Snk Analysis - Blog Posts

SNK 137: To see the world in a grain of sand

A story that traverses 2000 years of history, across the vast expanse of time and space, war and empire, great despair and fragmented hope, legends of gods and devils.

SNK features immense scales that can evoke sheer awe, from its temporal and thematic scope to its pure visual spectacle, all the way to the world’s destruction.

And yet in the midst of the breathtaking, terrifying magnitude of the end of the world, it has culminated here, in the memory contained within a single leaf minuscule as a grain of sand against the death marching across seas and continents.

A leaf that contains a childhood memory utterly insignificant, utterly meaningless in the futile battle against geopolitical conflict, human nature, the curse of Ymir that becomes fate itself.

Yet it is also a memory that means everything. 

The fate of the entire world, contained within a single leaf half-buried in the eternal sands transcending time and death.

“The reason I was born…” was not to save the world, or to be a hero; the reason was to simply exist in these moments when one can feels distinctly, ‘I’m here, and I’m glad to be alive.’ Approaching the end of this two thousand year story, Armin’s quiet affirmation captures fundamentally what freedom is, and what it is to want to live in the world.

Arguably without exception, everyone experiences at least once in their life such moments. Even when in the depths of despair, depression, or apathy, still suddenly, if only for one fleeting instant, we feel intensely that maybe it’s okay to be alive when experiencing such trivial things as the sunlight through the trees, a glimpse of the achingly blue sky, or the certainty that we have made a connection with someone through a word, a touch, or a smile. These distinct moments are interspersed as small, flickering lights strung together through the darkness of life’s struggles.

This is Armin’s answer to Zeke’s questions: “You know that to live… means to one day die, does it not?” Where is the freedom in the endless struggle to avoid the punishment of fear and suffering we confront when life’s empty, frantic quest to multiply is threatened? What is the purpose of perpetuating one’s days of suffering without ever knowing if it means anything at all?

Armin’s answer is not convincing or changing Zeke’s mind as such, rather he is merely reminding Zeke of what he has already experienced, of what he already knows, unconsciously: that somehow, there is meaning in feeling the wind against your skin, in the repetition of throwing and catching a baseball back and forth with someone you call family.

Or to be more precise, perhaps there is no logical meaning in these moments at all, but that doesn’t stop these moments from being meaningful. 

“in our bewilderment we see no rule by which to guide our steps day by day; and yet every day we must step somewhere.”

It’s not a perfect answer; perhaps it’s not an answer at all. Yet it is enough to convince us to take another step forward, because unlike logical reasoning or Zeke’s scientific rationalizations, the feeling of life in such trivial moments carries an irrefutable personal certainty of gratitude for being alive.

SNK generally prioritizes the grand over the trivial or strictly ‘relatable’, but we get here something so purely and immediately human, grounded in an intimate, even mundane way that is interwoven with the cosmic realm in which they are having this conversation.

It feels indeed that put upon a simple leaf, of a baseball, is a uniquely cosmic weight, as the weight of everything, all this history and eternity, is resting on this quiet reflection.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour

- William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”

Zeke Yeager and the life of an Eldian of the Continent (and a few parallels with Erwin, Hange, and Levi)

Like many AOT characters, Zeke is both appreciated and hated.

The things he went through when he was a little kid made a lot of people pity his adult form. The things he did to the SC and Levi were definitely horrendous and hurtful, and for sure made a lot of people absolutely hate Zeke for all he did to our favs.

I don't follow either of these takes, though. I like the complexity of Zeke's character. And as a fan of his story, I don’t pity him or see how his character really needs it (except while he was a kid abused by his parents). Also, rationalizing Zeke’s character is not about finding ways to forgive him, but rather delving further into AOT’s storytelling. Which is why I’m writing this post: to see things through non-Paradisians perspectives.

Zeke Yeager was the Captain of the Warriors, and it's said he was written to be the equivalent of Levi's mighty soldier character to the Eldians of the Continent. But we have many hints that Zeke is not only like Levi's other side of the “hero” spectrum but also Hange's and Erwin's too.

Putting it simply, Zeke had within his character building the most known traits we’ve seen in the SC Veteran trio:

- Like Levi, Zeke was born with inhuman power hidden in his blood, had a unique grow up (and not only because of Grisha), but he became his country's 'Boy Wonder' (chapter 93) and was even considered their strongest Warrior (according to Reiner);

- like Hange, Zeke had the biggest knowledge of the Titans' powers and biology, and he was one of the most intelligent characters of AOT (with 11/10 smartness stats according to the 1st AOT guidebook);

- and like Erwin, Zeke got his father tortured and sentenced to death for conspiracy against the government, carried a secret dream shared his 2nd father (Ksaver) and that he had no one he trusted completely to share, and had a smart way of dealing with high-up military figures as well as of gambling and manipulating events and people to achieve his ultra-secretive goals and dream. 

At the same time though Zeke also had some of the most antagonistic characteristics of the veterans post-RtS alive:

- he saw death/non-existence as a type of people's “salvation”, liberation, or some kind of freedom - opposing Levi;

- he was adamant he had the best and only solution to save both the whole world and his people - opposing Hange;

But these few points don’t even scratch the surface of Zeke’s character. And while the Vet Trio is thoroughly dissected in the fandom, that Zeke is their particular main antagonist but hardly "meta-ed" is something kinda strange. Especially because ignoring Zeke leaves some events in the manga lacking some important and intriguing discussions!

Like, how nicely written was to have a glimpse of Zeke’s mind right after the chapter of Erwin's last passionate speech and sacrifice (chapters 80-81). And how nice it's to parallel chapters 136 X 137 - where Levi is almost on the verge of "giving up" on killing Zeke but struggling heartbroken at the thought of the Devoted Hearts' meanings still left open X where Zeke, the man who saw everything as meaningless, lets himself be killed by Levi (being probably aware of what that action meant to his archnemesis).

So, it will probably sound like I'm playing the Devil's advocate, but there are some very interesting things to highlight about Zeke’s journey!

Since interpretation varies from reader to reader though, I just ask anyone who may join the discussion to keep the talk civil even if you fully hate Zeke. Or Levi. Or Isayama.

1. Zeke Yeager was one of the TWO last Royal Bloods of King Fritz’s lineage alive

Much like our special bloodline-born Ackerman duo, Zeke and Historia were the last two living Royal Bloods of AOT. This might sound pretty obvious, but I see the implications of this fact are quite overlooked.

Zeke and Historia were the only characters still capable of making use of AND giving others some access to the Founding Titan’s powers. But out of the two last living Founder “Controllers”, the 29 years old Yeager was also:

1. the one with the most knowledge about Ymir Fritz and the Titans powers + the Eldian history

2. the only one possessing a Titan Shifter

3. the one who had lived his whole life in the “real” world

4. the one about to die (had less than 1 year alive)

5. the only Royal Blood who could be used as the full mediator between the Founding Titan possessor and Ymir's powers

6. the only Royal with access to Titan serum (which means that even if Historia becoming a Pure Titan could help, Paradis wouldn't have the means to turn her into one without Zeke. So he was the last Royal end game indeed.)

Besides these points, though, remembering Zeke as one of the last Royal is also important because while Historia held responsibility for the Eldians of Paradis Island as their Queen by bloodline inheritance, we could kind of say that Zeke held some responsibility as a never known “king” of the Eldians of the Continent.

In fact, the Eldian Restorationist group was putting faith in Dina's royal lineage to change the Eldians’ fate (chapter 85). And if the Eldians of Marley and other countries wanted, they could have established a new ruler or king for them. This because at the moment King Fritz left the Eldians in the continents to die, their nation was divided in two: there was the Reiss family - who subsided to the Non-war Vow, and their fake Heaven in Paradis; and there was the Fritz family - who hated the flee of ancestors to Paradis, decided to stay on the continent, and wanted to save the Eldians left.

So it is pretty easy to imagine that if the Restorationists’ plan ever worked, Dina’s family with Grisha was definitely going to be placed among their people’s new rulers - with Zeke as their primal hope, and even as a prince and future king. Thus, since conception, Zeke was thought, taught, and raised to be his people's savior. The "God-Savior complex" people say he had is not just a joke LOL.

And raising a perfect Restorationist Savior was what Grisha mistakenly thought he was doing by fuelling the infancy of his firstborn with doctrines and responsibilities of adults, to say the least.

But while these facts had the utmost impact on Zeke’s life, his family's abuse during his childhood still feels oddly weak as the main reason to drive Zeke into walking down the path toward the euthanasia plan of an entire race.

And now things will get interesting...

2. What Zeke witnessed while living as an Eldian of the Continent

Contrary to well-known main “good” characters who had arcs dedicated to showing their backstory directly by their viewpoint, Zeke Yeager had the context of his life shown through other characters’ POV and multiple chapters since the beginning of the Marley arc (as well as some scenes from previous arcs, like Grisha's POV in his journals during the revelations of the basement).

But we know Zeke had his own reading of the events that happened with his parents. And after becoming older and becoming a Warrior, Zeke was also the most secretive of all characters. So Reiner, Porco, Pieck, and Colt had no real understanding of the true Zeke, nor how far he was in keeping up his pro-Marley facade. The Warriors could never even have imagined that he had been building up the stage for his Eldians' eradication plan for around 13 years.

The only thing they all genuinely had in common was the critical life of an Eldian of the Continent (EoC) and Warrior. And I want to highlight this part because it's something that furthers the implications of Zeke's statement in chapter 114:

"We never did learn to trust one another. But I can't blame you. The world I've seen was just too different from what you've all seen."

What Zeke saw as an EoC:

The Eldians of the Continent were cowardly abandoned and forgotten in the hands of their enemies by Zeke's direct ancestors, so he was born and raised in a Marleyan internment zone, a place limited by tall Walls too (chapter 94). But more than that, since he was a kid, Zeke witnessed every day how his people had been living the last 100 years being indoctrinated by the Marleyan Government (and the rest of the planet) about the unforgiving sins of their ancestors and how the Eldians were descendants of the Devil - cursed for existing, cursed to die, cursed for continuing to be born into their world (chapter 114).

ALL Eldians were seen as this:

(chapter 87)

Besides being seen as inhuman, as monsters in human skin, all generations were also stigmatized that the Eldians of Paradis were "Devils who turned the world into hell and built their own utopia on top of a mountain of corpses" (chapter 94). And the Eldians of the Continent (EoC) also had to indoctrinate their descendants into doing the same with their children and other members of their families. That, OR they would pay the price for disobeying and betraying Marley by being sent to “Heaven” in the form of horrible undying monstruosities (chapters 86 to 92).

So throughout his infancy + 10 years as a warrior candidate + 12 years as the Beast Titan, Zeke watched his people being heavily brainwashed into believing how they all should do everything they could to repent for Eldia's past crimes by:

being used over and over again as Marley's disposable soldiers in their many wars (mentioned in chapter 136), and in the trenches (dangers and consequences seen in chapters 91-92, 94);

offering their own children to the Marleyan Military so they would become cursed-13 years long-suicidal pawns while being turned into giant bioweapon warriors;

being turned into and used as mindless maneater monsters in the Marleyan wars, and bringing an infamous glory to Marley by spreading utmost terror over other nations (chapter 94)

At the same time, the EoC were seen as the Devil’s spawns themselves for any other non-Eldian person. Kid Zeke sees the "light" version of it in the enraged eyes, words, and harsh treatment his family receives at the top of the building (chapter 114). Future Warrior Zeke hears it as candidates are called many names during training (descendent of pigs). But Marleyans’ utter prejudice, hatred, and animalistic view toward the Subjects of Ymir are dramatically shown in the way the Marleyan Police fed Faye to dogs, which might have been told to Zeke by how he reacts talking to Grisha about the possibility of him dying like her (chapter 114).

Then, the Marleyan's hatred was horribly reinforced when we learn Eldian’s blood was considered such an abomination that Ksaver’s wife killed herself and their child when she discovered he was Eldian (chapter 114). Through Ksaver’s memory, Zeke certainly saw (and felt) the pain of that to his adopted father.

After inheriting the Beast Titan, and during his last 12 years alive, Zeke saw that not even after granting victory to Marley for so many years against multiple enemies the look of unhappiness and disgust in the Marleyan civilians' face became a bit sympathetic toward his people. Like, when the Warriors come back to Paradis after fighting for them in Fort Slava, the surviving soldiers were stared down with hate and disgust, as if they were utter indeed shit (chapter 94).

The Eldians living in the internment zones outside Marley were treated worse than the ones in Marley according to what Udo says in chapter 98. And the world was so paranoid about Eldians that they kept doing constant blood tests on the population to spot Devil’s blood right away, and everyone suspected of being one certainly were in grave danger (chapter 123).

This chronic aversion to Eldians certainly turned increasingly worse as Marley used to send back to their enemies their psychologically traumatized soldiers who had survived the horrors of facing the Pure Titans after seeing their fellows being crushed, dismembered, minced, eaten alive, and etcetera. And, at the same time, the other nations used these survivors as “mascots to show the whole world how inhumane titan weaponry is”. (chapter 93). And if a 12 yeard-old kid like smart Udo knew that, Zeke definitely was aware of that too...

*One side note: Far from the war zone, we reader also saw a Marleyan soldier mocking the minds of traumatized Eldian soldiers who dug the war trenches, making fun of them with the sound of bombs and guns, and guffawing as the sick soldiers fall scared and scattered on the floor (chapter 94). Later, in the same hospital that Zeke's grandfather is treating his mental illness, Eren mentions, "I've been thinking every day since coming here. How did things turn out this way? Ruined minds and bodies... People with no freedom left... People who have even lost themselves... What kind of person would want to go to war... if they knew they were going to end up like this?" And again, if Eren - an outsider - noticed this, imagine Zeke - who grew up in that war zone environment... *

BUT something BIGGER than this all was the growing tension over the horrible upcoming destiny of the Eldian race as the time was approaching when Titans would have no more use for Marley.

In chapter 93, Udo questions the other Warriors Candidates about what will happen with their special group and the rest of the Eldians of the Continent as the anti-titan artillery was soon going to overcome both the Shifters’ and Pure Titans’ power, almost implying the reason why the humans still let Eldians alive would thus be over. Zeke also discusses this in chapter 95 with the Warriors, reaffirming that the entire Eldian race was in danger and that the world had already set their mind in that “it’s meaningless to speak about the human rights of Eldians”. Pieck, Colt, Reiner, and Galliard agreed with him that the present future was a real threat to their race.

In chapter 98, after the Marleyan Military group humiliates all Warriors in the discussion about how to invade Paradis, we see Pieck questions the same thing Udo did, and tells further that the Eldians are in danger because soon they will lose their value to Marley as bioweapons. And this is also why the Tybur finally cared to join the “party” and tried to act as Eldia's saviors-world mediators. Willy just did what he did because he saw that their race was truly in grave danger. Meaning that the living future of all Eldians of the Continent was at stake even before Zeke’s plan of euthanization.

So after seeing all of this depicted in the manga - and without even digging into the personal and familiar struggles of Reiner, Annie, and the other warriors - it doesn't seem "far fetched" to see that what Zeke witnessed beyond Grisha and during his whole life also had some impact on his mind.

But there is still more to see! And now we will dig into Zeke’s personal life.

What Zeke lived:

Another side of the demented world in which Zeke lived, witnessed, and actively participated is the one where he was raised to become one of the most important figures of the Eldians of the Continent as the Titan Shifters’ Captain, and Marley and Eldian's Boy Wonder: The Warrior Program.

But first, a little resume:

Zeke was enrolled in it by Grisha at the age of 07 years old. In the beginning, Zeke didn’t want to be a Warrior or fight for Marley (chapter 114). He couldn’t care less - to the point he was failing the Warrior Program despite the high expectations Grisha and Dina had in him. Magath and Ksaver saw this clearly too, and this lack of will catches the bespectacled Beast Warrior's attention.

But Zeke was already a very smart kid - he understood well the weight of the consequences of his actions at that time. So kid Zeke acted as a double agent: pretending to his grandparents and the Marleyan Government that he was fully loyal to Marley, and pretending to his parents he was fighting for the Restoration of Eldia. At that time, though, his true self was the one who just wanted to play with his father. Yet, kid Zeke could only have mental and emotional breakdowns silently and by himself in his room.

This lasted until Zeke found someone with whom he could finally trust and be himself, Mr. Ksaver. But Ksaver changed Zeke’s life forever not only by saving him when he would become a Pure Titan in the Island of Devils, but also by wrapping the final shackles in Zeke's depressing view of life. (If you want to see this perspective, there is this incredible meta post done by @.yaboilevi here.)

So, for the greatest part of his life, Zeke was never "purely" seen or treated as someone with intrinsic value. He was born to become an instrument to save Eldians from a 2000 years world hate war; to the government, he was a sinful devil that should fight for Marley’s sake; he was first "adopted" by Ksaver to replace the loss of his son that died because of Ksaver’s lies; due to his blood, he was the key to someone else use the Founder's power; the final tool of Eren's plan of Rumbling.

And cementing this life of you've no intrinsic value in you, you are just a manipulated tool for ends beyond you with Zeke's already growing nihilistic view of the world and Ksaver's influence over never being alive was the answer… it doesn't surprise Zeke sees nothing but meaninglessness in life.

Resume done

Now, let's see what is interesting is the life of Zeke and Ksaver as Warriors and Beast Titan inheritors: the manifestation of their Animal Titans.

It’s a known fact that we don’t have conclusive information about how the animals of the Beast Titan are defined, but we definitely have some big hints as to what could be the reason for them. So in this part, I’ll take a more particular view/interpretation while listing the facts.

It's possible that the Beast Titans' bodies were linked with the inheritor’s strongest desires and qualities manifested in their animal forms. Falco is the one who is cleared as to hint this since he wasn’t the actual Beast inheritor, BUT through Zeke's blood mixed with the Beast, Falco's Jaw form became a bird. And besides the foreshadowing in his name, Falco's Titan form manifested something really deep within him, shared in chapter 91: he sees the bird flying over the Marley warzone and tells it to use its wings and fly away. Falco wished for a way to find freedom from the place/situation where he was, and birds are a very strong symbol of that in AOT.

In Ksaver and Zeke’s case, the manifestation of their titans doesn’t seem to be so different from what they desired to do the most.

Ksaver’s Beast: The Bighorn Sheep/Ram

“I became a warrior... because I wanted to kill myself in the grandest way I could. That was all.” Ksaver, 114

From the beginning of human history, it’s been registered that rams were used as sacrificial animals in many cultures. But as we know there are some Hebrew references in AOT, it’s also nice to point out this bit: the people of Israel (ancient biblical time) had different rules for animal sacrifices. Lambs (babies), sheep (female), and rams (male) were sacrificed to symbolize different things. Lambs were for fellowship offering (Leviticus 3), while sheep were for a sin offering (Leviticus 4), and rams were for guilty offering (Leviticus 5).

“With the ram of the guilt offering the priest is to make atonement for him before the LORD for the sin he has committed, and his sin will be forgiven.” (Leviticus 19:22, New International Version).

So, since Ksaver decided to become the Beast Titan to kill himself out of his "sins" and guilty feelings, it is no wonder his titanic animal takes the form similar to one of a bighorn ram/sheep 🐏. Firstly, because he held a deep regret and pain for what had happened to his wife and son since his lies had led her to kill herself and the kid because of his “sinful blood''. Secondly, because, as he had told Zeke, there wasn’t much sense in devoting his life to die for the Marley country. So as Ksaver also had no real will to fight, his Beast accordingly turned out considered unfit for battle (114). And thirdly, Ksaver wanted to kill himself in the grandest way he could. Being a mighty war bioweapon, cursed to die in 13 years devoured alive by the next Titan inheritor while tied to an altar of sacrifice surely counts a hell of an impactful way to die. His Beast made the perfect sin/guilty ram in its ritual of sacrifice.

As a side note, there are three random curiosities that we might pick up from the bighorn Ram Titan:

This version of the Tarot Card Number 15, aka “The Devil”, reminded me of this scene:

While the animal in the Devil card is a goat, though, in the manga we have the ram, which is very fitting even though Isym must not have done this intentionally. But if it was a goat titan, it would immediately be associated with the real Devil, and indirectly mean that the Eldians were but pure demons after all. On the other hand, if it was a male lamb titan (the baby/young ram, without horns), it would be 100% opposite to the goat/Devil in religious Hebrew meaning as the lamb represents Jesus.

But if Isym picked more subtle references than just Levi’s Hebrew name (and the indoctrination of children) from that documentary Jesus Camp, choosing the ram for Ksaver with his bloody backstory in mind was a nice choice. Everybody in AOT had “bloody hands”, and holy purity can’t actually be attributed to Ksaver, the Beast Titan itself, nor any other AOT character.

Ramzi was the one to whom Eren confessed and cried over killing people and later smashed horribly under the Colossus Titan’s feet in chapter 131. His name is written in Japanese as ラムジ. The katakanas ラム also seems to be commonly translated as lamb in English. Ramzi was a literal “sacrifice” in Eren’s plan, huh?

The ram is often associated with the Zodiac Sign Aries. So some people noticed how there were similarities in the way Japanese Zodiac Animals were featured in sequence (the sheep/the monkey/the rooster = the sheep-ram/the monkey/the bird = Ksaver/Zeke/Falco).

Zeke’s Beast: The Monkey

“Even if I can't leave the internment zone, I'll still be alive…” Zeke, 114, (7 years old)

“It'd be stupid for you to become a warrior. You'd shorten your lifespan, invade other countries, and kill its citizens for Marley? Why would you bother doing something as stupid as that?” Ksaver to Zeke, 114

"I will inherit the Beast Titan. Not for Marley’s sake. I'll execute the plan to retake the Founder. And I'll succeed. After I steal the Founding Titan from Marley… I'll save the world. Just you watch. I'll free the people of the world from their fear of the Titans… and I'll free the Eldians from their suffering." Zeke, 114, (17 years old)

The Monkey has many symbols for the Japanese people. In their Zodiac, it's the 9th animal. The number 9 in AOT represents the total number of Shifters, the number of points in the symbol of Eldian of the Continent arm bandage/crown of King Fritz. (And it was also the total years Eren had his titans and the time it took him to end the Titan curse = 5 pre-basement revelations + 4 after RtS battle.)

Also, in the Zodiac, it is said people who are born under the years of this animal are clever and smart. They can come up with solutions to the problems they face. However, other cultural interpretations vary a lot with time and context. In summary:

monkeys were once considered heralds or physical manifestations of God; there was a monkey God of Crossroad between Heaven and Earth; and like priests, monkeys could mediate between the humans and deities; some were to protect especially the children;

then later the monkey became a "scapegoat symbolizing dislikeable people and trickster", the negative side of human nature; it was a "lowly animal trying to be human", imitating other people, and in some proverbs, they mean "undesirable humans that are to be ridiculed";

One worldwide known proverb involving monkeys is the "Three Wise Monkeys" 🙈🙉🙊. They are known in many cultures as "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil", and two main different takes are: 1. don't give yourself to evil thoughts, and 2. be aware that you're lacking morals when you turn a blind eye and do nothing about the wrongness around you, feigning ignorance.

So, in Zeke’s case, the monkey is indeed fit to his narrative: he had a unique God-like power; for a long time, he had endured all the deadly secrets of the insurrection plans of Eldia’s Restorationists, and faked and tricked his feelings, actions, and beliefs to his parents, his grandparents, and the Marley Government to survive each situation. And his goal while inheriting the Beast Titan was to retake the Founder from enemies in order to put into practice his and Ksaver’s idea of salvation - saving non-titanizable people from the fear of Titans, and titanizable children from the pain of being born into that world. Also, Zeke's particular throw/aim skill was his best physical ability. Thus, his Monkey Beast Titan really embraced both his life luggage and the physical form required to achieve his biggest goal.

As a curiosity, The Wise Monkeys can be seen in Zeke’s life (art by perok - special permission granted for this post. DO NOT REPOST!) :

Maybe... If Zeke hadn’t seen the world in the way Grisha showed him... If Zeke had refused to listen to things the Ksaver had said in their lowest times... Then maybe Zeke wouldn’t have made use of his screams and talks to manipulate and kill people for their deadly goal.

And just as a curiosity: Isym made the design of Zeke’s monkey with darker eyes so as to make it purposely more difficult to predict where he was looking at (and why not to say also making him scarier and a little harder to read his thinking/feelings since the eyes are the windows to our souls).

What Zeke lived in the Warrior Program

Way before Levi, Zeke’s main enemy had been life itself. To be born meant to live manipulated by engraved biological drives/ actions/ reactions (chapter 137). As part of a titanizable race, it also meant that the whole world hated and feared your existence, and wished for your to vanish for good. The dangerous DNA in your body was also used as a way to manipulate the mentality of Eldians of the Continent that they were descendants of the Devil who should atone for their crimes doing anything for Marley. These two formers issues were absurdly complex problems that the Paradisians post-RtS arc also faced, and I think this gets forgettable as Zeke is actually constantly taken as the "main villain" of AOT… When in fact, he was not.

Anyway, Zeke was a kid who was failing the Warrior Program for the blonde didn't find any will to devote himself for Marley’s wars or country, contrary to the kids who wanted that to either achieve a slightly better life (as Honorary Marleyan) or to atone for the crimes of long-dead ancestors. The one thing which made him become the best was his goal of ending the existence of his people. So while paving his path as a future Titan Warrior Inheritor, Zeke spent his whole youth being harshly trained to become an important tool in Marley wars, just like Reiner and etc...

During the 10 years the Titan Curse allowed Ksaver to live, he was Zeke’s only friend, and the only one he could trust. We have no confirmation of what happened to Grandpa Yeager as to which point his mind broke, but in chapter 98, he says to Eren that the families of the Restorationists who proved that weren't involved with the plan had to devote everything to the military. And in chapter 81, Zeke also mentioned that he didn't doubt the King of the Walls would be sending "children and elderly" to death manipulated by an idea of honorable sacrifice. So it's possible he himself was pushed into the trench wars, maybe, as he was a known patient in the hospital treating other survival soldiers. Whether going or not, surely the weight of his regrets over Grisha had long broken his mind, and Zeke lived that. Zeke himself never got over his own deeds of denouncing his parents...

When he finally became a Warrior, Zeke witnessed firsthand both his people being continuously used as killing-machine tools in Marley’s wars, and by default spreading even more terror over humans about the “true nature” of the Subjects of Ymir. But another question we don't have much clarification on whether or not the Eldian were already used as Pure Titans in some of Marley’s battles. I suspect they were because after a century of battles against so many countries, the Marleyans highlighted the ability of the Beast and Female Titans to control and call the Pure Titans respectively. Also, while training to Retake the Founder, the Warriors in their Titan form must have fought against recently transformed Pure Titans to make sure they had the control to fight them.

Either way, Zeke is again used as a tool as he must have undergone scientific experiments to enhance and improve his Titan powers as it is said that the Titan Society (Marley Scientists) was out of ideas (chapter 93) to explain how the Beast could control the Pure Titans made with his spinal fluid. Colt’s specific remarks about the Beast's Pure Titans, and the fact that in the forest Levi’s titanized soldiers were faster and could climb trees - as well as the titans who attacked the Utgard Castle-, make me wonder if the biggest part of the Abnormal Titans were actually related to Beast Titans' blood in general. These types of pure titans were more unpredictable, sometimes moving more animalistic...

Also, after only one year of inheriting their Shifters, 4 out of the 6 Titans Marley possessed got trapped within the Walls in Paradis (aka the Colossus, Armored, Jaws, and Female). What resulted in only Zeke's Beast and Pieck's Cart Titan fighting in the human wars on the continents too for those five years. This certainly worsened the fact that Marley scientists used Zeke’s spinal fluid like it was juice in many battles tells that Zeke had to constantly undergo spinal cord/lumbar punctures, which is a hell of a fucking pain if you have ever had to make it for examinations.

[Another thing is that by the talks of Pieck (recognizing the 9 Titans of all times in the last arc), and Ksaver, Zeke, and Colt about the Scientific Society of Titans in Marley, as well as Eldia’s long history of playing with biogenetic and enhancing experiments, we can fill out a lot of what might have happened with all of them (Eldians and Warriors). But I know, these experimental bites will wander to the realm of headcanons, so I’ll not further it here. Imagination can roll to pretty dark places, though.]

Lastly, something that the manga depicts is that Zeke was frequently put under constant surveillance. Commander Magath stated this when he surprised both Zeke and Colt talking secretly on the rooftop in chapter 93 - “Eldians didn’t need privacy”. In chapter 95, we also see that Zeke’s rooms had wiretaps hidden inside the gramophone. And by how Porco also questioned the absence of Army soldiers in Zeke’s room, it suggests that the Yeager was most likely kept in frequent surveillance. When talking to Reiner and Berth before the battle of Shiganshina, we also see Zeke talking to his fellow Warriors with a Marleyan soldier in the room with them (chapter 115). And every time before a mission, the Warriors did an ideology checkup, as Reiner remembers in chapter 95 too.

Despite this all, back on the rooftop talking, Magath said he had watched Zeke for 20 YEARS, yet the blonde was “still as enigmatic as ever” to him. And Magath was both an experienced Marleyan Commander and Zeke’s former Warrior Trainer. So Zeke really learned how to keep his guards up and hide his thoughts and feelings.

Thus, from 07 to 29 years old = about 22 years of his life, Zeke lived everyday conscious, taught, and being reminded that:

he was born with a demonized cursed blood;

he and his people were let alive and in the internment zone because of their possible use as bioweapons and soldiers in Marley wars;

he was hated and feared by the whole world (both as a cursed Eldian and more as the infamous Beast Titan);

he lived under heavy military surveillance (that worsened as he got the Beast Titan) and in the constant risk of being turned into an almost undying maneater monster (or be eaten after inheriting the Beast) if he ever slipped up in his fake devotion, rebelled, or disobeyed Marley;

in the worst hypotheses (that will be put in the “wondering” horror thoughts) of being forced into any kind of crazy Titan experiment he would surely be submitted in the hands of Marley scientists;

he had no one to trust his Royal secret until Yelena appeared (and "enthroned" him in her own view in her own desire to be a relevant part of the Human story - discussed in chapter 127).

Then, I think it's a bit difficult for me to say that Zeke’s life was easier or less full of horrors after Grisha went to "Heaven" (which was also during the time Zeke just wanted to be quietly alive, in chapter 114). If anything, growing up in the Warrior Program, everything about the world and what it meant the worth of being an Eldian just became worse and escalated to Zeke’s character, contributing to solidifying his "Eldians need to cease existing" mentality.

Still, Zeke fought in many wars for the sake of climbing up in Marley's military ranks to retake the Founding Titan from Paradis. And as someone out of the scope of a "hero", how did Zeke survive for more than 2 decades in that damned real world? The short answer is pretending, deceiving, detaching himself from people, and lying. Traits that are morally condemned most of the time for the "heroes" tabs, and thus not by accident some of the most blazing characteristics that Zeke is known for.

3. So, considering all the things, can Zeke really just be the topmost asshole and evil character of AOT who simply wanted to bring an end to his entire race ONLY because of the abuse of his father?

Well, yes. He can.

However, there seems to be that Isayama has left these many explicit and implicit impactful layers in the life of Zeke’s character to not make him just plain made “100% good or evil”, nor only driven by a suddenly self-inflated ego born from his hate for his father Grisha. And narratively speaking, Zeke’s background was indeed unique.

Aside from his childhood with Grisha and sending his own parents to "Heaven" and become Pure Titans, there was no other aspect of Zeke's life that could be paralleled with any other character in Paradis because the life of an Eldian of the Continent was definitely different. Notice that when comparing/ contrasting Eren and Zeke’s characters, they focus more on what they had in common: their childhood with Grisha. Because except for what they both had lived at home, there wasn’t really any deep parallel to do since the power of Eren's Titan represented the freedom for Paradis, while the Warrior Shifters and the mere fact of being an Eldian were the ultimate nightmares for the entire planet.

What is more, it seems there is an overall erasure of the Eldians of the Continent's suffering narrative. Which, if not expressed through Zeke's euthanization intentions, doesn't seem to be noticed as a really heavy issue besides the personal pain it inflicted on loved characters (aka Reiner e Falco). That's why I think it's somewhat strange to believe Zeke’s character would have all that it took to become the "Devilish Savior" he ought to become (turning into a 13-years-cursed-to-die-Warrior, spending all that 22 years of his miserable short life trusting no one while also pretending to be many things he wasn’t for the people around him, and sticking to his own version of a genocidal plan) only because of what happened between him and Grisha.

Yams might have not explicitly drawn Zeke reacting to each one of the specific horrors during his Warrior times but - given what we saw through the eyes of Gabi, Falco, Udo, and the other during chapters 91-100, and in the struggles of Reiner, Annie, Berth, and Marcel - I think that if Isayama had done that, it would be kind of redundant. The Marley Arc and all Eldians of the Continent we got a close-up had already shown in different ways how ultimately horrible it was to be an Eldian of the Continent, a Warrior candidate, and a Marleyan Titan Shifter - either by just fitting into one of these classes or all at once.

In a more personal take, I also think that if we had seen more of an empathic or suffering Zeke before the events in the Paths with Grisha and Eren, it could have also added more unnecessary pity and a sense of helplessness over his character. After all, Zeke was wrong in his euthanization plan for MANY reasons. So much that he knew he couldn't even trust people "close" to him with the idea. BUT looking helpless is definitely something Zeke's character fought his whole life not to be. And his nihilistic and instrumental view of the world holds a very important point in AOT's narrative because:

Why be born and live in the world just to be forever demonized, robbed of true freedom, imprisoned in physically and mentally walled internment zones, abandoned by the only one who could help (The King/Founder), and be used as human-eater monsters or powerful bioweapons for wars that only worsened the global over your "cursed" race? And probably being allowed to live only until the Eldian race lost their instrumental use as a bioweapon and finally the world would kill you and everyone else of your race anyway?

And after everything we have seen him go through, I don’t see Zeke not being mindful of what was happening with his people and the rest of the world, or not thinking about it. Especially since with his Royal blood, Zeke knew he was the only one who could actually do something if he ever got his hands over the Founder Titan. And knowing the King's vow of "we accept to die by our sins when the World comes mercilessly judging us", Zeke opted to go for his and Ksaver’s own idea of freedom.

4. But if as an Eldian of the Continent and the last Royal capable of anything, Zeke wanted to do something for the sake of his people, why did he turn into this destructive role and come up with this murderous plan?

Because the story needed it and Yams wanted it LOL!!

Because Zeke did believe that not existing in the damned world they lived in was the painless/merciless/best option (chapters 114 and 137).

That's why on the verge of death, Zeke is finally sincere about his intentions and worldview to us readers and Levi. And I don't think this moment was another farce or trick of his character because Isym stated in the 2nd guidebook that the true nature of a human is exposed when they are in the face of their death.

By looking into the context of Zeke's backstory, in his mind, never being born meant never having to go through that unbreakable rollercoaster cycle of existence, of that inescapable human x Devil DNA dilemma. In the context outside Paradis life, it meant not being brainwashed into being seen as a demon or used as a bioweapon, nor being used as just a tool, and not living in constant fear. To Zeke, not creating more life (aka reproducing) would lead to the end of species problems (chapter 137). It would be the end of the entire race being the host of their cursed blood and the endpoint of the global horrors/fears imposed by the existence of the Subjects of Ymir and the Titans (chapter 114).

In fact, Zeke has been affected so deeply by what he lived and saw as an Eldian of the Continent that while he is killing the SC troops in the RtS arc, he gets enraged assuming that the Eldians of Paradis were going down the same path as Marley’s Eldians: with their minds wiped out and controlled by others, the SC soldiers were riding to their deaths being fooled into believing in governmental ideologies of self-sacrifice for a “greater good”, and embracing their “meaningless” death driven by a false sense of duty and honor filling their hearts.

(Zeke goes as far as mentioning that the government would send the elder and children to war, which makes me suspicious his grandpa Yeager might indeed have been forced into fighting for Marley after Grisha's betrayal…)

Interestingly, in chapter 80, Commander Erwin Smith had given the "kamikaze" Survey Corp soldier almost exactly what Zeke had imagined at that very moment. Just before this POV of Zeke in chapter 81, we had seen Erwin revealing to Levi his deep wish to just going to the basement, and how many things he had done - including sacrificing many comrades - were not purely for humanity's sake but for a hidden selfish desire to prove his father's theory was right (and all the "My father was right and innocent" validation that would come with it). And Commander Erwin had also told Levi that he would need the skills of a first-rate con man to convince all recruits to go to charge against the Beast Titan and die without him leading them. So this shows how strong it was the ideology necessary to move 200 soldiers to their horrible and certain death.

In other words, Erwin confessed to Levi that he had done many things as an SC Commander (high government position) lying and manipulating the growing pile of dead subordinates into believing that his hard and ruthless orders and actions were ALL and ONLY for the pure sake of Humanity when in reality he had his own little share of selfish dream driving him. So up until this specific part, Zeke was NOT completely wrong in believing that this SC "suicide charge" is a parallel with the rest of the world's reality. Considering ALL that Zeke had seen and lived as an Eldian psychologically manipulated by the Marleyan Government, Zeke was sure he was yet again facing another cycle of Eldian people being brainwashed, manipulated, and used as tools for other's sake.

Purposely preparing that narrative to be assertive with Zeke's mind, we see Marlowe riding to his death not thinking about some glories of sacrifice, but how cozy Hitch would be in her bed, then questioning why the heck he thought it would be honorable to sacrifice for humanity. Horror is all written in the faces of the soldiers as they ride to their apparent meaningless deaths. And Floch, the little shit, made sure to say that to Levi and the others on the rooftop, as he almost killed Erwin himself for using their lives like that.

"None of them died thinking how noble their sacrifices would be… I'm sure all they felt, at the end was... fear…" Floch, chapter 84

However, behind this all, we know things were different too. Thanks to the final talk with Levi, Erwin ended up being clearly shown walking into the right path. And Erwin’s passionate final speech is definitely something every AOT fan will probably never forget: while it clearly encouraged the soldiers into riding to their certain death, Erwin's words were visceral, beautiful, meaningful, wholeheartedly, and honest. Which means Zeke did end up missing and failing to understand the powerful force he was facing at that moment - in the sacrifices of the Survey Corps. But it's not like Zeke could ever expect something different. The world they have lived their whole life was way too different.

And, damn, that's why I think the way Yams works the worldview contrast between chapters 80 and 81 is even more BRILLIANT when revisited from Zeke's perspective more clearly now that we know what was his background. Even more as we think the way Isym makes the parallels between Zeke’s character and the Post-RtS arc last two Veterans: Levi and Hange Zoe.

With his range of philosophies, Zeke is like the antithesis of life in AOT. He embodies the extreme opposition to all that the manga had shown us about how people were great just for doing nothing but being born into this world (Carla’s beautiful speech in chapter 71); how sacrifices and deaths had meaning (Levi’s special life quest); and what it meant true freedom (not existing versus the whole dilemma of Titans and Eldians’ 2000 years cursed existence. And this last one was the hellish problem Hange - and the Survey Corps post-RtS arc - was trying to figure out an answer for!).

Of course, there is more, but just these three points already create an amazing duality that I can’t help but find fascinating. Especially their connections between Zeke, Hange, and Levi. I've written a bit into life philosophies backing these 03 characters to post here too, but as Tumblr doesn't let more than just 10 pics/post, I'll make another with the rest of my analysis of Zeke's character!

For now, I hope this has made some sense up until here, and thank you for reading it!