A thread on my thoughts on how the titan curse was removed and how it's effected the story

Ymir's slavery to the paths realm as 122 told it was showcased as never having the freedom to make a choice to change her destiny, which Eren reminded she did have
Her environment created this stockholm syndrome and the paths was the personification of a world to escape

Eren throughout the story has had this conflict with his own "role", playing one of a saviour while on the reverse a monster
The dual nature of his perception is the realisation he makes in chapter 100 and embraces them in order to even achieve a single goal of his

Eren's sympathy is built up as active example the story has reminded us
-humanity's hope
-saviour of paradis
-the usurper
-a rebel against peace
Which is just as Ymir is perceived as a god or devil when in fact both are human beings, as simply as that

The reinforcing of how these 2 characters, the MC of the series and the other the progenitor to the narrative history as human beings was done so to show what actual selfish desires they had that makes a person fundamentally themselves was an innocent desire of freedom

139 doesn't erase this, it simply attempts to add another layer of humanity which is the concept of love, but the delivery is pretty sub level
By taking an objective view without bias on the message, love is something every human being longs for amongst the desire to be free

Both have this distorted longing for love which was beyond their reach, it's simply all delivered in 1 chapter as a reveal but lacks build up that really led to such a severe fan reaction

As a result of Mikasa both being the people Y+E needed so there's a recontextualisation for who that "someone" was
When previous context was always each other that gave Ymir this refound freedom in her birth and Eren someone who shared a dream and granted him the power to fulfill

This change has a severe knock on effect on this emotional moment, had there been more build up for the delivery of Eren's own feelings, it wouldn't have this initial reaction for people to reject entirely what they're reading

The reveal that Ymir had this "love" for King Fritz almost seems like a contradiction to how she died, had she longed this love then she would've kept on living rather not loose the will to live because she wanted escape all the suffering i.e the visual metaphor that was paths

Would've been much in line with the narrative and themes if the longing they both shared was simple comfort and understanding, not a distorted form of love that's self destructive
Both characters have suffered more than anyone and comfort of any sort would've relieved some pain

Knowing the order of events, we know Eren's suffering from the burden of his atrocities and his question should've been explored to explain this love he seeked from the one he loves most
It's just the disconnect 139 has where we've never seen this romantic longing

So 138's event was what Ymir needed to be free from the agony of love, resulting in her disappearance and the end of titans but we're basically told Ymir was never free until this moment despite the indication of 122 where she opened her eyes and how much it parallels Eren

The introduction of the centipede almost to disappear as soon as it's set up, pretty much affirms my belief that this route was changed last second
Not the direction of Eren's fate but how the titan curse would be undone, where 139 removes way more layers than it adds

There's this constant build up rumbling arc of Eren and Reiner's conversation and the impression it's left since then had this almost inevitable feel that they'd be another moment for their characters ( happens but off screen so doesn't even count )

It's the perfect circle which would've occurred had this route been taken
Both what they selfishly fought for at heart, an idealised world one of respect from a family that could never be together and freedom in a world plagued by oppression
All a result of the titan curse

Having Reiner and the rest of the warriors end the origin of this story's core problem while MA stop Eren who's actions were born from this pre existing world that he could never be free in would give everyone a role opposed to an unexplained off screen event

Would additionally remove the surprise moment that in the end turned out to be simply for shock value, since there's an actual fight and reward to earn this outcome
The titan curse and centipede disappearing with a *poof* just irritates me with it's execution

Mikasa's arc doesn't take any knock on effect, the message regardless is there
It just doesn't have the wide spread effect of knocking down the roles of everyone else and Ymir
There gratitude is much more genuine since it's an outcome his friends carried out and were rewarded for

I can appreciate Eren's intentions to remove the boundary that kept the world apart, an unchangeable fact that plagued Eldian people from their birth right
So there's additional thematic value since what prevented freedom for their race is finally removed

Now that there's been an elevation in this barrier that can make all Eldians truly free, there's no exploration how this feels for the people of Paradis
Simply the result of nationalistic yeagerists that turned the island into what Eren was trying to eliminate

139 and the implications of Eren's actions and outcomes, never have the full space to explore any narrative themes
Any new concepts or themes seemingly contradict or convolute the story unnecessarily when they honestly aren't bad at core, just don't feel natural

It's like a jigsaw piece that's the wrong size, the surrounding pieces lack the much needed time to develop for any natural flow or cohesion that Marley or WFP arc was known for

Chapters such as 126, 137 and 139 all have this reputation not because of the direction, but simply how the pacing is at 2000mph
Final fight is rigged with no plot progression, gaping plot holes, unexplained mechanics with vague answers never giving satisfaction to the viewer

The story never suffered from the route that was planned, simply what was sacrificed in order to get to this point
It's easy in the past to avoid conflictions but as rumbling arc progressed there's simply too much not to ignore
The true tragedy was simply what could've been