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Since I’m not ready to touch the moral dilemma of the chapter yet, and anyway everyone is talking about ships, I’ll just do the same - though, it’s really not, I’m writing this as a character relationships’ analysis.

Let me just preface this by stating that I am a little disappointed in everyone’s blindness to Eren’s sadness and…deep discomfort and depression, especially because he looks haunted in so many moments. Mikasa has had problems in the past with recognizing Eren’s true emotions, so I may be more lenient with her than with Armin. However, Mikasa asked questions to Eren’s cryptic statements, while at times it felt like Armin wanted to forcefully ignore Eren’s sad comments. As for the others…well, whatever, their emotional relationship with Eren never really had any particular focus aside from short glimpses, and failure (e.g. in the Reiss cave). Aside from Levi. And Historia, who’s not there.

Also, I get it that this is from Mikasa’s perspective, so it focuses on what she saw and the events she attended to, therefore there may have been more instances where the others tried to get into Eren’s head, but I am particularly dumbfounded at Levi’s lack of involvement - although it is a recurrence in the time skip years in general, it seems. I can’t wrap my head around this sudden change, like I’ve been wondering if it’s “character development”, if it’s Isayama giving up on this duo’s interesting interactions, if it’s a matter of povs, or if there is something hidden there…about Levi’s distance from Eren.

Especially when this below (heavily cut, the scenes were way longer) used to be Levi’s level of attention, care, involvement - call it however you want - when it came to Eren feeling down.

Female Titan Arc:

Uprising Arc:

An analysis of Levi’s emotional state in SNK’s recent chapter.

EXCLUSIVE: A First Look Inside the FINAL Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan Manga Exhibition!

Part 1: Entrance & Opening Event/Press Preview

Part 2: Exhibition Interior - 1st Half

Part 3: Exhibition Interior - 2nd Half (Characters 1)

Part 4: Exhibition Interior - 2nd Half (Character 2)

Part 5: “Manga Ending” Audio Area and Final Room

Part 6: Exhibition Cafe

By @snknews Special Correspondents Daniel & Caryn Lix Edited by @fuku-shuu​

As a resource for overseas fans of the series, we at @snknews are happy to be able to provide our fellow fans a look into the FINAL Manga Exhibition, which opens tomorrow (July 5th, 2019) in Japan and will run through September 8th, 2019. For those of us unable to make it to Japan to visit the event for ourselves, we hope this provides sufficient detail on the overall experience!

PART 5: “Manga Ending” Audio Area and Final Room

From the characters exhibit, you can proceed to the audio segment of the final scene!

The signs read: 

Come now…Listen closely. You can hear the sound of the end of the story…

Ahead lies a room with only voices, The audio alone is presented from the scene of the “Ending Story” that the author, Hajime Isayama, currently foresees. Please imagine the scene while tying together all the stories so far.

After moving through black curtains, you enter a dark room with the audio that is apparently the vision for the final scene. There are sounds of fire, of explosions, and of battle. People shout and cry in the distance. At the very end comes the sound of a number of ODM (3DMG) gear engaging (Editor’s Note: This seems to indicate the final scenes will still involve battle?). That’s about all there is to it: it’s a vision of the future that doesn’t get too far into spoiler territory. There aren’t even any voices (Note: As there were reports that one seiyuu may participate in this portion, it’s possible that they did not reveal any character audio for press preview attendees).

Update (July 5th, 2019): As we suspected, according to attendees on the first public day, the very last part of the audio has added Inoue Marina (Armin) saying, “EREN!”

The final room is a large white room absolutely covered in storyboards and original character design sketches. An interview with Isayama plays on a loop, in which he explains that he never gets rid of any of his storyboards and might even be buried with them (Although he’s not sure they’ll fit in his coffin). 

Update: The sketches of Porco, Falco, and Gabi reveal that they originally had different names:

Porco - Holst (ホルスト) Gaillard

Falco - Falco Bach (バッハ)

Gabi - Gabi Lübke (リュプケ)

Continued in Part 6: Exhibition Cafe

Many thanks again to our Special Correspondents in Japan, Daniel & Caryn Lix, for contributing the great photos and overview of this exhibition! You can check out Caryn’s published and upcoming novels here.

Me:

Ohoho, Nonnie, I’ve got some good ones! <3

Difficult to Know - thisgirlsays22 / Ongoing - 22/? / (I’m reading this!! <3) A new side effect of the Titan power emerges, and Eren awakens in another life. One very different from his own.

Dust of Time - Hairi_Esh_Mooncake / Ongoing 13/15Meeting thug!Levi and falling in love with him wasn’t part of the plan, but then again, Hanji’s experiments usually tended to have unexplainable side effects.No Regrets AU

Rewind - Tammyiia / Completed - 10/10 Eren is just your average medical student, on his way to work in the early morning when he gets hit by a car. His memories of the past had always haunted him, but never to this extent. Eren finds himself in the past.Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death

obsession with time - lovedbyshadows / Completed - 11/11Part 1 of the series “choking on thyme (drowning in the pastpresentfuture)”A Time Loop AU I couldn’t for the life of me get out of my head. Expect sadness and maybe happiness. Maybe.Or,In which Eren’s stuck in a time loop and wants it to stop.Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death

tear me to pieces - lovedbyshadows / Ongoing - 1?Part 2 of the series “choking on thyme (drowning in the pastpresentfuture)” Continuation of obsession with time.Warnings: Graphic Depiction of Violence

[Translation] Smartpass AU Story - Levi & Eren.

Chapter 1 - The Dungeon.

Special thanks to @trippyridehome​ for providing the original story, and to @undercover-witch​ for her help translating it.

The air in the cellar was stifling as humidity rose from the damp stone walls. The old castle’s dungeon has long been abandoned, its iron bars destroyed and rendered useless. However, there was someone of value there.

“……I’m underground even at a time like this.”

“Of course. Got any complaints?”

The reply came from an indisposed looking superior officer who hastily brushed up his wet bangs.

The Survey Corps were training outside when it started pouring so heavily that the thick fog even blurred out the color of their smoke grenades. The unit leader who was overseeing the march fired a star-shell stopping everyone. The orders were for each squad to go take shelter from the rain in the abandoned buildings nearby.

“None. I understand the ins and outs of how this works.”

“It wouldn’t be a big deal if it was just my squad, but the whole Survey Corps branch is out on this training march… Catch my drift?”

A young man by the name of Eren sat hugging his knees, looking downwards in the dimly lit dungeon which was once divided by iron bars.

“I shouldn’t cause unnecessary distress for the squads that distrust my ‘Titan power’…”

Exactly. Levi, the superior officer holding the light, turned towards him.

Eren was still in his rain gear. He looked like a puppy abandoned on the side of the road. Rain drops were dripping off him and his ever-present frown was even worse than usual.

“For goodness’s sake… He looks like a damn beggar from the Underground City. He’s no longer who he used to be, he’s lost a lot and now he’s just dragging himself to wherever he’s told to go. Guess being called ‘humanity’s hope’ is taking a toll on him.”

After a deep, long sigh Levi gave a swift order.

“Take off that drenched raincoat and hand it over. I’ll set it to dry by the fire upstairs.”

“…Yes sir.”

He lethargically unclasped his rain gear and squeezed the excess water out of it before handing it over to Levi. Eren’s cold, trembling hand didn’t go unnoticed. Levi called out to his standby soldiers upstairs.

“…I can’t let him in the pits of despair like this.”

“Petra! Take Oluo and come keep an eye on Eren.”

“Yessir!”

Petra came down the stairs and saw Eren slouched, looking downhearted, while Levi obviously had no idea how to handle it. She made sense of the situation fairly quickly.

“Understood. Sir… Are we keeping him locked in the dungeon until the rain stops? That’s a bit…”

“It’s a temporary solution. Hange’s going to check whether the castle’s structure is sturdy enough to contain Eren’s Titan transformation… Once I get the confirmation, I will allow Eren to go out.”

“That’s great news. I hope you walk free soon. Your teammates are here as well. Would you like to see them?”

“They are? I want to, but I’m not sure how they feel…”

“They’d be delighted to see you! You’ve been training in different squads for a while now.”

Levi turned around to leave. After hearing Petra’s cheerful words of encouragement he was convinced once again that he did the right choice by picking her to be a soldier in his squad.

“Come on, quit moping around. The weather’s depressing enough.”

“S-Sorry.”

This is the expression he’s wearing when he asks if Eren’s dead.

Like, just a few minutes before that, he had flown through the forest, had found out that every member of his squad was killed, and he obviously thought Eren was dead too since he saw Eren’s titan’s neck torn to shreds. Mikasa confirmed that she saw the FT biting Eren out of his titan. Levi’s already so used to lose people by now, but he decides to trust Mikasa on this one anyway and hopes Eren’s still alive, even though he doesn’t look too sure of it. Like I said, losing people is almost second nature to him. He’s used to it, but he certainly does not like it.

He then proceeds to literally destroy Annie, like it’s his personal vengeance. I don’t think he really expected Eren to be in her mouth, I don’t think he expected him to be alive either. But. He is there. So Levi shouts Eren’s name (in the visual novel. He murmurs it in the manga. And he’s completely cut off from the anime, iirc, jeez…).

The look on his face, my god. So much relief floods him as he looks upon Eren’s emerging form, and he seems to almost whisper in shock, “Eren…”. And all he wanna do now is go back to safety. And so he does. They could have, I don’t know, put Eren on a tree and killed Annie but no, he just wanted to go away from there and put distance from danger and Eren/himself/Mikasa. Mainly Eren, I think. He has orders he has to follow, and those orders are “protect Eren with all you’ve got.“ 

He thought he had failed at protecting him but Eren’s alive. It’s a miracle. It’s hope. Eren is the exception to everyone else, because he lives.

Levi looked so stunned that Eren was actually alive, like…I bet he was already thinking that he could have done something different, could’ve done something more to save his squad and Eren, who was put in his care just a month before. He was already punishing himself with thoughts of failure and loss and defeat. He is relieved, yes, but I feel like he also can’t quite believe it. 

Either way, I think that, for someone who tries so hard to live with no regrets, Levi lives with a lot of them on his shoulders, constantly plaguing his thoughts. Proof: after so many years, he was still trying to figure out the reason why Kenny abandoned him back in the underground. 

Okay hi, so…I got this question once in the past already and I decided to not reply for various reasons. I didn’t really feel like replying to this either, as you could guess by how long it took me to actually reply (I actually typed a full answer 3 times in these 2 months but deleted all of them aahh). But I have a question for y'all I would really love hearing an answer to: Is this a common interpretation/headcanon in the ereri fandom recently?

So, anyway… if they were real people experiencing such a development, based on MY feelings and how I’d react, I would say yes, it would be normal for Eren to have developed a sort of resentment once things calmed down a little and he thought back on how absolutely unfairly Levi treated him back then: he agreed to give Eren the serum only to take back the offer at the last moment; he basically told him to shut down his own feelings, dismissing them, when Levi himself couldn’t do the same; he lost his patience and punched him in the face with such strength that he made Eren lose half of his teeth. I understand why it happened: Levi is not emotionally mature at times, imo, and it was a charged development with important lives at stakes and they were all mentally and physically drained. But he didn’t even apologize.

Granted, no one apologized. However, Eren and Mikasa were made to feel responsible for everything that went down by a number of people (Hange, Floch, the other military in Paradis), and were punished for it. I don’t feel Levi held them responsible because I think at one point he realized he acted worse than them and also understood why they all behaved that way.

Either way, Levi never apologized, even though we could argue that Levi telling them to never regret their choice (as if they even had a say in the matter…) and ruffling their hair was a sort of double apology (i.e: I forgive you and I hope you can forgive me). If it was real life, it wouldn’t be enough, in my opinion.

So long story short, I would feel betrayed alright, if I were Eren. Because Eren has always believed Levi was the better man, someone he could count on to be fair and mature. Levi was none of those things during their altercation on the rooftop.

But if I were to look at the whole situation through the lenses of what is ACTUALLY portrayed in canon, I feel the answer to your questions is no, as it isn’t given the proper depth, for 3 reasons:

Well, I truly do hope so, because if this is as straightforward as it gets, with no real twists…damn, I feel cheated. I think everyone is waiting for something else to happen. I am sure we will get Eren’s pov eventually, but since the story is ending this year, we only have 8 chapters tops. If we don’t get Eren’s pov at least at the end, I’m calling my lawyer!

Jokes aside, I am not sure Eren would tell them directly, especially I can’t picture a situation in which he would talk (alone) with Levi. I have a feeling they (and we) will find out indirectly later, and at this point, my bet is on Historia. What use there is to keep her away as well? She must know something, and she cannot reveal it now (for in-story or meta reasons, I’m not sure, might be both). Maybe only after Eren dies. Though I must say, I’d hate seeing Eren’s pov through someone else’s voice, or even in letter format, much like Ymir’s letter left a bad taste in my mouth because we never saw her again. The letter was final.

Since Isayama loves his parallels, he may pull an “(Eren’s) letter with information through Historia” once again.

I also noticed Yelenas comment to Levi. She said “You can’t take violence away from people… Right captian?” What do you think Isayama ment by that? Do you think we are going to get a flashback of Levi’s point of veiw when it comes to Eren in the next chapter? I really hope you understood what i was trying to say, and I hope my english wasn’t that bad. I really hope you don’t stop readig the series, because I really love your teories. Keep up with the hard work😁 2/2

I’m SO GLAD someone else noticed Yelena’s comment because, wow! It exhilarated me, I totally did not expect that. As I said, I think it is meant for us to question Levi’s need and use of violence as an “escape” towards the easiest way. Because it’s pretty obvious that using violence as revenge or punishment has been depicted as something immature and dark: only mature and strong people (I have always been a sucker for mental strength over physical strength) can forfeit violence. Levi is very weak for this very same reason, in my opinion.

(His offended face cracks me up, it looks like Yelena hit the nail on the head - we know that Yelena has a good reading on people, so I think she knows very well what she’s talking about here. Zeke surrounded himself with women who are always exactly right, it seems.)

I hope this is a nudge in the right direction for his character arc, because since the time-skip he’s had zero positive development (if any development at all).

I would love to say I am expecting some flashbacks from Levi, but at this point, it’s been too long, and I am tired. Maybe if he gets that development I was talking about earlier, it could be triggered by (or include) some flashbacks. I guess, imo, it would make total sense to have them, but who knows. Isayama has been absolutely dreadful in his managing of some of his characters, imo. It seems to me like he’s just going through a list of “things he needs to get out of the way” before the main course of the plot, so I’m not sure it will be given proper attention. I fantasize about an Eren-centric flashback only from Levi’s pov, simply because he’s been the only other character who has had significant and thematical interactions with Eren, other than Armin and Mikasa, but…yeah, who knows, considering the attention he did not give to one of his most thematically pregnant relationships.

Finally, I think I have found a good balance: obsessing over other series full-time, and spending those 2-3 days on snk when the new chapter is out. However, with the state the fandom is in - stuck arguing on the same 2-3 topics for years - I feel there are better ways to spend my time. I’m mostly here or on twitter if anyone wants to engage with me particularly! Thank you for your kind words and nice questions, though!

Hi, sorry, yeah I was just referencing a lot of my older posts, but mainly this post because it was back in my Activity page so I had just read it and it was fresh in my mind.

And in this other one I said “Eren knows Levi. Knows Levi’s view on things. Knows he’s felt frustrated about their life inside the walls, and knows that Levi’s willing to become a “bad guy” in order to reach a good end (and if it wasn’t clear, I think this is what Eren is doing). […] Eren’s been there when Levi told those things.”

And this “But Eren knows Levi would be the only one ready to truly dirty his hands if it meant putting an end to this hell. The flashbacks of the timeskip showed us that Eren felt frustrated when everyone was basically pro-inactivity. Levi was the only main player keeping silent about this, not really siding with Armin or Hange… Also this, I think, is fairly important to understand where Levi stands and what he’s willing to do, and Eren knows:

Eren also said the same in chapter 100. He’s willing to kill people to put an end to this hell.”

And chapter 113 seemed to imply that Zeke also has always been fighting for something truly important, most probably his own idea of freedom, and he’s more than willing to dirty his hands in the process. Levi has always thought the same. Eren has become a person who thinks the same. And Levi killing his own comrades, reminding us of his monologue back in Uprising, just reminded us all of that, that he’s the same.

It’s no secret that I favor the theory of Levi being aware that the Yeagerbros have a secret plan and that he’s willing to help, or, at least, to listen to it.

Someone asked me why Levi is the one the Yeagerbros would ask help to, and while I don’t have a conclusive answer, it just makes sense to me, as Eren isn’t talking to his friends, and he’s at odds with Hange. While rereading 108, I noticed some new possible hints that point at Levi’s ー future or present, I am not sure ー cooperation.

Referenced post.

I think that yes, it would impact Levi greatly. Eren is still Levi’s hope for freedom. He has been that for 4 years now. When I say Levi would accept Eren’s death, more or less, it’s because Levi understands really well Eren. Furthermore, he already knows Eren will die at the end of his allotted 13 years… That is actually really tragic.

Of course, Levi being the one to have to kill Eren, Eren sacrificing himself before his time limit or Eren dying because at the end of his lifespan are very different situations that would make Levi feel in very different ways. But…

Levi probably used to think of Eren, because of his titan regenerative powers, as invincible, a beacon of hope, of life amongst all that death. Until they learned that a titan shifter has a 13 years time limit. I’ve been really curious about Levi’s reaction to this. We haven’t seen much regarding the main cast’s response to it, although it is easy to imagine.

We immediately got Mikasa’s and Armin’s, they were there when Eren relyed this information. It surely has become public knowledge (or at least military knowledge). Jean, Sasha and Connie know about it and they’ve come to accept it as inevitable, they try to joke about Eren’s titan’s inheritance, but it’s obvious it must hurt. They love Eren so much and he loves them back just as strongly. It is sad and unfair but it’s their reality. People, in their world, die young.

I wonder how Levi received such news. It must have done what you mentioned in your ask, must have driven home an especially cruel truth to Levi, snatched some of the hope he held.

Levi has always been known for being the strongest, and that means that he is familiar with seeing people around him die, killed. He has tried all his life to use the strength he’s been blessed with to avoid such deaths and to protect the people he cares about but he surely must have realized that he can’t save everyone. It’s his curse, to have such strength but to not be able to save every single life. And yet desperately trying anyway. I think it’s been something Eren went through as well, and that’s also why he let himself be experimented on so willingly, eagerly at one point, at the expense of his own health.

I think Levi understands this all too well. 

Levi’s willing to put himself in danger in order to save others.

So at the very least, I think Levi would respect Eren’s choice of sacrificing himself, because he is just the same, even if he wouldn’t like it.

Before the 13 years curse reveal, though, I think Eren had become a sort of reassuring, almost unbelievable constant in Levi’s mind. Eren could regenerate limbs. Eren got injured so many times but he’s always survived. Eren ended up in a titan’s mouth twice, and he came back, unlike everyone else Levi has seen die. 

I mentioned it here too, when thinking about the Forest of Giant Tree scene:

“Eren’s alive. It’s a miracle. It’s hope. Eren is the exception to everyone else, because he lives.”

He’s the only one from their first Levi Squad who didn’t die out there in the forest.

I like to think that these two images, which form a pretty obvious parallel, can also suggest how Levi saw Eren. Eren was someone who just didn’t die, the only steady presence in his squad. And for Levi it must have been a sort of relief. Like, yes, Eren is special and needs to be constantly protected from the people who want to snatch him and his powers away, but at least he won’t get killed like all the other soldiers…or from sickness like Levi’s mother.

Only then…they find out Eren has a time limit and he’s gonna die at 23 years old and there’s nothing they can do about it. Levi can’t do anything about it. The existence he gave for granted, is plagued by an inescapable death sentence.

I wish I could have seen Levi’s face when he was told this. It must have shaken him up quite a lot. I think this could have been the final wake up call for Levi, that he really, really can’t save everyone, although, as usual, he keeps trying.

And I believe this can also explain Levi’s sadness directed at Eren’s recent behavior. Levi may be thinking he also couldn’t save Eren from himself. 

Eren & Levi

This relationship has always been a favorite of mine and I always enjoy watching the growth between them continue to unfold. Whether it be Eren’s former hero worship dissolving as he learns the man he looks up to so much is just a strange, broken man who follows orders like everyone else, or if it’s Levi’s initial contempt for Eren changing into feelings of respect, trust and care, everything about their relationship growth makes me very happy. 

It’s safe to say their first interactions are a bit rocky. The court scene is an ugly one, but these two are quick enough to get past it and move on. Naturally Eren is a bit on edge around Levi at first but for Levi, he doesn’t hesitate to jump in front of his squad to protect Eren when the heat starts to rise. It is after Eren realizes that his squad doesn’t trust him that Levi quickly starts to morph into the role of a mentor to Eren. He doesn’t sugar coat the things that Eren needs to learn, but he still speaks to him with a tone that is gentle and understanding. This still holds true for present-time story interactions. 

Eren has and always will respect Levi but after joining the Survey Corps, he certainly has no issues speaking out against what he believes to be bad decision making on Levi’s part. He’s more than willing to go against the rules set in place for him during the Female Titan arc if that means he could save even one person. Levi is not bothered by it, however, and encourages Eren to do what he believes will be the best decision. Most likely thinking back on decisions Levi himself has made in the past, he gives Eren his “choice with no regrets” speech and Eren takes it to heart. He chooses to trust in his squad, as they have chosen to trust in him. 

When squad Levi dies, Eren feels extreme guilt over making what he believes was the wrong decision. But Levi, with his kind understanding, does his best to alleviate the guilt that Eren feels, informing him that there’s no way for them to know how things would have turned out had he chosen differently. They must accept what has happened and move forward. I’ve always felt that the death of Levi’s squad will forever be something that binds them - an experience only they will understand, and memories only they will be able to share. 

In fact, the deaths of the original Squad Levi come back to haunt Eren in the Reiss cavern. Levi once again surrenders control and gives Eren the choice - a full display of trust. He even apologizes for putting Eren under such pressure again (as he knows Eren is guilt-ridden over the past). But unlike before, when Eren chose to do what he thought everyone else wanted him to do, instead he chooses to do what he wants to do. In this case, trusting his own instinct proved to be the best choice, and his squad this time was saved. 

Over time, their relationship has grown more relaxed. Eren’s nervousness around Levi has vanished and I feel that Levi now sees Eren as someone who is completely equal. In fact, Levi will prioritize Eren’s life over his own, as he sees Eren as hope. Levi continues to be there to try and help guide Eren and encourage him, and he’s also there to help Eren snap back into reality in situations that call for it. Levi also understands the things that push and motivate Eren to his full potential. And Eren, I think, has grown to respect Levi in a way that is much different than the hero worship he used to harbor.

There is a lot of care and understanding as their relationship continues to unfold, and I look forward to seeing if and how Isayama develops it further. 

Hello! Sorry for the late reply, I was a bit busy with real life stuff AND I couldn’t really find an appropriate answer to this question. It’s been so long since I’ve started liking those two that it’s really difficult for me to find a thing I really like, mainly because my love for them is basically a big mess of feelings and emotions and memories of the nice moments I spent enjoying this ship. But I guess I mulled over it enough and you deserve an answer, so here I am.

I guess I equally like three things about Eren&Levi in canon, and I feel like they are pretty much connected so I’m gonna put them all three here.

The trust: Levi trusts his comrades, this is a fact. He doesn’t have trust issues, but his relationship with Eren didn’t exactly started in the best way. They weren’t comrades. Eren was possibly a monster against humanity, so Levi (and every other person that didn’t know Eren personally) didn’t immediately trust him, he thought about Eren’s titan power and saw something mysterious, possibly damaging to humankind and inexplicable, so we can say it was something fearsome. But as soon as Levi saw what there really was in Eren’s eyes, and so in Eren’s mind, he put his trust in him. When he conceded that Eren wasn’t a threat to humanity, Eren’s “monster” stirred hope in Levi, because it gave all of them a tangible chance to gain real freedom, finally. And from then on, Levi chose to put all of his faith on him and support his decisions, and so his individuality as a human, by giving him free will. He judged Eren’s character and found it trustworthy. Similarly, Eren had expectations towards Levi. On the contrary though, Eren’s were pretty high as Levi was Humanity’s Strongest and he had used to admire him a lot during his childhood and early teenage years. But when he met Levi, he soon understood that Levi wasn’t that perfect knight he always thought he were. But! He wasn’t disappointed either. Here’s an excerpt from Eren and Levi’s visual novel:

-the Wings of Freedom [on Levi’s back, when he saved Eren for the first time]. I love that after having had a glimpse of Levi’s true personality, Eren still thinks of him as the man that represents freedom. Maybe even more so. Now that he truly knows Levi, he consciously chooses to follow him, even if he’s brash, awkward, sometimes violent and a pretty strange man. He trusts Levi’s judgment, and wants to please his as much as Levi’s squad wanted, but now he’s not “blinded” by hero worship, he really looks up to Levi as a soldier and a person. Throughout the manga, this trust kept evolving, to the point that they soon became comrades. Eren’s not a tool to Levi. And Levi is not the unreachable and perfect hero of Eren’s childhood anymore. They finally know each other and, most importantly, they understand and fully accept the other. And here comes my second point.

The care. Levi undoubtedly cares for Eren, there are uncountable panels in the manga that shows his caring side towards his comrades, but particularly towards Eren. He worries about Eren’s physical and mental state, to the point he’s one of the few characters that always notices when there’s something wrong with him. Even though he’s known Eren for a very short period of time. This just shows that Levi is used to care for others, because, well, against popular opinion, he is not heartless nor does he care only about a selected few. His heart is big. So it’s not a surprise that he starts caring about Eren. Does Eren care about Levi, too? Well. “Captain Levi” is shown to be on his mind during critical situations, so it’s safe to assume he does.  

The same happens to Levi, though. “Is Eren alright?” seems to be always on Levi’s mind when he knows Eren is stressed out or in a dangerous situation. 

Moreover, he’s always observing Eren, and it’s not because he doesn’t trust him not to turn suddenly into a titan (the most recent evidence is that smartpass au story where he says that he’s making Eren sleep in the dungeon just for appearances, but there are other examples in the manga too, since those early Levi’s Squad days). I believe in the beginning he kept looking at Eren so intensely because he wanted to make sure his gut instinct to trust Eren wasn’t deceiving him and so he focussed on Eren to accurately judge his character+true intentions. Then he started to care. Since after the Female Titan arc, he’s been watching Eren to make sure he’s alright, maybe even before that…

The line is blurred, he doesn’t know exactly when he started caring (and neither do I) but he does. 

And finally, the potential between them. I’m obviously basing all of my musings just on those three months they spent together (so 80ish chapters?), because I still don’t know how their relationship has changed since Shiganshina (and no, the ocean scene doesn’t really count because the characters barely interacted there). But, Eren and Levi understand each others pretty well. Their relationship kept evolving and subtly changing, they became more and more comfortable around one another. Levi cares for Eren and Eren adores and admires Levi in a genuinely unbiased way, now. They had their big fight during serumbowl, but their connection had not succumbed to that violence, it was stronger than that, in my opinion. They didn’t have a fall out, didn’t reach a breaking point. Levi still cared about Eren enough to ask Hange to give him a break and to free him from his punishment. Eren still cares about what Levi taught him and still respects him enough to feel guilty about his rash actions. If the happenings of serumbowl really had dealt a permanent damage to their relationship, I doubt Levi would have spared Eren and Mikasa from prison AND ruffled their hair, and certainly they wouldn’t have gone to the ocean together. 

Anonymous said:I would be so grateful if you tell which chapter is the episode 28? 

@lumicuous said: I fully agree and I hope so much they’ll animate it the way it is in the manga! Though, I have a question… what changes in Episode 28 do you mean?

I’m putting all of these together again since they are about the same thing ^^.

Like I said in my other post, I didn’t like those changes. The one who got it worse was Mikasa, but the changes weren’t really good for Eren and Levi either, in my opinion.

But well, to make some sense of what I’m saying I need to explain myself a bit more, so let’s start from the beginning!

The scene I’m talking about is from Chapter 37 of the manga, and was animated on episode 28 with some changes. 

During this scene, Levi talks to Eren, Armin, and Mikasa and gives them instructions about what to do next, since they’re going to go separate ways. This scene occurs during the cart ride.

Levi first tells Eren he has to succeed no matter what. And just after that he addresses Armin and Mikasa. We got the first part in the anime quite well, so I can’t complain about that.

But in the anime, they moved the other part of the conversation to a scene later on. Levi then talks to Armin in a similar way as in the manga, but when he talks to Mikasa, is when the issues start. This is what originally Levi said to Mikasa:

This dialogue did happen in the anime scene more or less accurately. But in the manga, he continued and told her this:

This part was changed in the anime, and Levi told this to Eren instead. 

“And finally… Eren.Learn how to restrain yourself.Don’t succumb to rage and lose sight of the goal.We can’t afford another mistake”.

“Yes, sir!”

This… changes a lot of things.

The reason Levi said this to Mikasa in the first place is because how she acted in the encounter with the female titan in the forest. She tried to attack her even if Levi told her not to. For Levi, saving Eren was the priority. He let this very clear to Mikasa during that time, and he is doing it again now. Because of Mikasa’s actions, Levi got injured. What Levi meant with these words was that her attachment to Eren is precisely what can backfire for her and put him at risk. She has to make protecting Eren her priority no matter what, and for that she has to keep a clear head and avoid getting carried out by her rage.

Mikasa is not going to forget about this conversation, and this exchange is going to be very important to her development. Many people did not like this change, and have explained the reasons extensively since then, so I won’t go much into it, since I’m trying to focus on Eren and Levi here.

Because for me, this scene in the manga was also very important for Eren and Levi’s relationship because it showed how Levi always put Eren first, and how he made sure to let clear his safety was the most important thing, just before they separated. He wanted to make sure Eren was protected properly now that he couldn’t do it himself. It doesn’t matter if you see Levi’s intentions as caused by duty, or by personal feelings; it’s a fact that he puts Eren’s safety as the most important thing.

Also, the way Levi’s face changes in the anime when talking to Eren compared with Armin and Mikasa didn’t help either. He speaks to them very calmly, but when it’s time to talk to Eren, suddenly his face gets… (I’m not going to discuss the animation because, lol) I don’t know what’s that, but he’s not happy! Here’s a comparison:

Of course to anyone who enjoys Eren and Levi’s relationship, these changes will be already a sad thing on itself. But what it personally bothered me by this change, (and the whole reason of this post lol) was the fandom reaction, especially by people who haven’t read the manga and get their vision of Eren and Levi’s relationship from the anime only.

And the reason is simple: Why would Levi say this to Eren? The conclussion many people reached was that this was caused by Eren’s decision in the forest, and the death of Levi’s squad.

I completely disagree with this.

Levi gave Eren the choice to do what he thought was best. He has repeated again and again how no one can know the outcome of that choice. Levi would never blame Eren for the death of his squad this way, he would not refer to it as a mistake, or something that happened because of Eren’s rage. I repeat,

Levi would never blame Eren for the death of his squad!

Even more when this has been already discussed between them. Remember this scene from Chapter 32?

So why then, the anime makes Levi talk to Eren like that? The most likely reason and the theory I agree with the most, is that this is because the anime also changed the final battle with the female titan in Stohess, and made Eren lose control, go into berserker mode, etc. So then, it makes sense for Levi to say this to Eren in the anime. In the context on the anime alone, this change is justified, even if this never happened in the manga.

So in my opinion, if I’m going to judge the changes just by that, they really aren’t a big deal in regards of Eren and Levi. I understand that the anime has to make changes from the manga to be able to adapt it, and it’s not going to be an exact copy of it. But, like I said before, the way some part of the fandom reacted to this is what upset me and why I wished they had never made this change.

There are people who think Levi hates Eren because of the death of his squad. Who think of Eren as just a bundle of rage who can’t control himself, it’s always yelling/crying, etc. The anime exagerates this a lot in many occasions. Levi telling him this, with that expression, did not help at all on that regard. I saw comments saying how Eren “is always messing everything up” and “it’s obvious Levi is fed up with him”. And usually those comments are followed by some remark like “how can people still ship ereri omg”.

So yeah… this is why this change is annoying to me, haha.

(Part 2) As in, he knows he is dealing with these horrible memories right now and doesn’t want hange to upset him further. So I always wondered how he found out. Did he talk to eren and mikasa while in their cells, did armin tell him what was going on? Maybe I’m reaching idk, but I feel like he knows and doesn’t want hange upsetting him when he is already in a fragile state. So, I was just wondering your thoughts on this!

I’m sorry to disappoint you, but that was Armin. Levi said the part about “Eren’s phase” while it’s Armin who politely asked Hange to drop it. I know some readers thought it was Levi because of continuity, plus it wasn’t really clear because we don’t see who actually is speaking, but can you picture Levi saying “please”? I think he hasn’t said it once in the manga, or maybe he said it a couple of times in a very sarcastic way, surely never with politeness in mind.

I checked the Japanese version and that way of speaking is clearly not Levi’s. Levi always uses informal language: his sentences end with だ and ある, which are the plain (i.e. informal) forms of です and あります; he also calls Hange ハンジ, has always done so, he has never called them “Hanji-san” or “Hanji-buntaicho (squad leader)”. In the speech bubble you were referring to, the person speaking says “ハンジさん” (Hanji-san) and uses formal Japanese (ください and わかりませんが are pretty formal, you talk like this with people you are not really close to and want to show respect to). 

Further proof is the pronouns used to address themselves. Levi always uses 俺 (ore), while Armin uses 僕 (boku, a more boyish/soft way of saying “I”). Sorry for the impromptu Japanese lesson, but I’ve already seen this misunderstanding a couple of times so I took the chance to clear it up.

But yeah, I believe Levi sensed Eren’s distress (it was pretty difficult to miss, but Hange was in “crazy-mode” so they didn’t realise how far they were pushing Eren…). Levi is a really sensitive/emphatic person, in my opinion, he understands other people’s emotions very well, especially if those emotions are pain, distress or uncertainty…He knows them well because he’s familiar with them (sadly), so he notices them right away in others, too. He used to check on Eren when he was distressed previously and he always watches him to check how he is faring with new/unexpected/stressful situations. Here some examples:

So I’m pretty sure he knows Eren’s going through something. I’m not sure he knows exactly what that something is, but I guess what they discovered in Grisha’s journals is enough of a clue. Even if Eren hadn’t been seeing overwhelming memories, the truth about his father and the world is enough to shake our protagonists to the core, so of course Eren, who has a central role in it, would be the one more affected by it . So, Levi was probably worried, as usual. Nothing new, really, but endearing all the same. He could have simply said “Hange, shut up.” but instead he chose to sort-of stand up for Eren’s strange behaviour (and we know he’s not great with words, but he tries when he deems it necessary), much like Armin. Then again, I feel like maybe he overheard Eren and Armin talking about memories and things in general. I wouldn’t be surprised, he seems to like doing that a lot…

Also, look at Levi’s face in that page in chapter 89, the one you were talking about. He looks so troubled. Armin’s showing a decent amount of concern/worry, but Levi is full-on glowering and scowling at the floor. He always does this when he’s worried. So, even though he might not know 100% about Eren’s predicament, he understands that he’s going through something major and worries.

「 L: “Why didn’t you say anything about it until now?”

E: “I admit it was a rash judgment on my part.”

L: “Let’s thoroughly discuss/hear about it later”

H: “But…If that’s really the case…then…” 」

Hange doesn’t seem to mind that Eren didn’t share that piece of information. They’re probably too focused on the many revelations, but I’ve always had the impression that Levi understood Eren better than Hange anyway. Also, generally speaking, Hange focuses more on the bigger picture and less on individuals, I believe, while Levi is the opposite (but this is just a stray thought, I’d need to think about it some more).

Anyways, Levi trusts Eren, so I feel like in that moment he was confused/surprised and felt a bit betrayed by Eren’s lack of trust in return. However, Eren had a very specific reason and didn’t feel bad about it, while he still conceded that it might have been a misjudgment. Maybe he should have trusted them with this information, but he felt he wasn’t wrong. Still, Levi wants to know more about it. So they’ll talk…later. Thoroughly. He won’t scold him, I’m sure, he has always respected Eren’s choices so far. He just really wants to understand him, and maybe give his two cents.

Levi here lets Zeke know that he is willing to wait and see if Zeke can be trusted, before killing him. However, if Zeke doesn’t betray them (this is a big if, I feel), Levi won’t be in a position where it’d be possible for him to kill Zeke anymore. Maybe he doesn’t realize it yet, or maybe he doesn’t want to think about it too much, because he still can’t trust Zeke, clearly.

「 Zeke: “I am really grateful for your magnanimous words. But before that (=before killing me) you’ll let me talk with Eren, right? …Hey? Would you please stop glaring at me?” 」

Zeke’s words are reeeally sarcastic here. He’s making fun of Levi’s passive-aggressiveness a bit, but he’s also trying to strike a deal, he needs to see Eren. At the mention of letting Zeke meet with Eren, I got the impression, with that “…Hey?”, that Levi might have started scowling even harder at Zeke. This, of course, is just my interpretation…and I don’t know if it’s because Levi is still upset at Eren that the mention of him makes him go :/ or that he doesn’t like the idea of Eren meeting up with Zeke (maybe both). 

He really doesn’t trust Zeke. Levi has known Eren for years and I don’t think the issue is that he doesn’t trust Eren in this meet-up. I think Levi may be wary of Zeke’s true intention in regards to Eren, too. He may be thinking Eren is so readily trusting Zeke just because of their family ties, and so he may be worried Zeke has had a bad influence on Eren and/or his “Secret Plan” will harm Eren. 

I definitely want to see a Zeke - Levi - Eren talk next time. Levi will probably be there because I got the impression he was tasked with keeping Zeke under his surveillance. He’ll need to be there if Zeke tries something funny…

Finally…We have some panels with groups of people. Armin, Connie and Jean reflecting on the mission while gazing out at the soldiers exiting the blimp. Sasha’s body, she’s alone because her soul is not with them anymore. Gabi and Falco as prisoners. The brains of the operation: Hange, Yelena, Zeke and Onyankopon. 

Then there’s this panel right here. Eren, looking ahead, and Levi, looking at him. This is nothing new, but it wasn’t like this at the beginning of their acquaintance, it subtly changed. 

There’s definitely something more, and I don’t mean it in a shippy way. I am genuinely interested in how things were between them, what Levi is exactly thinking about all of this mess, if Eren has really stopped relying on Levi. Levi has been Eren’s mentor for so long, and in chapter 105 I could still see a glimpse of Eren’s former trust in Levi…right before he was kicked.