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Manga SpoilersHistoria 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, âbeing born in the worldâ, which is a theme that is concurrent from start to finish. âSins of the fatherâ, and âchildren are the futureâ.
âSins of the fatherâ. Isayama talks about it in great detail, specifically about Eren and Historia. She was about to be forced into a role that she didnât want. A girl who her dad only saw as a vessel for the power, not a daughter. But she was saved by Ymirâs and Erenâs words
I will go into this more later, but Iâm sure that this theme is going to play into the end of her character arc. Isayama words here back my thoughts even more. âKilling the fatherâ. Being better than the one you had and carving your own fate, instead of continuing the cycle
âBeing born into the worldâ, is pretty self explanatory and then we have a theme thatâs been present since the War for Paradis arc, which is about âchildren being the futureâ. 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 wasnât born out of love. She was born out of misery. If anything she was a nuisance. Sheâs 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 âgood girlsâ.
This is when we finally see Kristaâs âgood girlâ persona waver. She didnât care about saving Daz, she just wanted to die. A heroic death for a âgood girlâ.
It really is quite interesting to see both Ymir and Historia struggle with their âidentityâ. 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, âlive for yourselfâ 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 itâs the latter, then what if what you WANT is to help others too?
I think what âliving for yourselfâ, 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 itâs 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 didnât really get in the anime. Also, itâs quite interesting how this chapter starts with Frieda telling Historia to be a âgood girlâ, just for it to be followed by this
At this point Historia is completely lost. She doesnât really know who she is or what she wants to do, sheâs just the empty girl thatâs no longer pretending to be someone sheâs not. And Erenâs words here about her being ânormalâ, are what sheâs wanted to hear for a long time
Itâs Ymirâs and Erenâs words that end up saving Historia as a person and itâs what allows her to break free from her destiny and forge her own future. (Isayamaâs words, not mine so donât 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 doesnât require her to be a âgood girlâ or a âGodâ.
A bit off topic, but it really is great to see Historia happy like this, despite everything sheâs been through. These moments are very few and far between, but theyâre most certainly memorable
Unfortunately, now and again Historia slips back into her Krista persona as shown here. If it wasnât for Eren, I honestly think that she wouldâve accepted this plan and subjected herself to this role
Now, weâre kinda entering baby/baby daddy territory and Iâm not trying to start a shipping war, so if you disagree with anything I say, please be respectful. Iâm simply presenting things from the manga to support my POV and itâs 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 doesnât mean that youâre adding anything to the story. Thereâs 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 Historiaâs character arc can either go two ways. Either she commits the same âsinsâ as her father, OR she can, âkill the fatherâ, and be better than he ever was. Which one sounds more impactful and in line with Isayamaâs words?
Weâre 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 donât 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 âknowâ about the pregnancy. The farmer is supposedly the dad and she didnât marry him. Isnât this odd? Historia knows the pain of being an illegitimate child. Would she really subject her child to that if she didnât have a good reason?
Not only that but, Historia did NOT need to have a child to save herself (contrary to popular belief) + Eren wouldâve 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 Zekeâs safety (this means that Erenâs plan wouldnât be in danger and even if it was, he wouldâve 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?
âHistoria looks miserable, she clearly didnât want thisâ.
Well Iâd argue that the reason sheâs 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 wonât know until we get her POV
Well Iâd argue that the reason sheâs 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 wonât 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 Historiaâs 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 âkills the fatherâ, 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 doesnât 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 donât 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, Iâm not here to discuss Historiaâs sexual preferences, do what you want, but...
Just donât be an asshole if you disagree with what I say, just be respectful. Itâs not hard. I love Historiaâs 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 âSins of the fatherâ content. This wouldnât 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
