OKAY so. This is written largely in part of those weird takes that because farmer-kun was Historia’s childhood bully as an adult he’s some kind of aggressor to her. and I won’t deny that its kind of a weird add-in for Isayama to choose her childhood bully to be her child-father when he could’ve just been a Random Person who worked in her orphanage regardless, but the choice was made.

That being said, I think the implication that this guy has power over her like he did in their childhoods is a bit silly. She’s an ex-Scout, and the-yknow-the Queen. And a well loved one at that. He could’ve or knew people who went to her coronation and he lives on her land (!!!) like Alma like Alma like Alm[is tranquilised and dragged off stage]Her friends are also ex-Scouts, diplomats, war heroes. No matter how you slink the technical power imbalance tilts in Historia’s favour for once which imo makes the change of hands in power dynamics in their situationship even more fascinating.

BUT! And my favourite part!!! Is the similarities between their relationship and that of Historia’s own parents!! An influential highly wealthy powerful Reiss getting a child from a lowborn farmhand/farmhand’s daughter and then taking/raising that child for a specific purpose in mind? YES! My patented kids are shitty mirrors of their parents is back in full force!!

Its also been explicitly stated that the guy chose to work at her orphanage to atone for what he was in the past. He doesn’t have ambitions which I think is one of the reasons why the council were fine with him. Extremely machiavelli. There’s a weird little set up where you can question how much autonomy exactly both of them have in this exchange: Where he’s her childhood bully and now a stranger but Historia needs an heir off of someone, and he’s burdened with the guilt of how he treated her to where he spent his teenagehood working strenuous work for her and now she’s the Queen.

Anyways, I think the aot fandom’s issue is that they really can’t concieve any other relationship that isn’t some kind of uber-propoganda 50’s-esque nuclear family. COUGH jeankasa COUGH All of this is my opinion and speculation, but I don’t think they ever married. Correct me if Isayama says otherwise but I think their situationship was like, a best of both worlds thing where Historia gets an heir off of one of her own subjects who won’t use her child against her but not marrying him means that she’s open to any political marriages for Paradis’ advantage.

They’ve both changed. She’s not the goody-two-shoes Krista Lenz persona that she put on to be liked in the Scouts and let her father control her life, he’s not the little boy that ganged up with others to aggravate another little girl. That’s canon so i shouldn’t have to say it but yanno. And this is utterly self indulgent BUT. The intersectionaling of farming-cultivating, nurturing-and death. Hello? Historia working on a farm and then waiting for the Rumbling to kill 80% of the world to advantage her country she now rules? Farmer-kun using his work to feed others as a means of self-atonement and discipline and then being set to marry that Queen? Its giving Hades and Persephone reversed. Also the commoner & noble trope: Paradis becoming a militaristic nation post-Rumbling with Historia at its head arranging with other nation’s leaders while he’s involved more in the inner community alongside their civilians focused on growing the nation back to some sembalance of stability.