I think Erwin is going to have Levi inject the serum into him so that he can grow his other arm back and actually fight. Also given that Erwin is really tall and extremely strong, his Titan form could possibly be equally as big and strong as Bertholdt's and possibly even bigger. And god knows how the fight with the Bestial Titan will go.
Okay, so the only thing I love more than Armin in a leadership role is Armin and Jean co-leading. And this chapter gave it to me. Like, here, take it, and roll in all of your feelings.
So good for me.
No, but, seriously, I can’t overstate how much I love this, because it’s something I’ve wanted from this manga for a long time (but, like, not in an urgent way; more in a “please give it to me one day” sort of way). I’ve really wanted Armin and Jean to end up commanding stuff together. Or, like, Jean to be the commander with Armin as his right hand. Or the other way around.
The last time they were in command together was in Trost, and back then they hadn’t actually spelled it out like that, hadn’t acknowledged it--or each other, much, even. But, back in Trost, the 104 squad trainees were out of gas, and, even after Mikasa had galvanized them into action, they were still kind of all over the place. And it was basically between Armin and Jean making plans that the trainees survived the out-of-gas experience–Armin came up with a lot of the strategy and Jean gave a lot of the orders.
In other words, more or less exactly what’s set up to happen here now.
Jean is giving orders and counting on Armin to come up with the bigger plan. But now it’s explicitly acknowledged, and they’re both consciously following this blueprint, and my feelings 100% approve of this development.
Also because, like... back in Trost it was thrust on them out of nowhere, and Armin was making these strategies while mentally being like, “but am I even worthy of still being alive, should I even voice my thoughts out loud”, and Jean had to take a moment out of the action to hold is head in his hands:
And in ch79 we can see how they’re still kind of the same people, but you can’t step into the same river twice. They’ve lived through a lot of stuff in the interim, and that’s changed both them and their relationship with each other. And now they’re still pretty damn overwhelmed, because who the hell wouldn’t be in their position, but it’s not their first battle, and they know where their strengths are. In a moment of crisis, Armin makes the smart decision to hand command to Jean in particular, knowing that he’s a good choice, and Jean, in turn, is aware of Armin’s genius and is planning to rely on it to get shit done. They’re combining their strengths purposefully, instead of by happenstance, and this in itself will, I imagine, make them more efficient. Or it would, in my perfect world.
And, for the record, I don’t necessarily see Armin as backsliding here. Armin has been coming into his own as a strategist, but leading is a whole new ballgame--and he’s also currently shaken up by a great number of things, among which is his own recent failure. He did, in fact, completely misread Bertholt, and that, in a situation with stakes as high as these, would have to be at least momentarily demoralizing. I’m not surprised he balked at being in charge of all of his friends, essentially holding their lives in his hands. Like, does he have it in him to come up with a plan to save them? Absolutely. Can he switch into commander mode at the drop of a hat, present a collected outward appearance and think up those plans while also putting aside his feelings about the situation? Well... not that much time has passed since Trost. Armin has come far, but not that far.
Like, Jean is less self-conscious, which, when put into high-responsibility positions like these, helps him push past the internal monologue of shit shit shit, center himself in the moment and make decisions based on what’s happening. Armin, generally speaking, will flail in this inner monologue until he gets distracted by a bright idea, at which point he’ll kick back into high gear. It’s happened before, most recently in ch74 when he was put in command of soldiers while searching for Reiner and Bertholt. Fresh off being given command, he was like... ?? /sweatdrop. As soon as he thought of searching inside the walls, he forgot to be nervous and started shouting orders like a pro. It’s a feature of who Armin is (and he hasn’t grown past it, at least not yet).
But he is actually super brilliant, and sooner or later ideas will hit him. I actually assumed that’s what was happening here:
Like, I thought this was Armin is gazing at Eren and the Colossal Titan and having a realization about the titan’s workings or possible weakness or something... but otoh I could be wrong. Maybe he’s just reacting to stuff in general, especially since Eren gets hurled off to the wall next. I guess we’ll see what the next chapter brings.
I... ended up writing a lot of text about this one aspect of the chapter and literally no words about anything else. Wow. I do actually have feelings about other stuff too! Like, the whole part with the BT bombarding the SC was very exciting, and the Colossal Titan burning everything in his path is also pretty impressive, and this was an A+ exciting chapter in general.
And, coming back for a moment to what seems to have become the main subject of this post, it was hard not to observe the contrast between the commanding teams on different sides of the wall, the distressed glances exchanged by Armin and Jean versus the sangfoid of the exchanges between veterans Levi and Erwin. And I’m talking about just this, Levi and Erwin’s level of experience, their level of trust in each other’s ability to handle things, their general badassery and calm under fire. It stands out all the more compared to the flailing of Armin and Jean (who, it should be said, are nonetheless doing just fine given what they’re working with). Idk, it’s like... the SC past is on one side of the wall, and the SC future is on the other? That’s probably not quite right, but it’s an interesting juxtaposition anyway.
All of which is to say, I enjoyed this chapter a great amount :D
