Reiner Braun - Modern Day Helos - THREAD

Before I say anything, it's important to establish Reiner's importance and what his arc is all about. Reiner is ''another protagonist'' of the story, as stated by Isayama, and his arc mirrors Eren's perfectly, only instead of his desire for freedom, Reiner wanted something else.

From an early childhood, Reiner's mother told him that as an Eldian, he must work hard to earn the respect of others, and atone for the sins of his ancestors. In that respect, he saw a way to put his family back together, which was enough of a push for him to join the military.

All of this created an obsession with young Reiner, an obsession for doing as he's told and earning respect from Marley, and what better way to do that than to be a hero who saves the world by carrying out their mission on Paradis.

There the reality hits him hard. Marcel dies, he finds out he wasn't supposed to be chosen in the first place, and the whole mission is a failure because of him. In these key moments, unable to cope with the losses, he pushes on, with only one desire in mind, desire to be a hero.

This is the lowest of Reiner, much like Eren now, he gave into his selfish desire and put his friends in danger. He was so blinded by the desire to be a hero, that he became a villain instead, kickstarting Eren's journey as well.

Probably the most important moment in his life, moment of total desperation in which he refused to die, refused to make peace with the situation and decided to act. This fully mimics Eren's choices from chapter 131, where he goes for his freedom without looking back.

Skip to the end of his journey, Reiner has done horrible things for the sake of his mission, he killed, betrayed, lead his friends into death and still came out alive. He lives with the fact that he became anything but a hero, ever haunted by what his childish desires brought.

This is where we see his mentality shift, he's no longer blinded by the mission, he just wants to run away from the things he has done, trying to find redemption in death, unable to forgive himself. But most importantly, he understood that the prize of his dream was too high.

Around this time in the story, we're introduced to the Marleyan legend of Helos in the conversation between Willy and Magath. He is a hero, he defeated the Devil, he's admired, everything Reiner ever wanted. But also he is fake, and yes exactly what Reiner was so far - fake hero.

And yes, the statue of Helos is hollow, he isn't real, neither is the Devil, but it doesn't stay that way for long. Real Devil wasn't King Fritz, it is Eren Yeager, and with him trying to destroy the world, now more than ever, the world needs new Helos, a true Helos.

Shortly after Magath says that we see a panel of Reiner and Eren fighting, Reiner quickly stabs Eren with a spear, in a similar fashion to the statue of Helos. A bubble with words ''A hero who will save the world'' is displayed during that very same panel.

And this is why I believe Reiner will, in the end, become a true hero who saves the world It's a perfect ending for his arc, the one who started this war is the one to end it, and actually become a hero only after learning what that actually means.

And that's the thing about Reiner, he's more than just his regret, he actually changed as a person. From leading Bert and Annie to hell, to actually wanting to sacrifice himself for his comrades and greater good. Slowly he became somebody better, somebody worthy of that respect.

Reiner also carries the blood of Eldia and Marley in his veins, from both of his parents. Which is important in a way cause Helos was ''a Marleyan soldier'' and considering he also symbolizes both Eldian and Marleyan desire for this conflict to be stopped.

How exactly is he going to do it is still unknown, but considering that the story will probably end with power of the titans being gone, it's likely that he'll play a role in that. As foreshadowed in the chapter 96, he may uproot the PATH tree which symbolizes the titan power.

Duality between him and Eren is also important to note, and it was emphasized by Isayama a couple of times, mainly during final exhibition (which I recommend everyone to look up, I'll leave the link at the end). It heavily implies that the final battle will be between the two.

It's fitting for the two of them to have the final encounter. Considering Isayama always likes to subvert expectations and subvert shounen tropes in general, Eren going from a hero to a villain while Reiner goes from a villain to a hero is just perfect.

In conclusion, with Rumbling being something Reiner's actions started, I believe his character arc will come full circle and he'll be the hero who saves the world, a true Helos to Eren's Devil, finally fulfilling his desire, only after he long gave up on it.

This thread wouldn't be possible without my wonderful, smart, beautiful, c̵o̵n̵d̵e̵s̵c̵e̵n̵d̵i̵n̵g̵ friend @yoroibraun and her reddit post on this subject, which I'll leave under this tweet. Follow her and read the post if you want to go more in depth with this.

reddit post- https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/comments/dwel1c/manga_spoilers_an_overlooked_plot_point_that_may/
final exhibition comparison between Eren and Reiner- https://yaboylevi.tumblr.com/post/186227594601/reiner-vs-eren-snk-final-exhibition-as-some-of

Oh and btw