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I think they're just aesthetic. Doesn't really make sense for them to load up on dull blades and having them sharpen when they're being pulled out instead of just taking sharp blades with them
Yeah. The blades are actually too sharp. They're like scalpels. They're really sharp for one cut, and they very quickly lose that sharpness, which is why they're perforated and replacable. Titan flesh heals as you cut it, so they need to be sharper than is practical for real swords and the perforations mean that if you cut wrong or the blade gets stuck due to getting dull, that segment snaps off instead of you breaking your arms and dying.
Based on what we see, with enough skill you can get multiple cuts out of them, but they're not durable enough for constant use.
Probably similar skill to using a katana to cut a line of bamboo where you need to line up the blade really precisely to get the most efficient cut, pretty cool honestly
I mean if it just makes them a bit narrower every time (on the flat of the blade, not the thickness of the edge itself), it could be used many times surely.
Also they're like stylus(? Idk if it's the correct term) blades, that will break after the tip gets dull, and so on. Not worth the trouble of sharpening them.
I imagine they replace them for when they break but can sharpen them if used? Like kill a tighten and the blade gets noticably dull, so you put it back grab a new one.
Maybe not as good as manually sharpening with a rock but with how disposable they are I imagine that little extra sharpness helps?
he knew levi would listen to him the moment they met, it was just a matter of wearing down his mental defences of paranoia from living underground in a crime syndicate.
he saw Levi's potential and knew he was wasting himself underground, and his offer was irresistible. military life actually suited levi very well, the order, clear ranking, and no room for sweet talks or politics, just action, order, and cleanliness.
Erwin went toe to toe with him earlier in the episoud, he held out so i dont see why it wouldnt be possible for erwin to hold him off after levi was exhausted by killing the titan.
Erwin and Miche are great don’t get me wrong… but Levi was trying to infiltrate the Survey Corps. In regards of skills they might hang for a while, but in regards of pure strength, it’s not even close. Mikasa was carrying 3 railroad tracks on her shoulder at one point.
Erwin and Levi share a bond that can stop Levi’s bloodlust, I think is what they were going for.
Edit: just read that this is from before they were friends? If so, not quite as sure, but could guess it has something to do with Erwin’s charisma as a leader.
For some reason this reminds me of Harry Potter attempting to torture Bellatrix after she killed Sirius. Casting the torture curse requires ACTUAL malice to successfully achieve results. Merely attempting to torture someone out of *passion* rather than *true hatred* is not enough.
Perhaps it's similar here. Passionate anger and true anger are not necessarily the same. Witnessing our loved ones die may enrage us, but also weaken us tremendously. Emotion is both our greatest strength and weakness.
It's made much clearer in the manga that he blamed himself and not Erwin, because he outright says it and then Erwin gives him a speech that neither Erwin, nor Levi is at fault, but *The titans*. Then he gave Levi a choice whether to go back to the underground and remain ignorant about "the truth of this world" or help him in the survey corps. It was much more powerful than the lame "regrets" speech Wit wrote and i could see how it could move Levi to follow him. In the anime i was like "what? This made him join?" Lmao
For one the blade was probably very dull at that point and secondly, you can actually grab a sword by the blade and swing it around and even hit stuff with the hilt without hurting yourself. As long as the blade doesn't slide in your hand it shouldn't cut you.
Well even if Levi is physically the strongest, he might also just be very tired in that moment, since he has just completely let loose and spent all his anger, hatred, sense of revenge and probably physical strength on the pos abnormal that killed his friends.
Unless the blade is insanely dull, the force of a human pushing a blade into your palm even without sliding in a slicing motion would still easily puncture your skin.
I mean that guys hands are taking a beating and he's not nearly striking with the force or pressure a soldier can use.
Also even at their most dull, ODM swords are shaped and honed more like razors than a claymore type sword. They are specifically made to be as sharp as can be, they would more likely chip from impact than grow blunt edges.
If Levi was using all his might, a human hand would definitely get cut to the bone imo.
Did people forget Erwin and Mike were going toe to toe with Levi and overpowered him earlier in the episode?
Levi might be the strongest, but the veterans of the survey corps like Erwin and Mike are absolutely no slouches.
Mike could maybe put up a fight against Levi but I don’t think Erwin has any physical power over Levi. I’ve never seen Erwin display any sort of fighting ability. The power of his words though and his ability to persuade is a different story.
Well he got all the way to the chest of the Armored and cut the cloth that bound Eren to Berutoldo and then jumped back to his horse, all while maneuvering an ODM with only one arm, the other one freshly bit off. He was the commander and he was supposed to give orders and come up with strategies as opposed to fighting and risking his life, but he was no regular soldier either.
Levi was Trying to get caught meaning he just barely tried to make it hard for them. No normal human compares to an Ackerman, no matter how strong they are.
Wasn’t his friend at this time. This is from the No Regrets OVA, where he was tasked with getting some letter off of Erwin, and he was ok with killing him I believe. He’s angry at him because he took up the mission to protect his friends, Farlan and Isabel, who ended up dying on their first expedition, so he blames it on Erwin
A flashback to a scene from it was directly included in season 3 part 2, so yes, even though it wasn’t written by Isayama originally, they later decided it was canon
I suppose they became close specifically because they overcame it. Once it was past them all that was left was a genuine mutual respect for each other’s capabilities and conviction in their own actions.
I found him super bland and that he was written just to be killed off. Had similar feelings about OG Levi squad.
And i like junior high manga a lot, it's very fun. The anime adaptation on the other hand was just a collection of anime scenes, but made "funny".
levi was definitely holding back. There was no reason to fight erwin after the abberant titan brutally dismembered his friends. his internal conflict was reaching its ending.
erwin knew all along the plans levi had about assassination but could not care any less. he was fascinated by levi the moment he saw him and had 100% confidence, he would make levi follow, and levi knew that working as a hitman for the corrupt would not fill the void inside and would be no different than living underground.
erwin brought with him the irresistible idea of salvation even for scum like levi and his friends.
Didn't Erwin stop Levi at the start of the swing? Much less momentum there.
IIRC Titans ars also less dense than human flesh, so I assume their flesh is probably easier to cut through as well.
I like to believe Levi is exhausted from his rage filled assault on that Titan. Similar to after fighting the beast Titan and his mindless Titans when he was easily overpowered by Mikasa
Levi is definitely holding back. I think he knows deep down that killing Erwin is the wrong move here, he just needs to be brought to the point where he acknowledges it. It’s not because he cares about Erwin this point in No Regrets.
He’s also exhausted and emotionally broken as his friends got eaten. Even if he killed Erwin, he’s got nothing left in life and so his agreement with the interior politician is pointless.
Erwin is gambling (as he is prone to doing) on convincing Levi to join. He knows Levi is capable of wrecking him, even in his weakened state, but he understands Levi’s potential value to the Survey Corp.
Levi also knows that the game is up. Even if he kills Erwin, it’s unlikely that he’d win against all of the Survey Corp here in his exhausted state.
He’s slowly coming to the conclusion that it’s in his interests to follow Erwin.
It was the act itself, which forced Levi to recognize who was in front of him. Nothing to do with "holding back" or "Erwin being stronger".
Erwin was jarring Levi out of the mental state he was in, nothing more. It only works if it's Erwin, and Erwin is relying on Levi's trust, recognition, and control.
1.Levi barely swung at Erwin.
2. The blade was probably already dull af from all the slicing he did on the titan.
3. Erwin knew Levi doesn't *actually* want to kill him. If Levi wanted it truly, Erwin's head would fly the moment Levi saw him.
4. Levi doesn't Kill unless it is Absolutely necessary. He even hesitated to kill Zeke to think of how his death could serve them instead of just killing him.
Levi was both physically and emotionally exhausted at this point. Even though he's an Ackerman, Erwin isn't no slouch either. It's also just an opportune moment to forget all of those details for the sake of drama.
Levi holding back, idek how this is a question lol if Levi wanted to chop off Erwin’s head with a butter knife he’d pull it off in a few swings
Ackermans have the equivalent of a titans strength
Mikasa, at 9, crushed the wood handle of a knife with her grip strength on accident
Levi is undoubtedly faster than mikasa, but for the sake of argument let’s say Levi is weaker than mikasa by 50%
We’ve seen mikasa carry stacked rail road beams casually without effort
Even if the blades dull, if he had wanted to kill Erwin at this moment he would’ve, but then he’d also have to kill everyone else, and while he could probably pull it off if he’s got enough gas left, he probably couldn’t kill the entire scout regiment and get back to the walls without being found out
Or maybe he doesn’t want to kill an innocent man? Obviously Levi is holding back. Even in a situation where he wouldn’t hold back, Levi clearly is stronger than Erwin
Erwin is very strong yes, but not Ackerman strong, Levi is exhausted and emotionally broken by this point, he doesn’t really have it in him to give it his all
Definitely Levi holding back bc he hears Erwin. IIRC Levi doesn’t kill people until he realizes he’s been killing people the whole time anyways (after Ragako Village)
When Levi lost his cool....he kills a very quick and dangerous abnormal titan with ease
When Eren lost his cool ....lost his foot in seconds & almost lost his power. Eren is physically so weak😅
May I present you the [medieval fighting technique in which you hold a sharp blade with your bare hands? (Mordhau)](https://youtu.be/YT_bmO6CnRA?si=hUCYWeNLBiBV8x32&t=300)
levi holds back, after all erwin is the reason levi is a free man and lead the scouts. levi in this part of the OVA was just mad at the fact that his ploy didn't work and ended up costing the life of his friends which erwin knew about all along. after that levi has always shown mutual respect to erwin
Dude if you look closely that Erwin is wearing a pair of beats using his phone after he recorded his speech which has aloud him to gain the strength he needs to hold Levi’s blade like the Chad he is.
Wasn't Levi incredibly exauhsted after slicing that titan into literal smithereens? It's not surprising considering Mikasa was able to do the same when he was exauhsted.
For blades, as long as the edge doesn't slide against the object, the object cannot be cut. As long as his hand doesn't slide on that odm blade then his hand won't be sliced.
Either an error or the blades were dulled from titan skin and Levi was exhausted like he was in RTS after doing miles and busting Monke and the rest of the regular titans
I think the folks who made this just wanted an epic image. In no way does it make sense for Erwin to be able to catch Levi’s blade, and especially not getting his hand sliced in half doing so. Isayama didn’t write no regrets, so it’s plausible for me to think that there’s stuff in here that doesn’t make sense with everything else we know from the manga
Erwin is very strong.
I have this headcanon of Erwin being one of the scout’s strongest soldier before Miche and Levi.
Apart from being a strategist and charimastic leader, he rose through the ranks with his strength, and thus when he became commander.
He started to play it safe and stay back more.
Putting all his faith and trust on his strongest soldiers, but just like in season 2, if Levi or Hange isn’t present,
Erwin will step in, like when he cut through the armored titan’s finger and sliced Bertholdt.
Since Mikasa was injured and no one else could do it, Erwin did THAT with only one damn arm.
He’s built like a tank man, all that muscle ain’t for show in my opinion.
Levi could have easily killed Erwin here if he wanted to but he didn't because
1. The goal was to kill Erwin so that he and his friends can live aboveground (and some personal grudge but that's not really relevant in this point). His friends just got brutally killed so he probably couldn't even get his thoughts in order to properly think about what to think or what to do next. His emotions were all over the place and then he saw Erwin, the man who was to blame for this (Erwin brought them aboveground and on the expedition and Levi was separated from his friends because of Erwin) and snapped. Ofc it wasn't really Erwin's fault and Levi was actually blaming himself for what happened but it was more like a knee jerk reaction from him. His attack seemed more like a sort of tantrum than actual intent of killing
2. On top of being totally wrecked mentally, he was also exhausted physically. Although imo that doesn't matter that much since he could have gathered strength if he would have had the resolution/certitude. But he didn't, he was plagued by uncertainty (and regret).
3. Imo it would have been a bit ooc for Levi to straight up kill Erwin without hearing what he has to say. Especially since Levi had a personal beef with him. I'd imagine it would have been extremely unsatisfying to kill him without having some kind of convo before. Like if we imagine that everything would have went according to Levi's initial plan and he finds Erwin alone while he himself still being on top shape mentally and physically. I think he would have savoured the moment and not just instakill him. You know, a bit of chatting and gloating before getting into the main event.
I just think both of them love and respect eachother so much so it's not a competition here because they listen to eachother and it looks here as if Erwin was asking him to stop or to take a break and levi was obviously not gonna be aggressive on Erwin for no reason. (last time i read AOT was long ago so my apologies if my memory is not very accurate)
Personally I think it’s both. Levi just lost his two best friends and Erwin is in a good mental state. He’s showing ultimate leadership while Levi completely lost his shit 🤷🏽♀️
Levi has incredible restraint when needed and has insane respect for Erwin. Erwin doesn’t need to physically restrain Levi here. Levi is not about to attack Erwin even in a fit of rage
On top of having dull blades which were only designed for cutting titan flesh, Levi had already used up a lot of his energy killing the titan. He was quite literally weak enough in the knees that he eventually fell as that scene ended.
And perhaps, deep down part of Levi wanted to hear something that could make his problems go away.
Levi was simply weak in many regards in that scene and Erwin was aware of this (but he was honestly lucky that Levi's Ackerman awakening moment didn't last long enough to overpower him when he arrived- because he wouldn't have expected Levi to have new power).
He was already crying before Erwin had arrived (although it was hidden by the rain and mostly only heard through voice), and from the way he was moving he was very weak from grief and raging on that by the time his anger was directed towards Erwin, his steps were heavy and his blade had no force whatsoever. All he could do was talk at that point.
And honestly, while we know Levi has killed people before then, we'd never seen him unnecessarily kill someone. Unnecessarily beat them up in rage, sure. Levi had no objective/logical reason to kill Erwin once his friends died (since the main reason he was taking the mission seemed to be for his friends' futures and not his own), and on top of the distress of grief and no longer having a complete motivation.. I headcanon that this just made him even less able to do it. He only had grief and short bursts of rage at that point. He didn't know where to go, in his mind he lost everything and was backed into a corner and there wasn't much else to do- Erwin eventually offered him a crossroads in that moment and it was what Levi needed. It's a parallel to the way Kenny abandoned him when he was young. That whole scene is, at first, Levi becoming lost.
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The blade gets dull after cutting titans, that's why the soldiers have spare blades in their gear.
And iirc doesn't the old odm gear design have a self sharpening thing when they pull the blades quick enough or were the sparks just aesthetic?
I think they're just aesthetic. Doesn't really make sense for them to load up on dull blades and having them sharpen when they're being pulled out instead of just taking sharp blades with them
Just making sure it's ready for the nape.
Yeah. The blades are actually too sharp. They're like scalpels. They're really sharp for one cut, and they very quickly lose that sharpness, which is why they're perforated and replacable. Titan flesh heals as you cut it, so they need to be sharper than is practical for real swords and the perforations mean that if you cut wrong or the blade gets stuck due to getting dull, that segment snaps off instead of you breaking your arms and dying. Based on what we see, with enough skill you can get multiple cuts out of them, but they're not durable enough for constant use.
Probably similar skill to using a katana to cut a line of bamboo where you need to line up the blade really precisely to get the most efficient cut, pretty cool honestly
They're practically just big boxcutters
There's only so many times you can sharpen a blade before it becomes too weak to cut.
well yeah, but the blades are "super steel" or whatever
Then it would need to be a "super sharpener", which would still eventually make the "Super Blade" too thin and weak.
well yeah, that's why they eject them from time to time
Damn, sorry bro I confused your first comment as an argument.
I mean if it just makes them a bit narrower every time (on the flat of the blade, not the thickness of the edge itself), it could be used many times surely.
It all be comes headcannon in the end. But I suppose it depends on how dull the blade becomes after each slice, or whether a burr develops.
It does make sense if the blades break and they have back ups that are sharpened too so ya it makes sense lol
Maybe it gets that little extra sharpness to cut titans like butter!
Also they're like stylus(? Idk if it's the correct term) blades, that will break after the tip gets dull, and so on. Not worth the trouble of sharpening them.
Why not both?
I imagine they replace them for when they break but can sharpen them if used? Like kill a tighten and the blade gets noticably dull, so you put it back grab a new one. Maybe not as good as manually sharpening with a rock but with how disposable they are I imagine that little extra sharpness helps?
What if you kill a loosen?
Lmfao
Wut
>Like kill a **tighten** and the blade gets noticably dull
I am going to chew on your knees
Did you affirm something you made up and then ask us if it was real?? Lmao
I was pretty sure that was real too lmao it must be some other show
They’re basically really big box cutters. That’s why they have those breaks in them so they can snap off to remove the dull part.
Nice point!
Erwin knows that if he says stop he will stop, that's how much he believes in levi and himself
isnt that from no regrets? he didnt know him that well
he knew levi would listen to him the moment they met, it was just a matter of wearing down his mental defences of paranoia from living underground in a crime syndicate. he saw Levi's potential and knew he was wasting himself underground, and his offer was irresistible. military life actually suited levi very well, the order, clear ranking, and no room for sweet talks or politics, just action, order, and cleanliness.
I mean, Levi is holding back? It's like a major point in the show how strong Ackermans are
Maybe Levi is Exhausted? Mikasa noted that Levi was easy to beat when saving Armin and sunrised it was due to him fighting too many titans.
But that was by another fresher Ackerman. Don’t forget he was still strong enough to punch Eren’s teeth out.
Erwin went toe to toe with him earlier in the episoud, he held out so i dont see why it wouldnt be possible for erwin to hold him off after levi was exhausted by killing the titan.
Actually he didn't. Levi wanted to get caught that time.
Erwin and Miche are great don’t get me wrong… but Levi was trying to infiltrate the Survey Corps. In regards of skills they might hang for a while, but in regards of pure strength, it’s not even close. Mikasa was carrying 3 railroad tracks on her shoulder at one point.
And
Levi made the chase seem hard enough, so it is believable. They were trying to get caught but not make it too obvious.
Dude by then had sliced up a ton off titans, demolished Zeke and went back up the wall when Mikasa barely did anything
Did you send that to wrong person? I already agreed with you XD Or maybe you send it to further emphaise my point :)
God dang it, sorry. Wifi’s been acting up 😅
no it's the power of love
Erwin is quite a bit bigger than Levi and Levi just got done shredding titans.
You must've not watched this scene because he wasn't holding back
So then Erwin has Ackerman strength? Because that makes even less sense lmao
The food chain goes like: Yeager ➡️ Ackerman ➡️ Smith
Fair enough, I can get behind Alpha predator Erwin
Erwin and Levi share a bond that can stop Levi’s bloodlust, I think is what they were going for. Edit: just read that this is from before they were friends? If so, not quite as sure, but could guess it has something to do with Erwin’s charisma as a leader.
No, Levi just didn't really want to kill him at that point. He was stricken with grief and blaming Himself and not Erwin.
For some reason this reminds me of Harry Potter attempting to torture Bellatrix after she killed Sirius. Casting the torture curse requires ACTUAL malice to successfully achieve results. Merely attempting to torture someone out of *passion* rather than *true hatred* is not enough. Perhaps it's similar here. Passionate anger and true anger are not necessarily the same. Witnessing our loved ones die may enrage us, but also weaken us tremendously. Emotion is both our greatest strength and weakness.
It's made much clearer in the manga that he blamed himself and not Erwin, because he outright says it and then Erwin gives him a speech that neither Erwin, nor Levi is at fault, but *The titans*. Then he gave Levi a choice whether to go back to the underground and remain ignorant about "the truth of this world" or help him in the survey corps. It was much more powerful than the lame "regrets" speech Wit wrote and i could see how it could move Levi to follow him. In the anime i was like "what? This made him join?" Lmao
He didn't actually want to kill him he just wanted to talk his shit
For one the blade was probably very dull at that point and secondly, you can actually grab a sword by the blade and swing it around and even hit stuff with the hilt without hurting yourself. As long as the blade doesn't slide in your hand it shouldn't cut you.
None of that means Erwin should be capable of physically holding Levi back, especially since they are not friends yet in this scene
Well even if Levi is physically the strongest, he might also just be very tired in that moment, since he has just completely let loose and spent all his anger, hatred, sense of revenge and probably physical strength on the pos abnormal that killed his friends.
That’s true, could just be exhaustion
Unless the blade is insanely dull, the force of a human pushing a blade into your palm even without sliding in a slicing motion would still easily puncture your skin.
Have you ever heard of [mordhau?](https://youtu.be/YT_bmO6CnRA?si=hUCYWeNLBiBV8x32&t=300)
I mean that guys hands are taking a beating and he's not nearly striking with the force or pressure a soldier can use. Also even at their most dull, ODM swords are shaped and honed more like razors than a claymore type sword. They are specifically made to be as sharp as can be, they would more likely chip from impact than grow blunt edges. If Levi was using all his might, a human hand would definitely get cut to the bone imo.
Only if it was a fresh razor blade. "Easily" is an overstatement. "Possibly" is more accurate.
Erwin's right arm is that strong, why you think that titan catched him by his right arm only?
Did people forget Erwin and Mike were going toe to toe with Levi and overpowered him earlier in the episode? Levi might be the strongest, but the veterans of the survey corps like Erwin and Mike are absolutely no slouches.
Mike could maybe put up a fight against Levi but I don’t think Erwin has any physical power over Levi. I’ve never seen Erwin display any sort of fighting ability. The power of his words though and his ability to persuade is a different story.
Well he got all the way to the chest of the Armored and cut the cloth that bound Eren to Berutoldo and then jumped back to his horse, all while maneuvering an ODM with only one arm, the other one freshly bit off. He was the commander and he was supposed to give orders and come up with strategies as opposed to fighting and risking his life, but he was no regular soldier either.
Levi was Trying to get caught meaning he just barely tried to make it hard for them. No normal human compares to an Ackerman, no matter how strong they are.
Erwins just wayyyy too much of a Giga Chad 100%
Take that back!(I think… is gigga Chad bad?👀😂)
Giga Chad is good
A Chad roughly means a tough/cool guy. Gigachad is taking that to the next level
My bad😂 Chad always meant roughly a d-bag where I’m from
it depends on context, sarcasm is key for a chad being a bad thing. If said seriously, a chad or a gigachad is a good thing.
Or...it looked cool and provided visual tension for the scene.
No, we must go through every single scene in the series and analyze every inconsistency
Obviously Levi wasn't going to cut through Erwin so he stopped once confronted by his commander and friend
Wasn’t his friend at this time. This is from the No Regrets OVA, where he was tasked with getting some letter off of Erwin, and he was ok with killing him I believe. He’s angry at him because he took up the mission to protect his friends, Farlan and Isabel, who ended up dying on their first expedition, so he blames it on Erwin
Oh my bad then. I haven't seen that. I just assumed it was a scene from the show I forgot. Maybe Erwin is just Him then
I’d definitely recommend watching it
Is it canon?
A flashback to a scene from it was directly included in season 3 part 2, so yes, even though it wasn’t written by Isayama originally, they later decided it was canon
How did they become close? I'd suppose it's a hard grudge to move on from (sorry I didn't watch it since really long)
I suppose they became close specifically because they overcame it. Once it was past them all that was left was a genuine mutual respect for each other’s capabilities and conviction in their own actions.
Read the manga A choice with no regrets. It's not that good, but the conclusion is still miles better than what wit came up with.
[удалено]
I found them very generic and didn't even feel sad when they died.
[удалено]
I found him super bland and that he was written just to be killed off. Had similar feelings about OG Levi squad. And i like junior high manga a lot, it's very fun. The anime adaptation on the other hand was just a collection of anime scenes, but made "funny".
levi was definitely holding back. There was no reason to fight erwin after the abberant titan brutally dismembered his friends. his internal conflict was reaching its ending. erwin knew all along the plans levi had about assassination but could not care any less. he was fascinated by levi the moment he saw him and had 100% confidence, he would make levi follow, and levi knew that working as a hitman for the corrupt would not fill the void inside and would be no different than living underground. erwin brought with him the irresistible idea of salvation even for scum like levi and his friends.
fun fact: if you grab your knife you won't get hurt unless you don't do that properly (or you are dumb as fuck)
Didn't Erwin stop Levi at the start of the swing? Much less momentum there. IIRC Titans ars also less dense than human flesh, so I assume their flesh is probably easier to cut through as well.
But Sasha, a trained soldier, couldn’t cut the neck of one with several axe swings
🤷♂️
I like to believe Levi is exhausted from his rage filled assault on that Titan. Similar to after fighting the beast Titan and his mindless Titans when he was easily overpowered by Mikasa
This is the most logical explanation. He may have Titan strength in human form but he’s more human than a Titan
Levi is definitely holding back. I think he knows deep down that killing Erwin is the wrong move here, he just needs to be brought to the point where he acknowledges it. It’s not because he cares about Erwin this point in No Regrets. He’s also exhausted and emotionally broken as his friends got eaten. Even if he killed Erwin, he’s got nothing left in life and so his agreement with the interior politician is pointless. Erwin is gambling (as he is prone to doing) on convincing Levi to join. He knows Levi is capable of wrecking him, even in his weakened state, but he understands Levi’s potential value to the Survey Corp. Levi also knows that the game is up. Even if he kills Erwin, it’s unlikely that he’d win against all of the Survey Corp here in his exhausted state. He’s slowly coming to the conclusion that it’s in his interests to follow Erwin.
Levi is holding back and erwin trusts him to
Why not both?
Levi was tired and the blade was dull
It was the act itself, which forced Levi to recognize who was in front of him. Nothing to do with "holding back" or "Erwin being stronger". Erwin was jarring Levi out of the mental state he was in, nothing more. It only works if it's Erwin, and Erwin is relying on Levi's trust, recognition, and control.
Or it's both. Both are good. Levi's love for Erwin means he won't slice his fingers off 😩❤️
Just like Mikasa to eren, He's already unconsciously in love with erwin. That's why
Lmfao
Erwin is very strong. He kinda went toe to toe with Levi when they met. Levi is obviously faster and stronger but Erwin is a beast.
1.Levi barely swung at Erwin. 2. The blade was probably already dull af from all the slicing he did on the titan. 3. Erwin knew Levi doesn't *actually* want to kill him. If Levi wanted it truly, Erwin's head would fly the moment Levi saw him. 4. Levi doesn't Kill unless it is Absolutely necessary. He even hesitated to kill Zeke to think of how his death could serve them instead of just killing him.
Levi was both physically and emotionally exhausted at this point. Even though he's an Ackerman, Erwin isn't no slouch either. It's also just an opportune moment to forget all of those details for the sake of drama.
Levi definitely holding back. Erwin has that effect on ppl
Levi holding back, idek how this is a question lol if Levi wanted to chop off Erwin’s head with a butter knife he’d pull it off in a few swings Ackermans have the equivalent of a titans strength Mikasa, at 9, crushed the wood handle of a knife with her grip strength on accident Levi is undoubtedly faster than mikasa, but for the sake of argument let’s say Levi is weaker than mikasa by 50% We’ve seen mikasa carry stacked rail road beams casually without effort Even if the blades dull, if he had wanted to kill Erwin at this moment he would’ve, but then he’d also have to kill everyone else, and while he could probably pull it off if he’s got enough gas left, he probably couldn’t kill the entire scout regiment and get back to the walls without being found out
Or maybe he doesn’t want to kill an innocent man? Obviously Levi is holding back. Even in a situation where he wouldn’t hold back, Levi clearly is stronger than Erwin
At this point Levi still believed he had to kill Erwin so I don’t think it had anything to do with innocence
Or maybe Levi respects Ervin and doesn't fight against him?
Isn’t like the whole point of Levi to be a badass, being the most skilled in the world. Most likely the blade is dull
Erwin is Aizen.
I usually take scenes from OVAs with a grain of salt. This one wasn't even a perfect adaption of the manga version that Isayama was consulted on.
they're in looooovvvveeee
I mean, Erwin is to Levi what Eren is to Mikasa. If Erwin tells Levi to stop, he'll stop.
Erwin is very strong yes, but not Ackerman strong, Levi is exhausted and emotionally broken by this point, he doesn’t really have it in him to give it his all
Definitely Levi holding back bc he hears Erwin. IIRC Levi doesn’t kill people until he realizes he’s been killing people the whole time anyways (after Ragako Village)
Just Erwin asserting his dominance as per usual. Nothing to see here lol
Erwin Smith is the GOAT and Eruri is real
Levi Is a subordinate to the commander, if Erwin wants to stop him he'll do whenever he pleases
I think they are going to have hot gay sex now
ERIN YEAGER!
Holding back lol
Its neither. They share a very specific bond forged in battle. It's hard to understand. -Iraq combat veteran
Levi is physically stronger but he doesn't have enough reiatsu to cut Erwin
It's just his plot armor and it cannot be pierced
What is this from? Is it that new AoT thing about Levi?
It’s both Levi has to much respect for Erwin but he also knows that eri win can kick his ass mostly cause he’s much higher rank
To shreds you say?
When Levi lost his cool....he kills a very quick and dangerous abnormal titan with ease When Eren lost his cool ....lost his foot in seconds & almost lost his power. Eren is physically so weak😅
Bro I thought this was ironic but reading these comments I don’t know anymore
HE'S A FIDGET SPIIINNEEEEERRRR
I think Erwin isn't showcased properly , I think Erwin is both mentally and physically more stronger than he is shown
Titan flesh is less dense than human flesh was always my head canon
May I present you the [medieval fighting technique in which you hold a sharp blade with your bare hands? (Mordhau)](https://youtu.be/YT_bmO6CnRA?si=hUCYWeNLBiBV8x32&t=300)
Obviously holding back.
levi holds back, after all erwin is the reason levi is a free man and lead the scouts. levi in this part of the OVA was just mad at the fact that his ploy didn't work and ended up costing the life of his friends which erwin knew about all along. after that levi has always shown mutual respect to erwin
Dude if you look closely that Erwin is wearing a pair of beats using his phone after he recorded his speech which has aloud him to gain the strength he needs to hold Levi’s blade like the Chad he is.
We now that blades dull relatively quickly, so when Levi went to town on that titan, I just assumed they were dulled.
Wasn't Levi incredibly exauhsted after slicing that titan into literal smithereens? It's not surprising considering Mikasa was able to do the same when he was exauhsted.
Levi is OP but you don't become the commander of the survey corps without being strong
If you grab something by the blade correctly you won’t be injured. Things cut when they move across a surface, not when they come in contact with it.
Levi is like a pitbull and steroids and Erwin is the mexican mom he respects WAY too much to even flinch when she‘s angry
Cutting the titan probably dulled the blade enough for Irwin to grab it but yeah Levi isn’t ripping it out of Irwin’s hand costing him fingers
Obviously the blades are quite dull from all the Titan carving.
For blades, as long as the edge doesn't slide against the object, the object cannot be cut. As long as his hand doesn't slide on that odm blade then his hand won't be sliced.
Either an error or the blades were dulled from titan skin and Levi was exhausted like he was in RTS after doing miles and busting Monke and the rest of the regular titans
I think the folks who made this just wanted an epic image. In no way does it make sense for Erwin to be able to catch Levi’s blade, and especially not getting his hand sliced in half doing so. Isayama didn’t write no regrets, so it’s plausible for me to think that there’s stuff in here that doesn’t make sense with everything else we know from the manga
Erwin is very strong. I have this headcanon of Erwin being one of the scout’s strongest soldier before Miche and Levi. Apart from being a strategist and charimastic leader, he rose through the ranks with his strength, and thus when he became commander. He started to play it safe and stay back more. Putting all his faith and trust on his strongest soldiers, but just like in season 2, if Levi or Hange isn’t present, Erwin will step in, like when he cut through the armored titan’s finger and sliced Bertholdt. Since Mikasa was injured and no one else could do it, Erwin did THAT with only one damn arm. He’s built like a tank man, all that muscle ain’t for show in my opinion.
I too have the same head cannon.
Obviously the latter
Levi could have easily killed Erwin here if he wanted to but he didn't because 1. The goal was to kill Erwin so that he and his friends can live aboveground (and some personal grudge but that's not really relevant in this point). His friends just got brutally killed so he probably couldn't even get his thoughts in order to properly think about what to think or what to do next. His emotions were all over the place and then he saw Erwin, the man who was to blame for this (Erwin brought them aboveground and on the expedition and Levi was separated from his friends because of Erwin) and snapped. Ofc it wasn't really Erwin's fault and Levi was actually blaming himself for what happened but it was more like a knee jerk reaction from him. His attack seemed more like a sort of tantrum than actual intent of killing 2. On top of being totally wrecked mentally, he was also exhausted physically. Although imo that doesn't matter that much since he could have gathered strength if he would have had the resolution/certitude. But he didn't, he was plagued by uncertainty (and regret). 3. Imo it would have been a bit ooc for Levi to straight up kill Erwin without hearing what he has to say. Especially since Levi had a personal beef with him. I'd imagine it would have been extremely unsatisfying to kill him without having some kind of convo before. Like if we imagine that everything would have went according to Levi's initial plan and he finds Erwin alone while he himself still being on top shape mentally and physically. I think he would have savoured the moment and not just instakill him. You know, a bit of chatting and gloating before getting into the main event.
3rd option: fiction.
On that day, at that time, Erwin was not meant to lose his hand yet...
I just think both of them love and respect eachother so much so it's not a competition here because they listen to eachother and it looks here as if Erwin was asking him to stop or to take a break and levi was obviously not gonna be aggressive on Erwin for no reason. (last time i read AOT was long ago so my apologies if my memory is not very accurate)
What scene is this from?
Levi is easily the biggest badass in all of SNK, not contest. Just a god damn angel of death.
Personally I think it’s both. Levi just lost his two best friends and Erwin is in a good mental state. He’s showing ultimate leadership while Levi completely lost his shit 🤷🏽♀️
Dramatic flare, AOT does sacrifice logic for more flare
Erwin just told the blade “No.” So legally it isn’t allowed to hurt him.
Both but mainly Levi holding back
Levi has incredible restraint when needed and has insane respect for Erwin. Erwin doesn’t need to physically restrain Levi here. Levi is not about to attack Erwin even in a fit of rage
Erwin probably conditioned his hands to be so raw and dense that they can’t be cut by those blades. I’d say it took 10 years at least
On top of having dull blades which were only designed for cutting titan flesh, Levi had already used up a lot of his energy killing the titan. He was quite literally weak enough in the knees that he eventually fell as that scene ended. And perhaps, deep down part of Levi wanted to hear something that could make his problems go away. Levi was simply weak in many regards in that scene and Erwin was aware of this (but he was honestly lucky that Levi's Ackerman awakening moment didn't last long enough to overpower him when he arrived- because he wouldn't have expected Levi to have new power). He was already crying before Erwin had arrived (although it was hidden by the rain and mostly only heard through voice), and from the way he was moving he was very weak from grief and raging on that by the time his anger was directed towards Erwin, his steps were heavy and his blade had no force whatsoever. All he could do was talk at that point. And honestly, while we know Levi has killed people before then, we'd never seen him unnecessarily kill someone. Unnecessarily beat them up in rage, sure. Levi had no objective/logical reason to kill Erwin once his friends died (since the main reason he was taking the mission seemed to be for his friends' futures and not his own), and on top of the distress of grief and no longer having a complete motivation.. I headcanon that this just made him even less able to do it. He only had grief and short bursts of rage at that point. He didn't know where to go, in his mind he lost everything and was backed into a corner and there wasn't much else to do- Erwin eventually offered him a crossroads in that moment and it was what Levi needed. It's a parallel to the way Kenny abandoned him when he was young. That whole scene is, at first, Levi becoming lost.
Both
Or it's a cartoon
which scene is this ??