story is practically screaming against wanting to kill traumatized kids, no matter their actions. *side eyes fandom discourse on Gabi, wonders if humanity is doomed*

Kiss Isayama, maybe If you gave him some Love,  He would stop being so cruel.

IT’S NOW CLEAR THAT EREN ACTED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE SURVEY CORPS. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE SURVEY CORPS IS BEING TOO HARSH ON HIM?

1,716 Responses

Eren received quite the scolding when he arrived on the airship. Nearly half of the fandom agreed that he deserved the harsh treatment, while about 28% of the fandom thinks that the Survey Corps could have handled the situation a little better.

If only the blimp’s door would’ve been closed earlier. I’m hoping the SC does realize that they’re being too harsh on Eren in upcoming chapters.

Honestly I'm surprised they threw the blame. Not actually surprised surprised. But in the past it was always push forward and keep moving with no regrets. And it seems they have fallen back on that. I think even though Eren's actions aren't justified and I don't think he's an innocent bean, but he managed to take a lot from the enemy with his move, with a minimal loss.

Eren didn't do anything that the SC hasn't done to him many times. Using him as bait is always their go to plan.

Erwin didnt lose an arm for this.

I see a lot of people excusing Eren's actions because things mostly worked out in Paradis's favor. However, that doesn't mean that A) it was a good decision, B) the survey corps couldn't have come up with an even better plan that--among other things--may have lessened civilian and foreign diplomat deaths, had they been given the time and opportunity, or C) that Eren should be let off the hook for going AWOL and teaming up with the foreign operative responsible for their commander's death. I still like him as a character, but Eren did a fucked up thing that is sure to have international consequences, and he more than deserved that kick and the distrust of his allies.

WHAT BEST DESCRIBES YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT EREN’S ACTIONS?

1,677 Responses

We still don’t know the full story behind Eren’s actions, but regardless of his intentions, many people were hurt in the process. 46% of the fandom believes that Eren’s actions will result in a positive outcome, while over half the fandom is either undecided until they have more information, or cannot look past what he did at all.

Team Eren! The losses are nothing compared to the gains. The world had declared war anyway, and they'd already de facto been at war for a decade. Wiping out an entire fleet, capturing the Warhammer, and successfully extracting Zeke was more than worth it. Very said about Sasha though, of course. Can't wait to go back home to Paradis again. Falco and Gabi are going to have their minds blown.

I believe that if Eren and the SC worked together with their plans and made compromises for one another then the result could've been even better, since Eren would have an entire military intelligence to help and not a man [Zeke] that can't truly be trusted.

He acted independently without the approval of the Paradise Government to terrorise a festival full of civilians.  His actions resemble a terrorist, arrested is being let off easily. Jean is right about the situation, Eren is the biggest reason Sasha is dead, he manipulated the Military Operation in which she died.

Eren told Reiner he now understands RBA's actions...but neverthless he's repeating them, even more cruelly perhaps. If he won't understand that the cycle of violence must be stopped in order to reach real freedom then I don't think he will ever get a happy end (beside the fact that he's going to die at 23 anyway)

I'm glad that we finally got confirmation that Eren was just his usual egoistic self that went on his own and everyone has to save his sorry ass. Again.  Bless Hanji for calling him out and roasting him once again. Can't wait to see another jail time for Eren. (Though I have the feeling he will get around it or that it will be skipped.) Too bad Eren just doesn't give a flying fuck about being punished or losing the trust of his comrades as long as he got his will.

Give eren a break please. He deserves it.

Erwin is turning in his grave.

Erwin would have called Eren a hero.

JEAN BLAMES EREN FOR SASHA’S DEATH. DO YOU?

1,685 Responses

Jean didn’t hesitate to call Eren out for being the catalyst for Sasha’s death. 49% agree that Eren isn’t solely to blame and that many parties are responsible, while 11% agree with Jean completely.

Death happens in random ways, if it’s heroic or humble, no one should get blamed for it since it is gonna happen one day or another,

In the end we can all blame Ymir Fritz for this fucked up planet this story takes place on.

War means death and they are clearly in war. So many people already died and Sasha was one of the many victims of war. She was not murdered by Eren or his decisions in my opinion.

None is at fault or everyone is at fault. Early celebration, no spotter for the guy that had yet to board the zeppelin in enemy territory, Eren forcing their hand to act prematurely all being part of it. But none can be single-handedly blamed.

War is hell.  People die.  If Eren didn't invade, they'd get invaded, and someone would die.

I think he's very emotional at that moment and is blaming Eren but in reality there are a number of attributing factors.

bit of all of these, but mostly war is war. it's amazing beyond belief new-squad-levi all survived as long as they did, and thru everything that has happened thus far. I'd argue the casualties had Paradis not taken the initiative blow could have been that much more devastating

ZEKE FAKED HIS DEATH AND IS TRAVELING TO PARADIS. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS?

1,683 Responses

With one big Zekeret out of the way, we asked the fandom whether they feel he is to be trusted or not. Nearly half the fandom agrees that Zeke’s only real alliance is with Eren, sharing a goal to free Eldia. A small 10% believe his intentions are genuine. The remainder of the fandom is still wary about his intentions altogether.

Do NOT drop your guard.  I trust Zeke about as far as I can throw him, and since my 100-pounds-soaking-wet best friend can beat me in arm wrestling, it's safe to say that that's NOT very far.

He's too cold - I don't trust him in the slightest. He probably still wants to end this tragic history - but in a final-for-all-humanity kind of way. He must be stopped!

I don't think he's being 100% genuine. I think he has his personal goals and his own versions of a free Eldia. There will be so Sure, he's supporting Eren but, I still think that he has his personal agenda, so I don't know if he just wants to free Eldia just because.

Zeke is concerned with Zeke. I think he was once tasked with the Owl's legacy as well, but now wants to double-cross everyone.

Zeke wants to try sour cream really badly

I believe that Zeke is working more or less for his own goals which is a free Eldian continent. Any alignment with the SC is because heads like Hanji support that ideal. Zeke also has personal interest in his brother and I doubt that he would stay on the SC or even Eren's side all that long if they conflicted with that goal.

DO ZEKE AND EREN HAVE THE SAME GOAL NOW THAT THEY CAN ACTIVATE THE COORDINATE?

1,686 Responses

For now it seems that Zeke and Eren likely allied due to a shared interest to free their people. But 55% of the fandom believe it’s too early to make that judgement call.

I'm unsure the Yeager brothers have quite the same desired outcome in mind. I wonder if they have different ideas of what "saving Eldia" actually means; On Zeke's part it could be saving all of them period. On Eren's, it may just be Paradisians. And if a disconnect like that exists, I can only imagine what their vision is of how to accomplish it. I think Eren's heart is still trying to stay in the right place but his mind can't be trusted to make sound, beneficial decisions.

I believe Zeke has his own agenda and it worries me. There is also the chance of Eren coming in terms with sacrificing Historia when "royal" Zeke starts doing his own thing.

Zeke is working with eren for as long as it conveniences him, but as soon as it doesn’t go his way he won’t hesistate to turn on him

Not at all. Zeke is the least trustworthy character of the series, I wouldn't be surprised if he was actually manipulating Eren. I wouldn't trust Zeke as far as I could throw him.

I'm a bit worried about Zeke's influence on Eren and his true agenda...as much as I want to believe Zeke is a great big brother, I'm still a bit suspicious.

ARMIN AND EREN'S REUNION PARALLELS THEIR REUNION IN THE UPRISING ARC, ALTHOUGH THIS TIME NO SMILES WERE SHARED. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THEIR RELATIONSHIP MOVING FORWARD?

1,685 Responses

Now that we’re starting to see the effects of EMA separation, it’s clear that Eren and Armin’s relationship is strained. Almost half of the fandom believe that they will work through it and remain friends, while many are apprehensive and think that things can go either way. Only a small amount believe that their friendship is still solid, and just a slightly larger amount believe their friendship is dead.

I expect them to become more distant while still caring about each other. Isayama stated that they would chose different paths anyway.

Eren has become shady, untrustworthy and even more reckless in a colder sense. Armin is less warm hearted, still quite emotional, and it probably hurts to see his best friend, Eren, become what he has. Mikasa has clearly grown. She doesn't care for Eren as much as she did before, and while she definitely still does care, she's less impulsive and shortsighted to what Eren has become. They've all grown. They've all grown as individuals. They've all grown apart. They say you become what you hate the most, which is only relevant in certain circumstances, but it's never been more represented than by Eren.

LEVI COMPARED EREN TO THE PEOPLE HE USED TO SEE WHEN HE LIVED IN THE UNDERGROUND. WHAT DO YOU THINK HE MEANT?

1,686 Responses

Levi expressed a sad and disappointed look at Eren as he likened him to the people from the underground city. 53% of the fandom believe that this is due to the lack of passion in Eren’s expression, while a good 33% believe it has more to do with Eren’s underhanded behavior by defecting from the Survey Corps.

Eren reminded him of his younger self.

I think Eren may have reminded Levi of his childhood, (while Eren was sitting there). Eren has become filthy, shady, untrustworthy, rogue and looked lifeless- much like the people of the Underground.

Is Eren's comment "did you not understand the letter" a reference to Levi's lack of education during his upbringing?

when Levi first met Eren, he decided to look after him because he saw something in Eren, a fire, a desire for life. now that fire is nowhere to be seen, Eren is just doing what he has to do to survive, like the people in the underground. Levi used to be one of those people and it’s not a coincidence that Eren’s expression parallels that of young Levi. So we could say that Levi didn’t expect Eren, of all people, to become like that.

Eren is evolved from edgy teenager to protagonist od scandinavian crime stories. He only need alkoholism to fullfile the picture

I believe it was a response to Eren's impertinence in asking whether Levi did not understand the contents of the letter, Eren said it in a challenging way, or could be a commentary on Eren's miserable state, but I believe it to be the first, this was my first impression while reading the chapter

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GABI WILL BE SWAYED ON HER VIEWS OF PARADIS?

1,654 Responses

Close to 70% think Gabi will soon learn the difference in offering someone less than half a potato. In Marley it makes you the worst of all the devils, but on Paradis, that makes you best girl.

I might be in the minority but I really like Gabi, I find her really interesting and she has the potential to act as a foil to Eren. She has the opportunity to see the other side of the conflict and change her ways and possibly help put a stop to the fighting.

I'm excited to start seeing what paradis has been up to and what falco and gabi will think of the walldians

She's been indoctrinated, mistreated, and trained to kill her whole life, which is an absolutely sickening thing to see happen to a child. I do hope that by going to Paradis she may finally start seeing things the way Falco does.

She has been raised in pro-marley family, she strongly believed that people from Paradis were evil, she saw death of her best friends and believed that her goal was lost because of attack. I believe that Gabi will change her mind about the whole situation soon.

Yeah, yeah, we all get that she has her own perspective, but she is crazy. She acts out of impulse and has a one track mind

I would like to see Floch shouting with Gabi. Or pushing her off the zeppelin.

gabi saved the manga, let her kill more

GABI CALLED FALCO INTERESTING THINGS DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU READ. WHICH WOULD YOU WANT ON YOUR TOMBSTONE?

1,685 Responses

Over forty percent thought the Scottish ”You’ve been a great cunt” would summarize their life. An almost equal amount preferred being called either a great bastard or a great friend. Only 17.5% want people to think of them as a great guy once they’re gone.

Surprisingly enough nobody mentioned Falco being a great cunt in the comments. Gabi on the other hand...

HANGE HAS LOST ALL TRUST IN EREN. HAVE YOU?

1,693 Responses

While more than 72% still have confidence in Eren, more than a quarter of the fandom now views him as untrustworthy.

Whatever Eren does, I feel like he's justified because he only has what, a fucking year left and he's just trying to fix what he can. He knows that he is going to die and doesn't give a shit because he cares about the greater good, even if that means losing all his trust from.. well everyone.  

"Hange has lost all trust in Eren. Have you?" I have. If 'Humanity's Greatest Hope' suddenly ran off and had some of our people killed for his own plan, then manipulated us so that we had to go along with said plan, (without trying to 'make a compromise'/'have a mature discussion about it'), I would lose all trust as well.

Everyone's deaths are on Eren's shoulders here.  He went off like a loose cannon and acted on his own, putting everyone at risk.  The Survey Corps losses are his responsibility and his alone.

Excited for the next coz we're most likely see Paradis after 4 years timeskip. I'm still bitch about Hange saying losing their trust in Eren. RIP Sasha Blaus

Eren betrayed their trust, but in return he got what he needed with very minimal casualties. And it's not like he didn't care.

TRAPDOOR-KUN WAS REVEALED TO BE ZEKE’S FOLLOWER YELENA. WE’RE ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS HERE. IS SHE HOT OR NOT?

1,676 Responses

The “nays” prevailed by a razor thin margin. When we segmented this data by single platform we found Tumblr to be far more appreciative of Yelena’s appearance. 60% of Tumblr users selected “bae”. The opposite was true of Reddit where 62% selected “nay”.

bless this chapter for giving us lesbian Pieck and another ship with a great height difference and blonde/brunette visuals (eruri, yumukuri, kenuri, reibert... I see what you do there, Isayama).

I'd let Yelena lead me to a trap door.

Yelena X Levi

Yelena x Pieck

Yellena/Zeke fics when?

WILL EREN EVER GET HIS SHOE BACK?

1,638 Responses

72% hope the boi gets his shoes back in chapter 106. We have nothing more to say about this, but it’s a good place to drop some of the cracky comments we received.

Did they bring sour cream to the party on the airship?

its laurel not yanny

"THATS IT! NO LOBOV! IM MAKING MY OWN POLL!"

2/10 not enough snails

I've seen official art of Levi being a chef before, I'm wondering what kind of meal he's planning to turn Zeke into. A Beast-Titan Burger? A Zeke Zucchini? Or perhaps an Ackerman sandwich?!

WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF LEVI ALLYING WITH ZEKE?

1,668 Responses

While 17% of the fandom enjoyed Zeke and Levi’s exchange and appreciate their dynamic, 74% agree that Levi is getting no pleasure from this alliance and is cooperating strictly because humanity demands it.

it was really interesting seeing them interact, the tension was palpable and the conversation hilarious (though I know it was pretty serious).

Almost shipping Zevi but I want to keep my pov rational and logical so yeah, they hate each other but they'll work together for the mankind's benefits

As the supreme lord of ironic Zevi shipping, I am torn between that and the canon facts that Levi wants to gut him.

Clearly he is there for Levi's fine ass

I have no real opinion but I’m slightly disheartened by the first option for this answer. This might be one of the more disturbing ships.

He will keep his promise and kill Zeke in the end. Whenever that will be.

I love the hate-flirting but for real, Levi loved Erwin and has to get revenge for him

SNK is going to become the first mainstream goru-omorashi-amputee  yaoi series

They hate each other but have to work with each other given the circumstances but really I'm super into enemies-to-lovers ships

Ohohoho, ahahahaha, ahahhahahahahahahahhahaha. All 3, really.

You guys are disgusting, I hope Zeke dies soon horribly

wtf dude?

DO YOU THINK YELENA IS AN ACKERMAN?

1,679 Responses

Almost 90% of the fandom believe Levi and Mikasa will remain the sole Ackermans of the story. 10% believe Zeke might have found an Ackerman ally of his own.

Hope Yelena is an Ackerman. That way we will have a person whose strength is comparable to Levi or Mikasa, but she is from the enemy party (is it really an enemy party or not. idk even.) It will be very interesting to see if Ackermans work for different sides.

Yelena will 100% be this series Brienne of Tarth, but unfortunately I don't think Zeke will get a redemption arc like Jamie Lannister did.

Chapter 104 Questions

THERE'S BEEN SOME COMPARISONS BETWEEN BERT AND ARMIN'S COLOSSAL TITAN FORMS. WHICH IS TRUE FOR YOU? CHECK ALL THAT APPLY.

The majority feels both Bertolt’s and Armin’s Collosal Titan are a good reflection of their respective owners. 37.8% think both titans are impressive as well. Bert’s (33%) iconic Colossal Titan is prefered over Armin’s (20.7%). When asked which CT is more powerful, four times as many people seem to think Bert’s was. And 21.5% can’t be bothered with this question at all.

DID JEAN HESITATE TO KILL FALCO?

1,646 Responses

Nearly 6 of 10 respondents think Jean hesitated to kill the cinnamon roll. 22.1% think he was ready to shoot a hole in the vanilla bean donut, while about 1 out of 5 people aren’t sure.

jean hesitated to kill falco but he still aimed perfectly at him and pulled the trigger if it wasn’t for pieck shifting the spear direction with her steam falco would have been killed. blown to pieces.

keep the kids away from him will you?

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE ARMORED TITAN'S NEW FORM?

1,709 Responses

Just when we thought Reiner couldn’t become any more beautiful, Isayama gives us the doki doki version of the armored titan. Unfortunately only 25.9% agree with us. A similar number of people just want Reiner to die. Maybe it’s because you wish to be his mercy angel, maybe because the unarmored titan now haunts your dreams and you’d like to be able to sleep again. That’s what 26.9% of you at least seem to hope for. Over a fifth of all respondents just wants Beardner back.

Reiner looks good with the beard but isayama doesn’t know how to draw facial hair properly most of the time so i hope it’s gone for good

Just let Reiner die man, he’s gone through so much just let him R E S T

It feels like Reiner half-assed his transformation and what we saw was the result.

RIP plot armor

WHO GOT THE WAR HAMMER TITAN'S POWER?

1,670 Responses

It seems obvious that Eren got the Warhammer titan, but 12.3% of you are still holding out hope that Porco drank the Tybur flavored protein smoothie.

WH’s death was unexpectedly brutal.

I don't see why it's believed that Eren didn't get the warhammer power. You could see the flash that we have seen before, along with the expression in which is the same of when he receives memories.

Why is there still discussion over who got the WHT? We got a very clear shot of Eren getting some sort of "flash" while inside his Titan. I'll watch the live-action movie if I'm wrong.

IS PIECK GOING TO SURVIVE?

1,662 Responses

The verdict is clear: 87.5% think Pieck will live. Let’s hope she’ll be able to meet Yelena again before shifteraids strikes ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).

I know we've seen Ymir survive much worse, but I think Pieck might die. Her pantzersquad is toast, Zeke is gone, I can't imagine Pieck as she is will be useful without either to support her. I think she's on death's door and they're going to try to pass her power onto Colt.

I do hope that Pieck's not gonna die yet.  Isayama already killed a major character. And he once stated in an interview that he would kill jist one for now.

she's probably safe for now, but I don't see what else she'd be needed for story-wise now that she's revealed Zeke was a traitor

I'm mad Pieck is still alive.

WHO WILL BE THE MOST DEPRESSED GOING FORWARD?

1,684 Responses

“You get a clinical depression! And you get a clinical depression! EVERYBODY GETS A CLINICAL DEPRESSION!” More than half of you think Reiner will be the most depressed, while almost a ¼ of all respondents think Connie will be. Porco has about 13% of all votes.Most of you think Pieck will be okay (or more okay than anyone else on the list).

ALL OF THE ABOVE

gheez stop providing me more depressing options

Omg, you are cruel people, I can't choose one

The fans. We cannot watch, yet we cannot look away.

the state of all the Survey Corps members (except for Floch, fuck him) is, in my opinion, the worst. Reiner's is obviously horrible, too; but for some reason, the fact that he's so okay with giving up almost makes me less worried about him. Death, for me, has always been sadder when the person who passed had adamantly wanted to stay alive.

when Reiner wakes up and wants to die because of everything that happened, let me die with him

A couple years ago one Connie was half of Reiner in terms of height, and now he has half of Braun's agony, great character development for my boy

I think Sasha dying was something that needed to happen but can Connie catch a fucking break, Isayama, holy shit

Me T____T

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES?

1,665 Responses

Reddit reigns supreme, but compared to previous months, Tumblr is up 5% while Reddit is down the same amount. Discord participation is also up marginally.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?

314 Responses

We received over 300 responses, and several of those weren’t even in English:

Должен же уже кто-то наказать Эрена?

Кто-то должен наказать тебя за ответ не на английском.

PAS SASHAAAAAA VOUS AVIEZ PAS LE DROIT DE LA TUERRRRRR :'''''''(

Où était éditeur-kun?

Jokes aside, enjoy more of the comments from this chapter:

Finally, the meat of the story

We got dem zekerets

I'm really worried about this new Eldian empire, that is not going to go well. So many questions to ask about what was happening on the Paradis side during the timeskip, I think it is time for some flashbacks in the next couple of chapters.

Fuck this whole depressing reality.

I just really want Zeke to die at this point. I don't care how he's working with Eren or the SC. It's his fault Erwin died, he ruins everything, he fucked over Reiner and Bert, and he's obviously going to fuck over the SC too.

I feel like everyone will (soon) have to come to terms with the fact that the Yeagerbros' plan was the right/only choice, as shown by them going silent after Eren and Zeke point out the benefit of this operation.

I refuse sasha's death

CHARACTERS ARE DYING AGAIN!!! I AM HAPPY WHILE SOBBING!!!!!!

I feel that everyone jumps to conclusions EVERY chapter, because you’d think we’d know by now that not everything is what it seems and Isayama enjoys messing with us.

I think this chapter was not criticized enough. It was basically a vomit of revelations strung together with some cliche plot

I wonder how Historia will react to Gabi and Falco upon learning of Sasha's death. I'm also curious to see how she will react seeing Eren again and meeting her relative from overseas. You know where these thoughts are going: I want to see older Historia next chapter!

Levi beating the shit out of eren is Big Mood

I'm really not upset with Jean; it's unfair of him to say that, but he's always used anger as a way of dealing with things; the fact that Eren has fucked up already makes it easy to redirect his anger.

Dina is alive and Zeke is visiting her for mother's day

It's good to see that the SC members still have their minds right (except Flocke, but he's a fucking meme), and I hope to see how Hanji acts. I've seen her too impotent in this chapter, unlike how she was in Kenny's arc.

Petition to let Levi enjoy his 40s onwards in goddamn peace.

I believe the end almost always justifies the means, but the thing is... it's important to plan, to avoid any unnecessary evils. Impulsive and reckless natures always annoy me because they often don't avoid those unnecessary evils, if anything they cause more.

Why do Hange and Levi suck at aging?

105 killed me and then killed me again. but then zevi being officially canon and jaegerbros interaction revived me and sudddenly everything is ok. anyways, kidding aside, it was really interesting to see the changes in the sc members' relationship and dynamics with eren, especially armin and levi 👀

105 is absolutely my least favorite chapter this arc. so rushed and boring.

for the god of love please let Levi die. Being forced to work with the man he swore to kill is just humiliating.

I can't wait for Levi to kill Zeke.  Part of me worries Isayama is gonna rob him of that chance because fuck happy endings but maaaaaaaan I hope it's epic.

The grand ironic tragedy. An Eldian believing anti-Eldian propaganda kills another Eldian to avenge Eldian friends.

Where the hell is annie

It was great, hoping for an information dump next chapter, along with Annie returning soon and Reiner suffering even more (is that even possible?) after he's now pretty much lost everything he cared about.

Zeke's "free Eldia" line is shady af

Zevi is real, but not really. Protect Gabi at all costs. Flock is my boy. Zeke is trash but also god.

I hated it, and I hate this arc, and I hate all the side characters, and I don't care about any of it, and I can't freaking believe Isayama made Eren turn his back on all the morals Eren is BUILT on. I feel betrayed. So angry.

Boring chapter the only thing i enjoyed was gabi being an absolute badass. zeke and levi’s conversation was cringy af.

I just need the Warriors and Warrior Cadets to be okay and ALIVE throughout the series to the very end. I can't wait to learn more about Yelena and if Porco actually got the War Hammer, while it's unlikely, I've been wrong before.

The story feels completely different than it did when I first got into it. I’m wondering how Isayama plans to wrap things up after everything we’ve seen.

I just have so many feels for this chapter. After all the action in the previous ones, this one landed a punch straight in my gut. Thanks, Yams, I hate this.

I'm glad the battle is over. This turn of events offers new perspectives around. Between Falco and Gabi going to Paradis, Zeke probably having his own goal, Marley rebuilding after purging the unnecessary elements, there's plenty of material for a final arc.

Can we get the next one please? I can't take all these damn cliffhangers. I WANNA FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

this was an excellent chapter. The tension felt from the scenes in it was so strong you could slice it. Connie's reaction is quite heartbreaking and frankly, I felt quite uncomfortable just seeing the looks Armin gave Eren and Mikasa. They've all changed quite a bit. Even when Jean blames Eren for Sasha's fate, I felt like it was more out of grief than ire.

Can't wait for Reiner to come back

I had genuinely hoped that over time, more people would sympathize with Gabi, especially since shes a kid and has worked her ass off to make a better life for her and her family. Turns out, people only seem to hate her more now. I'm not thrilled that she killed Sasha but in her perspective she's an enemy and part of the reason her friends and allies were killed. War has two sides, people! That's kinda the whole point of the marley arc…

The new chapters are my sole reason for living now

I've been seeing a lot of hatred for Gabi this month, but I honestly can't get mad at her. It's understandable for people to be angry (especially big Sasha fans), but I really feel bad for all the shit she's gone through and how completely brainwashed she is.

each chapter makes me love and appreciate the warriors even more

I`ve seen people saying this chapter is the worst because of how easily Levi and Zeke "became friends”  and are provoking each other. To me, it's clear that Eren forced the survey corps to capture Zeke to fulfill his unknown agenda, and that Levi hasn't forgiven Zeke for what he did to Erwin + 200 other Survey Corps members. I also hope that Zeke is just continuing Eren Krueger's secret plan (giving the Attack Titan to Grisha so he can get the Founding Titan while Zeke stays on Marley as a double agent). That would be the most badass plan in all history.

DO U EVEN READ THESE

We read each and every comment!

Thank you for participating. The poll for chapter 106 will go up on June 10th!  

[perfectackeracy]

Shingeki no Kyojin chapter 98 review (+ theories)

This chapter marks the ending of volume 24 and finally ends up with the moment that was hyped at the beginning of the book, in chapter 95:

The highlight of the Liberio festival, the stage - Ch. 98

And what a festival it was! It’s probably the only chapter of the volume where Reiner spends a good time in company of the kids, where every event happened according to the plan... till the cliffhanger of the volume came to ruin the good mood.

Indeed, it’s one of the rarest cases where it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next, because our now-protagonist was left in the dark since Eren surfaced in Liberio, triggering a bunch of unexpected events by his mere presence... just like Grisha did when he came inside Paradis. Because hey, the idea of hope and prosperity for Mainland Eldians wouldn’t be funny to envision if literally everything went as planned! 

Looks like Eren isn’t in position to attempt anything funny. He’s got what he wanted in Liberio and can return to Paradis. At best, we’ll see another timeskip of reorganization before sailing on Paradis, at worst, someone interferes against Eren or Eren does something stupid and the mood is already ruined before the operation even starts.

T’was a nice chapter with content definitely worth talking about.

The cadet batch

The future of Marley

The Yeager’s family reunion

Willy Tybur

The basement meeting

Key points

Follow me under the cut!

Not really a WTF CR, but one translated panel in particular is outright bizarre and gives a different interpretation of the whole scene.

“How we’re feeling?” Looks like they were rejoiced at the idea of beating Gabi up instead of complaining about the racket for a foot race. Not really cool for Gabi.

Oh and also...

Wat is coherency

Seriously, one time it’s Liberio, the other time Rebellio... just pick a correct translation...

Moving on the group who had quite a fair load of spotlight in this chapter…

The cadet batch

The cadets as waiters - Ch. 98

If anything, this chapter highlighted the four kids a lot, starting with Falco beating Gabi at an endurance race. I guess playing deliveryman while drinking the freedom kool-aid for a month helped a lot. We also got to see how the four kids reacted with each other differently. Previously it was as a group of four, but this chapter denotes the individuality of certain relationships.

Gabi loves when the Udo and Zofia duo sides with her and holds influence and authority over them. However, the duo cheered when Falco beat her for the first time. It goes to show she was known as the undefeated one. As important as her grades were, her character paints her as the dominant figure: she’s authoritative and dynamic, and really can’t stand competition. That’s why she treats her relationship with Falco as rivalry, and thinks he’s only there to grab the merits, when his brother already got some.

Gabi rejecting Falco - Ch. 98

Obviously, this is not what Falco intended at all. He doesn’t think he’s up to become a warrior in the first place, but only gets in the way of Gabi’s glory to protect her, because he loves her that much. More than restoring the family’s honor or going on Paradis, all he does is exclusively for the sake of the girl he loves. Between that and his compassion for war victims, he truly behaves like the cinnamon roll of the group. He’s also a bit naive: getting friendly with a stranger and even considering him his friend, truly unaware of his real motives. Falco puts so much faith in him, he’s even separating from the main group to pick him up at the festival. Eren became his confident and lays on him discussions he can’t have with others. Not even Gabi or his own brother.

Eren’s (and Reiner’s) legacy - Ch. 98

Despite that, Eren rubbed on him a little too much. Would he keep the same cool face if Gabi ends up rejecting him too often or if he grows up and realize it’s not worth it? Looks like he’s heading for the wall of a brutal realization, namely that his new friend isn’t the man he thought he was or… worst of the cases, if Gabi dies. Gabi dying would also break Reiner even further.

So far, Gabi and Falco are the moving elements of their group of four, while Udo and Zofia tag along; between Gabi and Falco, Gabi is the more leader-like, wanting to put Falco in his place. Falco’s reasons for going on is exclusively for Gabi.

The other two, Udo especially, had their moments in this chapter.

Gabi supervising Udo and Zofia - Ch. 98

Especially around Gabi and the preparations for the festival. Zofia was adorable and she’s definitely nailed as the weirdo of the group after 93. She makes off-topic statements in contrast of the actual mood, which adds a nice lighthearted touch. She has the chilliest temper of the whole group, being absentminded most of the time. The ice to Udo’s fire.

Udo’s struggles have been highlighted in this chapter. We’ve learned his family moved from another internment zone from another country and the struggles he faced there were far worse than in Liberio. That explains why he was constantly worried about the reputation of Eldians in the world and why he’s the most skeptical of Marley’s treatment of Eldians. In the corner of my heard, I thought about him having similar traits to Annie, particularly in their cynicism and their tendencies to lash out and go with the flow. Annie has a tendency to run away, physically and emotionally. Not sure what Udo would do in war conditions on his own, but he does lash on other things and other people... unintentionally.

Udo getting pissed at the guests - Ch. 98

Of the group, Udo’s the one with a hot temper: almost squeezing Falco’s head when he thinks about how incompetent Marley’s navy is, kicking town property when he thinks about the MEU survivors demonizing Eldians further and in this chapter, he almost gave in to the provocation from the guests talking behind his back, making him spill wine on that Touyou noblewoman.  

The Touyou noblewoman - Ch. 98

And luckily for him, she covered him up. This scene served at the same time to introduce the Touyou clan, directly inspired from Japan, and their mark (the same one on Mikasa’s wrist) and to show strangers can be kind to Eldians. The latter serves for Udo’s development, considering he was the most hopeless for the festival.

The four of them shone as a true group of friends hanging out during the festival where the cultural gates opened to Liberio for the first time. The kids had their fun and could have their taste of freedom for the first time. Tasting new foods, listening to music, viewing other people… They all were in the mood to party and that was the most lighthearted moment of the chapter. And who can forget that tragic moment leading to the death of Reiner’s paycheck?

“Papa, can we have some pastries?” - Ch. 98

It’s adorable how Reiner hangs around the kids during that festival. Everytime he has a free moment, he hangs around the kids, and everytime he does that, you get fatherly vibes from him. Towntrip in Fort Slava, paying the kids’ food at the festival... despite being riddled with depression and PTSD he spoils them rotten when he can.

Will to live restored - Ch. 98

Because those smiles restore his faith and give him a reason to keep going. That’s more important than his paycheck. It was also worth it for his cousin: she partied too hard but felt at least things were changing, due to the recent events following the peace treaty with the Middle-Eastern Union. What she doesn’t know is why Willy showed up and she likely doesn’t know about Paradis’ operation taking place soon. In chapter 91, she wanted to get the Armor to get her chance at crushing Paradis, but now that it’s confirmed Reiner will be going there for the last time, I’m not sure how she’ll take it. Would she let go? Would she go through an existential crisis? Would she die before knowing it?

Nothing’s going to go well for the kids, will it?

Colt and Zeke playing catch - Ch. 98

Lastly, I wanted to talk about Colt. Despite hanging with the warriors rather than the kids, Colt had his caring moments, especially about him not wanting Falco to be selected for the Armored Titan. As the official big brother figure of the cadets, him not being shown in group with them makes him detached from them. The other warriors except Zeke are around his age, but their ranks are different, so I feel like he’s a bit awkward around them.

Not only that but I have the feeling he’s… pretty much a trained regular for the future warchief. In 91: his ideas got turned down by Commander Magath. In 93, he feels like he can’t measure up to Zeke’s abilities. In 95 and onwards, he remains pretty much in the background: Porco and Pieck contributed to the discussion more often.

Zeke is particularly attached to his successor, inviting him to play catch with him. Additionally, Zeke must have helped him ascend to the rank of warchief considering the fates of the Yeager and the Grice family are connected: they were both tarnished by the actions of Grisha and Uncle Grice respectively and as Grandpa Yeager states, they had no choice but to send anybody available in the military.

The future of Marley

Magath and Willy discussing about the future of Marley - Ch. 98

Magath and Willy were talking in metaphors, to refer to the military officials as “the home”. The “expansion” refers to the recruitment campaign and the “demolition” refers to how much generals Magath plans to fire, especially after the morning reunion. He also referred to “usable posts” like Reiner and Zeke, and the “sneaking mice” as Eren.

The most shocking thing of the chapter is how quick the current Marley officials have been dismissing Reiner’s intel under the pretense Eldians know less. Between the start of the chapter and the commentary about their navy, making child warriors and any strategy that isn’t titan fighting, the officials are quite incompetent. Both Porco and Pieck made sneaky remarks about it.

If anything, it’s a good thing Zeke started this plan: by allowing Magath and Willy to take the reins, they can restructure the whole army before they launch an assault on Paradis. I’m giving at least a two-month timeskip before they launch an attack, making it three months in total since the end of the conflict with the Middle-Eastern Union. This is the same timeskip between the battle of Trost and the battle of Shiganshina. And at the end of the first month, from Eren and the others’ point of view, we figured out who the traitors were, learned a bunch of information and overthrew the previous government. Here, Zeke, Willy and Magath made everything possible to orchestrate a revolution. In the meantime, the chapter ends with Eren, the mole, revealing himself.

When you think about it, from the FT arc to the end of the Uprising, the SC, under the reins of Erwin, hunted the hidden mice (RBA) and put in place a government suiting their needs, with a puppet leader (Historia) for one particular campaign: retaking Wall Maria. Replace Erwin by Zeke and Paradis by Marley and you’ve got the same goals.

The Yeager family reunion

Eren playing with a baseball - Ch. 98

…Though it can hardly be considered as one, when the only contact Eren made is with his brother, through letters. His grandparents aren’t aware their other grandson was at the hospital.

A month passed since Eren asked Falco to send his first letter. The dialogue implies Eren and Zeke have been conversing for a while. Zeke’s line about being a brother and his face implies he started sharing the sentiment only recently, and overall, there’s this glove and baseball. The two of them have been conversing for a while.

Eren’s presence has been revealed by Zeke, indirectly, to Magath. Whatever Eren is up to, he’s already under suspicion and thus his movements are limited. I don’t think we’re up to see a clash between the warriors and the Advancing Founder in Liberio. Especially when Eren will eventually return on Paradis, because he got what he wanted: Zeke’s trust, allowing to come closer to him, because he’s the missing ingredient for a fully-functioning coordinate. And Zeke’s royal blood is of course, unknown from both sides. It can mostly be used as a means of blackmailing. Or worse, forcing Zeke to eat his brother so his mind will be savagely hacked by two lines: Yeager and Fritz. That or Zeke only revealed his royal blood to a couple of trustworthy individuals so the correlation between his blood and the royal blood can be falsified...

C’mon, it doesn’t take a brilliant mind to figure this shit out… - Ch. 93

But more than his brother spilling the beans on him, Zeke is rather optimistic about Eren coming in Liberio. He still communicated with him and offered him baseball equipment, so he doesn’t get bored at the hospital… all of that instead of ratting him out. After all, he still carries the Founder and everybody at the strategic table knows it. Yet he lets Eren act as he pleases. The reason for it is simple:  

“Someday… I’ll come to save you” – Ch. 83

And it looks like he didn’t even have to come in Paradis to get him. He directly fell into his hands! How convenient…

The sensitive side of Zeke wants Eren to be free from the brainwashing his father inflicted him. He wants to believe Eren has seen the light in some way and thought he could understand what he has been through. What Zeke saw in Shiganshina was a naïve boy who was misled by his father throughout his life, because he himself was forced to go to the warpath since birth. What he doesn’t know is Eren being closer to his father than he thought. A while ago I suspected Zeke to lose and die because he took his family matters too close at heart. It looks like it hasn’t gone off the picture yet.

The rational part of Zeke still wonders why would Eren show up now. What could possibly make him move now where everything is going smoothly? He’s conscious that what describes Eren’s condition is “brainwashing” and nobody gets out of it easily. It seeps into your brain long enough so your perspective on reality is fooled. I think Zeke will realize way too late that Eren’s brain isn’t wired like that.

Grandpa Yeager also met his grandson in this chapter. While the former is completely unaware of his real identity and motivation, the latter knows everything, from Grisha’s pint of view. He felt all the disgust Grisha had for him when he “bowed down to his masters” when Fay died, how Grisha inherited the Yeager clinic, how morbid he looked when Grisha was cuffed and taken for interrogation and how Kruger explained how he didn’t want to lose any more of his family. Eren understands the situation in which his grandfather has been, and despite that…

“Regrets…? It seems… You have your own about your family.” – Ch. 98

He managed to strike an important nerve. He’s unfazed by what he did, because his actions were intentional but at the same time it’s sad to see Grandpa Yeager is still haunted by Fay’s death and Grisha’s actions. Those actions made him lose his children and the grandchild is condemned to a life of war and a short existence to repay the Yeager name.

Without any further addition, Eren mixes in the crowd for the upcoming festival, where he’s meeting the last survivor of Paradis’ operation.

Willy Tybur

Willy captivating the crowd - Ch. 98

Part of why I loved this chapter is because of Willy’s… willingness to cooperate with the plan. After shaking his hand with Magath’s, the two of them started to occupy their roles, and Willy finally stepped out of the balcony to join the crowd. As the ruler of Marley, he holds the belief it’s a nation for Eldians and Marleans. However, taking the first step to put them on an equality foot isn’t obvious.

Willy taking a new role - Ch. 98

There’s the weight of the time and the generations crawling on Willy’s back, but also the ascending hatred of Eldians from the world, and the alignment of the diaspora with the vow of renouncing authority to serve the former oppressed people in their wars, and stay isolated in internment zones. Despite that, he’s handling the international scene quite well. Many leaders from the world knew him since he was a child, like Ogweno, Nambia and that MEU ambassador.

Willy saving the night - Ch. 98

He’s also a charismatic leader. When the Marlean ambassador failed to capture the attention of the people, Willy saved the night by promoting his production, using an elaborated speech. The whole crowd cheered him up. I’m curious about his acting talents.

And of course, probably the most peace-ruining moment of the chapter…

The basement meeting

Eren and Reiner meeting after 4 years - Ch. 98

Considering everything that transpired since last chapter, it’s quite a shock. And just casually on Eren’s part moreover. I’ve written about why Reiner was traumatized in my last review and here it is, blowing in his face. Meanwhile, Eren looks so nonchalant it’s disturbing to say the least. Rubbing Reiner’s wish to return home in his face when he lost all his companions and showing there out of the blue, completely unaware of what’s going on.

They’re both in a situation where neither any of them can fight or trashtalk, considering Falco’s in the same room. Either Reiner will send Falco off to have an adult talk with Eren, either Eren will be vague about anything that transpired on Paradis, because the festival is starting soon, and they only have a couple of minutes before returning to their positions.

Eren wouldn’t gain anything from Reiner’s side, since he observed him for a while. Reiner however, would like to bombard him with ask: why are you here? How did you get here? How could you mix in the crowd? What happened to Annie and Bertolt? What did you do to Falco? What the fuck is this greasy, dirty hobo look?

Whatever is going to happen between the two, I’m not going to like it at all. I’m expecting Eren to make me feel uncomfortable depending of what he’s going to say to Reiner and since he asked Falco to bring Reiner down there, he ought to get something from him. Either blackmail or false promises. We’ll see.

Key points

It’s been a month since the victory of Marley over the MEU

The Marley government is an “unruly mob”

The internment zones are scattered all around the world 

Zeke and Eren have been communicating a couple of times and Magath is aware of Eren’s presence

Grandpa Yeager works at the hospital and is unaware he had a conversation with his other grandson

The man who helped Grisha getting in the revolutionary group is Uncle Grice

Colt and Falco’s motivations to get in the army were to repair the Grice family’s honor

It’s likely Zeke did the same too, for the sake of his grandparents

The “Touyou” clan comes from the nation of Hizuru

Willy encountered leaders of the world when he was young

Liberio was the former capital of the Eldian Empire and the place of birth of Ymir Fritz

Clams, clowns, accordions, ice creams, pizza and wraps exist in SnK’s world

Reiner’s paycheck is high enough to treat four kids with snacks

It was quite a long analysis. Hope you enjoyed it and see you next chapter!

EDIT: This ask is a good addendum on how Zeke likely perceives Eren.

[imaginesnkdorks]

Hi! How do you think Eren, Armin, Levi, Erwin, Jean, Mike and Marco would react to their s/o dying on a mission to protect them? Thank youu!

[Warning! Mentions of feeling suicidal; spoilers from the manga. I hope these aren’t too depressing - I tried to make ‘em end on a good note but, that’s quite hard. Sorry XD. Also, there’s probably tons of grammar errors and misspelling. I have a migraine right now T_T ugh - mod max ]

Eren:

Guilt

 Eren hated it when people die - especially if they die for him. And the fact that this person is someone so dear to him just makes him more miserable. 

If people think that he was a suicidal maniac before, well, they better brace themselves now. Eren thinks that there’s literally nothing to lose - he is but a weapon. It just pains him knowing that his s/o won’t get to enjoy the future he’s fighting for. 

Armin:

Rage

This happened to him before - Eren was eaten by a titan because he pulled Armin out of it’s mouth. Armin was inconsolable after that - Connie wasn’t even able to talk to him. And now, it was his s/o who wasn’t a titan shifter like Eren. They won’t be coming back - their limbs won’t be able to grow back. And that’s all because they protected him!

Armin will spend a while, alone. He couldn’t bare to see anyone or even be around anyone. But then, a it would seem like a flip was suddenly switched. He’d be more … ruthless. He’ll plan the ultimate strategy to take down their enemy, making them pay for what they did to his s/o in the most painful way possible.

Jean:

Catalyst

He thought losing his friend Marco was the most painful he’d ever experience. He thought that that moment prepared him for everything else. He saw people die all around him, regularly - but he was wrong. He never thought he would have lost them. The most important person to him. 

The fact that they died to save him also weigh on him. Why? Why couldn’t he protect them instead? Jean was almost ready to follow Eren’s footsteps and be a suicidal maniac, but he remembered them. His s/o joined the SC to change the world - to have a future. 

They might no longer be in the world, but Jean wants life to continue - to have a future where they would be remembered.

Reiner:

Regret

No one could ever understand the regret he’s feeling right now. It was his fault. Not only because his s/o died saving him - it’s because he’s the enemy. He’s the one who turned their life into hell, the moment he and Bert destroyed wall Maria. He feels like a hypocrite, when he fell in love with the person whose family he destroyed. And he felt much worse when they loved him back. But them, dying for him at the hand of a titan, no less? Was just the cherry at the top of the cake. A cake of misery, that is. 

Since he was already a traitor, it wouldn’t hurt to go all the way. It doesn’t matter whether he gets to go home or not - his home was dead. His s/o’s gone, and all he wants to do now is to atone for it, by getting rid of the ones responsible.

Marco:

Goal

His intention to serve the King goes out the window. Marco would never forget the pain he felt - a pain he wouldn’t wish upon anyone else. Losing the one you loved … because you couldn’t protect yourself. It haunted his sleep - which was rare. 

After a long time of being a shell of his old self, he decided to live - to live the life his s/o gave him. He joined the SC, with the rest of his friends. He’ll get rid of the titans and pave a future where no one has to die for anyone, where no one would lose a person they love.

Mike:

Tears

He was only second to Levi. He was supposed to be strong, yet he couldn’t do anything! He lost it when he heard the abnormal, furry titan speak to him. He should’ve held it together! Then … that furry one walked away, not before commanding the other titans to attack. He wasn’t able to do anything - his gear was missing it’s main mechanism - that’s when his s/o jumped in front of him.

They urged him to run, to make it easier for them to protect him by getting away. Mike thought that’d be best as well, and with faith in his s/o’s skill, he did his best to get away, taking refuge in the nearby building, trusting his s/o was right behind him. 

The moment he turned, he saw a gruesome scene. And he just stood there, frozen, with tears cascading down his eyes endlessly.

Levi:

Grief

His title was good for nothing. Humanity’s strongest? Huh! Worthless. He couldn’t even protect them, in fact he was the one who needed saving. That’s why … that’s why they’re gone. His s/o. 

He promised himself he wouldn’t regret any choice he make, or anything at all, the moment he decided to follow Erwin. But he can’t help but feeling regret. Why couldn’t he have done better?

Ah. He should stop, before he totally regret everything. 

He’d lost a lot of people - he lost people close to his heart before. Still, losing them was too much. 

Levi, humanity’s strongest, decided to let himself grieve over his lost. He decided to let loose for once. 

Erwin:

Sin

He’s a monster, he knows that much. He was willing to sacrifice the lives of hundred of soldiers in order to save humanity - nay, to achieve his dream. He was a selfish man, alright. Not only because of that, but because of the fact that there’s one person who he would never ever dare sacrifice. The exemption to the rule, so to say. 

He did his best to keep them safe, but his best wasn’t enough. The titan was coming for him, but his s/o pushed him away! He tried to get them back, to get rid of the titan … and he was successful. The problem? He was too late. His s/o wasn’t breathing anymore - wasn’t warm anymore. 

Of all the deaths he caused, this was the most painful. Aside from the fact that he lost the love of his life, there was no way he can atone for this. Death isn’t enough. This is a sin he’ll pay the most.