Attack on Titan Chapter 138 Predictions.

We’re less than a week away from getting the penultimate chapter of Attack on Titan, Chapter 138, so it’s time for me to lay out my predictions yet again.
The previous chapter was… let’s just say divisive.
Personally, I enjoyed it, despite having a couple of issues.
However, many people took their personal dislike of it as a sign to start doomposting, saying that the ending was assured to be as bad as Game of Thrones Season Eight when we haven’t even got the ending yet.
Despite the controversy, I have seen so many different theories on how Attack on Titan will wrap up in these last two chapters and, make no mistake, I think Chapter 138 is going to be the chapter where the big plot twist happens.
“Titans” ended with the Alliance supposedly defeating Eren, so, with the fighting now over, it would be the perfect time for Isayama to drop a twist before the ending.
The reason I think we’re getting a twist at all?
Well, because two important characters’ point of view on this whole situation have been absent not only for the entirety of the final battle but for pretty much all of the final arc as well.
These two characters are Eren and Historia.

Will we Finally get Eren and Historia’s POV?

Like many other readers, I am 100% certain that Eren is not dead after Chapter 137.
Isayama just wouldn’t have his main character, and now main antagonist, killed off screen after he has been absent from the entirety of the final battle.
No, Eren is definitley alive, at least for now, and I think Chapter 138 is the perfect time to reveal his full POV.
What he really saw when he kissed Historia’s hand four years ago, his and Ymir’s true intentions in starting the Rumbling (if they have any that we don’t already no of), and how all of this will tie into the ending.
As for Historia, I believe her POV is intertwined with Eren’s.
There’s something up with her pregnancy and, whether Eren is the father or not, the point of this baby will be crucial for the ending, especially since the final panel of the entire story is most likely going to be someone holding her baby.
Chapter 138 might just be the chapter where Isayama reveals everything behind Eren, Historia, and Ymir’s actions.
Going back to the baby, though, we now have to talk about one of the biggest theories created from Chapter 137.

Is Historia’s Child the Key to Restarting the Rumbling?

It would seem that the subreddit r/titanfolk is using this theory as copium to deal with their displeasure of Chapter 137 and, I will admit, there is some evidence behind this theory.
All the way back in the Return to Shiganshina Arc, Eren revealed through Kruger’s memories that if a Titan Shifter is killed, before they can pass on their power, then it will go to a random Eldian baby.
Well, Zeke just died last chapter and Historia is conviently about to give birth.
So, if Eren really is still in Paradis, controlling his Titan with a Warhammer Cable, as some, including myself, have previously predicted, then he could just go see Historia, and use her child, which would have the Beast Titan’s powers and now be a Titan of royal blood, to restart the Rumbling.
The first time I heard this theory, I thought it was a definite possibility and would be a cool way for Isayama to have Eren win in the end.
However, the more I thought about it and the more counterpoints I heard, I am pretty unsure of it.
For starters, what would be the point of all the sacrifices the Alliance have made and the character development they have had just for them to be beaten like this at the end?
Also, as many have pointed out, Eren was heavily against Historia’s child being used as a pawn, yet now he’s going to use that child in a similar way to which he was against earlier?
Maybe Isayama could find a way to write around these problems and this could be the ending we get but, honestly, I find this theory to be pretty unlikely now.

Alternate Universe Ending Theory.

As the series has been getting closer and closer to its end, I have seen more and more dreaded alternate universe ending theories popping up.
I say “dreaded” because the alternate universe theory would be the worst ending possible, in my opinion.
Either Eren comes from the high school au and transported himself and everyone he knows into the Attack on Titan world, or Eren finds a way to transport everyone from his world into the high school au.
Either way, I really, really, really don’t like this theory.
If Eren took away everyone from their peaceful lives and put them in the hellish world of Attack on Titan then there goes any sympathy I had for his character.
If Eren transports everyone into the High School AU then what’s the point of getting emotional whenever I read the story again, since I know that none of this matters because everyone’s just going to be reborn into a happier life?
Not to mention that the only build up for this is a small panel of Mikasa and Armin from the High School AU in Eren’s memory fragments, which is nowhere near enough needed to justify this ending.
Whatever ending we get, I really hope it is not the alternate universe one.

Helos Ending Theory.

Ok, so now we arrive at the ending theory that I find to be the most likely.
However, I’m not too sure how well the fandom would react to this because of its similarities to Code Geass.
Now, I’ve wanted Attack on Titan to have its own orginal ending for a while so have mostly been against Eren pulling a Lelouch.
However, I do think Isayama could twist this enough to at least make it semi-original.
This theory is that Eren started the Rumbling to give the Alliance the chance to destroy the Hallucigenia, ending the Titan powers once and for all, and becoming heroes to the world, potentially saving Paradis from destruction.
Hear me out because I think there is quite a bit of build up for this, specifically with Reiner.
For starters, Reiner has often been associated with Helos imagery, like in Chapter 117 when Magath is talking about Helos and there needing to be a hero to save the world, which is literally placed over a panel of Reiner.
Then there’s Reiner tackling the Hallucigenia and holding it back from Eren’s head in Chapter 137, which looks suspciously like the statue of Helos killing the Devil of All Earth from the Marley Arc.
This would also fit in with Reiner’s character arc, with him finally becoming the hero he wanted to be as a child but gave up on after realizing all of the horrible things he had done.
Whether Reiner or Eren dies from this, I am uncertain.
However, I am certain that, if this happens, it will result in a final confrontation between Mikasa and Eren, most likely causing the “See you later, Eren” scene, which was foreshadowed all the way back in Chapter 1.
This being Eren’s plan could also explain some of the inconsistencies in the final battle.
The Warhammer Titan didn’t remove the explosives from Eren’s nape because Eren wanted the Alliance to expose the Hallucigenia and kill it.
The Rumbling stopped when Zeke was killed because Eren had Ymir actually make it tied to his royal blood.
The Alliance defeated Eren with no casulaties because Eren let them win, not wanting to hurt them and also painting them as heroes to save them and Paradis.
With the Alliance becoming heroes to the world, this could create a tense peace.
However, notice the use of the word “tense” because I think it would be against what Isayama has set up in Attack on Titan for there to be instant, unanimous peace.
One of the main themes of Attack on Titan is that the world is cruel but beautiful and I think this is how it will be with the ending if this theory does happen.
There will still be tension and racism between Eldians and the rest of the world but there will also be hope.
Hope most likely held togethor by people like Historia and Kiyomi, who might work to save Paradis in the aftermath of the Rumbling by using diplomacy, since all of the military leaders in Paradis are now dead, effectively leaving Historia in charge, and Kiyomi now wants to make ammends for her actions playing a part in the Rumbling’s beginnings.
There’s also the idea that destroying the Hallucigenia will destroy the Paths, freeing Ymir and causing her to be reborn as Historia’s child.
So, despite its similarities to Code Geass’ ending, I think Isayama could actually pull this kind of ending off with his own unique spin to it.

How Will the Final Panel Occur?

So with all of these theories laid out, the question is, “how will the final panel that Isayama teased result from these potential endings?”
Well, this is another reason to rule the alternate universe theory out because someone holding a baby and saying that they’re free would make no sense in a high school au where nothing previously mattered.
The other two ending theories, though, do have possibilities to tie into the final panel, three possibilities in fact.
Number one: Eren survives somehow and is the one holding the baby at the end, telling them that they are free.
Number two: Eren dies in the real world but his soul stays inside the Paths somehow and he is holding the baby from there.
If the baby is Ymir reborn then Eren telling her that she is free would also be the perfect way to conclude things.
Finally, number three: the final panel is a flashback to Eren’s birth and Grisha is the one telling him that he is free, not only redeeming himself for how he raised Zeke, but also instilling Eren’s drive for freedom, which he had for his entire life.
Those are the three options that I think we have for the final panel right now.
I’m excited to see if I am right about this or if Isayama has something else in mind.
Before that, though, we have to read Chapter 138, which, as I’ve stated, will most likely be the chapter where we get the final big plot twist of the story before the ending in Chapter 139.
I can’t wait to see what happens.

Talentless Nana, Manga Review: Please, Give Us a Season Two.

I really enjoyed the first season of Talentless Nana.
Based on the manga by Looseboy, it was a fun show to watch, where the twist of the very first episode was that the superpowered individuals we were following were actually being hunted down by a normal person to save humanity.
Watching Nana trying to covertly murder all of her classmates, while being constantly under suspicion from wannabe detective Kyouya, only to slowly begin to realize she is killing innocent people, made it extremely fun to tune in every week.
So, once the first season was over, and seeing that it was unlikely we would get a season two because of the lackluster Blu-Ray sales, I decided to give the manga a read and it did not disappoint.
Picking up from where the season one finale ends, the manga details the aftermath of the traumatic events from that finale on Nana’s psyche, and how she slowly comes to realize the full weight of her crimes.
Nana’s character development is great, as is her growing bonds with the other characters, especially Jin, who I have a theory about, which I will get into down below because it contains spoilers.
Back to Nana herself, she has many fantastic moments of growth, especially after yet another traumatizing and horrifying reveal for her that shatters her entire world view and causes her to temporarily snap entirely.
As for the other characters, many of them are very well handled, especially the new and returning characters.
The new main antagonist of the story, Nana’s mentor, Tatsumi Tsuruoka, is a fantastic villain, who gives off a very threatening presence.

This intimidating first panel of Tsuruoka’s face sure makes one hell of an impression.

Although, this praise of the characters being said, the author still has a problem with introducing many of these characters because they are just introduced like they’ve always been there when we’ve never seen them before.
It’s very clear that Looseboy comes up with these characters on the spot.
The only new ones who have a well built in introduction are Tsuruoka, Moe and one other character.
Speaking of which, I’m about to get into spoilers for the manga now so, if you’re anime only, then just take my word for it that the manga is really good and stop reading at this point.
Now then, this other character I’m referring to is actually something I was worried about coming into the manga.
I had heard rumors that the character Nana murders in the first episode, Nanao Nakajima, was actually alive somehow.
When I heard this, I was very much against the idea.
Nanao was a purposeful red herring in that first episode, being a bland protagonist cliche who existed to just get killed by Nana for the twist.
I really wanted the impact of his death to stay and didn’t think his character would be strong enough to get me to like him if he came back.
Well, I shouldn’t have doubted Looseboy because Nanao certainly came back and it was in the best way possible.
I love how he has been crafted into an antagonist for Nana, now that she is finally beginning her redemption arc, which will undoubtedly create a rocky road for this redemption in the future of the story.

Watching Nanao go from cliched Deku clone to bruding villain has been very interesting, to say the least.

Another element of the manga that surprised me was the revelation that Jin is actually, well… not Jin.
“Jin” is just the form he’s been showing to Nana and everyone else to fight them off with telekensis if need be, and he has been keeping the real Jin, who is in a comatose state, safe.
So, who is the fake Jin, then?
Well, this is the part where my theory which I mentioned earlier, comes in.
I believe that the fake Jin is actually Kyouya’s missing sister.
Her Talent was probably Transformation and she used this ability to win the civil war and keep the fake Jin alive, before acting like she was the real Jin to try and uncover the conspiracy.
There are some holes in this theory, like that fake Jin doesn’t really seem to be that interested in Kyouya, which he would be if he was actually Kyouya’s sister, but this could just be to keep him safe.
It will be interesting to see if my theory about Jin is correct or not as the manga goes on.

Whether fake Jin is secretly Kyouya’s sister or not, I’m looking forward to the reveal of who he actually is.

Overall, I would say that the Talentless Nana manga is quite an enjoyable read, despite its problems with features like character introduction.
I hope that, despite the low Blu-Ray sales, a season two will get the green light, so I can see all of the great moments from the manga adapted.

Attack on Titan Chapter 137, Titans Review: Rise of Toxicity.

You know, I’ve been very disappointed with the Attack on Titan fandom recently.
It seems the toxicity levels have been getting higher every week.
First, people harassed Mappa’s staff over an OST choice in Episode Five of the Final Season.
The exact same thing happened the week after, with Mappa staff being harrassed because of the CGI in Episode Six this time.
And now we have the reaction to Chapter 137 of Attack on Titan, which, oh, boy, the toxicity levels are really off the chart here.
Let me start off by saying that I don’t have a problem if you didn’t like the chapter.
I personally did but I respect your opinion, nontheless.
However, what I do not respect is people screeching to high heaven that Attack on Titan is going to have a terrible ending, akin to Game of Thrones Season Eight.
To those people, I say, “Will you calm down? We have two chapters left!”
Seriously, actually read the ending before you criticize it.
Could the ending still be bad?
Yes but it could also be good.
We won’t know until we get the ending in April and we shouldn’t judge the series’ ending when we haven’t even got to that point yet.
Another problem I have with the toxicity surrounding the reaction to this chapter is that a lot of people seem to be outright ignoring explanations and build up for things that happened just because they don’t like them.
People say that Zeke and Armin getting help from the dead Titan Shifters came out of nowhere, with no build up.
Wrong because there was build up, from Armin seeing Bertholdt’s Colossal Titan crying back when he got the power, to Hange seeing her dead comrades when she died, to Armin seeing Bertholdt’s spirit two chapters ago.
People say that Zeke abandoned his entire ideology because Armin talk no jitsud him.
Wong again because, while Armin did convince Zeke to help, Zeke tells Ksaver he still thought the Euthanasia Plan was right, and was always against the Rumbling.
Finally, people say that it makes no sense for Kruger to help the Alliance and he should be on Eren’s side.
Again, I don’t think this is accurate because, even though Kruger did sacrifice a lot of lives to achieve his goal, he ultimately wanted all Eldians to be free and would not agree with all of the ones on the continent being massacered.
Also, there’s the potential of a twist surrounding Eren’s intentions that could happen in the last two chapters, which may explain this further.
So, as I’ve hopefully shown, many of the supposed inconsistancies and forced moments, that some are criticizing, actually do have build up and are well thought out.
Back to the actual chapter, “Titans” begins with Zeke explaining to Armin the origins of “Life”, this being the hallucigenia that would go on to give Ymir her powers, and how it seeks multiplication.
This most likely connected with Ymir’s fear of death, creating the first Titan form and an alternate dimension, the Paths, which was free from death.
Ironic that this place Ymir created to be free from death ended with her being enslaved there.
Although, this enslavement may not be due to Ymir’s stolkholm syndrome relationship with King Fritz as I first thought because Hajime Isayama puts particular emphasis on the question of why Ymir continued to obey him.
This is not the only question brought up about Ymir in this chapter because she seems to allow Eren to be defeated by the end and Armin says that she wants something from them.
What this is and how it aligns with Eren’s goals, well, I’m sure that will be the last big twist of the story.
Returning to Zeke and Armin’s conversation, Zeke speculates that Ymir felt some connection to the world she left, again hinting at a possible rebirth for her at the end.
It was this desire that Zeke, who is antinatalist, could not understand, which was why Ymir sided with Eren.
This has caused Zeke to lose hope completley, now content to just sit in the Paths with Armin and reflect on how pointless fighting is, and if it would be better to just give up and use that as a form of freedom.
However, Armin pulls out his trump card: talk no jitsu!
Now, I know this has a bad connotation but, come on, Attack on Titan is literally full of examples of it.
Eren convincing Ymir to help him in Chapter 122?
That was an obvious case of talk no jitsu, yet it’s such a great scene.
It’s not about the concept but the execution and, in my opinion, Isayama did Armin’s talk no jitsu of Zeke well.
I do think that a commom motif associated with Armin, that of the seashell, should have been used to convince Zeke that life is about the happiness of smaller moments but the leaf scene still worked great.
Even if I think the seashell works better for Armin’s character, though, the story behind the leaf, with Armin relfecting on a time when he, Mikasa and Eren were happier, works well with what Isayama is trying to say.
It certainly strikes a cord with Zeke, who sees the leaf as the baseball he would always use to play with Ksaver.
This causes Zeke to realize that, even though he suffered a lot, there were still happy moments, like him being able to play catch with his mentor.
Zeke’s relization somehow brings back the spirits of the previous Titan Shifters to help, and I will admit that this is something I’m a bit iffy on.
Yes, I do maintain that these spirits coming back to help was foreshadowed and built up well but the explanation for why it happened is a bit lacking.
In any case, it’s great to see these old, great characters back for one last time.
Grisha, Kruger, Ksaver, Bertholdt, Porco, Marcel, even Freckled Ymir, who I am really glad got some spotlight towards the end.
I honestly thought Isayama had forgotten about because of how little he brought her up since her death, compared to other characters.
With Zeke and Armin having a moving moment with Ksaver and Bertholdt, asking them to lend their strength, the spirits of the old Titan Shifters attack, saving Jean, Pieck, Reiner and Annie from iminent death.
Speaking of Jean and Pieck, I do think it is pretty funny that the fandom started shipping them as a meme, yet, after these last couple of chapters, some of them seem to be pretty serious about it.
Once those in danger have been rescued, the Alliance moves on to rescuing Armin and defeating Eren in a series of sequences that give each member a chance to shine.
First, Gabi shoots the Okapi Titan, with Levi holding her steady.
Then, Mikasa cuts open it’s mouth, freeing Armin, who kills it with a thunderspear but is dragged down by its tounge, which has stabbed his leg, only to be saved by Connie and then caught by Annie.
Armin then explains to the others how Zeke saved them by bringing back the past Shifters, and it is then that we get the fate of the bearded monkey himself.
Long has the rivalry between Zeke and Levi been built up and it is finally resolved this chapter as Zeke partially emerges from the spine of Eren’s Titan and calls out to Levi, allowing himself to be beheaded to stop the Rumbling.
This is a pivotal scene for both characters, seemingly bringing and end to not only Zeke’s arc but Levi’s as well.
As Zeke sits atop the spine, waiting for his innevitable death, he realizes that the day is nice, finally appreciating the little things, like Armin suggested.
Similarly, he also has a resolution with Ksaver and Grisha, connecting with his mentor over their time spent playing and thanking his father for him being born so he could do that, admitting that there may be some good things about a potential rebirth.
With Zeke’s character arc completed, and him thinking that he couldn’t realize the good parts of his life until it was too late is probably deserved because of how many he killed, Levi decapitates him but looks far from pleased, more shocked and unsure about where he goes from here.
Zeke’s death was clearly not something Levi savoured as he said he would back when he threatened to kill him in Chapter 105.
I think Levi’s next path in life will be to survive and keep the memories of his comrades alive.
You know who I don’t think is going to make it, though?
Reiner.
In one of my predictions posts, I said that I thought he would actually make it but now I’m not so sure.
This uncertainty comes from Jean blowing up the explosives wrapped around Eren’s next with a cry of “suicidal blockhead”, which also brings an end to his character arc because he finally doesn’t hesitate when he has to pull the trigger.
The reason this scene makes me scared for Reiner is that, after Eren’s Titan is decapitated by the explosives, the hallucigenia bursts forth and attempts to reconenct with Eren’s head, only to be tackled and held back by Reiner.
The panel of Reiner preventing the hallucigenia from reaching Eren’s head looks suspiciously similar to the Helos statue Willy and Magath looked at in the Marley Arc of the imaginary hero slaying the Devil of All Earth.
Something tells me that Reiner will be known as the next Helos after this, whether he lives to see that he has become known as a hero or not.
Another character whose fate is up in the air is Eren himself because, following a brilliant panel that looks almost biblical, where Armin is held up and protected by Bertholdt, Grisha, Kruger and Ksaver’s Titans, Armin finally transforms into his Colossal Titan with a goodbye to Eren.
This brings an end to Chapter 137 and, with that, the Yeagerist part of the fandom explode at Eren’s defeat.
Is Eren really dead, though?
Of course not.
We haven’t seen Eren’s perspective for the entirety of the final battle and there’s no way that Isayama would kill his main character off screen.
Eren’s intentions and how they tie in with Ymir’s will most likely be the big twist of the story and Isayama is probably saving that for the next or very last chapter.
So, overall, I enjoyed Chapter 137 of Attack on Titan.
It does have some issues but, all in all, it’s pretty good.
The part of the fandom that is already declaring the ending bad, even though we haven’t got it yet, are definitley overreacting.
It’s okay to be concerned about the direction the ending is heading.
I’ll admit, I’m a little concerned too because of how easily the Alliance seemed to win this but, keep in mind, we still have two chapters left in which a lot could happen.
So, let’s all wait for the ending and make our decisions about it once we finish it.

Attack on Titan Chapter 137 Predictions.

Just three more chapters to go and then the Attack on Titan story will come to an end.
I’m very excited to see how my favorite story will conclude and, if the cliffhanger to Chapter 136 is anything to go by, things may get crazy as we head towards the finale.
So, in preperation for the next chapter, here are my questions and predictions for what will happen in Chapter 137.

Is Zeke Physically Dead?

Chapter 136, titled “Devote Your Hearts”, concluded with Armin finding Zeke trapped in the Paths Dimension with him.
In my review for that chapter, I mentioned Zeke asking Armin if Ymir ate him too, and tried to predict its meaning.
My theory about the meaning of this was that when Eren transformed, after Ymir gave him her powers, Zeke was actually eaten, however, because his conciousness was in the Paths Dimension when this happened, he is still alive there while being dead in the outside world.
Before reading the chapter, I was against the idea of Zeke dying off screen because of how his arc would be ended by this, with his rivalry with Levi never being resolved.
Now, though, I am actually okay if Zeke really was eaten because, if he is still alive in the Paths Dimension, it offers a way for him to still have his character arc and role in the story concluded.
Speaking of which…

How Will Zeke’s Story End?

Now that Zeke has finally returned to the story, the big question is about how his story will end.
There are two pieces to Zeke’s story that need to be resolved: his already mentioned rivalry with Levi and also Grisha beggining him to stop Eren.
The latter piece makes me believe that Zeke is definitley going to join Armin in stopping Eren.
How this will factor into the Levi situation is a little less clear.
Maybe Levi still has to kill Zeke to end the Rumbling so Zeke will allow this to happen, or maybe Connie will be the one to do it because Zeke killed his family?
However, I have another theory that I would like to bring up, this being that no one will kill Zeke because he could still be alive by the end of the story, at least in the Paths Dimension.
Some people have been predicting that Eren’s story will end with him being dead in the outside world, while his conciousness stays in the Paths Dimension to watch over it and make sure that it can never be used again.
While this is a good theory, I was thinking, what if it’s not Eren who decides to stay behind in the Paths but Zeke instead, and he uses this to atone for all the wrongs he has committed?
This could also resolve his conflict with Levi, who allows Zeke to live for the betterment of everyone.
There are some holes in this theory, though, like that Zeke is not exactly trustworthy with such a monumental task, what with him wanting to sterilize all Eldians earlier.
Maybe he can be convinced to move past this incredibly flawed and cruel plan to just look over the Paths?
I think this would be a very interesting and unexpected way for Zeke’s story to end, if this is what Hajime Isayama decides to go with.

What Will Zeke and Armin’s Plan be?

I have already said that I believe Zeke will help Armin try to stop Eren, however, how they will go about doing that is hard to guess.
The two are the smartest characters in the story, so them finally interacting will be interesting to see nonetheless.
In any case, the only thing I can even think up of them attempting to do to try and stop the Rumbling, other than kill Zeke, is convince Ymir to stop.
She is the one who holds power over all the Titans and is allowing Eren to commit his mass genocide, so giving her the talk no jitsu may be they’re only option.
How they’ll even go about doing so is beyond me, though.
If anything, they’ll be at a disadvantage, since Zeke wanted to use Ymir like all previous Royal Blooded Titan users did, so she’ll be a tough sell.
Overall, it’s pretty hard to make an accurate guess at how Armin and Zeke will try to stop the Rumbling in Paths.
It could be by actually killing Zeke for good, convincing Ymir to stop, or something else entirely.

What Happened at Fort Salta?

While predicting what will happen in the Paths Dimension is difficult, predicting what will happen at Fort Salta is not.
My one criticism of “Devote Your Hearts” was the incredibly obvious fake out where it was made to look like the Eldians from Liberio and the fort soldiers had opened fire on one another, when this is clearly not the case.
There is no way that Muller, the guy who was preaching about throwing away hatred in Chapter 134, would just give into it again so easily.
It’s obvious to me that the gunshots heard were him firing into the air to call a truce, and the two sides will work togethor, getting the cannons ready to fire at Eren, so they can help the Alliance in a big moment.
I would actually be really impressed if this didn’t happen, though, and Isayama actually went with something else but I don’t think that will be the case.

Will The Big Twist Happen?

Attack on Titan is a story with so many fantastic twists.
The reveal of Reiner and Bertholdt as the Colossal and Armoured Titans, the reveal of the outside world and Grisha’s past, Eren attacking the festival, the entirety of Chapters 119-123.
There are so many amazing twists but those are the very best of them, with the last mention being the greatest part of the entire story, in my personal opinion.
So, with the story coming to an end, and Armin now in Paths interacting with Zeke, I have to wonder if we’re going to get the last big twist of the story.
The reveal of Eren’s perspective, why Grisha gave him the Founding Titan in the first place, and what the heck “See you later, Eren” actually means, this could all be unveiled in the next couple of chapters.
I’d like to predict what these reveals will be are but I have pretty much no idea.
I’ve read some crazy predictions, both fantastic and bad and it will be interesting to see if any of them turn out to be the case.
No matter what the twist is, however, I’m also positive it will result in one thing: Ymir’s freedom.
Her literal rebirth serving as the ultimate personfication of freedom in the story.
Whatever happens, though, I am excited to see what crazy events will transpire in these final free chapters.

Attack on Titan Chapter 136, Devote Your Hearts Review: Jet Pack Pieck!

Three more chapters.
That is how long we have before my favorite story comes to an end, at Chapter 139.
It is also a fitting number to conclude Attack on Titan at because of the significance of the numbers 13 and 9 in the series.
For now though, we have Chapter 136, “Devote Your Hearts”, another banger that adds more tension and excitement to the final battle between the Alliance and Eren.
Coming into this battle, I was expecting a lot of character deaths but, once again, no one died in this chapter.
I remember saying in my predictions post for Chapter 137 that I was pretty certain Pieck was going to die because of her predicament at the end of “Battle of Heaven and Earth.”
Well, much like Jean’s fear for Pieck, I was proved “dead wrong” because Pieck not only survived but was also the best character in this chapter, by far.
In what is probably her most epic scene in the entire manga, Pieck runs along the trident of the Warhammer Titan, transforms and kills it, and then transforms multiple times while shooting herself out of her previous Titan forms, as if she was wearing a jet pack!
It is an incredibly epic fight scene and her banter with Jean is quite funny, as she gives this whole speech about him not needing to worry about her and to continue with the mission, only to turn around and see that he is already doing just that, causing her to give a disappointed, “oh.”
However, while this is an epic and funny scene that made me glad Pieck was safe, there were other scenes that raised death flags for characters.
One of these was Reiner when he brings up Falco’s promise to him to protect Gabi “from the dark, dark future we face”, which makes it seem like he is preparing for a heroic sacrifice.
I was wrong about Pieck though so, hopefully, I have been reading too much into this potential death flag.
In any case, Reiner is helping Jean and Pieck by holding off the Warhammer Titans so I wonder which of them will be the one to detonate the explosives on Eren’s nape?
This plan to blow up the nape was devised on Falco’s flying Titan, and it is also here that the second part of the plan was formulated, that Mikasa, Annie and Connie would go to rescue Armin from the Okapi Titan, which holds him captive in a hentai nightmare.
Jokes aside, this is a very emotional scene, as the Alliance finally admits they can no longer hold back on Eren, with both Levi and Connie pointing out that it is too dangerous to do so.
Yet, it is Jean who tragically has to break the news to Mikasa that they have to kill Eren, if they want to stop him.
The look on Mikasa’s face after this moment is just beautifully drawn by Hajime Isayama.
Along with this scene being a potential death flag for Eren, with Mikasa maybe being the one to put him down, there are two other hints towards parts of the ending in this opening part of the chapter.
The first of these is pretty minor and that is the survival of Kiyomi and Yelena.
This chapter confirms that they stayed behind in life boats after Falco’s transformation caused their ship to capsize and did not go with them to the final battle, which pretty much guarantees that they will survive the story.
A much bigger hint at the ending comes from Gabi, when she mentions the shining centipede, or, as Kruger previously called it, “the source of all living matter”, which emerged from Eren’s head when Gabi decapitated him.
Gabi says that if they can decapitate him again, they might just see this source again, which basically confirms its importance in stopping Eren.
Once this talk is done, the initiation of the plan begins, with Jean and Reiner going to help Pieck (not that she needs help, as I’ve said) and detonate the explosives, and with Annie, Connie and Mikasa going to save Armin, leading to more intense action sequences.
This is especially the case between Mikasa and Annie, as Annie uses Mikasa’s ODM Gear to throw her towards the Okapi Titan that has Armin.
Although exciting, this big action moment unfortunately fails, with the Okapi Titan now heading for Bertholdt’s Colossal Titan, which is being controlled by Ymir.
This brings us into the final part of the chapter, where we see Armin, who is thankfully not fully experiencing the Okapi’s tongue attack anymore.
Armin is now facing his unconscious body and yells and it that he hates himself and that his body has always betrayed him.
Just like Mikasa shouting that she is strong in Chapter 135, this scene of Armin perfectly reflects his character growth since the Trost Arc.
Where Armin slowly began to grow confidence in his own strength from that arc onwards, this final arc has been slowly diminishing that to the point that Armin is now at his breaking point.
However, at his lowest moment, who is the perfect character for him to meet?
Why, Zeke, of course!
That’s right, the monkey is finally back, and Armin has made contact with him after realizing he is not dying but in the Paths.
Their interaction is brief, with the chapter ending abruptly just as it begins, but it does raise a very interesting question.
Zeke asks Armin if Ymir ate him too, which makes me wonder if Zeke was eaten when Eren transformed, only since his mind was in the Paths when it happened, he is now trapped there.
Whether Zeke is truly alive or not, though, I am very excited to see how he and Armin will work together since the two have never even talked to one another before.
Both are at their lowest points in the series and they may just need each other to climb out of the dark pits of self doubt that they have found themselves in.
And, hey, with Zeke back, this means Levi can have his final confrontation with him that has been built up forever.
However, it is pretty clear from the way Isayama shows Levi thinking about this in the chapter that it may not be as simple as we think.
Levi notes how the one order he has not been able to follow from Erwin is to kill Zeke.
He also mentions how he doesn’t regret saving Armin over Erwin and even seems to be on the verge of tears when remembering his dead comrades, Erwin and Hange among them.
It is also this scene that the title of the chapter, “Devote Your Hearts” seems to come from, as Levi thinks of how if the Scouts didn’t dream of “an absurdly innocent and idealized world” then “it won’t have been worth what they devoted.”
As the story has been drawing to a close, more and more chapters have been given names that have significance to the story, first “Wings of Freedom” and now “Devote Your Hearts.”
Back to the actual chapter, it’s time to talk about my one criticism, which is the confrontation between the Eldians from Liberio and the Marleyan soldiers.
The Eldians approach the soldiers, leading to the two sides pointing guns at one another because, of course, the Marleyans just can’t stop being racist even though it’s the freaking apocalypse.
Annie’s father tries to cool the tension but it just doesn’t work, until the leader of the soldiers, Secretary Muller, arrives with his gun at the ready.
The chapter then cuts to the Alliance on Falco’s back, hearing the gunshots, the implication being that both sides started shooting at each other.
Only, I am pretty sure this is not what happened.
There’s no way that Muller, the guy who was just saying that he wanted to abandon hatred two chapters ago, is just going to give into that hatred again.
No, most likely the shots fired were Muller getting everyone’s attention to stand down.
It just feels pretty predictable, so I don’t see why Isayama had to give us a fake out.
Although I could be completely wrong about this and, if something else happens and it makes perfect sense, I’ll be sure to correct this criticism.
All in all, though, Chapter 136, “Devote Your Hearts”, is another fantastic Attack on Titan chapter that feels like it is setting up the last three nicely.
It does end a bit abruptly but so did Chapter 120 and that was followed up by my two favorite chapters of the story so far, so let’s hope that this abrupt ending points to a similar trend, with incredible chapters to come.

Attack on Titan Chapter 136 Predictions.

We’re at the home stretch.
Recently it was confirmed that Attack on Titan is in its final volume, which will be released in either May or June.
This means the story will end on either Chapter 138 or 139, so three or four chapters left.
With the end now in sight, we are probably going to get some big reveals and character deaths soon, most likely starting with the upcoming Chapter 136.
It’s just a matter of how how Hajime Isayama will surprise us with the next twist in the story, and I think it may have something to do with a certain scene that was added to the premiere of the anime’s final season.

What Does Falco’s Dream in Season Four Episode One Mean?

The first episode of Attack on Titan‘s final season was fantastic and one of the best things about it were all of the little scenes added in by Mappa, creating a new experience for Manga readers like me.
One of these new additions was a brief piece of dialogue that had my jaw on the floor as I considered its implications.
When Falco is recovering from his probable concussion, he tells Gabi, Udo and Zofia that he dreamed he was flying around with swords, fighting Titans.
Now, this could be foreshadowing for him eventually using his Jaw Titan to fly but the one thing that doesn’t make sense is Falco having swords.
This makes it much more likely that he is experiencing a Scout’s memories.
It could be Freckled Ymir’s, since Falco gains her Jaw Titan but wouldn’t Falco only be able to access those after he gained the Titan?
In fact, the only Titan Shifter that we know of that can access memories throughout space and time is the Attack Titan, which is currently in possession of Eren.
So, could this mean that Falco will eat Eren at the end, becoming the next Attack Titan?
This theory could also be supported by Eren having a memory shard of Falco in Chapter 130, which was long before they meet.
Although, many people online who have heard this theory seem to dislike it so, if it does happen, it will be interesting to see how it is received.
Personally, I’m not sure how I would feel about it.
Guess I’ll just have to wait to see how Isayama writes it, if this is indeed what he is foreshadowing with this added anime scene.

What Will Happen to Armin and Pieck?

Back to the manga, Chapter 135 saw Armin and Pieck being left behind on Eren’s gigantic Titan form, with the both of them in life threatening situations.
Sadly, I think this may be the end for best girl Pieck.
She is one of the few characters who doesn’t really have an arc or a connection to many of the main characters so her death feels pretty likely.
I will honestly be surprised if she somehow makes it out of the next chapter alive, the happy kind of surprised that is.
As for Armin, I am much more convinced that he will survive the hentai situation he has found himself in.
I stated in my previous predictions post, where I outlined my thoughts on who among all of the important characters left in the story would die, that I thought Armin would live.
He’s the narrator of the story, and I think there may be a simple way for him to transform into his Colossal Titan to escape.
This simple way being Annie’s ring.
Some have speculated that, after their romantic talk in Chapter 131, Annie gave Armin her ring to protect him.
So, with his mouth now covered by the hentai Titan to prevent him transforming, Armin could use Annie’s ring to cut his finger and transform.
There are also two interesting things Armin could do, both having to do with dialogue.
The first is try to talk to Bertholdt, but I don’t know if Bertholdt could really say anything back since his soul looks like it is being controlled by Ymir.
Speaking of, Ymir is the other character Armin could try talking to.
She is the one allowing Eren to continue the Rumbling so, if Armin can convince her to stop, then the battle will be won.
Of course, if the talk no jutsu fails, then Armin may have to go to their last resort of stopping Eren, potentially killing him.
This is where the explosives come in.

Chekov’s Explosives: Who Detonates Them?

Before being impaled by the Warhammer Titan in “Battle of Heaven and Earth,” Pieck barely managed to wrap the explosives taken from the Jaegerists around the neck of Eren’s Titan form.
There is a panel of the detonator after Pieck is stabbed, so it is likely going to be important in the next chapter, just like how the anti-Titan gun Colt showed off in Chapter 118 was foreshadowing of Gabi using it to decapitate Eren in Chapter 119.
So, the question is, who detonates these explosives to try and stop Eren?
Well, my money is on Pieck, yet again.
She is the one who is closest and I think this could be how she ends up dying, sacrificing herself to try and stop Eren.
Even if Pieck isn’t the one who detonates the explosives, I see her playing a role in it.
Since Gabi is probably the only character left with a well established connection to Pieck, and she’s a great shot, maybe Pieck will hold up the explosives for Gabi to shoot.
Whatever happens to Pieck, and whoever detonates the explosives, I highly doubt this will kill Eren.
The guy’s too smart to just hide out in his nape.
He is most likely elsewhere, hiding using the power of the Warhammer Titan, along with Zeke.
So, if Pieck does die detonating the explosives, it could tragically be all for nothing.
And she’s not the only character in danger next chapter.

What can Levi do at This Point?

Levi has been through hell and back this arc, both physically and emotionally.
Not only has he lost his last remaining friend from the old Scouts, Hange, but Zeke exploding the Thunder Spear has left him extremely wounded.
His situation was worsened in Chapter 135, when his leg was bitten by a Titan while he was trying to save Connie, most likely breaking it.
Not only this but Levi is likely bleeding internally, as evidenced by him coughing up blood shortly before getting his leg bitten.
Levi is pretty much in so shape to fight now.
I know he’s a super soldier but the guy’s a mess.
Any more fighting from him is most likely going to result in his death at this point.
At least we know he won’t die until he has his final confrontation with Zeke.
After that, all bets are off.

Where are Kiyomi and Yelena?

Unlike Pieck and Levi, I don’t expect Kiyomi and Yelena to die at all.
The two of them were not on Falco’s back with Annie and Gabi at the end of the previous chapter, so this means that they likely stayed behind on the boat heading for Hizuru.
I think Isayama may be keeping Kiyomi alive for some role in Mikasa’s epilogue, if Mikasa does end up surviving the story.
Yelena though?
I’m not honestly sure why Isayama decided to have her stay behind.
It felt like Yelena had more story to give, since her relationship with Zeke and mini rivalry with Pieck have yet to be resolved.
Maybe Isayama couldn’t find a way to fittingly put these things in the finale so he just had Yelena stay on the sidelines?
Either way, I am a bit disappointed that we most likely won’t see an end to Yelena’s arc.
In any case, I do expect her and Kiyomi to survive the story since they are so far away from the final battle now.

Any Chance of Zeke, Eren or Historia?

Every chapter we ask whether these characters will show up in the next one, don’t we?
We saw Historia at the beginning of “Battle of Heaven and Earth,” where it was revealed that she is currently giving birth.
Due to the potential importance of this plot point, with her baby possibly being the one we see in the final panel preview, I don’t see Historia showing up again until the penultimate, or very last chapter, unfortunately.
I do think Isayama has severely underused her character though so, however he ends hers her story, it can hopefully satisfy her fans.
As for Zeke, I really hope he turns up soon and gets his rivalry with Levi resolved because we haven’t seen him in the present story since Chapter 122.
While I have faith that Isayama will at least show Eren and Historia by the end, there is always the fear that Isayama will reveal that Zeke died off screen.
This said, I do have faith in him not to do this because of Zeke’s importance to the story, it’s just a little concern I have.
Fingers crossed that Isayama can bring back Zeke in a meaningful way before the end.
Then there’s Eren, who I’m not really concerned about.
He might not appear next chapter physically but he is still the main character so he is going to show up and make a big appearance by the end.
It’s practically guaranteed.
It’s just a matter of what happens to him at the end.
Does he live, die, or get stuck in the Paths Dimension?
Only time will tell, and a short amount of time at that, with only three or four months left until this epic story reaches its conclusion.

Attack on Titan Chapter 135, Battle of Heaven and Earth Review: Shingeki no Hentai.

The final battle of Attack on Titan has begun, at last, in the most recent installment, Chapter 135, “Battle of Heaven and Earth”, and, boy, is it a hectic one.
If you thought the Alliance had a low chance of stopping Eren and Ymir before, well, now their odds went down from 100 to one to 1000 to one.
I was genuine surprised that no one ended up dying in this chapter because of how much danger all of those in the Alliance were in.
However, given the positions some of the characters are left in by the end of the chapter, I doubt that many of these characters will be living long in this final battle.
Before I talk about the beginning of this battle though, I have to talk about the intriguing opening page of the chapter, which confirms that Ymir really was the one who freed the pigs, which led to her becoming the first Titan.
In Chapter 122, it was left ambiguous as to whether Ymir really did set the pigs free or if she was framed for it, however, with the confirmation that it was her, this now creates some interesting implications for both Ymir and the Attack Titan.
In the panel after Ymir opens the pigpen we clearly see her eyes, which also have not been seen since Chapter 122.
Characters eyes being unshaded in Ymir’s backstory shows they are not free and the only time Ymir’s eyes have been seen is when she made her first free decision in 2,000 years, by choosing to follow Eren over Zeke.
Now, we see her eyes for the second time here, implying that freeing the pigs was the first free thing she ever did but also the very thing that cost her that freedom.
This could imply that Ymir is longing for freedom and that longing manifested itself in the Attack Titan, which Eren now has.
Ymir’s desire to be free now seems to hinge on the world being destroyed because, as the chapter cuts to the present, she does everything in her power to prevent the Alliance from stopping Eren.
The shot of her standing on the bones of Eren’s gigantic Titan form, looking over the Alliance, sent chills down my spine but it is what she does next that is most shocking.
After realizing that the Beast Titan from the previous chapter is nothing but a husk, and that Eren and Zeke are most likely elsewhere, Armin decides he has to use the Colossal Titan’s nuke attack to try and ascertain their locations.
Before this long-awaited transformation can happen though, a strange looking Titan emerges from the smoke, grabs Armin with its tongue and stuffs it in his mouth, as if Attack on Titan just turned into some freaky kind of hentai.
In all seriousness, the Titan doing this to poor Armin is most likely to stop him from biting his tongue and transforming.
Doesn’t make it any less gross though.
You really have to feel sorry for Armin.
I mean, first he gets molested in the Uprising Arc by that creepy guy, who thought he was Historia, and now this.
However, this one hentai-like Titan is not alone because it has a bunch of creepy and awesome looking friends as well.
There’s a crocodile Titan, a deer Titan, a minotaur Titan, a Titan that looks like the Thing from The Fantastic Four.
Pieck surmises that all of these Titans are past Shifters who Ymir is now using to prevent them from stopping the Rumbling.
While this is certainly a cool turn of events, with plenty of great new Titan designs delivered by Isayama, and it does give the Alliance an enemy force to fight, personally, this twist kind of felt out of nowhere.
I still like it; I just think it could have used a little bit more build up before it happened.
On the plus side, it gave us many fantastic moments like the return of dead Shifters.
Pretty much the only previous Titan Shifter we didn’t see was Freckled Ymir but, hopefully, we’ll see her being used later.
While Freckled Ymir’s Titan is missing, we do see the Titan forms of Porco and Marcel, but by far the most interesting usage of these old Shifters come with the Tyber lady’s Warhammer Titan and Bertholdt’s Colossal Titan.
The Warhammer Titan makes its reappearance when Pieck separates from the Alliance, going to destroy Eren’s nape, since she is not Eren’s friend and she believes this makes her the only one among them who has the strength to take him out.
However, her strength is not equal to Ymir who materializes the Warhammer Titan to stab her with a trident.
Pieck is alive, at least for now, but she dropped the detonator, and that is certainly going to play a role in the upcoming chapters.
Whatever happens with those, I am now extremely concerned about Pieck’s safety.
Armin’s safety, however, is something I am not too concerned about because I am sure he can find a way to make it out of the situation he is in.
It is with him that we get to see Bertholdt’s return, as he materializes in front of a barely conscious Armin, his eyes shaded just like Ymir’s as he cries.
Just as this is happening, Bertholdt’s Colossal Titan also appears above Reiner and quickly destroys his Titan.
Thanks to Jean’s quick thinking, Reiner is saved but his Armoured Titan is thrown at the Alliance, dealing them a heavy blow.
What follows is a scene of Mikasa metaphorically carrying the whole Alliance on her back, as she has to save them from Titans constantly, proving how she is the new strongest human character since Levi’s injury.
Speaking of Levi, he is in even more danger of dying because, not only does he seem to break his leg again when saving Connie, but he also coughs up blood, suggesting he is bleeding internally.
Connie is also injured with a nasty cut to his head, and both Jean and Reiner have broken their ODM Gear.
At least we got more character development for Jean, as he holds Reiner by the hand, preventing him from falling to certain death, showing his growth from Chapter 127 where he beat Reiner to a bloody pulp.
As the Alliance prepares for certain death, being completely surrounded by Ymir’s resurrected Titans, Mikasa calls out to the Titans to attack her because she is the strongest and can take them on, calling back to her speech in the Trost Arc after Eren’s supposed death.
However, before she can make her last stand, why, what is that?
Is it a bird?
A plane?
Superman?
No, it’s Falco’s flying Titan, with Annie and Gabi on board to save the day!
While a predictable turn of events, it was still an incredibly hype one that makes me intrigued to see how Falco’s Titan will turn be used.
Maybe Ymir could make other flying Titans to pursue them?
In any case, with Annie back in the final battle, and looking committed to fight based on the cliffhanger being her saying that she’s glad she came, it seems that her main goal in the next chapter will be to rescue Armin from the clutches of Ymir.
Armin does know about Ymir now so the Alliance will have to deal with her somehow if they hope to win, since she is all powerful.
There’s also Annie’s father, who is atop Fort Salta, so the buildup to Annie reuniting with him is bound to pay off soon, most likely tragically.
On the subject of Annie’s father though, he and the other Eldians have rescued Onyankopon, who is, thankfully, alive but with a head wound.
If the Alliance can stop the Rumbling he may survive the story, which is good, since I think he’s an underrated character.
Other characters now likely to survive are Kiyomi and Yelena because they weren’t atop Falco’s flying Titan so they probably stayed on Kiyomi’s ship and out of harm’s way.
Almost everyone else is the Alliance, however, has a guillotine placed over their head and only time will tell which one of them Isayama decides to cry at, “off with with your head!”
All in all, Chapter 135 of Attack on Titan, “Battle of Heaven and Earth” is a great start to the final battle of the manga.
We have probably have four chapters left, at the most, so buckle up and prepare for whatever ending Isayama has in store for us.

My Hero Academia Chapter 292, Threads of Hope Review: The Return of POWER!

After Chapter 291 of My Hero Academia, I thought that the central focus would be on Best Jeanist’s return going forward.
Well, wouldn’t you know it, but another character looks set to take that spotlight away with one triumphant cry, “POWER!”
Before we get to that epic cliffhanger though, Chapter 292, “Threads of Hope” gives us more great action scenes with Best Jeanist coming in to trap Gigantomachia and the League, and the beginning of a battle between Shouto and his not-so-dear brother, Dabi.
Starting with Best Jeanist, the chapter opens with him being disgusted by Dabi airing the “dirty laundry” of his father’s abuse to destroy hero society.
I saw a lot of people taking this moment out of context, saying that Beast Jeanist didn’t have a problem with Endeavor abusing his family, when that’s not at all what he was saying.
What Best Jeanist actually means here is that he is disgusted with Dabi using that information for a specific goal in undermining a system he sees as protecting people and timing it to release when hundreds, if not thousands, of people are dead.
Best Jeanist vows to stop Dabi’s plan and he begins by trapping Gigantomachia, to Bakugo’s joy.
However, Jeanist’s threads are not quite strong enough to survive Dabi’s flames because he easily melts them and sends a blast towards Nejire, knocking her to the ground.
Looks like her screentime is getting cut again, which is a shame.
What follows is a battle between the two long lost brothers as Dabi tries his hardest to kill Shouto.
The panels of Dabi’s maniacal grin with scorch marks beginning to line his face are particularly disturbing, made all the worse by him not caring about how Natsuo was nearly killed by Ending, who he sent after Endeavor.
Dabi saying it was a shame Natsuo wasn’t killed because that would’ve made Endeavor suffer basically proves that he is a full on psychopath, with no sympathy for anyone, which he again confirms by saying he’s, “not big on “feelings” anymore.”
Following this tragic moment, we get an epic one with the chapter’s cliffhanger.
As Deku notices a group of Nomu heading for Beast Jeanist, who is struggling to contain Gigantomachia and still not back to full strength after his injury, however, Deku is too injured to back him up.
Just as all seems lost, and Deku begs himself not to go back to being the useless Deku who couldn’t save anyone, a familiar face permeates up from the ground.
With the battle cry of, “POWER!”, Miro Togata, AKA Lemillion, rises to attack the Nomu, and the fans all collectively lose their minds.
This was an incredibly epic moment and well built up in the chapter, with Mirio apparently saving Burnin from the Nomu earlier.
However, I do have a bit of an issue with it because I don’t think it was built up all that well outside of the chapter.
Sure, we saw Eri training her powers in the previous arc, but there wasn’t really much this arc to suggest Miro would be getting his powers back.
Also, while I do love Eri as a character, to the point that I included her in my Top 10 My Hero Academia Characters list, I do hope that her power doesn’t just go around undoing all of the other character’s injuries.
For example, her just magically returning Aizawa’s leg or repairing the hole in Gran Torino’s stomach.
That said, I do trust Horikoshi not to make Eri an automatic fix it button, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Overall, “Threads of Fate” is another great My Hero Academia, in an absolutely fantastic arc that has proven to be quite unpredictable.
You never know what twist Kohei Horikoshi might drop next.

Attack on Titan Chapter 135 Predictions.

With Chapter 134, the final battle of the Attack on Titan manga has begun and it looks like we only have one more volume left before the end of this epic story.
This means we most likely have four or, if Hajime Isayama wants to do a longer volume since it’s the last one, five chapters left.
Now that the story is so close to the conclusion, it means we are getting into predictions that will tie into the ending, so I am excited to lay out how I think Isayama will want to finish the tale he has been weaving for over ten years.
I will start with a prediction that I promised to expand on in my review of “In the Depths of Despair.”

What’s up With Historia Giving Birth Now?

At the beginning of Chapter 134, Historia is shown to be giving birth.
However, this is rather strange since, in Chapter 113, Levi said it was a few months before the baby was due.
Canonically, it has been five days since Levi said this and yet the baby is being born now?
Personally, I don’t think this is a mistake since Isayama rarely makes them.
But, if Levi saying Historia was a few months from giving birth, only for her to be giving birth now, is a purposeful clue left by Isayama then what is this pointing to?
Well, I think there’s two possibilities, the first of which is that it is a premature birth.
This could align with the setup of what the Military Police said of the dangers of Historia giving birth in Chapter 108.
However, what I think kills this possibility is the fate of the child.
In Attack on Titan, the world is around 100 years behind us technologically so, if the baby were to be born two months prematurely, then this would not only kill Historia but the child as well because medical care is not far enough along to save its life.
The reason I think that this eliminates the possibility of the birth being premature is that children are a very important theme in Attack on Titan, especially in this final arc.
From Mr Blouse’s speech about getting children out of the forest, to Onyankopon proclaiming that children are the future, to all the panels and references to children in the most recent chapter, it is abundantly clear that children, especially newborns, will be important to the manga’s ending.
Heck, the teased final panel is of a man holding a baby and telling it that it is free, and this baby is most likely Historia’s so it definitely isn’t dying.
So, if the birth isn’t premature, then why did Levi say it was a few months away from being born earlier?
Well, because that’s what he and everyone else was told.
Historia lied about the timing of the conception.
Why?
To hide the true identity of the father, Eren Jaeger.
Yes, I know, the debate over whether Eren or the farmer is the father of Historia’s child has been beaten to death at this point.
That said, the baby is clearly so important to the ending with the numerous references to children that I just mentioned, and the implications of Historia possibly lying about when the child was conceived are there, so I just can’t help but speculate about it.
Basically, this theory is that Eren got Historia pregnant some time after their meeting in Chapter 130.
Historia then met with the farmer and convinced him to act like the father of her child.
Some months later, after Eren had left for Marley, she announced her pregnancy, with the farmer acting as the father, to eliminate Eren as a possibility for the father in the MP’s minds because they would not have accepted this once Eren went rogue and likely used the child against him.
Along with the implications of this possible lie, there is also the implications of the child being born right as the final battle is starting.
I can’t help but remember what Eren said in Chapter 88, “if someone who holds the power of one of the nine Titans dies without anyone inheriting that power then the power of that Titan is suddenly inherited by a baby belonging to the Subjects of Ymir.”
With the final battle now ongoing, it is likely we could get some Titan Shifter deaths.
This could mean that if a Shifter, say Pieck, dies right at the point Historia gives birth, then her child will gain the power.
Not only this, but the quote could also be suggesting the popular theory that Historia’s child will be the reincarnation of Ymir Fritz.
I do think that Eren is going to eliminate Titan powers all together after the final battle and this may mean destroying the Paths Dimension, which could end up freeing Ymir Fritz, causing her to reincarnate.
This reincarnation would then occur in the Subject of Ymir that was just being born, Historia’s child, which Historia would then fittingly name Ymir, after Freckled Ymir who saved her from killing herself and put her on the path of living for herself.
Whether any of this happens or not though, it is clear to me that Historia’s child will be incredibly important to the ending of Attack on Titan, whether this is purely for symbolic reasons or, hopefully, the story based reasons that I have outlined in this prediction.

Where Really is Zeke and What is his Role?

Zeke disappeared all the way back in Chapter 122 and he has been absent from the current story ever since.
We might have seen him in the most recent chapter, as Eren used Zeke’s Beast Titan to destroy the airships sent to bomb him and the Rumbling.
Zeke is now the target of the Alliance because they believe killing him could cut Eren’s connection to the Founding Titan and stop the Rumbling once and for all.
However, there is one pretty big hiccup in the Alliance’s plan, which is that we actually don’t know if Zeke is inside this Beast Titan.
Eren could have moved him anywhere inside his gigantic Titan form, using the power of the Warhammer Titan.
The next chapter could open with Levi cutting Zeke’s nape, only for the Alliance to realize he isn’t inside, throwing the Alliance’s entire plan into chaos.
Most likely, finding Zeke’s whereabouts will be a big focus after this, with him being anywhere in or around Eren’s Titan.
However, it is Zeke’s role in the final battle that I am more interested in.
We’ve known since Chapter 121 that his goal is now to stop Eren as Grisha begged him to, so his motivations now align with the Alliance’s.
I can actually see Levi temporarily putting aside his desire to kill Zeke to work with him so they can stop Eren and save the world.
How hype of a cliffhanger would it be for it to seem like all is lost when Levi and Zeke charge in, working together, despite their differences?
At least, this is what I hope to see in Zeke’s future.
For all we know, he died and Eren absorbed his power in Chapter 122.
Isayama killed Freckled Ymir off screen so he’s not above this.
Hopefully, this doesn’t happen because Zeke’s one of my favourite characters and I don’t want to see him go out as badly written as Freckled Ymir did.

Possible Peace Ending?

One of the highlights in “The Depths of Despair” is the unnamed Marleyan general admitting to his and his country’s wrongs in persecuting and hating the Eldians, and vowing to never make that mistake again, should they survive.
This moment could be seen as possible foreshadowing of a peaceful ending with the survivors of Eren’s genocide deciding to end generations of hatred and make peace with Paradis to stop another worldwide massacre, like the Rumbling, from happening ever again.
Kiyomi and Hizuru could help in this endeavor, as well.
Now, given that it has been stated time and time again that stopping the Rumbling will cause the world to destroy Paradis, many could see this potential ending as a copout.
However, there are some factors that could make it more believable, like the Helos theory, which will see one of the Eldians who defeat Eren, or maybe take credit for it, like Reiner for example, become a hero in the eyes of the world, preventing the destruction of Paradis.
Another important thing to take note of is that the general who says he wants to devote himself to peace is just one person and obviously not reflective of the entire world.
Therefore, I believe that, even if we get the peace ending, there will still be a significant amount of tension among the Eldians and the rest of the world, which could end the story on a bittersweet note.
However, there is another way this story could end other than peaceful, and that is with the full destruction of the world with Eren’s Rumbling succeeding.

Is Eren Actually On Paradis?

One theory that I have seen thrown around is that because Eren has activated the Founding Titan, his War Hammer Titan abilities have increased tenfold.
If this is the case then he could be apart from his massive Titan form from even larger distances, say, all the way back at Paradis, for example.
I can see it now; the Alliance think they have Eren defeated and they rush in for the final blow… only to discover that Eren is not there and all the way back on Paradis controlling his Titan.
The Alliance is too far away to stop him now and Eren destroys the entire world, leaving only those on Paradis alive.
However, there are some holes in this theory, like the build up Mikasa had with her bloodline in Hizuru.
What would be the point of that if the world is destroyed?
Still, this does not completely rule out this dark ending happening.
Personally though, I’m hoping for an ending that is more bittersweet, rather than completely dark or completely happy.

Final Death Predictions:

The final battle of Attack on Titan is obviously going to come with a lot of emotional, gut wrenching character deaths.
So, I’m now going to go through every important character left in the story and give a percentage to their chances of dying and my reasons for thinking so.

Eren Jaeger = 50% – I think it could go either way for Eren at this point. He could be killed by someone in the Alliance, he could complete the Rumbling and have to live with the guilt, or he could get stuck in the Paths Dimension or deliberately stay there. I can see all of these possibilities fitting into his character arc and, given how amazing Isayama has made him since the Marley Arc, I have complete faith in the ending he will deliver for his main character.
Mikasa Ackerman = 50% – Like Eren, Mikasa could go either way. Sure, there is a lot of build up with her connection to Hizuru, which has not payed off yet, but there are some distressing signs that point to Mikasa’s death. One such example can be seen in Chapter 126, where Louise says Eren told her to get rid of Mikasa’s scarf if she had the chance. This means Eren was most likely trying to prevent a future he saw for her. Whether this future was her dying, her killing him, or something else, I don’t know. If she does die though, I can see Armin never forgiving Eren.
Armin Arlert = 30% – I find it unlikely that Armin will die in the final battle. For one thing, we know he’s the narrator of the story so him living through it all is pretty certain. Also, I cannot really imagine a scenario where Armin dies here. He just became the new Commander of the Survey Corps and, whatever ending happens, Armin’s gonna need to be there to help rebuild the world, whether that world is only Paradis after Eren destroyed the world, a united world following Eren’s defeat, or something else entirely.
Levi Ackerman = 50% – Levi is yet another character I can see it going either way for. Despite being a fan favourite, his injuries do make him more likely to bite the bullet in this final battle. However, he will not die before his rivalry with Zeke ends, either with him killing him or putting that aside to work with him in stopping Eren. One thing that points to Levi living is that him being humanities strongest soldier but everyone still dying around him is kind of his thing. This could suggest Levi being one of the last people standing and living on to honour his comrades’ memories, or finally being able to join them in death.
Jean Kirstein = 50% – Another character whose chances are 50/50 when it comes to living or dying, Jean is a character with death flags but I can also see Isayama allowing him to live. Him dying could tie into his arc of putting aside his own selfish desires for the good of humanity, which is supported by him seeing his dead comrades, just like Hange and Erwin did before they died. Yet, you never know with Isayama. He could find a way to have Jean survive and make it fit into his arc. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Connie Springer = 60% – I debated on what chance of dying to give Connie and, in the end, I settled on 60% because he’s just not a character who’s too important to the plot. Him living or dying wouldn’t really affect it that much, other than his death motivating the other characters. Then there’s his mother, who is still a Titan. If he lives, then he might just be able to live with her if she gets turned back into a human. If he dies, then Armin can tragically tell his mother that he died protecting people like he wanted. One thing I am expecting is a confrontation with Zeke because he was the one with Titanized his whole family and Connie did say he wanted to fight him in the Uprising Arc.
Reiner Braun = 30% – Oh, poor Reiner. The one character who wants to die and is never able to. I honestly expected Reiner to die giving his Titan power to Falco but, after that role fell to Porco, I just couldn’t see him dying anymore and I still can’t. I honestly think Reiner has a great shot at making it out of this story alive and living with all of the bad things he has done as the new Helos, hero of the world, although an unwilling one at that. Whether that last part actually happens or not though, it will be interesting to see what role Isayama has for Reiner in the ending.
Zeke Jaeger = 80% – Zeke is the character that I believe has the biggest chance of dying in the final battle. Taking him out is currently the Alliance’s number one priority, and both Levi and Connie have personal grudges against him. However, like I said, I can see Zeke siding with Levi to try and stop Eren. But, even if this happens, I find it difficult to imagine an ending where Zeke makes it out alive. Whatever way he does end up going out, if he dies at all, his rivalry with Levi will almost certainly be resolved.
Annie Leonhart = 60% – When Annie left the Alliance, I was disappointed because I wanted her to be there for the final battle. Well, now that she is set to arrive on Falco’s flying Titan, I am scared for her safety. That final glance she shares with Armin in Chapter 132 just screams tragic ending for me and, since I don’t see Armin dying, this raises Annie’s chances of dying significantly. Maybe she will die with her father, or he’ll see her alive before he goes out. If Annie does die fighting Eren though then, just like with Mikasa, Armin will probably never forgive him.
Pieck Finger = 60% – Pieck is a strange character to speculate about when it comes to whether she will live or die because she is a pretty stagnant character. There is nothing wrong with having a character like this, and I really do like Pieck, but it makes predicting how she could die pretty hard. The only member of the Alliance who she has any emotional connection to is Gabi so I don’t see her dying until she shows up. Then there is Yelena, which Pieck has kind of a rivalry with, so her story could end with hers if Yelena ends up coming to the final battle. Pieck’s a hard character to guess but I’m going 60% since she isn’t really all that pivotal to the plot.
Gabi Braun = 30% – Like Armin and Reiner, I honestly don’t see Gabi dying. With Isayama’s focus on children being the future and her having moved past her hatred, I think she will survive the final battle and help educate her fellow Eldians in Marley about the wrongs of the Warrior program. I will be pretty surprised if she ends up biting the bullet in the end.
Falco Grice = 30% – Falco is another character who I think will survive the story, again because of Isayama’s focus on children thematically. With the plane having crashed and the Rumbling fast approaching the surviving Eldians from Liberio, I see Falco rescuing them all using his flying Jaw Titan. As for when he will show up, probably in the next couple of chapters at the most. Either way, I don’t see him dying.
Historia Reiss = 50% – Historia has basically become the new Annie. She was an incredibly important character who has been sidelined for a very long time. I hope Isayama can give her something interesting to do, like he is now with Annie, before the end. Whether she will die or not is hard to say. If she does die, it will certainly be from child birth, as was foreshadowed by Nile laying out the dangers of pregnancy in Chapter 108. Personally though, I really don’t want Historia to die after how little screen time she has had. It would be like Freckled Ymir all over again and Historia deserves better than that. Historia will either die giving birth or live on with her child.
Onyankopon = 60% – Onyankopon has served his purpose in the story, as the one who flew the Alliance to stop Eren. At the end of Chapter 134, he is trying to crash land the plane and his fate is up in the air. If he lands in the direction the Rumbling is moving, he will almost certainly be crushed. I hope this doesn’t happen though because Onyankopon is a cool side character who I think deserves to make it. However, his chances are less likely because he has served his purpose and is now in danger.
Yelena = 50% – I thought about giving Yelena a high chance of dying but I don’t even know if she is going to be in the final battle or not. She looked pretty sick in Chapter 132 and I don’t if she would want to come. On the other hand, she did say that she wanted to see how this would all end in Chapter 128 and Falco, Annie and Gabi could use her to guide them to Fort Salta. If Yelena does end up going to the final battle I am pretty sure that she will die after getting her storylines with Zeke and Pieck resolved. However, if she stays behind then it is safe to say that she will live through the story.
Kiyomi Azumabito = 40% – Kiyomi is a character who I am confused by because, aside from delivering the plane that the Alliance has used to reach Eren, she hasn’t really gone anywhere as a character, despite her connection to Mikasa. This makes me think her role isn’t over yet because she may have some role for Mikasa planned after the Rumbling ends, which would mean the likelihood of her dying is pretty low. Not as low as Armin, Reiner, Gabi and Falco but still pretty low since her storyline with Mikasa has yet to pay off.

So, those are my death predictions and we will surely be seeing a lot of death as Attack on Titan comes to its conclusion, most likely with the next volume.
I am incredibly excited, both for that and for the final season of the anime, which will air in a week.
Fingers crossed that Studio Mappa can adapt this final season excellently, which it deserves.

My Hero Academia Chapter 291: Thanks for Going Strong Review – More Exposure Incoming.

Chapter 290 of My Hero Academia is definitely my favourite chapter of the manga so far, which made me pretty excited to read the next one, 291, “Thanks for Going Strong.”
Dabi’s reveal as Touya Todoroki was heavily anticipated and it more than paid off in “Dabi’s Dance” and continued to pay off in “Thanks for Going Strong” where Dabi dropped even more bombshells on both the unassuming public and the readers.
Probably the biggest of these bombshells was that Dabi had filmed Hawks killing Twice and had Skeptic edit it in a way to make it look like murder.
Not only this but Dabi also exposes Hawks’ true identity, revealing that he is the son of a serial killer thief, which is why his identity was kept secret for so long.
The fact that Dabi managed to twist all of this to suit his own narrative in such a short amount of time shows how smart he can be.
This also raises the question of if he wanted Hawks to kill Twice so he could use this to paint him in a negative light, or if he just took advantage of Twice’s death.
Either way, Toga’s probably going to hate him for this and I see a lot of bad blood between them in the future.
Although, Dabi using Twice’s death like this pretty much confirms that he is a full on psychopath with not a care for anyone but himself and his own plans.
As for said plans, they unfolded almost perfectly, with even “Can’tcha See” Kid losing faith by the end of the chapter.
However, note that I said almost perfectly because there are a few glaring flaws that quickly became apparent in Dabi’s plan.
Definitely the least noticeable of these is Hawks’ recorder, which was seen when he tried to arrest Twice, before being forced to kill him.
This recorder could completely exonerate Hawks of wrongdoing if it came out.
However, by far the biggest flaw in Davi’s reveal plan is him saying that Hawks killed Best Jeanist, who is revealed to be alive at the end of the chapter.
Him jumping in to crash Dabi’s murderous family reunion was an epic moment that throws Dabi’s entire plan into questionable territory about where it could go.
Personally, while I am happy to see Best Jeanist alive and well, I do hope this and Hawks’ recorder do not completely destroy Dabi’s credibility in the public eye.
Dabi revealing himself to be Endeavor’s son and detailing his abuse of his family, along with framing Hawks for murder, throws all of hero society into chaos but if the majority of people doubt his story then it could all go back to just being the status quo.
There needs to be fallout from Dabi’s reveal and it would be disappointing if the public at large dismissed his story entirely.
I understand that Best Jeanist being alive will bring some hope to hero society but I’d like there to be some tension because of what Dabi has done.
All of that said, I do have faith in Kohei Horikoshi and believe he can make this satisfying, it’s just a slight concern that I have.
As for the rest of the chapter, it is great, beginning with more information about Touya’s “death.”
For starters, it turns out that Endeavor wasn’t an abusive father right from the get-go.
Sure, he wasn’t exactly a good father, pushing his own dreams on his children, especially Touya and Shouto, but it looks like he was actually encouraging of Touya at first, and probably only became abusive after Touya, Fuyumi and Natsuo all turned out to be failures in his eyes.
I wonder if we’ll see exactly what caused this change in Endeavor’s attitude?
We’ll probably get that information when we get Touya’s full backstory, although I don’t expect that to come for a number of chapters.
I will say though, that this more supportive side to Endeavor seen during the initial years of Touya’s childhood, plus Endeavor thinking about how he looked for Touya at the end, not believing him to be dead, does show him to be a more caring father than we first thought.
Maybe so caring that he’ll actually admit his abuse to the public, hopefully?
Another interesting thing to note is that Touya’s hair turned white most likely not from abuse but from Rei’s side of his quirk slowly becoming more prominent, making him less resistant to his own fire.
This would have led to his “death” on Sekoto Peak where, after a fire that reached over 2,000 degrees celsius, only a part of Touya’s lower jaw bone was found, which raises a whole bulk load of questions.
Is Dabi missing a part of his jaw and wearing a prosthetic?
If so, how did Dabi survive part of his jaw falling off?
Or, if the jawbone isn’t Dabi’s, then whose is it?
So many questions but not enough time in the chapter to answer them so we’ll have to wait.
At least we’ll most likely see more Todoroki interactions next chapter because Natsuo and Fuyumi have now head the news that their supposedly dead brother is not only alive but a mass murderer.
Shouto is already taking the news badly, which is expected, as he is shown crying as he urges Endeavor to protect Deku and Bakugo, right before Best Jeanist shows up.
Speaking of Bakugo and Best Jeanist though, now that the two are in the same place, and with Bakugo telling Iida they need to achieve victory in the last chapter, it looks exceedingly likely that Baukugo is going to have another moment to shine where he reveals his hero name to Best Jeanist.
As for his hero name, Kachan and Ground Zero are both possibilities that have been thrown around by the fandom.
Either way, this war arc is almost at its conclusion and I cannot wait to see the fallout from Dabi’s reveal, the potentially thousands of casualties, and Best Jeanist’s heroic return to duty.
As for how the war arc itself will end, my money’s on the drug Class 1-A gave Gigantomachia kicking in soon, giving Best Jeanist and the other heroes a chance to take him down.
I can also see Dabi being captured and taken to Tartarus where he will probably meet his inspiration, Stain.
No matter what happens though, I am excicted to see how my favourite arc so far in My Hero Academia will end.