Attack on Titan, Chapter 119, Big Brothers and Little Brothers Review: R.I.P Gabi’s Redemption Arc.

I cannot remember the last time I read an Attack on Titan chapter this intense and shocking.
There is so much in Chapter 119, “Big Brothers and Little Brothers”, to talk about and I do not know where to begin.
Oh, wait, yes I do.
I should start with the big cliffhanger of the chapter where Gabi shoots Eren’s freaking head off!
My jaw was on the floor after reading this moment, and the people sitting around me at the time gave me weird looks.
It took everything I had not to scream out loud, in public, because of the shock.
I said in my review of Chapter 118 that Colt’s Titan killing gun was going to end up being a literal Chekov’s Gun but I never expected it would be used this way.
Just to make my opinion clear though, I am 99% sure that Eren is going to survive this.
Sure, that might seem ridiculous but what other character do we know who has survived getting their head blown off?
Reiner.
He survived this in the Return to Shiganshina Arc by transferring his consciousness throughout his body, and I believe Eren did this.
Either that or he will end up being saved by Ymir Fritz like Zeke was.
If Eren does die then this will be a terrible writing decision on Hajime Isayama’s part but, again, I do not believe he is dead.
As for his shooter, Gabi, this gives the fan base another reason to hate her guts.
Gabi is, without a doubt, the most hated character in the series but I have always been supportive of her because of how she was brainwashed by Marleyan propaganda.
And, again, I have to speak against those saying they hope Gabi dies a torturous death.
Both because wishing a little kid will be tortured to death is really messed up and because literally anyone in Gabi’s position would do the same thing.
Not only did Eren kill her friends but Gabi knows he is working with Zeke, who just turned her friend into a Titan, and, as far as she knows, the two brothers are planning to destroy the world by coming into contact.
Of course she would try to stop them, any rational person in her position would.
Still, this does not change how shocking and heartbreaking of a moment this was.
Even though I am incredibly sure that Eren will make it, the distraught look on Zeke’s face as his brother is decapitated by the Titan gun’s bullet left me feeling sick.
You can clearly see from this that Zeke loves Eren.
In fact, the bond between brothers is pretty much the main focus of Chapter 119, shown by the title being “Big Brothers and Little Brothers”.
However, rather than going into the positives of such brotherly bonds, the chapter sadly goes into the tragic circumstances caused by them.
Eren and Zeke, Falco and Colt, Porco and Marcel, these three sets of brothers’ stories all result in tragedy by the end.
Colt tries to convince Zeke not to scream because this will transform Falco but, as I predicted, Zeke’s mission is too important for him to stop.
Zeke is remorseful but screams nonetheless, transforming Falco and killing Colt who refuses to leave his side in a gut wrenching panel.
Then there is Porco, who finally receives Marcel’s memories and realizes his brother was trying to protect him by stopping him from becoming a warrior.
Realizing this, Porco sacrifices himself to save Reiner, by allowing Falco to eat him.
Along with this being tragic, it is also a perfect example of coming full circle and subverting expectations.
Porco sacrificing himself resembles the previous Jaw Titan users Marcel and Ymir, who both gave their lives for someone else.
Then there is the scene right before Porco is eaten, where Falco nearly eats Reiner.
Ever since it was revealed that Falco had ingested Zeke’s spinal fluid everyone, including myself, has been predicting that Reiner would sacrifice himself to save Falco.
Isayama clearly saw this because he makes it look like it is about to happen, before Porco marches in and steals Reiner’s thunder as Falco’s meal.
Colt and Porco’s deaths are very sad, although I am a bit disappointed that Porco never got to interact with Historia using Ymir’s memories.
Although, this could happen with Falco since he is now the Jaw Titan.
He could also be the one to free Annie because it has been shown that only the Jaw Titan can destroy the Titan crystals.
Maybe I am getting too hopeful but who knows?
Sadly, unlike Falco, we cannot hope for any resurrections for Pyxis, Nile and all the other soldiers who were transformed by Zeke’s scream.
They are all mindless Titans now and their transformations are gut wrenching, especially Pyxis who seems to accept it in the end, dying as he lived with a bottle of wine in hand.
There is one character’s fate that I am very unsure of though.
We see Magath gets blown back by a thunder spear fired at Pieck by Armin but we do not see him after that.
Does this mean Magath is dead?
I hope not because it seems like Isayama has been setting him up for something big so it would be disappointing for him to die like this.
How many people did we even lose this chapter?
Pyxis, Nile, Rouge, Colt, Porco and, potentially (although I hope not), Eren and Magath.
I think more named characters died in this chapter than any other in the series.
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Overall,  “Big Brothers and Little Brothers” is an amazing chapter of Attack on Titan that is one of the most shocking I have ever read.
It is because of chapters like this that Attack on Titan is my favourite series right now.