Board Thread:Anime/@comment-27321453-20190603021521/@comment-8458738-20190603223551

That's an interesting interpretation but it seems like Floch is very much referring to Erwin as the devil. "My mission is to bring the devil back to life." The whole reason he went to the trouble of hoisting the commander onto his back and ODMing him all the way back over the wall instead of killing him on the spot was because he believed Erwin deserved to suffer on earth with the rest of them for what he did. (Which, I mean, Erwin is responsible no matter what, even if there was no escape because Zeke's titan minion blockade and rock barrage were unexpected, and even if Levi made the final call to greenlight his suicide plan. He still led newbies into the Shingashina situation and didn't originally plan for the worst...or maybe that's moot since his ultimate plan did almost work.) Anyway when Floch recalls seeing Levi slaying the titan blockade, it's because it made him realize that Levi had the serum and that it could be used on Erwin...as punishment. Floch also acknowledges that Erwin is a valuable strategist/titan killer so reviving him when he'd only send more troops to their deaths feels like it kinda contradicts the boy's original point BUT moving on lol

Going back over the moment when Levi was weighing his options with both injection candidates, and he was overwhelmed with memories of Armin, Erwin, and Kenny, I feel like I'm still having trouble making out what exactly's going on in his mind. Some fans have said that Armin's dream seemed more promising to Levi because it would continue to motivate Armin after Erwin's basement dream was fulfilled, which is where the whole "they couldn't keep going unless they were drunk on something" logic comes in. But I don't buy that. Erwin was fixated on the basement for the information inside. He obviously would have used it to form new strategies. Some fans even said he would've retired after that! What?? A nearly immortal titan shifter with his level of dedication, expertise, and newfound knowledge??

I totally agree with you, "freeing him from his shackles" absolutely discredits his sacrifice and goals. I have a feeling the "Thank you Levi" memory gets misconstrued as "Thank you for letting me die" because they inserted it at a weird moment. Erwin was thanking Levi for making the decision for him about the plan because he mentally couldn't. (And we know Levi felt the weight of that decision when he quietly apologized to the charging soldiers from up in the air.) First off the whole Floch thing about demons & such was just due to bad translation and bad subtitles.