Since I'm getting told again Zeke & Levi's dynamic having to do with mutual understanding is headcanon-
Literally Zeke says before their fight in 113:
"Levi... the world we've seen is too different... It's not as if you could ever understand even if I shared my true intentions"
Literally Zeke says before their fight in 113:
"Levi... the world we've seen is too different... It's not as if you could ever understand even if I shared my true intentions"
And just a couple chapters before, Levi and Zeke's conversation discusses judgements of each other, assumptions, and concludes with this from Levi:
"At last, we agree"
"At last, we agree"
Ignorance, misunderstanding, value of life- these all drive the conflict with Zeke and Levi in addition to the personal baggage (on Levi's end at least)
They only have a few set conversations and AoT makes a point to have them discuss agreement, understanding, trust, life itself
They only have a few set conversations and AoT makes a point to have them discuss agreement, understanding, trust, life itself
When Zeke loses his advantage in 113 it's because he misunderstands Levi as one who had to "kill" so many comrades before
When Levi loses his advantage in 114, it's because he misunderstands Zeke's devotion/willingness to sacrifice himself
It's really unsubtle the message there
When Levi loses his advantage in 114, it's because he misunderstands Zeke's devotion/willingness to sacrifice himself
It's really unsubtle the message there
Levi hates and mistrusts Zeke not just for the lives he's taken, but because he's literally seen him "enjoying" it, which is also called out by the narrative- that's why he prompts and questions Zeke so much post-time skip and says he can't tell if they're on the same side
Levi sees Zeke laughing over those he's killed, calls him out on not caring about lives, but that gives him only part of the picture of Zeke
+ Zeke pegs Levi as a "caring leader", an astute observation given how Levi comes off, but still misunderstands what that means to Levi
+ Zeke pegs Levi as a "caring leader", an astute observation given how Levi comes off, but still misunderstands what that means to Levi
Also if people think that Levi didn't understand what Zeke's intention was by literally calling him out by name and flagging him down during the Rumbling- what on earth do they think Levi was thinking? That Zeke wanted a chat? Wanted to die for reasons unrelated to the Rumbling?
Alignment with former enemies is a huge part of the Alliance chapters- we don't need Levi to wax poetic on recognizing what Zeke is doing here given what he's already established as knowing & the fact that both are finally in agreement here on stopping the Rumbling in this moment
Levi having personal bias against Zeke/wanting to fulfill the vow + Levi and Zeke being foils with conflict that has meaning for AoT aren't even remotely mutually exclusive concepts
In fact, if they didn't have the latter, there'd be no real point for AoT to include the former
In fact, if they didn't have the latter, there'd be no real point for AoT to include the former
Like we even know that despite Levi saying he was going to kill Zeke to his face, he didn't plan to pre-Rumbling- not only does he ignore every opportunity, but his plan is having someone else eat the Beast Titan; Levi's just saying it because he feels powerless and hates Zeke
It's only /once/ the Rumbling happens that Levi plans to kill Zeke to stop it. As he states and as he acts, his plan was never to kill Zeke himself before because the Beast is wayyyy too valuable of an asset, which is why he transports him rather than kills him after his betrayal
Even then, even as Levi vows he'll kill Zeke anew in 133, the very next chapter has Reiner taking point and Levi only being frustrated that Zeke's a "husk" - the narrative is the one bending over backwards to delay the "vow" and justify Levi fulfilling it, not Levi the character
Like Isayama literally made the entire Alliance's plan killing Zeke and the moment that stops the immediate Rumbling Levi doing it- the narrative is bending over backwards to put these two in conflict and then finally on the same page for at least a moment
To me, most things in the series have multiple layers with the character POV vs. the story POV, and there's things we should question the purpose of, like authorial intent
Zeke vs. Levi's one of those narrative choices that has numerous layers for characters, story & the dynamic
Zeke vs. Levi's one of those narrative choices that has numerous layers for characters, story & the dynamic
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