Chapter 60 discussion

Chinese scanlation:http://www.ishuhui.com/archives/3316

English translation:http://fuku-shuu.tumblr.com/post/94072735442/live-translation-typesetting-post-for-shingeki-no

1st English scanlation:http://imgur.com/a/emW58

Thank you for the links! <3

WOW. Awesome chapter for action, even if it was a little short on revelations. Goddamn, Hange, you are badass. I did feel bad for Beaure, but, eh, it's war. (What were they doing with his pen there? They looked like they were going to write something on his face.) Also, I am seriously impressed with Connie and Sasha, up on the roof and shooting to wound. I guess Jean isn't the only one who's reconsidered where he stands.

The scene where Levi learns Kenny's last name was a little underwhelming. Then again neither he nor Mikasa is that emotive, and all of a sudden they had something bigger to worry about anyway.

Before that -- did you notice that when Levi's pretending to consider the MP's offer, all of the recruits look nervous… except for Armin? He looks incredibly tired, but there's not even a drop of sweat on him, unlike the rest of them. He's keeping a straight face, but he knows Levi's just toying with the guy.

Question. When Flegel said, "Please take care of me," was he asking the people in the Trost apartment building to keep an eye on the rest of the MPs so they don't shoot him?

SA: That scanlation appears to be missing some early pages (http://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/comments/2cgraw/attack_on_titan_chapter_60_leaked_very_early/). Spoilers, of course.

My bad. The OP of the Reddit post is a troll who likes to post fake spoilers. I don't follow that subreddit closely and so this is the first I'd encountered of him.

Hange was definitely badass, though I think it's a little cruel of her to just expect the newspaper guys to just switch to the SL's side. I mean, it's war and there will be casualties, but expecting the old guy to volunteer himself and his family as them... idk, there's not much she could have done, but still.

I think, out of all of them, Jean looked least composed, and Connie definitely looked pretty surprised in some reveals, while Mikasa, Sasha and Armin were much more calm. Possibly it would be Jean > Connie > Sasha > Armin > Mikasa. I wonder if all of this has taken some of Armin's wonderment out of the world. He hasn't said anything about his future plans at all, for a long time now, and in the start they were definitely made out to be a big thing for both him and Eren.

I assumed the 'Please take care of me' was so that he could stay in Trost long term, and the people would hide him if the MP came around, or misdirect the MP, that sort of thing. I might be wrong though, and sometimes the scanlations don't give the same impression the original might.

I think it's a little cruel of her to just expect the newspaper guys to just switch to the SL's side. I mean, it's war and there will be casualties, but expecting the old guy to volunteer himself and his family as them... idk, there's not much she could have done, but still.

I agree, but that's a huge theme of SnK: These are very flawed people in a terrible situation, and they sometimes do horrible things because they don't feel they have a choice. Given Hange's mini-breakdown after the torture scene, I doubt she enjoyed terrorizing the reporters like that.

Possibly it would be Jean > Connie > Sasha > Armin > Mikasa.

Mikasa's and Armin's reactions seem to me an apples-to-oranges comparison. Mikasa tends toward stoicism and muted affect, but she was quite shocked to hear Kenny's last name; in the anime her reaction will probably be rendered as a gasp.

Armin has just spent a lot of energy adjusting himself to the fact that he now has blood on his hands. He appears to be keeping himself going through profound emotional fatigue (also the physical kind, as he is not the most robust among them), which is naturally going to dull his reactions. But I would reiterate that he's also calmer than his fellow recruits because he understands the game Levi's playing with the senior MP better than they do — and he's paying close attention because he wants to continue to sharpen his skills at manipulation.

But I don't know that his sense of wonderment has suffered. If you asked him in this chapter, he'd say he'd still be delighted to see the ocean. It's more that there's so much going on for him right now that he hasn't really had time for daydreaming, and that's entirely normal. Not to mention, he's shared most of those daydreams with Eren, and Eren has not consistently been by his side in recent chapters.

Sasha was really badass competent in this chapter, but not "calm." She shouldn't have shouted out so loudly about the MPs who are stalking them, because that's cost them the advantage of surprise.

Your interpretation of "Please take care of me" makes sense, but I guess the official translation will clarify.

Dead meat?

So I'm not the only one who thinks the three figures with the MP cloak that are approaching Levi's Squad hideout are actually Eren, Christa and an accomplice (maybe Christa's father himself) who came up with a plan and managed to rid themselves of the kidnappers?

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but it would make me so happy to see Eren and Christa back together with the other kids, at least.

I don't think this would happen, though I'd like it to. I'm pretty sure Isayama will give Levi a much, much larger role in their escape, since at this point SNK is basically the 'Levi Brings Down a Corrupt Government While Being Baddass' story. (I am not denying being bitter that everything has changed so much since the first few books.)

I'm thinking that the three are Hitch, Marlo and an accomplice, or perhaps someone higher up who knows where Eren and Historia are, who they lured out of safety.

DA

I also think that Marlowe and Hitch plus some third party are the MPs approaching Levi squad 2.

Though regarding Eren and Historia, I can't shake the feeling that even if the others will eventually be on the right trail leading towards them, Eren and Historia will save themselves somehow and meet up with the others half way. (Possible complications like only one of them getting away aside.)

NA

I agree that two of the approaching MPs are Marlo and Hitch. I've seen speculation that the third one is Annie, but I find that hard to believe, both because she's an antagonist and because I have no idea how anyone except perhaps Hange could have managed to crack the crystal.

I also agree that Eren and Historia are not going to sit around passively waiting to be saved. The question for me is this: Will Historia shift loyalties to gain her father's approval? (It's possible that Rod Reiss is actually on the side of good, but I'm not holding my breath for that one.) And will Eren therefore be attempting to fight her as well as her father, Kenny, and their minions? Bound and gagged like that, he certainly can't convince Historia that she's being fed a line of bullshit.

Small detail, but even in a chapter that does not focus on them, the Armin/Jean train keeps merrily chugging on. Stuff like this really really makes me curious where their relationship will go, since their most recent interaction wasn't needed to further the plot or even character development. It was just a quick blip of "Jean doesn't handle even 'only' shooting people in the leg well and also btw, Armin's paying close attention to him and genuinely cares about him".
It's just such a deliberate little reminder of their relationship, that I'm becoming very convinced that Isayama does have further plans for them. As a seasoned shipper, I also can't help notice that little interactions like these strewn all across long running-manga (angsty looks galore) are at least for het couples, frequently the slowburn build up towards eventual romance. I don't think that it will become romantic (even with Ymir/Historia recently being confirmed, m/m is a different ball game in shounen) but it's fun to think about in a sort of "but what if..."-way.

This is a good point and I'm glad you brought it up. Not my primary ship but it's an intriguing one, and I also hope we keep getting little hints of that. Whether it becomes canon or not doesn't matter to me that much. I mean, yes, representation is terrific, but this is not a romance-focused canon. Even Ymir/Historia's relationship is ambiguous and subtle enough that it had to be confirmed publicly by TPTB.

Chapter 60 discussion

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Erwin

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