The Survivors

the survivors

I’ve recently seen some misinterpretations regarding this scene so I wanted to share my thoughts.

The criticism, which I personally find so unfair and wrong considering Levi’s character arc in the final battle mostly revolves around: “Levi didn’t even care about leaving the kids behind to the point he ordered Mikasa, Pieck and Falco to depart without any final/farewell words to Jean, Connie, etc” or “I knew it!!! Levi only cared about killing Zeke post-time skip. It was obvious he’s gonna have NO motivation to fight”

I’m going to explain both claims from my own perspective.

1) About the first one, I think it is important to remember Levi’s rational motivation in such critical moment. So the situation is as the following >>> The alliance figuring out the steam released from the hallucigenia is poisonous just like Zeke’s spinal fluids and as many pointed out the reason there was suspect of them turning into titans came from the fact hallucigenia is the source of the titan power so it only makes sense for Levi to believe the Eldians exposed to the steam would transform immediately after. Did they have time to process the situation? No. Did they even have time to say goodbye? Hell no! It only took Levi, Mikasa, Falco & Pieck a few minutes before their comrades/families were titanized. There was absolutely no time for hesitation and as I’ve seen some people pointed this out Levi was the only one who thought rationally and was able to make such cruel decision in that moment. Was it painful for him? Of course it was! Was it hard for him to leave his comrades behind once again without even being able to say goodbye? SURE IT WAS!

Is this the face of a person who doesn’t care about leaving his family? I’m gonna leave the obvious answer to you guys.

Now let’s get back to even the more logical part. You gotta ask yourself why Levi decided what he did. Had Levi, Mikasa, Falco & Pieck aka the last hopes of humanity’s survival been caught in a horde of titans and eaten then who were going to defeat Eren? Marleyans who didn’t even have enough cannons to face Eren (oh well the cannons had no effect on the founding titan either way) or Armin was supposed to take him down single-handedly? Think about it, who else but all these people together could kill Eren?

It’s also worth mentioning what Levi tells Mikasa right after they had to abandon their comrades and people

“We’re the only ones that can kill Eren”

I think this part’s even more proof of Levi’s rational decision. Do I not love Jean and Connie? Of course I do. I’m not gonna lie, I’m still in denial about what happened to them and I’m hoping there’s a way they’ll revert back to being humans and if they really die I personally will find their deaths meaningless at this point of the story. However, I understand that they had no time for emotional talk. They had to defeat Eren and end this nightmare as soon as possible.

2) Now regarding the second claim, I think there are already many great meta writers who pointed out the obvious but I’m just gonna leave some panels and notes to emphasize how much such criticism about Levi’s not but a misinterpretation.

Let’s get back to chapter 135 where Levi literally told Mikasa he will act as bait in order for them to defeat the titans the founder Ymir sent their way

He knew Zeke’s still alive somewhere from Hanji’s words so if he only cared about killing him why would he try to sacrifice his life for the kids to proceed with their plans before taking down the monke?

Levi risking his life to save Jean’s in the same chapter right after the above panel

“Levi’s all about killing Zeke at this point. He doesn’t care about his kids any longer” is what the criticism says. I don’t think I need to explain this further because the panel is proof enough how much he cares for his kids.

Right after saving Jean Levi’s injuries worsen but he still continues fighting to protect them

The reason for his leg injury is saving Connie

And lastly, about him caring for humanity

“We’re doing both”

Levi’s the first person who actually said they have to kill Eren and save Armin among the corps. If he only cared about killing Zeke why would he suggest they have to consider both options? Why would he repeat himself in the very recent chapter again (about killing Eren) in order to end this nightmare? As I’ve said many times before Levi could’ve killed Zeke and fulfilled his promise a long time ago but he prevented himself from doing so because he assumed keeping Zeke alive was the best option for saving humanity.

Bottom line Levi’s promise to Erwin was never even about mere revenge. The man said it himself, “I will give meaning to your deaths” and he’s only able to do that through saving humanity. I’m not saying he didn’t hate Zeke considering all the suffering Zeke brought to Levi’s comrades. However, it is important to remember Levi was always ready to give up on killing him if his existence benefitted humanity. Killing Zeke wasn’t his sole purpose in life as some like to put it.

I love how the Obi-Wan Kenobi series cast listing tells us basically nothing about the story that we didn’t already know, except to confirm that Owen (and probably Beru) are going to be in it.  We already knew Obi-Wan was going to be in it.  We already knew Anakin was going to be there.  We already knew it was going to have a cast full of people.  It’s not like they’d put Temuera on the list, if they’re trying to keep his role a surprise, so that could still go either way.  It confirms some casting rumors, but that doesn’t tell us much of anything about the story.  Hayden being the second picture could mean Anakin is very prominently part of the story, it could just mean that he’s the other prequels movies actor and thus more prominent in promotion.  It could all mean anything and tells us absolutely nothing about the story! AND YET I AM LOSING MY MIND ANYWAY.

My contribution to the Found: A Clone Wars Zine I was a part of! I’ll forever be grateful to have been a part of such a great zine!

How dare you make me sad like this?!😭😭

some angst oh?

Exactly! 

sometimes I wonder where people get this idea that qui-gon and the council actual hated each other just cause they disagreed on stuff