WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Attack on Titan Season 4, Episode 25, "Night of the End," now streaming on Funimation, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
It wouldn't be an episode of Attack on Titan if Reiner Brain weren't beaten to a pulp at least once. The wielder of the Armored Titan found himself on the wrong end of someone's fist once again as Jean settled in on his chest for a beatdown that was a long time coming. At this point, Reiner seems to be seeking reasons to get assaulted as he kept talking about Marco's death despite Jean's increasingly angry warnings. Rather than fight back or defend himself in any way, he appeared to be waiting for Jean's hand to cramp up as his former comrade vented his frustrations on Reiner's face.
Reiner Braun is the longest-enduring antagonist in Attack on Titan, having outed himself as a spy way back in Season 2. Once the big brother of the 104th Cadet Corps, Reiner has had a long journey from friend, to villain, to a sympathetic character, to a talking punching bag. It's ironic that he holds the Armored Titan, aka Marley's shield, considering how often he has his Titan and human rear ends handed to him. Reiner has been beaten up three times by Eren, twice by Zeke, blown up with Thunder Spears twice, blown up with Anti-Titan Artillery twice, and blasted with chunks of the Wall during the Rumbling. Annie even kicked him in the face to wake him up after seeing him for the first time in four years.
As an Eldian born in the Liberio Internment Zone in Marley, Reiner became a Warrior Candidate for two reasons: to be the hero who saved the world, and so that his family could live together. Reiner's mother is an Eldian, but his father is a Marleyan whose life would be ruined if anyone learned he'd had an affair with a "filthy devil." Reiner was just a kid when he destroyed the gate of Wall Maria, dooming thousands upon thousands of people to death by Titans.
Being responsible for so many deaths and infiltrating the Walls' military eventually shattered Reiner's psyche. Ever since he killed Marco, Reiner has been unable to cope with the fact that the filthy island devils he's been killing are just regular people, no different than anyone else in the world.
Reiner has more blood on his hands than just about anyone else in Attack on Titan, so it's understandable that he's nobody's favorite person on Paradis Island. However, nobody hates him more than Reiner himself, and the Armored Titan holder has been trying to find an excuse to get killed for some time now. His self-loathing is probably the biggest reason he so often finds himself getting beaten or berated because he doesn't exactly disagree with whatever that person's reason is for hating him so much. In the latest instance with Jean, Reiner seemed to be begging for it by trying to make himself the victim about the time he knocked Marco to the ground and ordered Annie to take his gear after Marco overheard a conversation he wasn't supposed to.
In Reiner's defense, he has only ever tried to do what he thought was right. By destroying the gate of Wall Maria so that Titans could pass through, Reiner was carrying out the Marleyan propaganda that he'd been indoctrinated with his whole life -- that killing filthy island devils was the only way to save the world.
Reiner is not a cackling, evil man who delights in causing pain, he's a victim of circumstance. Blaming himself for not seeing through the lies of Marley, Reiner is haunted by the staggering amount of blood that covers his hands. In his mind, he deserves every beating he gets and worse, so it's no surprise that he would goad Jean into attacking him only to lie there and take it.
It's not clear who the protagonist of Attack on Titan is anymore now that Eren Jaeger has decided to destroy the world. Reiner is as complex and compelling as Eren, and the story of AoT would certainly feel like Reiner's hero journey if it'd been told from his point of view from the start. Hopefully Reiner's pity party will end soon, because it's disheartening to see such a tragic character be the focus of so much venom, even if he's earned it. A fresh battle against Floch and the Jaegerists looks to be on the horizon and it might finally be Reiner's time to shine as he sets out to do the only thing he's ever wanted to do: save the world.
