Board Thread:Manga/@comment-5774380-20160408232143/@comment-24407809-20160413011856

Kowys wrote: I'm so hyped for Levi vs Beast titan next chapter...not only because its the fight between the two strongest guys both sides have to offer, but because the outcome is soooo uncertain.

Think about it. Levi is like the #1 most beloved character in the AoT fandom. If Isayama kills him off in this fight, the rage against him will be unbelievable. That's pretty much impenetrable plot armor right there.

However, we haven't yet seen the full extent of the Beast Titan's abilities as well as his backstory. In fact, we hardly know anything about his origins, motivations, nothing at all, except his name. If he dies to Levi in this fight, it will be a tremendous wasted opportunity for character development. Plus, it seems unlikely for Levi to defeat him outright given Reiner's statement that "even Levi is no match for our general".

Given these facts, and knowing Isayama, something absolutely CRAZY is going to happen next chapter, and I can't wait.

Ideally, the outcome of the fight really would be uncertain; Zeke is possibly the most dangerous character ever encountered in the series, and he's already demolished around 3/4 of the Survey Corps, and killed a main character (whether you say Erwin died immediately, or will die from the attack next chapter, I'm still counting him as dead). The problem is, there's absolutely no way Zeke will be able to break through Levi's plot armor. I mean seriously, look at the insane amount of plot armor Reiner, one of the less popular characters, has, and then try to imagine the kind of plot armor a fan favorite like Levi will be sporting. It'll inhuman.

However, plot armor aside, I don't think any possible fan backlash over Levi's death should scare Isayama at this point, considering how close the series already is to being over. I'm too lazy to find an actual link, but I distinctly remember Isayama's editor saying in an interview a few months back that the manga had about two years worth of story left before it ended (I think Crunchyroll has an article about it somewhere), which means that even if the series takes a hit in the ratings if Levi dies (it won't and we all know it, people were reading the series before Levi showed up, and they'll be reading after if he takes his permanent exit), Isayama will just have to finish what's left of it and then go on his merry way.