Erwin Smith's Necessary Evil │ Attack on Titan

Covering Attack on Titan's theme of necessary evil, with a focus on some key characters in this video.
Part 2 to this video is out now and on my channel. • Reiner Braun's Necessa...
Thank you for watching!

[@Pinkbraun]

I think what separates Eren from every other selfish character in the show, is that unlike Erwin or Reiner, Eren couldn't let go of his dream in the end, and as a result we got to see how miserable that choice made Eren whenever we got to see his face in the titan's mouth.

[@Darth_SurgeYo]

He couldn't let go, he had to keep going to save his friends, country, and to rid the world of titans so kids wouldn't have to die 13 yrs later after eating their predecessors who also had their lives shortened. It would never end. Thousands of years later you would still have the same cycle and the amount of people killed would probably be as much or more than the amount eren killed. Humas love war as it gets proven in the end credits and Irl.

[@lain5858]

- Reiner still fight for Marley become a 1984 superpower -Erwin had no choice beside die -Eren still have to fight for Paradis not be wiped out like right now For the love of God, SNK fandom look like a bunch of pro slavery people when they talk about Eren "Muh Eren should not want to be free.... Eldians around the world live in concentration camps to be used as a biological weapons and there is a GLOBAL Alliance that want to wipe out Paradis....but ....but.....Eren should stop his dream of freedom.....its selfish.....he should be happy in being opressed....he should let his homeland be wiped out.... - Eren looks miserable because he dont want to kill inocent people, that's it.

[@pro7gamer]

Couldn’t let go of his dream? Please don’t take this the wrong way and please think about your answer. Like seriously. Did you even watch the show? If Eren did not let go of his dream then why is he not free? AOT was completely ruined by the ending because the quote “slave to freedom” makes no sense. If Eren was a slave to freedom he would have stopped at nothing to gain his freedom. Instead he gives up and says he can’t do nothing about it. And yes Eren did give up and let his friends defeat him. If Eren wanted freedom he could have killed his friends, destroyed the world, and brainwashed all eldians into forgetting the past. Please question the story. It’s full of lies and deceit. The quote “slave to freedom” is a quote used to make fun of people who can’t think critically

[@yelsahblah3270]

I think the truth is that for Eren, seeing his friends being killed was worse then killing everyone else. He said as much, that why he was going to do was terrible, but the alternative was more than he could bear. It's actually reminiscent of the option Levi gave him. Make the choice you'll regret the least. Instead of trusting his friends, he moved forward.

[@fa.s.h925]

​@@pro7gamerthank you, " slave to dream" also " slave to freedom" does not make any sense !!!

[@chrisrubin6445]

"using his two working eyes, he deduces...", lol, you sir get a like and comment because you made me laugh!

[@Niallisababe1]

I had to pause the video for 10 minutes cause I couldn't stop laughing at that comment 😂😂

[@SPAMTONGG]

That Erwin mogged text caught me off guard, absolute gold and this channel is so underrated. The simple music and the way you talk is perfect to watch and/or listen to!

[@whoshiloh]

script was so fire if you had something visual to go with it it’d blow up

[@RikoDiko]

Thanks 🙏 I'm trying to get better on that side of things

[@pawllypocket]

please make this a series!!!

[@Malevolence460]

Thank you. Been waiting for such a phenomenal analysis on Erwin! Any chance you’ll do one for Keith Shadis? Much like Erwin he holds a special place in my heart. Great video dude!

[@wezzelinator]

God the VA for Erwin killed it. It is my belief that every cadet there was prepared to high-tail it, but didn't just by shear force of Erwin's charisma. Knowing that Erwin was blowing smoke up my ass did not diminish my willingness to ride into hell with him. His voice was so powerful and spoke to something so primal inside of me, he alluded to ideals and thoughts i didn't know held as much sway for me. I would have followed him, I have little doubt. This is exactly why AoT so effective in one of it's messages, at least for me. "You can be convinced to kill or be killed for any and all reasons you can or can't imagine, good, evil, necessary or selfish" If it was for "the freedom for humanity", I would be convinced to do it, and as it turns out, it would have been a farce, as it wasn't for humanity, it was for an idea that was fundamentally unattainable, in a world I could not comprehend of.

[@RikoDiko]

Perfectly put

[@JuanThaSilva]

Bravo!

[@WakeUpUniverse66]

Great video bro, just subbed. Only thing i would say is that the Anime volume is alot lower than your voice, which gets annoying on PC since i have to adjust the volume if i want to hear comfortably. Otherwise great content, looking forward to more like this.

[@RikoDiko]

Thanks for the tip, honestly I hate that too I'm trying to improve with that.

[@user-zx1kw1pl5i]

Ay... i love ur videos mature vibe ... Keep goin brodie ☝️☝️ Lookin forward to see more..

[@enicot]

Gotta say, dubbing and translating are interesting disciplines. Armin's dialogue got changed from "A man that can't sacrifice anything can't change anything" to "If we can't let it go it's not worth holding on to".

[@erobwen]

Erwin and Levi's final discussion is so epic.

[@ant.onio.n]

I know the point of the video is the thorough exploration of what I believe to be the most crucial theme in AOT, but I've got to say that I find your dry delivery of jokes to be really amusing and undisruptive. A lot of video essayist make really jarring zingers, or sketch-like interruptions, but the dry and quick delivery of jokes like "using his two working eyes" and "'say less,' Erwin replies". I recommend getting a slightly better microphone but please don't change the rather soft-spoken and dry delivery. It's not monotonous, mind you! Great articulation and good choices in where to place emphasis. But it's too often that I see essayist become rather loud... It's good to project your voice, generally, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I really appreciate the articulate but soft-spoken and dry but not monotonous delivery. Keep it up!

[@RikoDiko]

Thank you! I really appreciate the in-depth feedback, and I'm glad someone enjoyed the jokes. I was unsure if they'd take away from the theme of the video. Regarding my voice I would like to be less monotone but recording myself is something new to me, and I've actually got an XLR AT2020 mic but I fear it sounds worse because of the room I'm recording in and maybe some settings.

[@yelsahblah3270]

Erwin rolled a nat 20 charisma for that Soldier's rage speech.

[@GilbertVision]

Being a Devil is Eren’s solace.

[@Darth_SurgeYo]

22:39 say less 😂

[@kutkuknight]

Criminally underviewed video At 2.2K whwn Im seeing it, lets see where this goes!

[@RikoDiko]

Appreciate it! if you enjoy so much you should check out part 2 which I uploaded recently ;)

[@lxfj2128]

Floch is necessary evil

[@RikoDiko]

just necessary

[@Niallisababe1]

Levi was to Erwin like Zoro is to Luffy in One Piece, his right-hand man. However, unlike Erwin, Luffy never puts his crew in danger unless they agree to the mission. Erwin just ordered his subordinates to die for his goals. Luffy asks his crew to join him. Zoro and the rest aren't obligated to die for Luffy like the Scouts and Levi are told to by Erwin

[@fa.s.h925]

Erwin is a military commander, military is the most hierarchical organization there is, it functions totally different from band of pirates. Also what Erwin does is basically what scouts supposed to do based on their job description. Simply apples and oranges...

[@kingslayerx1716]

Subbed at 211

[@kingslayerx1716]

In your opinion, is there any other media that’s BETTER written than aot?

[@RikoDiko]

Honestly hard to say, I enjoy some others like berserk and the MSQ in FFXIV similarly to how much I enjoy AOT. I wouldn't argue though if someone said it was the/their best. What about your opinion? Anything better?

[@kingslayerx1716]

@@RikoDiko in my honest opinion? No. I genuinely just don’t think so

[@wezzelinator]

By sheer storytelling, very little even approaches AoT for me. Probably ATLA. It is the closest thing to perfection when it come to the art of storytelling. But AoT? I can't point to piece of media that re-contextualized it's own story not once not twice but thrice, that had me cheering, in-awe, roaring with human-spirit, betrayed, crying, lamenting the fate of the human condition, triumphant, depressive, at a loss for words to describe the events unfolding in front of me, soul-shattered, that turned me into a different person, and just generally entertained. I can point to media I have seen that hits a subset of these but not all. Literally everything I watched/read for months after I finished AoT was worse by subconscious comparison "yeah that character just sacrificed themselves but it didn't quite reach diving-to-their-certain-doom-for-an-inch-of-freedom" or "yeah this villain has a tragic backstory and complex reasoning for his actions but it's just not hitting the same as following-the-worlddestroyer-from-childhood-and-understading-their-reasoning-at-every-point-until-we-are-both-destroying-the-world" or "yeah this character is morally gray but isn't quite cinnamon-roll-nukes-the-bay morally gray" or "yeah this fight is hype but I'm not feeling the completely-hopeless-100s-dead-mad-push-for-the-glory-of-humanity emotion" or "this character death is tragic and all, but cinnamonroll-barbaque-I-want-to-save-but-my-head-says-it-should-be-the-devil isn't there" I was like this, for months. I can point to "writing mistakes" badly handled points, structure stumbles, and the like if I look closely, but as a whole it surpasses everything I can even conceive of. Which sounds like high praise but I feel might just be lack-of-media-literacy.

[@RikoDiko]

@@wezzelinator similar to my feelings actually. I've not seen any form of media change the whole dynamic like AOT does multiple times and not have me wish it hadn't, or felt like one dynamic was objectively better than another. But maybe there are other stories that're comparable, cause I'd love to experience them

[@cyanrazorCel]

I think the whole series is about selfishness being a good thing in the end.

[@RikoDiko]

I think the show definitely is about selfishness but I think the viewer is left to decide if it's good in the end, similar to how I mentioned in the video with characters reaching their dreams.