>>55112267Arven "knew" his parent was dead, he just struggled to accept it because he didn't have the certainty, and because the truth was obviously very hurtful. He dwelled on the possibility that they were still alive, but chose to fully abandon him, which only turned him bitter. But he preferred to believe that than them being dead. I mean the sole reason why he went down to AZ all by himself is probably cause he was worried about them not responding anymore, but he couldn't get far enough to find out before his Mabosstiff - the only family he had left - got horribly injured. Which only made him even angrier at his parent, burying his other feelings he didn't want to face.
But he definitely was aware of the possibility, probably even knew how likely it was at that point (it's been about 2 years). It's a bit clearer in the German localisation since he says "What that really you...?" after the call with the prof when you defeat the last titan.
Anyway, this is also pretty much the point you're making: a lot of the more serious parts of the story require reading between the lines and thinking about what's being implied, and that's obviously on purpose. As you said, you can't show the professors being fucking sliced open on screen when 7 year olds are supposed to be able to play this game. People who think that SV has no "serious plot" are either shitposters who have never played the game or speedrunning kids with no reading comprehension.
