#thunder spears

[lastofthe20thcenturygirls]

Thunder Spears love Reiner so much

no wonder he's suicidal

[simibraun]

Commission for @being.shikari, finished! Thank you for the trust! 

[gloomikasa]

Thunder Spears SNK #51 (Season 3 Episode 14)

[super-peace-fangirl]

So I loved everything about the latest ep and especially those badass Hange scenes with the thunder spears (since it was the first time their usage was shown in anime version), but I don’t know about you I was just feeling utterly uneasy and more importantly very sad during those scenes because they kept reminding me of this

:( 

Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as if I didn’t like those scenes. As I said I totally fell in love with them but I assume the last few chaps have made us, members of the Levi fandom somehow traumatized by this weapon. I hope we’ll all get over this pain soon :’)

[chaochasm]

Hanji Zoe deserves more love and Moblit deserves more respect.

And that’s a fact.

[jaegerbroshoe]

Yes but why dont we discussing HOW Zeke just exploded? He popped like a balloon filled with goo. What how why?

Lol I think a lot of people are confused by that, but after taking some time to refresh my memory on the Thunder Spear technology, it actually makes perfect sense. 

First of all, when Hanji tested one out on a tree back in 76, the Thunder Spear split it cleanly into two pieces. Again, this is the work of one Thunder Spear. Note how it causes damage in a very small localized area. It did not blow up the entire tree into tiny pieces. It simply penetrated very deeply into its target, in the direction it was applied.  

Chapter 76

Now, if we look at how Thunder Spears have been used in actual battles, you’d find that they have always been applied in groups. Due to the nature of the technology, in order to cause extensive damage to a region larger than its surface area, one spear isn’t sufficient. And again, if you look closely, you’d find that the spears actually inflict damage only on the targeted location(s). This is because they were designed to break Reiner’s armour by penetrating through it, not to blow him up into small pieces.

Chapter 76

Chapter 113

To summarize the conclusions of this comparison, first off, in order to do significant damage, multiple spears have to be used. Secondly, the spears were designed to cause damage by penetrating inwards in the direction they were implanted. They don’t cause much damage to their surroundings, especially when there’s other material around (e.g. armour, crystal) to absorb the impact from that energy. In other words, the explosion is very localized as the bulk of it is meant to penetrate forward rather than decimate. This is also why Zeke survived the explosion in 113. As you can see, he was surrounded by a bunch of spears―they weren’t aimed at his neck like in Reiner’s case (which is why his head got blown off entirely). Thus, Zeke just got caught in the heat from the detonations (again, the majority of the energy went into breaking the crystal), which were only enough to melt away his flesh, but did not blow him up into pieces.

Chapter 113

So how does this all apply to Zeke’s case in 114? Well, he was only dealing with one spear, which was also clearly penetrating him in a single focal area that wasn’t critical. And since the spear was planted orthogonal to Zeke’s body (it wasn’t shoved through the length of it, which ouch), the bulk of the explosion went forward into penetrating in that direction, which just served to sever Zeke’s body in half (in other words, the spear simply went through Zeke and the majority of the impact was wasted on the carriage). 

Furthermore, as one of my mutuals (ervn) has already pointed out, in 113, Levi himself informed Zeke that he would explode into at least two pieces from his stomach. Zeke shifting his head backward to activate the spear might have simply guaranteed/increased the likelihood of that happening (if you look closely, it does look like the explosion ate away the portion of his upper half that was closest to the spear).

Chapter 113

Chapter 114

So all in all, when you look at the technology itself, it makes perfect sense for Zeke to have been blown up like that. We just have to keep in mind that the damage from one Thunder Spear is very localized.

Hope this all made sense! It does in my head now at least, lol.

P.S. As a side note to Levi getting caught in the blast, this has also already been mentioned in 76, when the Thunder Spears were explained. I’m not sure why Levi thought his threat was a good idea, but he was doomed to be caught in the explosion considering his surroundings and his proximity to Zeke when the spear detonated. So yeah, I really doubt Levi dodged it without some serious injuries. According to Hanji, the blast on its own can be enough to cause limb loss or decimate the solider entirely (keep in mind they’re not shifters). My guess is that, since Levi was standing and might have had one moment to move back more, he just ended up with some serious limb loss and flesh burn. But looking at the nature of the spears, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s dead either. 

Chapter 76

[ijxdroid]

Ataque on Titã 2: Batalha Final Clipe Revela Thunder Spears

Ataque on Titã 2: Batalha Final Clipe Revela Thunder Spears PlayStation 4, e Nintendo Switch, dia 4 de junho

[momtaku]

Is it me or Levi doesn't have Thunder Spears to defeat the BT ? He thinks he's going to kill it with his blades ... ?

Levi only has his blades and his awesome Ackerpowers. Let’s hope that’s enough.

Unless BT has armor we don’t know about, Levi doesn’t need the Thunder Spear. They were designed specifically to fight against the Armored Titan