He's a Beast! I call him Eren.~
This was a suitably dark chapter. I admit, after the last chapter's ending, I'd half-expected some overtly idealistic conclusion or follow up, but this really surprised me. Eren was a real monster in this chapter (in all the right ways). In a way, everything he did is still Eren, but there's also, at the same time, some added depth.
I have to disagree with a previous comment that Eren is disensetized to the death of others. He cried when Sasha died, the whole reason he talked to Reiner was because he'd been hesitating at the thought of killing innocent civilians and hoped to find the resolve through him, and we all saw him try to stop Zeke from using his scream. Sure, he's way calmer and more controlled than before, and his ability to hide his emotions is better than most, but he's neither heartless or an emotionless machine.
I'm glad we FINALLY got the long-awaited answer to the most anticipated question of the recent years: the Attack Titan's power. At the start, like everybody else, I'd thought that the reason Kruger mentioned Mikasa and Armin was becuase the Paths transcended both space and time. However, it now appears the latter is unique only to the Attack Titan (and Ymir Fritz most likely). In fact, it would explain the first chapter's name, the one saying 'to you, 2000 years from now' being Ymir. Therefore, it's also possible she foresaw the Fritz family's future through the future memories of the Founding Titan successor's. It's also possible she ensured for this exact reason that one of the Nine had that particular power.
Furthermore, when you look back on everything, it's been hinted at that only Attack Titan wielders had the power to view future memories. In the first chapter, we see exactly that happen to Eren, after which he cried, not knowing why. It also pretty much says that Isayama had planned this since the beginning. True, Eren hadn't been a shifter yet, but the Paths can be pretty flexible from what we've seen, so it's not impossible.
Another thing of interest is Grisha begging Zeke to stop Eren, saying something terrible would happen. Many, including Zeke, think that Eren is the one that would do something terrible to others, but I find that's wrong. No, most likely, Eren's plan has something terrible happening to Eren himself. Grisha is his father, so it would explain him being so distraught. Furthermore, there was that panel of Eren saying "that scenery" with a longing look in his eyes. Despite Eren's ability to kill innocents, we've never once seen him revel in it. Both during the Liberio attack and in Grisha's memories of the attack on the Reiss family, he was only ever solemn, looking like he wished another VIABLE course had been available, but fully resigned to the fact that there was only the blood-stained path he was walking and unwilling give up because of it.
When you look at him from multiple perspectives, Eren's a way more complicated and multi-faceted character than most give him credit for, and thsi chapter is one of the few that's especially good at showing it.
Plus, him tearing off parts of his hands to escape the chains and reach Ymir was badass.
I thought this was a well done chapter with palpable tension, great dialogue, and a couple of fascinating developments making for a fantastic read.
Pros:
- The biggest positive this chapter has going for it is that at least for me I found it to be wildly unpredictable and subversive which is something the series hasn't done for me in a long time (not that this is always bad). The big example of this is Zeke getting development in the form of truly understanding his father + learning to love him again but also having his shortsighted ideals reinforced through Eren's violent actions and Grisha's horrified demeanour regarding Eren's future plans. This put a quick end to any kind of redemption for Zeke which is probably for the best. Definitely think Isayama deserves props here for going the hard way rather than the easy one which most writers would.
- My second positive is the dialogue for this chapter as it was a nice blend of ideological, witty, and horrific which is a tough blend for most writers to balance without creating tonal incoherence but Yams hit it out of the park here.
- My last positive is that I was genuinely impressed with how dark this chapter was as it actually managed to disturb me with how brutal Eren was and how he basically violated his father's mind into committing a atrocity. The fact that Eren can be easily vindicated for this act also creates a effective moral quagmire and pushes the series into even more impressively grey areas with both Zeke and Eren being potentially morally dubious choices for now.
Overall thoughts:
- This is a really great chapter with everything I like about the series in sharp dialogue, excellently executed twists, dark morally complex subject matter, and a ending that has me on the edge of my seat and thrilled to see where it goes next. I do have some minor issues with the chapter but there heavily dependent on how future chapters deal with the setup here so I didn't feel the need to bring them up.
For me the whole Paths thing is pretty irrelevant. The Coordinate and stopping Ymir from doing as Zeke demands? That's important. Revealing that Eren orchestrated the majority of the series' events? That's really pushing it. I thought Chapter 120 was mostly just filler. So I wasn't too invested in that. I thought that this was unneeded. I'm just a casual viewer but Yams can be pretty ridiculous a lot of the time. XP A time-travel B-plot isn't really critical to this story. Wasn't Jean's nickname for Eren "Suicidal Bastard"? "Bastard" seems sufficient for him. XD And if all of this is to be taken as true, that adds more horror and irony to everybody who died because of and for Eren. Which is hard to stomach.
For me the only critical scene is Zeke ordering Ymir towards the Coordinate. But that was definitely a chapter to skip. Felt like a twist for the sake of having a twist. And they've already piled up so I think this is one Yams could've taken a pass on. And like I said, this really is just AOT turning into Inception, Eren planting the decision to murder the Reiss family in his own father's head?
So Eren has that kind of power and yet doesn't use it to save those he's lost? Or even to alter Annie's fate? Bastard, indeed. XD
Ok....well i can see SO many things wrong with this that it hurts my brain!
Heir of Revan wrote: Ok....well i can see SO many things wrong with this that it hurts my brain!
I'll say. You should've seen Tumblr, pretty much the same reaction. XD
Heir of Revan wrote: Ok....well i can see SO many things wrong with this that it hurts my brain!
I'll say. You should've seen Tumblr, pretty much the same reaction. XD
Yeah, well, I can accept the fact they're looking through memories. I can accept the fact that MAYBE Ghrisa can see them due to that power of the Attack Titan. But, if you expect me to buy the fact that Eren was manipulating this entire MESS the whole time and Ghrisha WANTS zeke to stop him, when there was no hint of that, NOT HAPPENING.
Heir of Revan wrote:
Heir of Revan wrote: Ok....well i can see SO many things wrong with this that it hurts my brain!
I'll say. You should've seen Tumblr, pretty much the same reaction. XD
Yeah, well, I can accept the fact they're looking through memories. I can accept the fact that MAYBE Ghrisa can see them due to that power of the Attack Titan. But, if you expect me to buy the fact that Eren was manipulating this entire MESS the whole time and Ghrisha WANTS zeke to stop him, when there was no hint of that, NOT HAPPENING.
You should see all the theories flying on Tumblr that Eren knew everything that would happen down to the letter, for the most part, that everything that has happened worked exactly according to his plan or knowledge. And that nonsense including but not limited to Sasha's demise or getting his head blown off was all part of it or convenient to his intentions or whatever.
Yams is a tricky d***, but I think he may have finally gone too far in his usual outlandishness. This really throws Eren's whole character into deeper question.
Everyone hates an "OP" character, and this is taking things to a new extreme. I mean it's just so stupid! XD
Heir of Revan wrote:
Heir of Revan wrote: Ok....well i can see SO many things wrong with this that it hurts my brain!
You should see all the theories flying on Tumblr that Eren knew everything that would happen down to the letter, for the most part, that everything that has happened worked exactly according to his plan or knowledge. And that nonsense including but not limited to Sasha's demise or getting his head blown off was all part of it or convenient to his intentions or whatever.
Yams is a tricky d***, but I think he may have finally gone too far in his usual outlandishness. This really throws Eren's whole character into deeper question.
Everyone hates an "OP" character, and this is taking things to a new extreme. I mean it's just so stupid! XD
Stupid with a capital "S"
besides, I'm pretty sure Eren would NEVER do this and besides, Yams was being a total dick ever since that stupid "curse of ymir" crap
Here's to me being right about what this guy represents, and whoever it was that argued with me, I win the duel!
I think the implication of this chapter is that Eren was working off information he acquired when he touched Historia's hand way back in chapter 88 or 89 and he took the path he felt was best to achieve the future he saw (I assume it was him & Zeke in the paths right when Grisha killed the Reiss family) rather than galaxy braining his way to victory down to the finest detail. For example I doubt a true mastermind would have created a chaotic and poorly assembled faction like the Yeagerists who were so painfully bad at their objective (unite Zeke & Eren) that they nearly got Eren & Zeke killed due to strategic ineptitude in the last fight. I also think that this series hasn't really jumped the shark as everything seen in these last two chapters is clearly in bounds of what the series has done up to this point and was set up 30 + or more chapters in advance (Ex. To you 2000 years from now and Kruger saying "Save Mikasa & Armin") rather than appearing out of nowhere.