imma be honest i love marco but i'm glad he wasn't in the last chapter. i think 127 gave us and jean a sort of closure. not that jean will stop remembering him, but Isayama could stop putting it forward. the ones who were shown are the ones who died for the cause. marco was murdered. OR other solution (that i would have preferred) would be to show literally everyone. hannah, mina, franz, everyone, every victim of that centuries old war.

Thanks for sending this in! I do see the point in the whole closure thing for Jean's arc, but here's the thing:

Marco wasn't just a plot device used to develop Jean's character. 

That's exactly what has me so upset about it. He was so much more than that, and ultimately, Jean wasn't the only one who was affected by his presence and his death. In fact, even after Marco dies in S1, he continued to be a key figure in pushing the plot forward and further developing characters, the warriors especially. We see it when Reiner begins heavily disassociating ("Why is that titan eating Marco?" despite being directly responsible for Marco's death). We see it in Annie, who in the OVAs is shown to have recurring nightmares about her hand in Marco's death (In 127, we see that she's not over it yet, either. She asks Jean: "Would you forgive me?"). We see it in Eren, who was fully expecting somebody like Marco to join the Survey Corps–only to be shaken to find out that Marco had died before he could even graduate. We see it in his and Armin's demonstration of wit as they worked together in the OVA, further proving that physical strength isn't the only factor necessary to come out victorious. I would even argue as far as to say that Marco was one of the main catalysts that inspired the scouts to keep pushing forward. This was especially true for Jean's case.

Most importantly though, the moment Marco dies at the hands of Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie is the exact moment we see that not everything in the show is in black and white.

This has always been one of the most important themes of the franchise. Because of his death, we suddenly see that Reiner, Annie, and Bertholt weren't just these Big Bad Guys set to destroy the heroes. We realize that it's much more complicated than that, and that this is what happens as a result of war. Of any war: that there is no good and evil, no right or wrong. The only thing there is is despair and destruction.

Him not showing up in the smoke in 139 was also a gigantic missed opportunity to finally close in on Reiner and Annie's journey towards redemption. I've posted about it before, but just imagine Marco showing up there next to Sasha, and it isn't just Jean who sees him. Reiner and Annie do, too. The two people directly responsible for his death. And because he's Marco Bodt, he smiles one last time and says "I understand. I forgive you. Take care of them for us."

Like, the sheer impact of that? Even if he didn't get to say anything, even if he just smiled at Reiner and Annie? That would have sent me. That would have set all of us as an audience, regardless of shipping preferences or anything else. We all would have cried regardless.

tl;dr I understand that Jean received his closure in 127, but the bitterness I feel about Marco not showing up in 139 wasn't about 127, or the closure Jean receives itself. It's because Marco was such an important character, played such a significant role in pushing the plot forward even post-mortem, and he was and continues to be–even after his death 8 years later–a fan favorite.

So it literally did not make sense for him to NOT have been there. Jean and the others deserved to say goodbye. Reiner and Annie deserved that ultimate act of closure. And we, the audience, deserved one last chance to say goodbye to Marco, too.