Board Thread:Manga/@comment-27321453-20190508212248/@comment-35822279-20190509010926

Marco1995mega wrote: Freeman1378 wrote: Marco1995mega wrote: I wouldn't say that the whole "lone wolf" train of thought is a theme of the current arc. Sure, Marley took them by surprise and got the upper hand at the beginning, but Eren himself said it would only be temporary, as they are fighting on their enemy's territory, with limited men, supplies and knowledge of the land.

Besides, Paradis definitely wasn't stronger during RTS; I believe the boatload of dead Survey Corps soldiers would agree, Erwin Smith included. Sure, they managed to retake Shiganshina but barely, and their only enemy had been a few Titan shifters. Now, Paradis, is fighting a force of several hundred men with advanced, anti-personnel weaponry, blimps, and two Titan shifters coordinating with them. As far as I'm concerned, Eren is holding his own remarkably well. Plus, the Survey Corps now was in no way tactically an logistically prepared to deal with Marley; too reactionary, too indecisive, and without the means to fight back effectively. Eren's attack on Liberio killed a significant number of military higher-ups, their port and ships, he took the War Hammer Titan, and created the means of bringing Zeke and his Beast Titan to their side (though I know the old Survey Corps would disagree on the last part, if only out of spite and vindictiveness).

I'm not saying Eren's methods haven't been extreme and questionable, but have anybody's among those trying to make a change? We can't count types like Jean or Mikasa, who, while skilled and smart, have more of a lap-dog mentality than true initiative. And Armin... well, beating him up aside, I'm pretty sure Eren was spot on about Bertolt influencing him, rendering him, if not a traitor, effectively compromised. Eren is shown to blatantly ignore orders from Yelena (attacking Reiner rather than retreating) and he also dragged Paradis into a war it wasn't prepared to handle nor wanted to engage in and that shows that Eren is basically being righteous in his conviction but also arrogant to think that he can do this on his own compared to how he was in RTS. I guess the thing about unity isn't particulary about military strength where Paradis has always been at a disadvantage but more about strength of conviction as that army fought with one goal in mind and accomplished it, freeing the island from the grip of Titans and exposing the truth even if it did come with loads of sacrifices. Whereas here Eren abandons his troops, Yelena, and his friends leaving each in vulnerable positions just to fight Marley and even though he himself was able to defend the first wave he also came close to death numerous times and would have worn himself out if not for Zeke's intervention (which was Magath's strategy and a good one). I will admit that it was a brief criticism I was going to put down in my summary was that Reiner and Porco didn't come across as big enough threats with Magath of all people being the most effective fighter by far and this is a result of Isayama using the flailing Yeagerists to make his point (poorly disciplined, easily ambushed, and frankly not worth even a single Mikasa)  rather than Eren struggling which is common in most media form Star Wars to GOT as it serves to make fights seem more tense than they actually are by killing off waves of no names rather than main characters actually struggling. He can't ignore orders from Yelena since he is the leader, though I do think it was a bit reckless to charge in like that. However, as we've seen of him so far, while just as bold, he's also much more thoughtful than before so it's possible he had a reason to attack. Maybe he was afraid Marley would take over the buiding where the prisoners were being kept, as it was insinuated that Eren still cares about his former friends; his motives and reasons haven't been entirely revealed yet after all. He would've left his comrades even more vulnerable had he listened to Yelena and left the scene, for there was no way the soldiers alone would've been able to deal with both three Titans and the MArleyans attacking from high and low, at least not without tremendous loss of life.

Plus, Paradis was going to face a war with or without Eren's attack on Liberio. Marley had been planning to invade for a while, and would have if not for the Mid-East War, and the Tybur family had been planning the speech on the day of the festival from before Willy and Magath had found out about the infiltrators, and it's likely they would've gotten at least a few more countries to join them. I would've thought this was obvious by now.

The Yeagerists "not being worth a single Mikasa"? I understand this is a deliberate exaggeration (or is it?), but going just a bit too far here, don't you think (cause I'm sure Mikasa alone would've slaughtered the entire invading army single-handedly)? For all the Yeagerist being rather undisciplined, I stand by my arguments regarding the Survey Corps being even less prepared, if only in terms of decisiveness and necessary initiative in the dire times they live in. And them being united is obviously false considering how many willingly joined the Yeagerists, proving that there had been a tremendous amount of dissatifaction and friction in the regiment and the way Hange and other miitary higher-ups were leading them. Plus, I don't see them having been able to predict the way Marley would've attacked. Hell, as we've seen thus far, they're the ones that underestimated the outside world the most. Sure, they're aware that facing the entire world is a terrifying prospect, but their methods, attitude, and sense of prioritizing speaks volumes of their level of understanding of the threat. I guess I should clarify some of my thoughts here. First what I meant about the Yeagerists isn't just about strength (Mikasa is an exceptional soldier but still can't do everything by herself) its also about experience, leadership, and perceptiveness which these Yeagerists don't really possess with many joining based on impulse and the fact that they replaced experienced soldiers like Jean with people like Floch who isn't exactly stable or even a good leader. We can see a clear difference here in Jean's leadership during the Battle Of Liberio where he keeps everyone organized when faced with an ambush from Pieck whereas these Yeagerists don't have clear leadership or someone to calmly assess the situation and as a result they fell apart when pressured in this chapter from Marley in a similar manner to Pieck's ambush. Secondly I don't deny that Eren's attack was sucessful and being proactive came with its own rewards and risks just like the other strategy would have but I feel like Isayama is making the point that Eren's lack of discipline is dangerous to a degree. Third the unity of mankind is a clear thematic thread throughout the manga and anime with an example being the nobles in Uprising being a clear divider almost right from the moment they first appear and humanity is clearly stronger after they are deposed. Finally i'll clarify that I actually do agree with you that Eren's recklessness is based in his desire to not lose anymore friends as he locked up his friends after losing Sasha and as you noted the castle building that Eren started out on is housing said friends and this is just another symptom of Eren trying to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders in order to protect them but I feel like Isayama (this is speculation and it is subjective) is trying to make the point that this kinda attitude is only going to serve to get Eren killed (doubtful) or possibly let Marley gain ground in this war as all of Eren's victories including the battle of Liberio depended heavily on individuals like Armin or Mikasa.