AoT Analysis: Why I like the Tyburs as characters
A question I get a lot is why I like the Tyburs so much, especially when Willy was "evil" and Lara had so little screen time. I made a thread on Twitter about why I like them, but not everyone who asked me this has it, so I thought I'd post here too : )
DISCLAIMER 1: Please forgive any weirdness; since this is copied from Twitter there might be errors or wacky formatting. Later I'll probably go over it and polish it up.
DISCLAIMER 2: This is my opinion. If you don't like the characters, you have every right. Just don't hate on folks who don't share your opinions ^_^
Aside from being really well written and interesting to analyze (so many people misinterpret Willy as being straight up evil but he's actually a foil to Eren at the least), I find their vibe and aura extremely powerful and interesting for not being there for very long. I think Willy's dilemma is fascinating to analyze; he's there for only a couple episodes yet is extremely important, and so morally grey that his position and decision is interesting to ponder. Yes, his actions are undeniably evil; he was willing to sacrifice the Eldians in Liberio, as well as the island of Paradis, but his goal was to protect the Eldians everywhere else in the world as well as the nation he had responsibility to protect (Marley). Allowing (not even directly murdering) roughly 20% of the population to save the rest sounds like a less brutal parallel of someone else, no? Additionally, Willy felt extremely guilty for his family's inaction in protecting Eldians in the past, and despite his immense guilt over the sins of his ancestors, he wanted to save them, and was ashamed his family had allowed them to suffer at the hands of the Marleyans. He also undeniably has responsibilities to protect Marley. Additionally, there's not much else he could do in his situation; if he took direct action in obvious defense of all Eldians, they would have been wiped out, and he would have lost his position and the ability to protect them (however, I wonder if he secretly wanted the rumbling.) Again, his actions were NOT justifiable; he personifies the mindset that the ends justify the means. But he is extremely complicated, and trapped by circumstances. Had he been a normal person, he wouldn't have been evil. Additionally, the war was Zeke's idea and he capitalized on it for his own goals. Willy is extremely well fleshed out for such a short appearance.
As for Lara, she's my prime example of how amazing a character creator Isayama is. She was there for 3 episodes and had 2 lines, yet her aura and presence were super powerful. Her expressions say so much, and was memorable as a character despite very minimal attention. There is also a lot to her if you read between the lines. Presumably she was raised as a noble child, yet probably fairly sheltered due to her family, and likely at a young age had to give up everything to be the Warhammer heir. She was entirely devoted to her mission, accepting her duty though it meant devoting herself to a life of service and secrecy. She had to endure everything alone, from the change in her life to all the memories and secrets of the Warhammer. Through it all she remained loyal and devoted, with probably only her brother to help her. She is silently strong and silently suffering all for what she thinks of as the highest good. Like her brother she was willing to sacrifice her life for this good (though we don't know how much she knew, we do know Willy's mind changed about his family's past inactivity and he became more sympathetic to the Eldians because of what Lara revealed from the Warhammer's memories).
Something else I love about the Tyburs is how devoted to family they are; Willy with his kids, Lara smiling and giving her nieces and nephews treats, and how Lara was clearly grieving (yet strong!) when her brother got chomped.
Part of what's so fascinating about Lara is how mysterious she is and getting to theorize as a result. We can glean information about her through how Eren changed after eating her, as well as through Willy's character and motivations, but we don't ACTUALLY know anything. She could have been secretly in control of ALL of Marley, or she could have been a timid, manipulated, brainwashed child like the warriors. We don't know but there's reason for both. All we know is Eren seemed darker, silent, resentful after inheriting her titan. She also seemed like she could've been a support for Willy too, based on her reassuring him even after his death, even though she was younger. I choose to think she urged him to take action after the Tybur family's long years as idle rich who let their own race suffer endlessly.
True she could also be extremely evil and conniving ... And some people who misinterpret the Tyburs believe they're like H17ler or worse some antisemit1c stereotype ... But that's, in my opinion, far from the truth. (Also Willy seems heavily NORSE inspired)
I also think people dislike Willy and Lara because there WAS some mishandling in their writing. While the mystery IS part of what's alluring about them, Eren won in a way he shouldn't have. It felt like plot armor. Lara made a big impression and then died. It felt sloppy.
Aside from that I love Willy and Lara because I really do like their character designs x) I think both of them are beautiful (though again, that's far from the only reason I like them) ... Also Lara is fun AF to cosplay and if I was a man I would cosplay Willy for sure. I also like the very WW1 vibe of the Tyburs and their aesthetic (I need to write an essay someday on why AoT is primarily inspired by ww1 and English history rather than ww2).
Thank y'all for reading and I hope you enjoyed!! <3
(also for a literature class on classical rhetoric, I did a deep dive into Willy's speech and motivations as an essay for my final. I'm still waiting to get it back. I would like to possibly transcribe it into a post since I didn't really address Willy's motives much here. It's very similar to this one except it's about Willy more than Lara.)
๐ฌ 0ย ย ๐ 1ย ย โค๏ธ 12ย ยทย What kind of personality do you think Lara had? We got so little of her that I feel like you kinda just have to guess a lo
Reblogging this with Lara's personality post added on!! Tyburnalysis post pin
