Before continuing, please note that this article may contain spoilers and leaks pertaining to the latest chapter of Shingeki No Kyojin aka Attack on Titan. If you haven’t read the latest chapters of the manga, and don’t want your experience to be spoiled, we suggest you refrain from reading any further.

If you thought that the new alliance formed between the Marley soldiers and the Eldians from the survey corps would drastically tilt the plot against the Yaegarists, then you were wrong. The situation couldn’t be more realistic than what Hajime Isayam is showing currently. Attack on Titan Chapter 128, titled “Traitor” shows us the struggles, moral and physical that the protagonists face as we readers are left to decide who the real traitors in the situation are.

Violence is one thing you can take away from humanity. Right Captain?

Yelena

While a conflict between the two factions goes on in the port, the death toll is probably on the rise in the background, as the colossal titans have probably reached the continent of Marley. Unlike the usual shonen storylines, the formation of an alliance and the use of talk no jutsu does not pave the way for a happy ending here and the situation slowly seems to be getting out of hand.

Attack On Titan/ Shingeki No Kyojin Chapter 128 review:

The Yaegerists under the command of Floch had taken control of the port, as shown at the end of Shingeki No Kyojin Chapter 127, hindering the plan of the alliance to take the airships. As Hange spies on the Yaegerists along with Magath from their hideout, wondering why the airships weren’t being destroyed already, she sees the smoke rising at a distant point from the ocean. Hange later deduces that the colossal titans have already made their way to the continent of Marley.

The panel where Hange notices the smoke rising from the colossal titans looks twisted as well as quite significant to us. We see the crest of the survey corps on Hange’s back, the crest that symbolified the freedom of human beings, while she is witnessing a prelude to a mass genocide. Though the genocide would essentially grant freedom for the Eldians who have been kept in the dark and subjugated for long by the people of Marley, the morality of such an outcome is questionable to say the least, especially for an Eldian like Hange, who has forever strived for the freedom of humanity and not just Eldia. 

You could say that, from the point of view of a survey corps member, the situation that they had been forced to believe in all this time before knowing the truth, is actually playing out in front of them, with the entire human race being threatened to the brink of extinction by a bunch of titans. 

As most of the members from the alliance race against time to come up with a plan while clinging on to their ideals, Annie seems to be the only person who is capable of seeing the situation rationally. Not killing the Yaegerists on the port, while taking over the airships and rescuing the Azumabito seemed like a plan that would never work ,especially since the titans were very close to or could already have trampled on the millions of people from the northeast part of the continent of Marley. 

Connie’s sudden outburst, Jean and Mikasa’s reluctance to take action and Armin’s inability to come up with an ideal solution all point to the helpless situation that this newly formed alliance to save humanity is currently in. Also, not knowing the whereabouts or exact intentions of Eren Yaeger has put them at a huge disadvantage. At one point, Reiner asks Mikasa, Jean, Connie and Armin to stay back so that they won’t have to deal with the tough situation of having to kill their previous comrades, however, after some convincing everyone reluctantly agrees to go ahead with the only plan that seems possible to succeed. Defeat the Yaegerists, even if it meant killing old comrades. 

Taking full benefit of this situation is the sociopath Yelena who, probably knowing what Eren is upto, tells Magath that instead of throwing away her life she has decided to watch how the situation at the port is going to play out till the end. 

In the beginning, Connie and Armin decide to take a chance, to see if they could still get control of the airships without having to confront the Yaegerists on the port. They lie to Floch about the Cart Titan and Armored Titan escaping into the ocean, asking him to get the Azumabitos ready to pilot the airships and chase after them. Their charade seems to be working for a while, however as Floch decides to kill the Azumabitos instead of releasing them, Kiyomi bravely interferes before Mikasa shows up and beats the Yaegerists in the room to a pulp.

Floch however escapes and orders the others present in the port there to attack the building and the basement using thunderspears. Mikasa along with Jean, Hange and the survivors then escape to the basement of the building. As Floch wonders why they would run into a dead end with the Azumabitos, the next stage of plan formulated by the alliance members comes to play as Annie and Reiner transform into the female titan and armored titan respectively, taking out the unsuspecting Yaegerists who were not prepared for their sudden arrival. 

By this point all hopes of the conquest at the port ending peacefully is over and the alliance members realize that the only way they can get away from the port is by killing the Yaegerists opposing them. Like Yelena points out, violence is one thing you can take away from humanity.

While this fight raged on near the building, Connie and Armin who had headed over to the pier to take the airship were confronted by Daz and Samuel (side characters, who were previously part of the 104th Training Corps. As Armin tries to stop Daz from destroying the airship, he is shot by Samuel. However, the moment Reiner and Annie transform into titans, Samuel gets distracted and Connie tackles him. The exchange between the two brings back memories from the past and the promises they made to each other.

These moments essentially are Hajime Isayama’s writings at its best. Here’ are some characters who strongly believe in their own ideals and refuse to give up. Samuel and Daz believe in the dream that Eren showed them, while Armin and Connie believe that simply annihilating the inhabitants of Marley is not the right solution. However, both these ideals cannot exist and one of them has to make tough choices. In the end, Connie, who was the most reluctant to kill his past allies, grabs the gun from Samuel and shoots Daz before he is able to blow the ship. 

Attack on Titan has always liked to play with our morals and choices and is partly the reason why it became such a huge hit, with questions like who is right and who is wrong constantly being forced on the reader throughout the series. The latest chapter does the same, as we are forced to choose who to sympathize with. Both sides have their reasons and it is easy to understand and sympathize with both. Is Eren wrong to have an outburst and go for the kill, after all the rejections he faced during the peace talks between Eldia and Marley? Is the alliance at fault for betraying the Yaegerists and trying to stop Eren from being a monster who is about to commit a mass genocide?

While these questions clash in our minds and we struggle to figure out what kind of an ending Attack on Titan will have, the series is progressing towards its climax and the plot is certainly getting more interesting. What do we get to see in Chapter 129 of Attack on Titan? More deaths? Eren? Zeke? Maybe, maybe not. 

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