Board Thread:Manga/@comment-27321453-20181206222153/@comment-8458738-20190113003837

RuneLai wrote: Penguinluver1431 wrote: So long story short, yes, my issue is that it's straying too far from the revenge-based story elements from early on that made the series great. I don't like being told to empathize with people that are of no interest to me.

See, I never saw AoT as a revenge story, which is why I'm perfectly fine with the idea of dropping the cycle of hatred. AoT to me was previously a story about survival in the face of an unrelenting enemy. It's like going on a crusade against man-eating bears. That's not revenge, it's extermination of a species that cannot be reasoned with.

My perception of the story changed when we realized that the Titans were actually victims; regular humans turned into monsters.

Take that a step forward, and it's easy to extrapolate that to Marley.

Marley suffered and was abused by Eldia, so they fought back in a civil war that they won with the Tyburs' help. This war easily could have been a heroic storyline with heroes rising up against the tyrants so inhumane they would turn their own people into mindless monsters to dominate the world.

The problem is what part of the story we are reading.

We see Marley a hundred years later after Eldia has been defeated/withdrawn, and rather than saying "Well, we're free now" they took it a step further and subjugated their former oppressors. Chances are, all the Marleyans knew was how to dominate another nation, because that's all they knew while under Eldia's thumb. It's not uncommon for victims to turn into abusers, which is why breaking cycles of violence and oppression are are so important.

You got me, therefore I'll get you back.

That's exactly what Marley did.

The problem I have with revenge being a mandate of the story is that it ultimately just ends up cycling things over.

At the moment Marley is dominant and the Yeagerists look like they want to wipe out Marley and put Eldia back on top again. If we follow the line of thinking that revenge is always justified, then in another hundred years, the descendants of Marley will be justified in rising up against Eldia (again).

This leads to the problem that Nicolo and Gabi were yelling about.

Whose revenge is justified? Or are they both justified in killing each other to avenge their loved ones? Is the solution to stick them both in a ring and let them fight it out?

That doesn't feel like it solves anything. Eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind.

You mention John Wick and Taken, but they're both movies with nihilistic viewpoints. AoT is not nihilistic. AoT has said, more than once, that though the world is cruel, it's still beautiful. The characters fight for hope, they fight for a better tomorrow, even if they don't know whether they'll ever see it themselves. You can see it in Armin's speech to Eren about seeing the ocean (before he baits Bertolt into charring him) and in Erwin's speech about the nameless soldiers and entrusting their future to those who will follow (before his death).

Choosing to trust in someone has be present throughout Attack on Titan, whether it's trusting in Eren, trusting in Armin, trusting in Levi or Erwin. This present arc is the one where that trust is broken, which is how we know something is wrong with Eren, because he's the one character the rest of our primary cast can no longer trust.

You may have become interested in the story for the revenge element, but the series is built on an extremely positive aspect of humanity. Thank you for being the voice of reason.