often a crab, though sometimes a lobster

Someone adopts a puppy and then trains it for underground dog fighting to make money and better their financial situation. If the dog loses/isn’t good enough, he’s gonna throw it out. This also puts the dog at risk of injury, shortened lifespan, and overall reduced quality of life

I don’t feel hesitant using an animal in this example, because Annie was merely a tool, and like all tools, if it’s not doing its job, it gets thrown out

His apology wasn’t for Annie

Annie only miraculously became his daughter that he loves and cares about only after he’d gotten what he wanted: an irrevocable(?) Honorary Marleyan title. Doubt he would’ve had the same “revelation” had Annie failed her candidacy

Two aspects of his apology, in particular, piss me off: the timing and the rootcause/motivation

Timing

If Annie’s 13 years of titan shifting end when she’s 22, that means she got her titan powers when she was 9 years old. But the attack on Wall Maria happened in 845, when Annie was 11

Why the two year gap??

It’s not like military work as a titan shifter is a part-time job or a 9-to-5. She probably went away for days if not weeks at a time during Marley’s countless expansion and invasion efforts. She could’ve died or been captured during all of those and yet that still wasn’t enough for Mr Leonhart to realize his fatherly feelings towards her

I think it’s control

In the Lost Girls manga, Annie says her relationship with her father was “one of absolute obedience.”

And Annie was never a rebellious kid. She only went against him once (when she broke his leg) and never again

While in the military, Annie was being constantly monitored by her commanding officers. She had rules to follow and consequences for disobeying

But leaving for Paradis on a longer mission? She’s free

She’s free from him and from Marley and he knows she won’t care for her mission the same way Reiner, Bert, and Marcel cared, because she doesn’t believe in the Island Devils propaganda in the first place

I highly doubt the Paradis mission was announced to them the morning of their departure. They’ve known for a while, and yet he waited until the morning of her departure to say something

To be fair, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d gotten somewhat attached to her over the course of 11 years. The other warriors still had families to return to, but once Annie is let go, she’s gone. So that might’ve played a part

Motivation

Another part that pisses me off is that his regret never seemed like he was sorry for Annie, but for himself, for the type of person he'd become

After all, no one likes to believe that they’re evil/the bad guy

Considering that he still lives in the same rundown house as before, I don’t think(?) he’d taken advantage of any/many of the perks and privileges awarded to the parents of warriors during the 10 years Annie’s gone

But this all strikes me as self-flagellation, that he’s more concerned with feeling better about himself and his own past deeds, and not really the entire life he’d ruined and the child he’d mentally, emotionally, verbally, and physically abused since day one

It was always about him, and it's still just him

There’s this shot during the rumbling that MAPPA added, in which we see Annie’s old house right before it’s stomped:

Those are the same padded polls Annie used to train with. He hadn’t removed them

At first glance, this looks like a way for him to not sweep his past/guilt under the rug. To face what he’d done to Annie every time he’d step out of the house or even look out the window.

Shows his remorse, right?

Sure, but what about Annie? What if she had returned with Reiner 4 years ago?

She finally manages to get home to her father, her family, the only reason she kept going, only to find her open-air torture chamber still up, like it’s been waiting for her return all along

I’m not saying he was planning on getting back to his old ways as soon as she got back not at all!

But even with his bad leg, over the course of 10 WHOLE YEARS, he could’ve dug them out. He could’ve asked it as a favor of Reiner and I know Reiner would’ve absolutely done it had they the smallest doubt Annie might come back and see them

But he didn’t because it’s about him feeling like he’s not escaping from his past mistakes, facing them head on like an honorable man

Annie? she doesn’t matter

Her return as his daughter is also another way for him to feel better about himself and that he’s actually making it up for his actions; atoning for his sins

Also, note the difference between how Annie remembers the apology:

vs how Mr Leonhart remembers the apology:

(those two shots are from the same chapter)

It really feels like his perception of that day is completely different from Annie's. She looks at him directly and smiles, while Annie mostly remembers herself still being in shock even as she promises him to come back

Final thoughts

I’m not saying his apology was entirely a manipulation technique. But Annie was and still is a tool to him, this time with the fancy title of “daughter”

If her previous purpose in life was to become a warrior and complete her mission, then her current purpose is to become a good daughter so he could feel like a good father

Post-canon, this would likely take most (if not all) of the verbal and physical abuse out of their relationship, but I can’t say the same for more covert types of mistreatment: mental and emotional

I think it’s important to respect/try to understand Annie’s point of view as well, for still loving him, since he was the reason she survived and come to think of her life as one worth living, even if only to return to him and be his daughter

Still, I wouldn’t really say that Annie has forgiven him. Not really

I doubt she even realizes she was hurt in a way that matters. Simply disassociating from that whole aspect of her life—blocking it out. Especially considering how she was able to tell her story to Hitch

The chance of simply “having a father” and be something more than a tool, was enough for young Annie to not even think about all the harm he’d done to her