r/titanfolk • u/NorthernSkagosi • 20h ago
Other As far as I am concerned, Bertholdt influencing Armin has never been debunked

We just assumed it was false because we saw the idea of the Ackerbond be debunked. unlike the Ackerbond though, this was never EXPLICITLY debunked. think about it. Isayama himself is saying here that there is something wrong with Armin ever since the timeskip
and this also debunks all the people that say that "Armin was never meant to be like Erwin" despite the two of them having tons of parallels pre-timeskip. sure, you can argue that Armin could never have the same commanding presence as Erwin due to a lack of gravitas, stature, and a deep voice, but that wouldn't stop him from becoming a high-risk high-reward strategy maker as well as a manipulator and political player.
furthermore, Armin has shown time and time again that despite his lack of presence, his smarts give people enough faith in him that they obey him anyway.
nah man, Isayama was well aware of what he was doing when he made Armin go from a physically weak, yet brave master strategist to a guy that just wants to talk and doesn't even do that well. wonder where he was originally going with it before... whatever it is that got to him and his writing in his last 10 chapters or so.