#snk 33

The only other canon interaction between Levi and Nile that I can think of is during the battle between Eren and Annie in Stohess. They don’t actually exchange any words in either the manga or the anime but Levi’s expression speaks volumes. 

Reiner Chapter-94

Zeke Chapter-114

Well it would seem that both Reiner and Zeke had their share of struggles trying to become proper warriors at a young age. I must say, it is a bit surprising to find this similarity between these two. From the start, Zeke was painted as a capable and dutiful child, to find out that he was such a meek boy is somewhat of a coincidence. Still while they both had their own problems pursuing this path, they had differentiating conflicts.

Reiner had the drive, ambition, and heart to become a warrior because he had an unyielding dream, and that was to unite his split family. However Reiner lacked the skills and necessary tools to be successful in this pursuit. His only saving grace was his devotion to the Marley nation. Thanks to his loyalty and effort, he was able to become a warrior candidate and later on the inheritor of the Armored Titan.

Collectively as a fandom, we all give Karina a rough time for not being the best mother she could be, but here I’m going to cut her some slack. While she did want her only son to become a warrior, we never outright see her force her son to try and be something that he doesn’t want to be. Yes, she is guilty of emotionally manipulating Reiner, but that’s as far her crimes as a parent go. In all fairness, this is something that Reiner wanted too, he never really protested or voiced his dissatisfaction and the reason he didn’t is simple. He wanted his mother to be happy.

Any son who has deep love for their mother wants to make her happy at all costs, sometimes even at the suspense of their own well being. This is something that I can strongly relate to on a personal level. Seeing my mom cry was something that strongly resonated with me and pushed me forward to help her in anyway that I could. In Reiner’s case, he was not only doing it for the sake of his mother, but for himself as well. He longed to have a real family life with both parents and he didn’t mind shortening his life drastically to do so.

In this regard, you can argue that Karina Braun was a slightly better parent than Grisha and Dina Yeager. You can also say the same thing for Annie’s father Mr. Leonhardt, he too, selfishly forced his daughter to become a titan shifter, while drilling his martial arts into her being at a young age. In Karina’s case she is guilty of letting her son follow this reckless path. Instead of being proud, she should have been outraged and dismayed.

Indoctrinating your own children is horrible and this is where both of these men share guilt. Instilling their own beliefs on their adolescent kids is unbelievably selfish. To not be completely negative, I’d be amiss not to point out that Grisha and Mr. Leonhardt did realize where they went wrong after it was too late. Nevertheless, Grisha took it a step further, placing his son and parents in danger for the sake of rebuilding the Eldian empire.

Unlike Reiner, Zeke had no interest in being a warrior and this chapter made that painfully clear. All he wanted was to enjoy the life he had with his parents, he didn’t care about his low status or how poorly they were treated, he was just happy to have his mother and father. In the first half of this page, you can see Zeke is envious of the father and son playing kickball. Just like them they were eldians, yet they weren’t concerned about restoring a lost monarchy, instead they were enjoying the life they were blessed with.

As soon as he comes home, he tells his father that he finished early, in hopes that they can spend some father-son time together, sadly his dad didn’t share these sentiments. Alternatively, Grisha thought it was better for Zeke to take the time to brush up on his history, instead of playing like a child should.

However on his way home, Zeke meets Tom Xavier a warrior and current holder of the beast titan. In this stranger, he finds not only a friend but a proper father figure. But even here, he still has strong parental love for his parents, despite their neglect.

Back in chapter 86, we were all under the impression that Zeke heartlessly sold out his parents due to his loyalty to Marley, but in later chapters we find out that this was never the case. In this flashback chapter, we come to find that Zeke loved his parents so much that he was willing to accept punishment alongside them, regardless of him being an innocent 7-year old boy.

Yet Xavier who had grown attached to him, and had watched his interactions with his mother and father, wisely advised him to take action against them to save himself and his grandparents. The chapter title really says it all, The only salvation, that is how he was viewed by his parents. On the other hand, Xavier saw him for what he was a young boy in need of guidance and attention.

Years passed and you see that these two have grown close, with passing time Zeke had found a good role model and father figure in Xavier. He even jokes around calling him an old man, something most teenage boys do with their dads. Unfortunately Xavier’s time is drawing to an end, his term as the beast titan had ran it’s course.

During one of their final games of catch, they have a significant conversation regarding the founding titan and unique biology of Eldian descendants. Apparently, the founding titan has the ability to rewrite the composition of Eldian bodies, making them immune to threatening diseases. This truth sparks a dark idea in Young Zeke’s mind, which is to stop the breeding of Ymir’s descendants.

After hearing the tragic story of Xavier’s past, Zeke resolves himself to inherit the beast titan and continue his parent’s mission, but not for their sake or for Marley, but for Xavier and the rest of the Eldian people. With the help of the latter’s guidance, Zeke was able to become an intelligent and capable warrior, something that he failed to do as an adolescent because he lacked the drive and motivation. As a boy of age, he was finally molded into a proper warrior.

Looks like he started off like Grisha, wanting his kid to accomplish his dreams of taking down Marley for him. But he regretted his decision after Annie actually became a Warrior, and perhaps once he realized the ramifications of what he put her through (like the death sentence), hence his “I was wrong. It’s too late to ask for your forgiveness”.

This was our first meeting with him.

Chapter 33.

After the basement reveal, first one, it didn’t took too much of an effort to figure out Annie’s father first wanted his daughter to be chosen as one of Warriors but then realized what he did was an awful, awful mistake after it was too late. So he asked his daughter one promise, that she’ll come back no matter what happens.

We thought he may be a Revolutionist, a kung-fu teacher and what else but he ended up being a an average looking sassy man that uses a walking stiff. 

Look how dissatisfied he looks when he sees Kalina and how the word “honor” is in commas. He is at Villi’s play because he is curious about what he is gonna reveal, not because he thinks this is an “honor” like Kalina does. 

He is quite sulk when Villi is telling the story of RBAM. 

Actually if you look at all his panels, the only time he is giving a different expression is that one panel he is talking about Annie. Like father like daughter, right?

I’m all new here btw… And I know now everybody lives in 99 chapter, but… I was just thinking… Can you imagine? Levi thinking about Mikasa everytime when his leg hurts? Like… EVERY. TIME. Because she was indirectly responsible for his injury, you know… Have you ever thought about it? *_* This makes me so happy <3

Hi and welcome to the fandom! ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡ Thank you for your kind words, they make me so happy!

You’re not overthinking at all - I’m pretty sure Levi would think about Mikasa whenever he felt pain in his leg - and he’d reassure himself his injury was worth it if it meant saving a comrade’s life, especially someone of Mikasa’s caliber. It’s canon that he cared about her and hightly valued her skills!

The same thing must apply for every other injury he got in order to save someone else. But we know Levi-heichou is not someone who gets injured so easily, if at all… so that’s a privilege limited to a select few like Mikasa. (;