Levihan In 132, Not What You Thought

Levihan in 132, not what you thought

To understand 132 and Levi Arkerman as a character, one needs to look at Levi’s whole military life and beyond.

I think 99% of readers failed to notice a critical behavioral pattern from Levi - how he deals with death.

Let me refresh your memory.

In his first appearance in the manga, Levi is holding the hands of a dying comrade and promising him revenge.

The behavioral pattern starts from there.

He stares at Petra’s dead body.

He looks straight into Erwin’s eyes and asks him to die (to give Erwin strength).

Later he stares at Erwin’s dead body.

Even when Hange looks away he keeps staring, imprinting the image of Erwin’s death on his mind.

It keeps evolving.

In the forest he killed all his subordiantes who turned into titans, deliberately stopped to stare at their dead bodies before catching up with Zeke. Though heart-broken for a fleeting moment, Levi, in extreme anger, almost got a… you tell me what experession on his face. 

There must be a reason aside from the fact that too many deaths desensitize him to it?

Remember Levi’s childhood trauma?

He was abandoned by Kenny.

Levi copes with his fear for the death of people close to him, the fear of being left behind, by looking at death straight in the eye, sneering at it, metaphorically laughing at it.

Gradually, death fuels his anger, becoming an impetus to drive him forward, in a bone-chilling way it almost excites him, and he unleashes his anger through violence, or in a nicer name, revenge.

Let me reword it in case you think I’m too harsh on Levi:

He avenges his comrades’ deaths to give meaning to their sacrifices; for himself, personally, he deals with death in this way so no one’s death could break him. 

He asks his comrades not to die, he wants to save people, as many as possible. But Levi, understanding the inevitability of sacrifice since joinging the Survey Corps, is not scared of anyone’s death. He is Death itself, he is unstoppable.

You can’t scare me, you can’t hurt me.

-

Hange ends it for Levi, right there in 132.

First let me say, what a genius Isayama is!

Once, Kenny left Levi without a word, leaving him in confusion and pain: “why did you leave me that day”? 20-plus years later, Hange attempted to jump off the plane without a word to Levi. She only had a final talk with 104.

It was Levi who stopped her in her track.

Hange orders him to let her go (it’s not a polite ask).

He can’t look at her eyes, he can’t move. Nor could Hange look at his eyes, if she does, she will lose all the strength to go.

The sound of Rumblings and her order are the recipe for Levi’s mental breakdown.

Then comes the salute.

It is an explosive moment ruined by wanton translations, which I will talk about at the end.

Hange walks past him, Levi remains in the same position, refusing to turn around to send her off.

Remember his stare-at-death-and-the-dead way of dealing with his comrades’ sacrifice?

On the plane, while 104 crowd at the window, Levi retreats to his seat, away from the window as if hiding from some monster.

So he would’t have to watch her fall, so there is no image of her death on his mind.

(Note Levi is no longer near the window, he is at the opposite side, and looking downward)

Even better, he mumbles to himself and to her “…see you, Hange”, a pathetic act of self-deception.

A small Japanese language lesson to have a better grasp of it. 

じゃあな - what Levi said - is a casual way of saying “see you later” in daily conversations. Like, at the end of a meeting, “it’s 5 pm, let’s call it a day, see ya!”

Say it to a deceased person, people who happen to hear it will freak out and worry about your mental statement. The right word for people you’re never going to meet again is さようなら.

Levi is a kid in denial. 

If I can’t accept something, I pretend it doesn’t exist. I say it out loud to convince myself. 

No she’s not dead, I will see her later.

-

Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s Levi kneeling in front of Death, covering his eyes and ears - he is scared. Over decades, for the first time, he can’t face it. He fears (her) death.

Here is a Buddhist philosophy regarding love:

Love leads to fear.

-

If I turn around, I will have to watch you go

I will break down, and beg you to stay.

See how Hange triggered Levi’s childhoold trauma of being abandoned by Kenny and it’s worse this time. He has less courage facing it than the little boy 20 years ago.

-

For 132’s “devote the heart” scene, it deserves another long-winded analysis, because again, you need to check the slogan and gesture featured in the manga, not with just a vague memory, and first you need to get the translation right. Not “devote YOUR heart”, no.

Coming soon…

-

Speaking of Levi’s chilldhood trauma, Hange taking care of him with love and tenderness, protecting him, keeping him alive, is a reminder of mom’s unconditional love. 

I will save the analysis for another day. Isayama’s genius play shouldn’t go unnoticed - Pietà! (When is Levi’s brithday? Chritsmas)

All I’m saying is, the love Levi recieved and the pain he endured during his childhood, all came back and culminated in his relationship with Hange. 

I don’t know why Isayama applies such aesthetics and narrative skills of literature level to a manga couple. It’s too too too much for average readers and anime watchers.