As an East Asian who has been swimming in the sea of movie and literature tropes growing up in this bloc, I feel obliged to offer a breakdown on Levihan’s forest scene, though I believe there is already a ton of them out there.
In short, it is insanely romantic in a heavy and poignant way.
First, a recap of the context:
Previously Levi followed without whining the risky decision to keep Zeke alive in exchange for the information that Paradis needs. Levi watched over Zeke in the forest for one month. It turned out Paradis was fooled. Zeke set Levi’s squad up, forcing Levi to kill his own subordinates, all of them. To add insult to injury, Levi himself was blown up by Zeke, nearly died.
You bet Levi’d want Zeke’s death more than ever. He should.
Then came Levihan’s moment:
1. Levi came back to consciousness way earlier than most readers seem to assume, probably during the time Hange stitched his wound. Hange was sitting beside Levi, mumbling about a series of events that frustrated her in the past month when Levi was not there. Levi didn’t stir or open his eyes to interrupt her. He let Hange talk, venting out her frustration. If Hange knew Levi was awake she would immediately stop ranting.
2. Hange paused, looked at Levi, turned back and said: Let’s live here, just two of us.
Hange then went away to fix the cart, leaving Levi in his tangled thoughts.
3. To live in the forest, or in levi’s words, “to run and hide” means giving up their duty all together. The fact that Levi seriously considered the scenario of running away with Hange simply because she impulsively said so, is… wow.
4. Hange spent quite some time fixing the cart.
Eren’s rumbling began. Thunders struck. Hange panicked and screamed “Levi !!”. She didn’t mean to wake him up. Rather, it was an instinctive act, like people screaming for their moms or lovers just to feel safe. Levi whooshed up - an instinctive reaction to her scream to ensure she was not in danger or something. Hange was taken aback at the sight of Levi sitting there staring at her, for she assumed he was still in coma.
5. So she was ok, Levi lowered his gaze and they started conversations over what happened in the forest. Levi wanted to slice Zeke into pieces, as he should, yet mad as he was, he didn’t even make a sound the whole time Hange was fixing that cart, until she screamed his name. Her “living together, just two of us” was tempting and messed with his minds. That is to say, since he heard it, Levi had been quietly struggling between their duties as the last two veterans, his promises to the dead (as well as his fury at playing into Zeke’ hand, twice) and her unexpected proposal.
6. Back to their conversation. “I screwed up… underestimated Zeke’s determination… I let him go again” This is the first time we saw Humanity’s Strongest completely letting his guard down, laying bare his vulnerability. He felt comfortable and comforted around Hange. Again it shows how close they are, maybe too close for Levi who tends to avoid emotional attachment.
“You must be full of regret, but for now…” Hange was concerned about Levi, a major reason why she made that proposal in the first place. Levi was badly injured, with an eye and two fingers gone, was he able to take Zeke down?
Unexpectedly, Levi told her that they can’t run and hide. He answered “you…” with ”we…”
“Wait, you heard my soliloquy…” Hange blushed, half-heartedly complaining (her tone is intimate).
Levi made it clear that he heard the proposal. So Levi acknowledged the romantic motive behind her proposal, but decided that they can’t hide from their duty. If her feeling is one-sided, Levi wouldn’t mention that proposal, since Hange didn’t know he heard it. She only said that assuming he was in coma.
Hange’s blush is cute and telling, like a little girl getting caught sticking her hand into the cookie jar.
In fact, Hange made the same decision earlier than Levi. She fixed the cart with which she planned to move Levi out of the forest. She wasn’t really going to live in the forest with Levi. There was a brief moment, a fleeting moment when she wanted to abandon her duty and her people except Levi. The moment was gone. Seeing that fixed cart, Levi said,“you wouldn’t be able to accept staying in the dark.” (his tone is intimate，too) Levi was right. Hange would be haunted by guilt if they watch the world burn from a distance.
Not just their duty and promise, Eren’s rumbling basically killed off any possibility of them running away, but at least Levi was certain of her feelings for him. All these years, they probably never gave it a name… until she said “just two of us”.
Levi took it very, very seriously.
Once out of the forest, Hange was busy forming alliance, while Levi suffered from injury-induced fever, so not good timing. Days later, when Hange was “rejected” by Pieck, Levi couldn’t wait. He took the opportunity to make that famous confession, clumsy, sincere, desperate, pride thrown away.
I could write another 300-word essay on Levi’s confession. I guess we will save it for another day.
A minor bonus of 126 I guess we all have noticed is that… Levi looks darn masculine while Hange is feminine and soft, accepting his vulnerability and healing his wound like water.
I’m sorry if this appreciation thread comes off a bit convoluted, because in the forest scene there are so many layers of emotions between them, with their duties and feelings interwoven, against the backdrop of a world on fire.
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