Question Marlo's MP Squad and the 104th

[Sigma]

I noticed something interesting when I read back over the scene with Marlo, Hitch, Annie and the rest of their MP squad. Marlo said "Passing the whole mission onto new recruits not even a month in the force."

This would seem to indicate that Marlo's entire squad (I counted 9 when they were lined up on the wall but I'm assuming it is a total of 10) is from the 104th Trainee Squad. This would presumably make them Ranks 12 - 20 Annie being in the top 10 and Yimir logically having to be 11 if she gave up her spot for Krista in the top 10. Though this would also assume that no one in 12 - 20 died in the battle of Trost or joined the scouting legion with the main characters. Also Boris suggested that Hitch got in due to dishonest means so that might be worth considering as well.

But if they are from the 104th , why weren't they sent out to the little cabin in the woods with the rest of the squad because they were suspected of having traitors in their midst? And while we're on that topic, how the hell did the entire 104th (which I counted to be about 400 soldiers from their graduation formation) fit in a single cabin?

Another explanation would be that there were there multiple trainee squads going on simultaneously and the 104th was just one of them. This would make all of Marlo's squad from trainee squads other than the 104th. But, at Irvine's speech the size of the formation was only slightly smaller than the one at graduation (presumably due to casualties during the Trost battle). So if there are more than one training squad going on, does Irvine just go around to each group as needed?

Another thing to consider is that only about 100 years have passed since the humans took refuge inside the walls. This would make it about 1 trainee squad formed per year, give or take a few depending on when the military program started. This being the case, Marlo's squad would likely have to be from the 104th, unless multiple trainee squads were commissioned after the first wall was destroyed to combat the higher level of threat.

So, what do you think about this?

 

[Demonspeed]

They are not from the 104th Squad. Only the 10 best can choose where to go, if you aren't among them you can only join the SC or the Garrison.

 

[Gmuni]

I am also confused as to where Marlo Squad comes from. At first I thought maybe each region has its own trainee corp with Eren's Crew coming from the south region. However if this was true wouldn't Marlo Squad members been assigned to their respective inner Shina districts instead of the south one?

 

[Sigma]

Only the top 10 can choose, that doesn't mean that individuals can't be selected. And if they aren't from the 104th, then where are they from? If no one from the 104th made it into the MP's wouldn't the ranks of the MP's start to dwindle? Does this imply that their were other training squads or what? And if so, why were all of them assigned to the southern Shina district like Gmuni said?

 

[TheOwl]

There were several Training Squads parallel to the 104th, Marlo was probably in one of those others. I can't really guess on what criteria the higher-ups assign fresh recruits to squads, but I can guess that before the Fall of Wall Maria, it was probably based on their town of origin. As for the assignment of those who have just gotten out of their training, it probably depends on which branch of the Military the soldier chose. If s/he chose the Scouting Legion, then s/he is assigned to a squad that has recently lost members, if s/he chose the Garrison or the Police, then it probably depends on their town of origin, skills and on the number of soldiers a District has.

This is just my guess though.

 

[kannazuki]

I noticed something interesting when I read back over the scene with Marlo, Hitch, Annie and the rest of their MP squad. Marlo said "Passing the whole mission onto new recruits not even a month in the force."

This would seem to indicate that Marlo's entire squad (I counted 9 when they were lined up on the wall but I'm assuming it is a total of 10) is from the 104th Trainee Squad. This would presumably make them Ranks 12 - 20 Annie being in the top 10 and Yimir logically having to be 11 if she gave up her spot for Krista in the top 10. Though this would also assume that no one in 12 - 20 died in the battle of Trost or joined the scouting legion with the main characters. Also Boris suggested that Hitch got in due to dishonest means so that might be worth considering as well.

*nods* Interesting.

But if they are from the 104th , why weren't they sent out to the little cabin in the woods with the rest of the squad because they were suspected of having traitors in their midst? And while we're on that topic, how the hell did the entire 104th (which I counted to be about 400 soldiers from their graduation formation) fit in a single cabin?

I don't know if they're from the 104th, but I thought everyone who was "quarantined" outside Wall Sina was a fresh Recon Corps recruit (from the 104th). I didn't think anything was done at all to the folks in the Stationary Corps or Military Police. If I'm missing something, please refresh my memory...

Only the top 10 can choose, that doesn't mean that individuals can't be selected. And if they aren't from the 104th, then where are they from? If no one from the 104th made it into the MP's wouldn't the ranks of the MP's start to dwindle? Does this imply that their were other training squads or what? And if so, why were all of them assigned to the southern Shina district like Gmuni said?

In addition to the top 10 getting to choose, as I recall, it was specifically stated that the opportunity can arise for people to transfer from elsewhere from time to time. So people who were in the MPs for only a month might have been soldiers of the Garrison for a year or two prior to that, for example.

 

[Sigma]

*nods* Interesting.

I don't know if they're from the 104th, but I thought everyone who was "quarantined" outside Wall Sina was a fresh Recon Corps recruit (from the 104th). I didn't think anything was done at all to the folks in the Stationary Corps or Military Police. If I'm missing something, please refresh my memory...

I guess that would make sense, given the smaller size of the group of people there. I just assumed they would quarantine everyone since it was never pointed out that only soldiers of the 104th in the Scounting Legion were suspected.

In addition to the top 10 getting to choose, as I recall, it was specifically stated that the opportunity can arise for people to transfer from elsewhere from time to time. So people who were in the MPs for only a month might have been soldiers of the Garrison for a year or two prior to that, for example.

Yeah, that would also make sense, I should have thought of that. :P

 

[Yumpo]

Info on the military based on the guidebook: http://calorescence.tumblr.com/post/61829458584/attack-on-titan-military-organization-from

At least according to him/her, there are a multiple training corps and that the 104th refers to a period of time. So technically, if Marlo and the others graduated at the same time as Annie, they're still part of the 104th albeit on a different location.

I am also confused as to where Marlo Squad comes from. At first I thought maybe each region has its own trainee corp with Eren's Crew coming from the south region. However if this was true wouldn't Marlo Squad members been assigned to their respective inner Shina districts instead of the south one?

So this means, Gmuni here is right that there are multiple training corps, and maybe at least one for each region. Though I don't think it is required for them to be assigned in their respective inner districts. If that were true, Annie shouldn't have been assigned in Stohess District because that's actually the east one, not the south. The South District for Sina is Hermiha district.

 

[Sigma]

Good find. I never would have guessed that there would be more than one 104th squad.

 

[kannazuki]

I guess that would make sense, given the smaller size of the group of people there. I just assumed they would quarantine everyone since it was never pointed out that only soldiers of the 104th in the Scounting Legion were suspected.

Recon only has jurisdiction over Recon though, I believe, while the MPs have jurisdiction over both their own Corps and the Garrison. The priority for "quarantining" the recruits was to keep out those who knew Eren well enough to have behaved the way Annie did during the expedition, as well as eliminating possible information leaks. Meaning that since they can't go isolating members of other Corps (especially without a "good" reason for the higher-ups), their only option was to keep the entire thing a secret, except for a few key people central to the plan. Just like with the expedition, but now with specific members of the 104th in the loop. And remember, as you point out, the only members of the 104th to join Recon were the (surviving) top 10 + Ymir and Armin.

 

[Sigma]

And remember, as you point out, the only members of the 104th to join Recon were the (surviving) top 10 + Ymir and Armin.

Actually, there were a handful of randoms that joined the Scouting Legion along with the top 10, Yimir, and Armin. They could be seen in the background at graduation and in the cabin. Presumably they were all on the east squad when the recruits were broken up since that was the only squad not to contain any of the main characters and was never actually shown.

I never thought about the jurisdiction angle. That makes a lot of sense and would explain both the absence of Annie and the absence of the greater bulk of the former 104th.

 

[Beatrice]

I always just considered that they may have been born within the inner wall thus automatically able to join.

Oh well.Cheers Yumpo.

 

[Astartes]

Just my two cents, it's mentioned that they've been MPs for "less than a month". They aren't introduced into the story until potentially days or maybe even a few weeks after the Survey Corps return from their expedition which happens a month after the 104th graduates. This means that they joined the MPs AFTER the 104th trainees had selected their military branches. So I would imagine they were part of the 104th who fell outside the top 10 and decided to join the garrison, and then were selected later by the MPs to fill however many openings they had.

 

[Yumpo]

@Astartes
Well, Eren and the others can't possibly be the only top 10 of the Training Corps. Their top 10 probably is only from the Southern Region of Wall Rose. There are possibly other top 10's out there like from the East, West and North regions of both Wall Rose and Sina. Thus, you could still assume that some of them are fresh graduates from being Trainees.

 

[Astartes]

Well didn't they mention the MPs number around 2000 soldiers and the Garrison somewhere around 5000? I don't remember if they give a number for the Survey Corps but I'd imagine its less than 3000, making the entire armed forces number less than 10,000 total. If I remember correctly Eren et al were in a class of 400-500 trainees. If there were 4 classes of 500 total, one for each region, that would mean the entire military would grow by over 20% every graduation, which seems way too high a number.

 

[Yumpo]

Well didn't they mention the MPs number around 2000 soldiers and the Garrison somewhere around 5000? I don't remember if they give a number for the Survey Corps but I'd imagine its less than 3000, making the entire armed forces number less than 10,000 total. If I remember correctly Eren et al were in a class of 400-500 trainees. If there were 4 classes of 500 total, one for each region, that would mean the entire military would grow by over 20% every graduation, which seems way too high a number.

Ah no. The Garrison's total is 30,000. The Survey Corp is 300. You're right with the MP though that they have 2,000 soldiers, but their actual fighting numbers are 5,000. The 3,000 additional are the Garrison under their command. And as far as I recall, there were no mention in the manga nor on the guidebook on how many Trainees are there in total. But the trainees are included in the head count for the Garrison.

So the military total is actually about 32,300. Not around 10,000. Remember though that this total is highly likely after the destruction of Wall Maria. Thus, if the growth and total doesn't make sense, it's probably because most of them were sent of to their deaths in the recapture operation. O_O

Of course, I'm not that good at math so don't take my word on the growth and total thing. But I sure as heck know how to add. XD

---------- Post added at 03:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 PM ----------

Oh, forgot to add that 30,000 total in the Garrison is just nominal. There could actually be more out there.

 

[Astartes]

Weird, I don't ever remember seeing the number 30,000 anywhere for the Garrison, although it does make more sense given the size of the wall. I'm sure the author didn't put much consideration into where the characters came from, given that they don't seem to be of much consequence to the story, although I could be totally wrong and a few or all of them will become prominent players later on with more fleshed out backgrounds.

 

[Yumpo]

@Astartes
The 30,000 came from the second guidebook, Outside Kou. And it seems like it was also written somewhere on the August 2011 issue of the manga, at least when I researched it:
http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2137636957628892401/2137637881133291703
http://blog.livedoor.jp/shonenmanga/archives/29147872.html
^Note that the dates given on the posts made on these websites were well before 2013/09/08, which is the release date of the second guidebook. So yeah, it's most likely that the number 30,000 or more soldiers for the Garrison are true.

The author actually put consideration as to where the main characters came from. Almost all of the Trainees that we know of came from the South. Even Sasha and Connie came from the South. And you may want to consider as to what region did the Colossus and Armored Titan attack, which is also from the South District of Wall Maria, Shiganshina.

I guess we're practically just not paying attention to it that much.

 

[Astartes]

As I said before I don't doubt that number at all given how big the wall is, just that I had never seen it used in either the anime or on any manga Edited Mangas.

By characters I was referring to Marlow and the other rookie MPs, I'm well aware of the back stories of all the main characters.

 

[Yumpo]

As I said before I don't doubt that number at all given how big the wall is, just that I had never seen it used in either the anime or on any manga Edited Mangas.

Manga Edited Mangas tend not to bother with these trivia infos, that's why you don't see them that much. And if they do bother, it's when they're using scans in tankobon volumes, which apparently isn't being used nowadays since they've already catched up to the magazine. And judging from when and where these infos were stated, it seems like the Edited Mangas group for that specific magazine issue just really didn't care.

In the anime's case, they actually pretty much omitted some infos that were present in the manga, and cut some parts of it. Like for example, remember that Special-Target Restraining Weapons used against the Female Titan? Yeah apparently, the anime didn't mentioned that they were contained in extremely normal-looking barrels, which was actually mentioned in the manga volume extras. That's why Reiner didn't noticed any weapons or canons that were being carried inside the wagons.

Thus, you have the guidebook to give you some info, which I actually have raw scans of too. XD