Musing Over Manga: Attack on Titan Chapter 61--Victory?

Wait... Things are actually working out in favor of the main characters? Am I still reading the same series?

(A/N: The post deals with spoilers for the entire manga. Please do not read unless you are caught up!)


Sorry again for the wait! School started again for me, so now my schedule is back-to-back with work and class, so I don't have as much time to write up my thoughts as I would like. However, I can't let myself miss a post about Attack on Titan, especially with the next chapter coming out next week!

But this chapter was very interesting for one big reason: for once, everything worked out according to plan! There's still a fair amount of tension in the first part though, since Erwin literally staked his life on everything coming together. There were also a fair amount of people who also thought that he would die in this chapter, but like I said in my last post, it's pretty obvious from Erwin's speech in the first few pages that he's right where he wants to be. This chapter is also the first glimpse we get at the scope of Erwin's plan, although I still don't think we've seen all of it. Not yet. But in the lead-up to this one moment, Erwin set a ton of pieces into motion.


The first was Pixis, who states in a continuation of the earlier flashback that he can't commit himself to Erwin's revolution since they're not sure what other powers the people in control might be hiding, mentioning the Titan walls and memory manipulation specifically. He doesn't want to stand on the side of the government, but he will if it means sparing the lives of the people under his command. It's an interesting but fundamental difference between the two of them. I'm not saying that Erwin doesn't care about the lives of his soldiers, but he's been shown to take the path of high risk and high reward while Pixis is concerned with defense and saving as many lives as possible. In that way, they're also well suited to the positions that they hold, since it's the Garrison's job to protect the walls and the civilians, while the Survey Corps ventures outside the safe areas on a regular basis.


Anyway, this put Erwin into a new position; he had to prove to Pixis and everyone else that continuing under the rule of these people would push humanity to the brink. So he set up an experiment. How would they react if the worst-case scenario came true?

 
This is where Erwin next piece comes in: Nile's reaction. It was a foregone conclusion that the people in control would respond the way they did, deciding to close the gates and shut out the rest of humanity, but how would someone who worked close to their callousness but isn't in on the plan react? Like the newspaper editor from the previous chapter, Nile has decided to look the other way on a lot of things because he believes that he's doing the best thing for his family. However, the current rulers don't care about loyalty. They only care about saving their own skin. So now, Nile's being told to carry out an order that will condemn his family and the majority of humanity to death.

Deciding to announce that Stohess in particular had fallen was not a random choice

But despite Erwin saying that he was just going to "watch it play out," he's been placing the seeds of doubt in Nile's mind for a while now. I mean, look at their conversation from back in Chapter 53. Erwin's known Nile for a while, so he knows how he thinks. His choice of words with him throughout this entire arc has been very deliberate. He might be "watching," but Erwin knows what to say to get Nile's mindset where he wants it to be. Nile's even a bit aware of this subtle manipulation, looking right at Erwin when it's announced that Wall Rose has fallen.

*wink wink nudge nudge*

Erwin's speech at the beginning of this chapter is in the same vein as well. He basically said, "Sure, go ahead and execute me, but keep in mind all the horrible things that might happen if I'm not around..." He might have stepped back, but even as the only one in chains in the room, Erwin had the most control. All he had to do was give the situation a little push.


However, I think that it's important to point out that Erwin didn't plan for everything. He's surprised when he's told that Levi was attacked, which underscores yet again the fact that nobody expected Kenny's squad. Since it still hasn't been stated how much Erwin's dad told him about the secrets of the Titans and the world at large, it's interesting to know that there are still factions of the government that Erwin doesn't know about and can't plan for. It also addresses the growing concern from some fans about Erwin becoming omnipotent, with a backup plan for every possibility and knowing all the secrets but not sharing them. Watching that kind of character is incredibly boring, so while it's concerning to know that there are still unknown elements out there, this keeps Erwin as the interesting character that we've known all along without stepping too far into "too powerful" territory.


One last note before moving on. That moment when the four people in front of the king huddled together seems to hint at one of those unknown mysteries. At first I thought that they were talking about Eren's power but the line in the official translation that says "now we have a way" makes me wonder if it was something else. Were they talking about the basement, maybe? Whatever it is, they seem to be referencing something outside the walls, and they don't care if the rest of the human race has to go down in order to get it. Does this have something to do with the "terrible secret" Isayama said would be revealed in this arc? In any case, I think this will be something to keep in mind for upcoming chapters.


Anyway, now everybody who was on the fence about joining Erwin's side can see now that the people in charge aren't much more than selfish leeches, so Zackley steps in (now that's the flashback conversation that I want to see) and tells them that the announcement was a test. Now that they've shown their true colors, the side of the military that's loyal to Erwin's cause has taken over the government.


Making things even better, any dissent from the public has been held off (for now) by the announcement from the newspaper that the Survey Corps were framed and that it was the work of the Military Police and the corrupt government all along. A double victory!

I see that Isayama is reusing art

Also, the three hooded figures that were headed towards Levi and his squad turned out to be Hanji, Marlo, and Hitch, wrapping up all the cliffhangers. And while I'm really glad that everything turned out okay, this just makes me more concerned than ever. I don't think that there's ever been a plan in Attack on Titan that has turned out this well, and with Isayama and his editor saying that there's roughly six chapters left to go in this arc, I'm bracing myself for a steep drop-off.


To begin with, they still have to go up against Kenny again. Their last encounter is still bothering Levi, as shown when he apologizes to Hanji about their squad. There's also still all of that confusion over the Ackerman connection, which wasn't discussed in this chapter. Hopefully there will be a good explanation on that soon.

Wat

And then there's...whatever's going on here. Even by Wall Cult standards, this seems pretty out there. I'm mostly concerned by the fact that Historia is walking around while Eren is chained up, though. Historia, what are you doing? What the heck did her dad say to her? (And what happened to Eren's basement key?)


Making things even more complicated, it's possible that this was deliberately foreshadowed in the anime as well. Exactly how many hints about future events did Isayama manage to drop into the show anyway?

Anyway, it's starting to look like the finale for this arc will be bigger than anyone guessed. The revolution is technically over, but the real power behind the throne still hasn't been brought to light, nor have we heard their reasoning. Regardless, I think we can all agree on one thing: it's going to end in a big fight.

I mean, something like this really happening is still a possibility

I've seen some posts on Reddit and elsewhere by people who are clamoring for at least one of the main characters to die, saying that the series has been playing it too safe lately. I disagree; I think that the characters are being led into something even bigger than what they expected, and I'm not sure why people want specifically a main character to die. Anything can happen, but to be honest, I'm more concerned about Marlo and Hitch at this point. All the recent deaths that we've had are secondary characters who rose up to a point of more importance within the plot only to get shut down with a shocking death--for example, the death of Hannes, Reeves, and Nifa along with the rest of Hanji's squad just to name a few. It's possible that Marlo and Hitch might serve as cannon fodder for the next battle, although I hope not. I really liked the turnaround from when they found out about Annie, and the way that her 'death' had effected them.

And to be really honest, I would love it if nobody died from here on out, but we've still got a lot of story left to go. The anticipation and fear that each month's chapter brings regarding the fate of the characters will probably continue for a while.

What a boring figurehead

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