This is a review of the Shingeki no Kyojin monthly manga, chapter 123: Devils of the Island.
Wow. I’ve got to be honest with myself, no matter how bad this may sound: I support Eren Yeager, 100%.
The Warlord of Paradis: Eren Yeager’s Marley Dissociation
There really was no other way. The people of Paradis Island had exhausted every possible option. They did not want to fight, but the rest of the world deemed it otherwise. The entire world was against this tiny island. Then, to make matters worse, upon their arrival in Marley for a peace summit, they encounter the worst.
A Prisoner of Fate: Attempting to Disprove PATHS
The mob mentality mirrors Ymir Fritz’s memories from childhood. The adults huddled around a small child, accusing them of things they didn’t fully understand. Sure, the kid might have swiped Sasha’s wallet – but he didn’t deserve to die for it. You could have just talked to him and told him why it was wrong or bad. But for the first thing these adults jump to…to be torture…is ridiculous.
Then, of course, we have Eren in the background, probably dissociating during this scene because of his father’s memories. The memories of his Aunt Faye dead face down in the water after being mauled to death by a pack of dogs. The memories of Grisha Yeager triggered his son Eren with each step he took through Marley.
The “Not Yet” Paradox: Eren’s Failed Deviations from the Future
Saving the little kid, and then remembering that he had a panel in chapter 120. Mikasa asked if something had happened, and Eren, drying his tears, replied: “Not yet”.
After I read these chapters, I’ve been jumping onto the Shingeki no Kyojin subreddit and reading other people’s interpretations of events. Someone on the ch 123 megathread mentioned that Eren seems to have been trying to disprove his PATHs memories this entire time.
Trying to make choices that deviate from the ultimate path he was led on. And, I could totally see that. After a certain point, when things just kept falling into place as planned, Eren became a prisoner to his own fate. A prisoner to the past, PATHs, the royal family (via Zeke), and that ultimately led to his own self-imposed isolation.
Self-Imposed Isolation: Why Mikasa and Armin Couldn’t Understand the Vision
How can you talk to someone about things only you can see? How do you explain the odd things you are doing actually do serve a purpose – simply not yet? I think of that scene with Hanji, where she stumbles upon Eren talking to himself in the mirror while jailed. She was curious, but ended up writing his behavior off as puberty.
Chapters earlier, maybe even years earlier in the manga’s canon, this happened before. Eren had the realization that Zeke’s mother and Grisha’s first wife, Dina, had killed his mother, Carla. Instead of explaining this at the time, he just made up an excuse, and Hanji assumed it was puberty.
They were also in the middle of a military court, so the timing was off anyway.
But still – I don’t think he had anyone to talk to concerning…well, all of this. Armin might understand on some level, but Mikasa wouldn’t. Even if she did try. In retrospect, we know that only Historia knew Eren’s secrets.
The Great Deception: Blood Testing and the Kruger Legacy
I mean, even the Subjects of Ymir don’t realize that they are all connected by an invisible force. A force that Eren was able to tap into and link them all together in this chapter.
I wonder, the Eldians in the internment area…will they try to escape? Or are they resigned to the same fate as the Marleyans? Meaning…will every single Subject of Ymir around the world, refugees and all, perish in the rumbling as well? Simply because they aren’t on Paradis?
And who warns everyone else of the impending doom? Would the citizens of their respective nations even listen to the Eldians? Would they care? Would their arrogance make them believe that it was a ploy against them, and the Eldians were trying a coup, causing even further retaliation before the end?
Forging the Lineage: How Zeke and Kruger Fooled the Marleyan Military
What about the Eldians that somehow slipped past the blood testing? Do they risk blowing their cover and mentioning they received a telepathic update of their impending doom, or just pretend they don’t know and die with the secret? Although Kiyomi said that the blood testing has improved, has it really improved that much since the time of Eren Kruger?
He had just about thirteen years, and Grisha maybe a little less…That’s at the most twenty-six years. Both men seemed to be in their thirties or early forties before dying…and I don’t know the difference in their ages…so at the most we are looking at seventy – eighty years. Paradis Island has stood for one hundred years, and there has been warring the entire time.
Not factoring in the fact that even the distant nations are at war with one another, just ushering in a truce to exterminate Paradis Island. Or the fact that titans are only now falling out of favor as military weapons due to technological advances.
Did they really have time to do all of that, on top of constant wars and surveillance of the ‘island devils’?
If blood tests and otherwise could be forged during Eren Kruger’s time, and Zeke Yeager could fool everyone concerning his royal bloodline lineage, I would like to think others did the same and are living in secret. In which case, they might just keep their mouths shut and meet the same fate as their compadres.
The Beast and the King: Why Zeke Yeager is a Modern King Fritz
Speaking of Zeke, it brought a smile to my face seeing Yelena worried about that fool. I literally felt joy at the fact that she is most likely suffering due to her sheer psychotic loyalty to that idiot.
And yes, Zeke is an absolute idiot. He is no different than his distant ancestor, the original King Fritz from Ymir’s time. I don’t think he’s dead, but I also don’t think he has the power to go up against Eren now.
Even if the beast titan is huge, it’s no match for whatever it is Eren has transformed into now.
So…how does it end for him now?
Final Speculation: The Father of the Child and the Scenery of the End
I don’t see Eren living to see the end of this story. His end was cemented when he teamed up with Ymir for…vengeance, I guess? It’s still unclear, really. I know he wants to kill everyone else to protect his home, but I’d love to see a POV chapter with him. I want to know what’s going through his head, because all we have is speculation at this point.
Historia Reiss and the Pregnancy: A Question of Parentage and Protection
I’d also really love to know if he banged Historia and is the father of her child, but that can wait. If anything, we’ll get the answer to that before we find out if Levi is alive or if Anne is ever going to come out of her shell.
For now, let’s just enjoy that scenery…of the walls coming down.
What did you think of this chapter? Isayama really knocked it out of the park, yet again.
The Subservience Test: Analyzing the “What am I to you?” Flashback
How much of this last arc do you think will be censored in the final anime adaptation? What do you think was going on between Mikasa and Eren in that flashback conversation?
I’m sorry if anyone gets angry with me, but I don’t think he is in love with her. I think he wanted to see if she had broken her subservience to him, due to the Titan-Ackerman gene thing. She couldn’t answer, or didn’t answer the way he wanted, cueing their later meeting where he rips on her for being a slave and Armin for letting Bertholdt influence him.
One last question – Will Armin and Miksasa still support Eren after the rumbling?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to follow us for more Shingeki no Kyojin manga reviews!
☆ In Asian Spaces ☆ Ephesians 6:12 ☆
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