This Reiner lore dump is so freaking depressing. Everything about it is littered with tragedy from the "warrior candidates" to the indoctrination of the Eldian people by the Marleys. Ok, the Eldian Empire certainly was no saint but it is so ironic that the Marleys list out all the bad things the Eldians have done only to do the exact same thing.
And it's heartbreaking to see the Eldian people on the mainland refer to themselves in such cruel ways and be used by the Marleys as weapons. They believe the people on Paradis are devils. On the flip side, the people on Paradis have no clue that their true enemy is an opposing nation who wishes for them to be all eradicated. While characters like Erwin certainly had their theories, there was no way of truly knowing. Can you imagine if Erwin found out the truth? He'd go full Shinzou wo Sasageyo mode on the Marleys imo.
This panel of Reiner particularly stands out to me. He is referred to as "the greatest weapon in the world" and I think it speaks to how his whole identity has been shaped to become this warrior. His whole life, Reiner has been told this horrible things about himself and how he has to become a true "Marleyan." He has to become a warrior and destroy Paradis. But when he gets there and starts to befriend the others, his perspective shifts. Bertolt, however, has more reservations.
Furthermore, that quote speaks to how dehumanized the Eldians, especially the warrior candidates, are. Their worth literally comes from how well they can try and wipe out their own people. And if that doesn’t work, they still might wind up as Titans anyway. There’s no winning here. Imo, Isayama does an amazing job showing just how heartbreaking Reiner's story is and why he's the person we saw throughout most of series. Reiner's story shows us how powerful propaganda can be and how the cycles of war continue. I am intrigued to see where his story will go since it appears he secretly is opposing the Marleyan government in order to protect Gabi. I also think he doesn't believe the Marley's words anymore about becoming a "true Marleyan" and whatnot. His experience on Paradis changed him and look forward to exploring that change.
