WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Attack on Titan Season 4, Episode 24, "Pride," now streaming on Funimation, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
The conflict between Marley and Paradis Island in Attack on Titan has never been messier. In the wake of Eren Jaeger's activation of the Rumbling, both nations have fallen to pieces. While a small group of Eldians and Marleyans are putting aside their differences to work together, Floch Forster and the Jaegerists have proven that those differences aren't quite so dramatic anymore. Claiming to be speaking on Eren's behalf, Floch has begun rounding up and executing anyone not willing to cooperate with the new world order. Onyankopon seems to be the only character left who is sane enough to see that the Eldians have become just as rotten as their oppressors.
Ever since Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover destroyed the Walls in Shiganshina, the Eldians on Paradis Island have painted themselves as the tragic victims of a hateful country -- and in some ways, they are. Marley has spent most of its existence persecuting Eldians for the crimes of their ancestors and now Eldians are abhorred around the world. Unfortunately for Marley, a piece of the Wall landed on the wrong house, and eventually, Eren Jaeger gave Marley a dose of their own medicine when he attacked the Liberio Internment Zone during a war rally. This declaration of war by Eren was also the first step in Paradis Island's journey to becoming just another Marley.
The feud between Marley and Eldians is long, full of horrific war crimes and an understandable resultant hatred of one another. Eldians once used the power of Titans to conquer the world by drowning it in blood -- a war in which Marley especially suffered. Once Marley successfully stole seven of the Nine Titans, instead of using them to broker peace, they did exactly what the Eldians had and used them to conquer the planet. Now the tide has turned again and Eldians have recaptured the power of the Founding Titan, and Eren Jaeger is now leading an army of Colossus Titans straight toward Marley. In an endless cycle of Titan-stealing and global conquests, Paradis and Marley are more alike than either of them would care to admit.
At some point, one of these nations is going to have to be the bigger person. The Eldians of Paradis Island have suffered so much under Marley without even knowing why Marley hated them. Without their memories of the Great Titan War, this was perhaps the best chance to break the cycle, but the Eldians of Paradis Island have chosen violence once again. Eren, Floch and the Jaegerists have decided to fight fire with fire, hating and killing Marleyans for the crime of being Marleyans. Eren, at least, has acknowledged to Reiner that the two of them are the same and that he can no longer blame Reiner for re-starting this war. Floch, on the other hand, has devoted himself fully to Eldian domination while holding himself above the Marleyans.
Onyankopon even pointed out to Floch and the Jaegerists that they have become the very thing they hate, but his logic fell on deaf ears. Floch and the Jaegerists are imprisoning or killing anyone who opposes them, and they intend for Eldia to become the new ruler of the world with the power of Titans. Even though Eren intends to leave no one outside Paradis Island alive, his supporters seem blind to the fact that they will be ruling over a planet-wide graveyard. Even if the alliance between the Scouts and Marley succeeds in stopping the Rumbling, Floch and the Jaegerists will only see it as a reason to keep fighting rather than an opportunity for peace.
It's understandable how both nations have become what they have in Attack on Titan. To be fair, the Eldians did start this when they used Titans to conquer the planet 2,000 years ago. Mistakes aplenty have been made by each side since then, so Eren's attempt to destroy the world with the Rumbling might have been inevitable. If Floch and the Jaegerists find out about the plan to stop the Rumbling, the mistakes are going to continue until someone wins or there's no one left. While Paradis Island and Marley pretend to be separate, it's their near-identical histories that have brought the human race to the brink of extinction.
