I wanted to make this thread on 135, because I saw a few people disappointed and worried about the future of the climax. I want to highlight the positives of this chapter, and the great things it could lead to!

Spoilers below

The chapter starts off with Ymir freeing the pigs and I think that Isayama did this to show the similarities between Eren and Ymir. Ymir sees the value of life and believes that it should have the freedom to exist

I believe this also explains the flowers that we’ve been seeing across the series. It could’ve been an indicator of Ymir’s feelings that life = freedom. It’s the same with Eren If you go to ch73. They both believe that being born into the world/existing, should make you free

They’re two individuals who compliment and NEED each other to reach the freedom they want. Ymir had the power, but lacked the courage, whereas Eren had the courage, but he lacked the power. That’s why Ymir was calling out to Eren, that’s why she brought him to the paths.

Now on the next page, Ymir is looking on at them, the same way she was looking at the pigs and I think this could mean one of two things.

1. She values the freedom of the alliance, the same way she did the pigs, but this time, she is prioritising her own freedom

2 - Her appearance in the real world (like 131) confirms that she’s been witnessing the events happens and this is causing her to feel conflicted. She’s seen the people that Eren has slaughtered like pigs and it’s possible that we may see a change of heart

The question is though, if Isayama intended on having Ymir change her mind, why so late? Eren and Ymir have destroyed the majority of the world at this point and I feel like if Isayama wanted to go down this road, he wouldn’t have shown how far the rumbling has gone, in 134

Regardless, lets say that Ymir is conflicted. Armin has said before that Eren is a lost cause, but maybe Ymir isn’t. Maybe Armin’s compassion and ability to see the good in the world, is what will show Ymir that there might be another way

But my issue with this is that, stopping the rumbling would still leave her trapped in paths, as she has no physical body. Unless of course, you believe in the theory that Ymir will be reincarnated

Now I want to talk a bit more about why I think this chapter potentially set up amazing character moments, for the next chapters.
Lets start off with Jean. Now that Armin is separated from the group, someone has to step up and lead. Who better than Jean Kirschtein?

His character arc has been leading up to this moment and I think it’s about time that he leads humanity during its final moments. He will make sure that they fight to the bitter end, regardless of the outcome

I also want to mention that Jean has always been better than Armin at leading people that he isn’t familiar with, whereas Armin is better at leading the people that he is closest to, which is why I do believe that Jean will not only lead the alliance, but the Marleyan’s

Now Pieck. I think she will most likely die next chapter. There’s no real reason to keep her around imo. I think that she will detonate the explosives before she dies, thus completing her duty as a warrior

After years of waiting, Annie will finally meet her dad. Which is a sub-plot that has been present in the story ever since the end of the female titan arc. This meeting will almost certainly happen next chapter and it will be a very fulfilling moment for Annie

What happens next though, is anyone’s guess. Maybe she realises that there are people just as important as her dad, and instead of taking more lives, she will save some

I think Levi is out of commission at this point and this chapter showed how he hasn’t fully recovered from the explosion. I think it’s likely that he’ll have to give up on killing Zeke, the thing he’s been a slave to for years and he’ll prioritise the survival of humanity again

In saying this though, I believe there’s a possibility that Connie will take Levi’s place in the vow. Isayama has foreshadowed a confrontation between Connie and Zeke since the end of COT And with Levi out of commission, it’s possible that Connie is the one who confronts Zeke

Now, last chapter Reiner became a hero in the eyes of his mum. Of course he will meet her once again, but I don’t think this will end without one more fight between Reiner and Eren

This chapter we saw that Ymir can create Titan shifters from the past, whether or not it’s ONLY Titan shifters from the past, is a different question though. However, I do think it’s possible that Ymir creates an Attack Titan that Reiner has to fight

Whenever Mikasa’s mentioned, the ‘see you later’, scene comes up. I need to mention that, ‘see you later’, is the most accurate translation, but it loses the meaning of the Japanese word, which is ‘itterasshai’. itterasshai means, ‘please go and come back’

I don’t think you would say something like this after you or someone else, killed someone. Not only that, but time and time again Mikasa has shown that she will not let Eren die no matter what. A Mikasa and Eren encounter is undeniable though, but how it ends, is still a mystery

I think Armin and Eren’s confrontation is inevitable, but like I mentioned earlier, is it also possible that Armin talks to Ymir? Maybe even Zeke? I think there’s a lot of exciting possibilities ahead of us, but one things for sure, Armin will transform into the colossal titan

The question that now befalls Armin is whether he will believe in the truth or friendship. Armin has struggled for most of this arc with whether or not to believe in his childhood friend and in this chapter, I think Armin took small steps away from the belief in their friendship

One thing that someone pointed out, are the similarities between Erwin’s eyes in ch80 and Armin’s 135. They’re the exact same. It signifies that they’re losing hope. Armins losing his hope in Eren & their victory and Erwin lost hope that’d he would see the basement

One more thing that I want to mention is the panel with Armin and Bert. I think Isayama was trying to get the point across that Armin, just like Bert, will have to sacrifice something, in order to change something. Which of course aligns with Armin’s thoughts early in the chapter

Big thanks to oldsummerdream and smoothie-sailing for some of these ideas https://smoothie-sailing.tumblr.com/post/636976114604064768/armins-dream-will-save-the-world/amp?__twitter_impression=true