Manga Spoilers

Historia has to be one of the most misunderstood characters in AOT. I blame this mostly on the anime version of Uprising. So much important characterisation and dialogue is cut, which leads to people getting the wrong idea of who she really is

- Thread

Before I begin, I want to mention some of the themes that are important for this thread. Firstly, ‘being born in the world’, which is a theme that is concurrent from start to finish. ‘Sins of the father’, and ‘children are the future’.

‘Sins of the father’. Isayama talks about it in great detail, specifically about Eren and Historia. She was about to be forced into a role that she didn’t want. A girl who her dad only saw as a vessel for the power, not a daughter. But she was saved by Ymir’s and Eren’s words

I will go into this more later, but I’m sure that this theme is going to play into the end of her character arc. Isayama words here back my thoughts even more. ‘Killing the father’. Being better than the one you had and carving your own fate, instead of continuing the cycle

‘Being born into the world’, is pretty self explanatory and then we have a theme that’s been present since the War for Paradis arc, which is about ‘children being the future’. With all the Historia stuff going on, we can see why these themes are relevant

Bare with me while I go over the basic stuff, because this is essential in making my point at the end. Historia wasn’t born out of love. She was born out of misery. If anything she was a nuisance. She’s the product of two parents with selfish desires, mainly Rod Reiss

Now here is where I need to explain Krista Lenz and Historia Reiss, because people constantly mix them up. Krista was a role given to her by her dad. Not only that, but it really seems like she internalised the lessons Frieda taught her. It was a mask she wore until she met Ymir

Ymir understood Historia, because she was the same as her. Both given names, both given roles. Both cared about what was best for others instead of themselves. They were both ‘good girls’.

This is when we finally see Krista’s ‘good girl’ persona waver. She didn’t care about saving Daz, she just wanted to die. A heroic death for a ‘good girl’.

It really is quite interesting to see both Ymir and Historia struggle with their ‘identity’. They want the strength to live for themselves, but they struggle to balance these sides. Are they still stuck playing those roles? Or is it something that they truly want?

I feel like the whole, ‘live for yourself’ thing, gets misinterpreted a lot. What is living for yourself exactly? Is it to not care about other people? Is it to only focus on yourself and what you want? Well, if it’s the latter, then what if what you WANT is to help others too?

I think what ‘living for yourself’, really means to these two characters, is the ability to make their own choices, choosing their own fate, their own roles and taking pride in their own strength, instead of feeling like it’s something they HAVE to do

This is the biggest difference between Krista and Historia. Krista would take on any role, no matter what, if it was what OTHER people wanted/needed. Whereas Historia WANTS to use her OWN strength to find people crying out for help

This is some of the most important cut content. It shows us a side of Historia that we didn’t really get in the anime. Also, it’s quite interesting how this chapter starts with Frieda telling Historia to be a ‘good girl’, just for it to be followed by this

At this point Historia is completely lost. She doesn’t really know who she is or what she wants to do, she’s just the empty girl that’s no longer pretending to be someone she’s not. And Eren’s words here about her being ‘normal’, are what she’s wanted to hear for a long time

It’s Ymir’s and Eren’s words that end up saving Historia as a person and it’s what allows her to break free from her destiny and forge her own future. (Isayama’s words, not mine so don’t get mad).

Historia becomes Queen despite being another role that she has to play, but she takes advantage of it and uses it to do what she WANTS. Something that she can take pride in and something that doesn’t require her to be a ‘good girl’ or a ‘God’.

A bit off topic, but it really is great to see Historia happy like this, despite everything she’s been through. These moments are very few and far between, but they’re most certainly memorable

Unfortunately, now and again Historia slips back into her Krista persona as shown here. If it wasn’t for Eren, I honestly think that she would’ve accepted this plan and subjected herself to this role

Now, we’re kinda entering baby/baby daddy territory and I’m not trying to start a shipping war, so if you disagree with anything I say, please be respectful. I’m simply presenting things from the manga to support my POV and it’s FINE to disagree. But lets be respectful.

And now the infamous baby subplot. Personally, I believe that this could lead to one of the most powerful conclusions in the entire series, not only character wise, but thematically as well. Which to many sounds ridiculous due to her lack of screen time, but...

Screen-time doesn’t mean that you’re adding anything to the story. There’s characters with way more screen time than Historia, but all it takes is one chapter that is actually focused on her journey and the themes that she embodies, to make her contributions greater

Imo Historia’s character arc can either go two ways. Either she commits the same ‘sins’ as her father, OR she can, ‘kill the father’, and be better than he ever was. Which one sounds more impactful and in line with Isayama’s words?

We’re told repeatedly that love will break the cycle of hatred. Will Historia have a kid just to save herself? Or just for some plan? I don’t think this is the case. And if it is, that means Historia regressed as character instead of having a positive arc

Lets take a look at what we ‘know’ about the pregnancy. The farmer is supposedly the dad and she didn’t marry him. Isn’t this odd? Historia knows the pain of being an illegitimate child. Would she really subject her child to that if she didn’t have a good reason?

Not only that but, Historia did NOT need to have a child to save herself (contrary to popular belief) + Eren would’ve never agreed if the baby was solely conceived just for some sort of plan. Eren consistently rejects this idea

We also know that Eren knew about the wine spiked with spinal fluid, which basically guarantees Zeke’s safety (this means that Eren’s plan wouldn’t be in danger and even if it was, he would’ve found an alternative). So what is the baby for? To save her life?

Eren made it very clear what the options were. Run or fight. He was willing to do that to keep her safe. So why would Eren agree to her to pregnancy, if it was just to save herself?

‘Historia looks miserable, she clearly didn’t want this’.

Well I’d argue that the reason she’s so miserable is, because she knows that Eren is about to massacre the entire world. But who knows, maybe she is miserable, for other reasons. We won’t know until we get her POV

But to continue. What could she say that would make him be okay with this? Why did Historia ask him if she already knows his thoughts?

Imo, the only way to justify Historia’s lack of screen-time, is to show her positive growth as a character, by being Historia, her true self and doing what she wants. My hope is that she ‘kills the father’, and has a child because she wants to love it, unlike her parents

Like I mentioned earlier in the thread, not only would it be amazing for her character, but it would also play into the themes I mentioned earlier. It doesn’t matter who the dad is. This is about Historia as a character and I think this would be amazing for her

There still so much we don’t know about her since the time-skip, but I want to believe that the question she asked Eren here, will lead to a positive + powerful conclusion to her arc. Also, I’m not here to discuss Historia’s sexual preferences, do what you want, but...

Just don’t be an asshole if you disagree with what I say, just be respectful. It’s not hard. I love Historia’s character and I just want her to have a proper conclusion that makes sense for her arc. Thanks for reading if you made it this far

Oh also, big thanks to this user for translating the ‘Sins of the father’ content. This wouldn’t be possible without them. https://www.reddit.com/r/titanfolk/comments/j5fyhf/the_sins_of_the_father_shingeki_no_kyojin/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf