Board Thread:Manga/@comment-26056057-20160509020829/@comment-24407809-20160509041125

ALRIGHT *cracks knuckles, neck, and back* time for my thoughts!

Another stellar chapter from Isayama, this time with some intriguing character development for Zeke, the series' first truly dangerous antagonist (who didn't get his degree in plot armor from the 104th Trainees Squad like Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie. Also, we get to bear witness to possibly the most unexpected development in the history of the AOT series: a new character survives Zeke's attack instead another, more well-known character (possibly two!).

Now, too the highlights and low-points of the chapter:
 * Pro: We finally get some real insight into Zeke's character, and its an utterly intriguing view we are given: we see that Zeke is not (no matter what Manuel thinks of him) an utterly heartless person who is comprised of utterly pure, unmitigated evil. In fact, he actually regrets having to kill so many people, and has to actively remind and coerce himself into doing his job. What's more, we see that Zeke might not be... fully present upstairs, talking to himself in the third person to the extent that it almost looks as though he is talking to someone else completely. Also, while it's not really relevant, we also learn that he has some daddy issues. Not sure how this will come into play, but the fact that Isayama included it means that it will doubtlessly come into play later on.


 * Con: Levi and Zeke's much-hyped fight is... very anti-climactic. Hell, even Annie held her own for a little bit, but Zeke is decidedly helpless. Now, I spent a long time after seeing this sequence trying to reconcile this portrayal of Zeke's abilities with previous depictions: "Well, we've only ever seen Zeke kills people from far away with projectiles, so maybe he's just not a good hand-to-hand fighter"; but then I remembered that in Chapter 70, Zeke defeated the Armored Titan in battle without breaking a sweat. And I know he didn't just beat him by throwing rocks... So what this entire sequence ends up being is, rather than a legitimate fight between two certified badasses, just a few pages of fanservice, in which Isayama draws what most fans want to see, rather than what would actually happen (mind you, I'm not saying Zeke would win in a real fight, but all previous factors indicate that he would at least hold his own).


 * Pro: I appreciate how Isayama incorporated the Quadrupedal Titan at such an interval moment, since it would have been just as easy to have Levi slaughter him along with the other Titans before fighting Zeke. His continued survival and apparent ability to act on his own without Zeke's commands, continues to suggest that he is a Homeland Titan Shifter, and I am positively ecstatic to see more Shifters appear.


 * Pro: Like I said above, Isayama's decision to keep "Redshirt #1" alive over Marlowe or possibly Erwin is a huge plus for this chapter. It's nice to see him branching out beyond the core cast to give some time to less important characters (I think at this point even he is running out of new ideas for characters who have been around for 80 chapters).


 * Undecided: Isayama is really laying down heavy foreshadowing for Armin's death in this issue. Let me say this now: I am all for Armin (or any member of Squad Levi) dying. Sasha's been on borrowed time since volume 9, Connie's a glorified prop at this point, Jean's rivalry with Eren combined with horse-face jokes can only be interesting and/or funny for so long, and Armin is (if you look at things objectively) lucky he survived his first expedition, considering how unskilled he is. I made a prediction all the way back when Chapter 72 came out that Armin would die during this expedition, as he had been raising death flags left and right in that chapter, but I'm honestly afraid that Isayama will go his (somewhat common route) of making it look like Armin has died at the end of one chapter, before revealing he s completely fine in the next. Which would be a truly awful decision. Killing Armin would provide a not only an extremely memorable and emotional scene, but would also serve as a serious gut-punch to fans who are used to AOT's characters miraculously escaping death (I've seen fans who are completely torn up over Moblit dying. Moblit of all people. The reactions to Armin dying would be exactly what you'd expect from fans of such a well-written story.

To wrap up, I'd like to say that the chapter was great (when are they not?), but there were some things that didn't quite live up to the hype. If Isayama is prepared to cash the major checks he has written in this chapter, then this chapter will represent one of the best build-ups to one of the best events in AOT's history. I look forward to seeing if Isayama is prepared to fully ditch his patented plot armor for in the next few chapters.