Spent years terrorising children because a girl rejected him in high school and somehow the fandom turned that into one of the greatest redemption arcs in fiction.
Jaime Lannister might genuinely be the most overrated “deep” character I’ve ever seen in TV. People talk about his redemption arc like it’s Breaking Bad level writing but he spends 8 seasons being obsessed with his sister, says one sad speech in a bath, then immediately runs back to her and dies.
I genuinely think fans saw “attractive man with trauma” and convinced themselves he was morally complex. Half his development is basically headcanon at this point.
I honestly think the fandom gives Erwin way too much of a pass because he’s charismatic and dies at the perfect moment in the story.
Almost everything he does traces back to wanting to prove his father was right. Yes, he cared about humanity, obviously, but people act like he was purely selfless when the show itself repeatedly points out that he wasn’t. Even Erwin admits it. He kept sending people to die partly because he needed to reach the basement.
And don’t get me wrong, that’s what makes him interesting. But I feel like people watch the suicide charge scene and only remember the speech and the music, not the fact he’s basically convincing a bunch of terrified young soldiers to ride to certain death for a plan that probably won’t work.
The scary thing about Erwin is that he’s convincing enough that both the characters and the audience forgive him for it.
I genuinely think if Erwin had survived longer, especially into the Marley arc, way more people would’ve started seeing the darker side of his mentality.