Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan (Manga Discussion)

So I'm guessing we'll find out what the Warhammer Titan looks like next chapter. Hopefully it's something awesome.

I also have no idea how this is going to go down. There are a bunch of ways Isayama could play this.

Inb 4 it's literally Thor.

I'm not a king, or a founder. I'm the Titan of Attacking. What were you the Titan of again?

That's my secret Eren, I'm always (Plot-)Armoured.

Volume 24 cover.◊

Is it me or the covers have all been gorgeous, lately…?

So chapter 100 is a matter of days away, and leaks could come in any time.

If anyone has any last minute theories, hopes, thoughts, wishes, etc., or even just celebration for the milestone, now's the time!

100 months without a hiatus WOOOO! It's been a good ride, and I eagerly await what Isayama has in store for us.

They show us another version of Marcel's death.

The raws for 100 have leaked

Well, damn. What a chapter.

• A flashback reveals that Willy knew he was being watched/targeted, and he's using the entire festival as a setup. He's using himself as bait and intentionally placed all these important people there, in a location he feels is completely expendable and with higher ups in the military that can be eliminated to make room for Magath to remake the military however he pleases. The Eldians in the ghetto will be sacrificed in an "unfortunate attack" to convince the entire world to rally behind Marley and destroy Paradis, with the "enemy" playing into his hands in the process.
• We see out the window of the carriage that one of Kiyoko's bodyguards is watching them.
• Willy continues on stage, confessing how his family took advantage of things and lied. Meanwhile, a soldier notifies Magath that the Warriors have all disappeared after soldiers were dispatched to summon them away. Magath orders a search, but then notes everything has started.
• Pieck and Galliard sit at the bottom of a pit, healing broken bones. Pieck notes that there floors are lined with straw to break their fall, and someone has left them food and water. She explains that it's probably one of the old areas made to imprison Warriors, that Marley used to use. Whoever did this wants them safely confined, and it's built to be too narrow for a transformation of even the smallest Titans. Pieck again notes she's seen that soldier before.
• Willy continues to explain how the world is in danger, because the Walls are formed from Colossal Titans. Each Wall is named for one of Ymir Fritz's daughters. Nothing can stop them once unleashed, and they will simply trample over the entire world and leave nothing in their wake. Now the power of the Founding Titan is in the hands of Eren Yeager, who can use it and intends to destroy them.
• Eren starts regenerating his leg, and apologizes to Falco for having used him. Falco is horrified and collapses, asking about the letter he sent. Eren explains it was sent to "a comrade", which surprises Reiner. Over the speakers, Willy states that Eren is going to carry out a "ground-level attack". Falco realizes that they can capture Eren, and hand the Founding Titan over to Marley. He looks to Reiner, but Eren interrupts and says that he's the bad guy. He could destroy the world.
• But then he starts talking about how he thought /Reiner/ was the bad guy, and how he didn't understand how so many innocent people had to suffer. He asks Reiner again why he broke the Wall, and prompts him through explaining his mission. Eren looks sad and says that with saving the world, that couldn't be avoided. Reiner brings up how Eren once promised to kill them and says that he must be there to carry it out.
• Eren looks taken aback, and asks Reiner to forget about that whole thing. Eren explains how he saw everyone across the ocean as enemies, but he lived among them and shared their food. Just like Reiner, he saw the people that pissed him off and the good people. He states that both sides are the same, and but that the people in Marley had been convinced the people behind the Walls were devils that would destroy the world. He says that a child being told that and raised in that environment would never have a chance. He says Reiner was in constant agony, and that now he can finally understand that.
• Reiner collapses at Eren's feet, and insists that he's wrong. He says that he forced the mission to continue because he selfishly wanted to be a hero, and wanted desperately to be respected by anyone. That it isn't about circumstances or time period, he's just wrong and a monster. He blames himself for Eren's mother dying, and begs Eren to kill him so he can just disappear.
• Willy explains that the Eldians are to blame for the danger, and that he wishes he had never been born. He confesses to wishing for the extinction of the Eldians. (In the distance, we see Zeke walking down the street.) Willy says he doesn't want to die, because "I was born into this world." Eren looks shocked. Willy continues that he wishes to see the whole world united, and asks everyone that wishes to live to fight with him. The audience begins clapping wildly and cheering, while Willy makes the declaration of war.
• Eren asks Reiner to stand up, and offers his hand. He states that he understands now, and that they're the same. Willy continues his rallying speech, while Eren states that he will continue to move forward and destroy the enemy. He begins to transform, and Reiner suddenly remembers Falco. He turns towards him.
• The Attack Titan bursts through the back of the stage, and crushes Willy in his hand.

edited 6th Dec '17 1:42:09 PM by harostar

Welp. Congratulations Eren, you are now a betrayer, a child killer, and a mass murderer. Unlike BRA, you weren't forced into this either. A full fledged Villain Protagonist.

That seems premature, given the write up suggests he only killed one person, barring those caught in the transformation.

I think Reiner transformed as well and protected Falco.

To be honest, I think that it's too early for such things. There's a lot of ??? going on all around.

(ninja'd) I think Reiner and Falco will survive this. For one thing, it's already been shown several times that it's possible to transform without harming the people in close proximity. Eren transformed with Mikasa and Armin near him several times. Plus, Reiner was leaping to protect Falco so he'll either simply take the damage himself or he'll use his powers to protect them. He may want to die, but he'll definitely do everything in his power to protect Falco.

Another thing I think is important is that Willy intentionally set this whole thing up. He /wants/ to be attacked, and to have it done in front of the audience. He's trying to make Paradis into the villains of his grand story, while also having the victims be people he wants dead anyway. At the moment, it doesn't seem like Eren intends to go rampaging through the ghetto, and he doesn't seem happy about this whole situation. The whole thing is a set up.

edited 6th Dec '17 2:17:34 PM by harostar

Well, what a shock.

Things have gotten crazy.

But man just ..... Eren essentially offering understanding/some degree of forgiveness, and being surprised by Reiner bringing up the whole "kill you in the worst way possible" thing. And being EAGER for it, to the point of crawling on the ground at his feet and bringing up his mom's death just to try to get Eren to kill him. Folks are already pointing it out, but it's a strong parallel to when Eren asked Historia to eat him. The same rock-bottom despair of seeing themselves as the cause of everything wrong, and wanting to die not just to atone but basically so they can stop existing.

I guess the thing about the Wall Titans was pretty obvious in hindsight.

Another interesting detail: Magath is not okay with Willy's plan to sacrifice the Eldians. It takes him basically arguing that Magath has always been sending Eldians to die for him to relent and agree to the plan.

It also seems like the Warriors leaving the audience is part of the normal plan, but Magath and Willy's own scheme involves them being kidnapped. We've got Reiner that was taken to talk with Eren, Pieck and Gailliard being secured in a safe place with an effort to keep them comfortable, and Zeke apparently still free. If Paradis is indeed the ones that did that, they probably intended some level of diplomacy to have made the effort for the Warriors to not only be out of the way, but also kept protected.

What kind of diplomacy were they expecting with Eren smashing the guy that has a huge following? I must admit I'm surprised this isn't a genuine false flag. I was expecting the soldiers on the roof to shoot the Eldians with Titan serum. Then Willy can blame it on the Paradians and save the day by going Warhammer.

edited 7th Dec '17 4:56:18 AM by Kostya

I meant in terms of the Warriors. After all, Willy is intentionally putting their families and friends in the line of fire. I don't imagine they'd be too pleased if they found out what Willy intends for Liberio.

I thought the town's name was rebellio

What is your plan, Eren?

• Making it a Grim Reminder 2.0 seems like a surefire way to get Paradis destroyed. You just went and killed the head of the Tyburs - the most important family in Marley - showing up in front of all these dignitaries.
• Marley Warriors are out of harm's way; it's not Magath's plan, so presumably Eren is responsible for this, either via Zeke - if he's on in it for some reason - or Survey Corps.
• Are you doing it to further some sort of agenda? Do you want to become a martyr? Or is it really just Grim Reminder and you're out for blood?

I don't know what to think. Falco and Reiner are probably fine, but now that Attack Titan made its appearance, I expect Survey Corps to show up; and it's going to get ugly.

Look at Erens reactions to Willy's speech. He does not want to do this. He displays shock and hope when when Willy says he wants to live, and closes his eyes in resignation when Willy calls for war. There is no diplomacy, the representatives of the world just voted that possibilty away with thunderous applause. Yes, Eren's transformation there will have killed innocent people. No, it will not incur the wrath of the world on Paradis, because the rest of the world already just declared their intent to kill every one on Paradis. It is fight or die, and Eren did not transform until after that decision was made.

Magath says it himself: Eldians may be the children of the devil, but it is everyone else who are devils.

edited 8th Dec '17 3:55:48 PM by TheAirman

Pretty much this ,if you notice Wily and Macgath earlier in this chapter assumed that Paradis would attack in middle of Wily's speech but Eren didn't attack until he pretty much had no choice. They just declared war on Paradis and it's quite clear the people present were in favor of it. Eren at this point realizes it's war and is now taking the first strike. My assumption is that Armin, the rest of the Survey Corps, and Zeke might join in on this first strike.

I also highly suspect that Reiner and Falco are okay. Eren show's no ill will towards them and has transformed in close proximity to other people before aka Armin and Mikasa.

edited 8th Dec '17 4:20:06 PM by Wispy

One detail I think is interesting is Willy's discussion with Magath. I had previously talked about how Paradis's biggest problem is that they are alone without any sort of allies or support.

But that no longer seems to be the case, according to Willy. He states that Paradis has allies in the outside world, including ones within Marley's military and government. I wouldn't be surprised if the East Sea Clan is involved, considering we saw that one of her bodyguards was seen observing Willy and her little meeting with him seemed to indicate she knew shit was about to go down.

But I definitely wonder what the plan originally was, and how it's changed because of Willy using the festival as a trap. Because it seems like he knew they were gunning for him, and there would be limited chances for anyone to have access to him. So he made himself available in the worst possible way for Paradis, so if Eren makes his move.....it will look good for Marley.

And I'm glad other folks get that Eren didn't want any of this. I've seen a lot of people saying that he's out of blood and he was faking Reiner out to basically make his revenge more painful. But it's clear Eren has matured considerably, and is no longer that angry kid that saw people as either good or "not human".

Either way, it seems like all parties concerned want the Warriors safely out of the way. From that one soldier, we know Marley actually did summon them away but folks that actually fetched them weren't the ones that were supposed to be doing it. So they ended up somewhere other than where Magath wanted them.

For some reason I'm now convinced that Annie is free again and working for Paradis. I was unsure of the theory she would switch sides, but now I'm all for it.

So taking bets now!

Is Willy:

• A. Alive
• B. Dead

And if you think he's dead, is he:

• A. Decoy for the REAL War Hammer?
• B. Actually the War Hammer and Isayama is laughing at us as he ensures we'll never see it in action.

edited 8th Dec '17 7:56:05 PM by harostar