WARNING: Contains spoilers.
Same Old, Same Old
Next to the mardi gras parade of old titan shifters, what’s interesting about this chapter is the way the characters seem to regress to old habits, old dialogue, old feelings. Whether that’s good or bad is an open question.
Let’s see what our babies have been up to in the AoT universe while we were going gaga over the latest anime adaptation and at the same time trying to keep our lives together on our own planet:
The Ackermanns and déjà vu
Remember the Ackermann dynamic in Chapter 30, when they are running after the Female Titan who had Eren trapped between her jaws? Levi tells Mikasa not to be reckless, to keep her emotions in check, to assess the situation and think before she acts. Mikasa rebels and acts recklessly, leading to Levi getting injured while saving her ass.
This time, hundreds of chapters later, she is raring to go, bristling with energy, prepared to attack with her mighty Ackermann combat skills, and there’s big bro Levi telling her not to be reckless, to keep her emotions in check… In this chapter, Mikasa seems to actually listen to him, doesn’t do anything reckless leading to Levi getting injured, in fact, she saves his ass. Growth? Yes!
But then she reverts back to that crazy old
「私は強い!! Watashi wa tsuyoi!!」”I am strong!!”
Excerpt from Chapter 135 of the manga “Shingeki no Kyojin” ⒸHajime Isayama/Kodansha Comics.
It’s reminiscent of the monologue (well, the exact same words, to be precise) she gave in Chapter 7, when she was trying to rally her peers to make it to the supply chamber. Ten years (four years on their planet) and one hundred and twenty eight chapters later, there she goes again: “I am strong…”

The best part of this panel is that, for a moment, she seems to have grown angel wings. Turns out it’s Falco in his flying Jaw Titan form, with Annie in the driver’s seat. She shouts at Mikasa:
Annie:「ミカサ!!あんたちょっと邪魔!!Mikasa!! Anta chotto jama!!」 “Mikasa!! You’re getting in the way!!”
Excerpt from Chapter 135 of the manga “Shingeki no Kyojin” ⒸHajime Isayama/Kodansha Comics.
Made me laugh! Such an Annie thing to say. Only Annie gets to say this to an Ackermann.
Going back to Mikasa’s monologue, will she ever change? Judging from this chapter, I fear the answer to that is a big fat No. The way Armin has to reassure her his transformation won’t kill Eren, the way she goes “Wait” when Pieck attempts to bomb Eren out of his titan’s nape show us that Mikasa is still obsessed with Eren, still sees him as the little boy she needs to protect.
Will we ever see a fully independent Mikasa, not just badass physically but also emotionally? Will she always be like this, still emotionally dependent on Eren, still having her own well-being tied inextricably with his, still unable to think on her own?
That she hasn’t changed all these years is a real disappointment for me, especially since we’ve seen phenomenal character growth for Jean, Connie, Armin. Yes, even Armin has finally acknowledged his own naivete, though he’s still being naïve thinking it’s Founder Ymir who’s got him captured. No, sweetie, it’s Eren, everything is being done by Eren right now. Founder Ymir has given him her powers and she’s doing what he’s telling her to do. He is invincible, he is god in every sense of the word. Yet he cares for you and your cohorts so much that he refuses to take away your powers and freedom.
Which makes me wonder, what do Armin and Mikasa plan to do? Obviously they have no intention of killing Eren. Let’s say they manage to remove him from his titan, then what? Mikasa finally confesses her feelings with an “I love you” and that’ll make Eren go, “Really? Great! Now I’ll stop the rumbling!” Is that where the entire AoT story is headed? Geez, I certainly hope not!
Ah, and speaking of déjà vu, again more injuries for poor Levi, again that leg of his. This time Connie saves him after being saved himself, thank the gods. Levi is still the face of a number of product promotions and marketing campaigns in Japan, so from a capitalist profit perspective no one can afford to let him die just yet. Good work, Connie!
For another oldie, there’s Armin’s flashing back to Erwin about making sacrifices. Another old thought, something we’ve seen in the past, with nearly the exact same words. I think Chapter 135 should be titled “Rehash” or something to that effect.
Jean and Reiner Bromance
Speaking of déjà vu, this chapter has blessed us with some raijean! Yep, that’s a valid BL pairing in the doujinshi world. I’ve seen the works of raijean-shipping artists and they fucking rock! Makes me nostalgic for the AoT BL heydays of 2013-2015.
But I digress. Back to the manga, we finally get to see our beloved Jean in a conversation, this time with the guy who used to be his friend, whom he tried to kill later (with thunder spears while Sasha and Connie were crying), then whose life he saved (when Hange wanted to kill him)… The changing of allegiances has been fascinating, to say the least.
Jean saves Reiner’s life once again, even failing to notice the pumped-up Mikasa who kills a titan about to devour them. He wouldn’t let go of his friend-again Reiner. The words he says to him are very touching:

Reiner: “Think we still got a fighting chance?” Jean:「いいや・・・でも・・・せめて死ぬところまで足掻いてみようぜ。俺達は往生際の悪い調査兵団だからな・・・Iya…demo…semete shinu tokoro made agaite miyou ze. Oretachi wa oujougiwa no warui Chousaheidan dakara na… 」“No…but…at least let’s keep on struggling till the end…we’re Scouts who don’t know when to give up, that’s why.”
Excerpt from Chapter 135 of the manga “Shingeki no Kyojin” ⒸHajime Isayama/Kodansha Comics.
He says “we” to Reiner, including him amongst their group, telling him he’s one of them once more, and the titan shifter is touched. I am, too. Jean, you rock. Many more reasons to love you, *sniffles*.
They’re both big men but hanging from that single line with Jean supporting all of Reiner’s weight with one hand is next to unbelievable. Thank goodness AoT has a different, more robust set of physics principles than our measly little planet’s.
Pieck Makes a Sacrifice
Poor Pieck, skewered with a pitchfork courtesy of the Warhammer titan. But it seems the Warhammer didn’t finish her off by ripping her human body from the Cart’s and then devouring her. So Pieck is still alive, I’m pretty sure of this.
I was actually quite surprised with Pieck’s somewhat rash actions in this chapter. I’ve always seen her as being very subtle, restrained, calculating and scheming with an intellect on par with Zeke’s. The way she went at Eren’s nape without the necessary backup (to make the bombing successful someone else needed to be there to watch her back and make sure no one gets in the way while she detonates the bombs) was un-Pieck-like, in my opinion.
Which brings us to an interesting point: the 104th are reverting to old patterns of behaviour, while the warriors are getting desperate and acting out of character.
What Will Annie Do
Annie & Co have finally reached the rest of the gang! That scene reminds me of the eagles in the Lord of the Rings; being able to fly really does have its perks.
Whatcha gonna do, Annie baby, when you find out your beloved has been imprisoned by a monster that shoved its tongue down his throat?
Can’t wait for some Annie action, and by that I mean combat fighting, not shoving things down Armin’s throat (though dirty-minded me is up for that as well, after everything’s been resolved, of course!).
Where Are My Other Babies?
No Eren, no Historia in this chapter, how utterly disappointing. But at least we got to see Annie, Gabi and flying Falco, and learned that Zeke, and probably Eren, are not inside their respective titans. Where are they? I’d like to think that Eren is with Historia as she gives birth, but that’s just my improbable fantasy.
I’m still certain Armin will think of something that will solve everything, so I’m not worried. Levi is right, as usual: Armin was captured but not killed, when it would have been so easy for Eren to do the latter. It means Eren isn’t blindly eliminating whoever tries to get in his way. It means he still has a conscience and he’s still hopeful someone will come up with something better than what he’s currently doing.
This chapter left me feeling greatly relieved: thank the manga gods Jean & Co aren’t dead yet. That will kill me, and I don’t want to die just yet.
My biggest takeaway from this chapter is that, regardless of the number of years that go by, the main characters remain essentially the same. Mikasa is still unquestioningly forgiving and protective of Eren no matter how extreme he gets, Armin is still feeling inferior to Erwin but hesitates in making the big sacrifice and gets in a bind because of his inability to act quickly, Levi is still getting that leg of his injured while saving a 104th soldier, and so on. It’s as if the Marleyan warriors are changing, but the core islanders remain the same. They’re going full circle, but not in a positive way. There really is little hope left. Or is there?

In the very last panel, we get this little spark of hope. See the final words on the lower right hand side, the one giving us a glimpse of what’s ahead in the coming chapter? It says:
「前を向く。未来は後ろに無いのだらか。Mae wo muku. Mirai wa ushiro ni nai no dakara.」 “Look forward, because the future doesn’t lie in the past.”
Excerpt from Chapter 135 of the manga “Shingeki no Kyojin” ⒸHajime Isayama/Kodansha Comics.
Look ahead, because the future lies in front of you and not behind you. That’s the parting message we get from this chapter, and it’s full of hope. I’d like to believe it means a better future for everyone, not just the people on the island.
Another chapter lacking in flashbacks or long conversations, but there’s plenty of action. Looking forward to this chapter being animated!
Thank you so much for reading! What did you think of this chapter? Please take a moment to share a thought or two in the comment section below. xoxo, hana
Next – Chapter 136 Review
Back – Chapter 134 Review
after almost falling asleep during 134 i finally had the action that i expected so much (but obviously suffering in the process because let’s remember the type of relationship i have with snk xD makes me sad but i can’t leave it)
the part of mikasa more than a setback in her character i felt it as an advance, the last time she went crazy in that way it was because she thought that eren had died and she no longer cared about anything and she did not care to lead his comrades to death in that “I am strong” speech. right now we saw her wanting not to give up and “going crazy” for her companions in the impotence of seeing everything lost. i also liked that parallel with the last time we saw her wanting to run after eren, but now paying attention to her captain. i really couldn’t demand anything more from her because i’m satisfied with those little advances she’s making.
regarding levi, right now i want to grab isayama by the shoulders and say violently “what else do you want from him, tell me!”. i’m sick of seeing him more and more hurt and more miserable, although i want to kiss connie for saving him because i didn’t want the strongest soldier in humanity to die eaten by a silly and ugly titan either. i want that man to have a dignified death, at least. i am so mad at isayama in that aspect aghhhh
now talking about my favorite boy and the boy i learned to appreciate xD i really love when yams emphasizes how human jean is, in this chapter i could only love him more and want to simply wish him the best. now writing this i just want to cry because i can’t believe all the love i feel for the two of them. despite the monstrosity that reiner confessed about marco’s death jean still includes him as his comrade *i’m like TT, just like TT*
well, i took a few moments to talk about pieck and my optimistic side thinks she’s still alive. i’m praying for she doesn’t have that ridiculous and pathetic death, my girl deserves better. like i said in levi’s paragraph, she can’t be killed by a silly and ugly titan. i wish with all my heart that she can see her father one last time, seriously.
right now i don’t know what else to contribute because i’m very sleepy xD but those are my general thoughts about the chapter
ps. i hope annie gets her/him shit out of whoever is controlling that titan who is deepthroating armin xD
Thank you so much for this long and thoughtful comment. You made my day!<3
You’re right about Mikasa. I really shouldn’t expect too much from her because I’ll just end up disappointed. Isayama and a huge number of her fans think it’s cute the way she obsesses over Eren, think it’s sweet she has no agency or will of her own and only exists in order to fawn over or be preoccupied with the protagonist. I’m not fond of this girl-as-an-accessory type of female character, but I guess it’s just me. Lots of other fans seem to like it and Isayama can be a crowd-pleaser sometimes. But as you point out, she did make baby steps and as someone who never seems to change, these small steps should be regarded as giant leaps when it comes to her character development.
OMG I totally agree with you regarding Levi! I don’t know how much longer we’ll have to suffer seeing our poor captain get even more and more injured, endure more and more pain. It’s heart-wrenching to see Humanity’s Strongest be so beat up. I really feel Isayama is unnaturally prolonging his life due to manga/anime marketing reasons, and it’s painful to watch. There’s still a part of me that hopes he’ll go down in a blaze of glory, and also have one last final conversation with Eren before he joins Erwin and Hange in Paths. I mean, Eren used to admire him so much. It makes me cry remembering all those times when our boy was still young and adoringly looked up to his captain. It was so long ago! Ah, how things have changed! *sniffle*
Ah, our beloved Jean. I can’t agree more with what you wrote. He seems to have matured even more this chapter. He might not forgive Reiner for what was done to Marco, but he’s mature enough to recognise his fellow fighter was doing his job and sometimes that means having to do unspeakable things. I’m sure Reiner feels less shitty and self-hating now after what Jean told him. Just like you, I love them both so, so much! <3
I’m 100% sure Pieck will live. I’m not sure if Founder Ymir will rebuild the Cart Titan for her, or if she’ll be able to titanize again, but I’m sure that as a human she’s still alive. You’re absolutely right, it would be too heartbreaking for her character to die alone without seeing her father one last time. I think that with the anime, she’ll gain more fans and I hope this will inspire Isayama to prolong her story and give it a satisfying ending.
Ahaha, that deepthroating titan! I can’t wait for Annie’s reaction when Mikasa tells her what happened to Armin. I feel she’ll titanize and go screaming for blood! xD
slave mikasa is a fucken disappointment this chapter every chapter as per usual
Oh Krissy, let’s not take potshots at 5th best girl! It’s not her fault her character doesn’t evolve—Isayama seems to think it’s cool for a beautiful girl to be desperately obsessed with a guy to the point of extreme denial and paranoia. Let’s just take comfort in the fact that canon Mikasa isn’t completely a Mary Sue (she has lots of flaws!). She’s more along the lines of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, which is really annoying, but for me she’s not yet a total caricature (given the fact she’s lacking in eloquence, whereas the MPDG usually has mad language skills). There’s still hope for her, as long as the manga is ongoing. Let’s keep the faith, okay? Or you can just read my fanfics, where we get the Mikasa of our dreams xD
love the raijean bromance how come u havent written a fanfic for them yet u bl fan u
Ah, raijean fanfic! Speaking of which, Matsumto Yusuke has the best raijean doujinshi in the entire world, and I find his works totally intimidating. They’re so real and genuine and written from the heart by someone who truly *knows*, know what I mean? I could never write something the way he does, or do justice to the pairing the way he does. (His erejean is also out of this world, just totally heartbreaking and incredible in every sense of the word.) I feel I’d be doing the raijean ship an injustice with my incompetence as a BL writer. I’d love to do a one-shot, though, just a vignette set in-universe. What could that scene be? I’ve got some ideas but need you to kick my ass a bit more xD
now that armins temporarily out of the picture im hoping its jeans turn to shine as leader
OMG, that would be absolutely fabulous! I’m dreaming of that Jean we saw during the Battle of Liberio, but now a lot more careful and wise as commanding officer, what after that experience of Gabi shooting Sasha under his watch. A leader Jean would make me so happy I promise I won’t complain about anything for years xD
As jeankasa shipper i hope Mikasa will have character development. I want to fight Eren to believe her. Im making a fanfiction with jeankasa but if she doesn’t change i will ship only Jean x Halle Lidner from death note and Mikasa losses him.
IKR! There are already 135 chapters in the manga and the only character development we’ve seen so far for canon Mikasa is her taking off the scarf. Apart from that she hasn’t changed one teeny tiny bit. I think it’s pathetic, but what can we do? Ah, yes, we can find comfort in our fantasies of a grown-up Mikasa xD
Good luck in your fanfic writing!
Thanks. I will write two parts of finish but Mikasa is done for me. Viva la Halle Lidner!
Happy writing! Halle’s super beautiful and hot and clever, Jean will have his hands full! 😀
Oh yes! Lucky Jean and lucky Halle!
Thoughts on Ymir freeing the pigs? Does it mean anything? Do you think Zeke is dead given Ymir summon past/dead Titan shifters? I’m starting think Isayama will pull a fma and make Eren and Hisu pov chapter like 60 to 100 pages- just because of the lack on chapters left and I think when he reveals one things he gonna have to reveal others.
Hi Chanique! Thank you so much for the comment, and the great question! I totally forget to address the pigs, my bad xD
I think this flashback is significant because Isayama put it at the beginning of the chapter. For me, Founder Ymir freeing the animals was an act of rebellion 2,000 years ago. Now she’s released the old titans, so it may be a similar act of rebellion on her part. I’m saying rebellion here because that seems to be the theme of the chapter: people repeating the same acts they’ve done before, saying the words they’ve said before. So Founder Ymir may just be repeating what she did in the past. Whether Eren approves of it or not is open to debate. For me, he has given his tacit approval because he’s given her her freedom. That means she is free to do as she pleases, and in this case, she’s decided to prevent the islanders+warriors from reaching Eren.
There is still the possibility that Eren is just manipulating her the way he’s manipulating Zeke’s corpse, but I’d like to think that Founder Ymir is free and acting on her own.
As for Zeke being dead, I certainly hope not! I’m holding on to the Nine Titans’ Ultimate Sacrifice ending theory, and I do wish for Zeke to find redemption in the end.
I would absolutely *adore* a long erehisu POV! I’d give an arm and a leg for something like that❤ So far we’ve only been given glimpses of what they think or feel and it’s never enough xD
It’s funny because the fandom thinks Ymir is now evil and responsible for everything and the one manipulating Eren
Ah, the fandom! You know, I haven’t been reading the message boards at all. I used to, years ago, but I stopped. I don’t think I can handle the madness there, I mean, it’s bad enough at work and my stress level is on the highest rung already xD
Anyway, putting aside what the majority of fans think, in *my* opinion, Founder Ymir is acting on her own will, just like Eren is acting on his own. I remember the time when Zeke was still full of braggadocio and mystery that lots of readers were insisting he was the great big mastermind who held the secret solution to the Eldian Problem. Even Mikasa and Armin thought Eren was being controlled/manipulated by him. Turns out Zeke was just a very broken, deeply suffering, self-hating man child. So, in a similar vein, I think Founder Ymir is not the evil mastermind behind the rumbling. It’s all Eren, from start to finish.
Anyone is free to think otherwise, needless to say. I’m just hoping Isayama won’t fuck up the ending, and by fuck up I mean make us weep in despair for the next one hundred years.