Praise for, and Critique of Attack on Titan’s Ending

TLDR: The AoT ending pays off the broader themes of the series, but is let down by rushed story telling and Mikasa’s lack of character development.

Introduction

Attack on Titan is an incredible fictional work. Since finishing season 4 part 2, I could not wait and had to read the ending. The themes, historical comparisons, and possible interpretations have been floating in brain ever since. This is my attempt to articulate what makes AoT so thought provoking, as well as how I hope the ending can be improved for the (true) final season of the Anime.

The Narrative Path

Isayama brings the viewer on a journey that slowly forms a nationalistic (or racist) lens on the world, and then tries to shatter that perspective with a powerful narrative shift. I was not engaged in much of the AoT discussion during the release, but I believe many of the accusations of the show being pro-fascist and pro-racist came before this shift, which helps illustrate that it did work. Now if you are still with me, we will wander back to how AoT escalates this lens.

Note: Nationalism and Racism are tightly tied together in AoT due to the construction of the national bodies within the series. I am not going to try to unravel that thread, so for this discussion, they are effectively interchangeable.

Becoming a Nationalist

In the beginning there were titans, a horrific force of nature that have a mocking resemblance to humanity. As we are introduced to this threat, they don’t have much agency, and are simply an obstacle to be overcome. We can’t help but cheer for Eren as he vows to exterminate them all, freeing his people from life within the walls. Titans can easily be a stand in for any society-wide problem here: pandemics, economic depression, even war.

When Eren begins harnessing his titan powers, it finally feels like there is hope to achieve this goal, and Armin comments on how their humanity must be discarded. Again, we cheer for this. Anything that gives humanity the opportunity to live free from the walls and titans. Here we have one powerful individual rising up to show us that someone can finally solve this problem. Someone can address the problems plaguing society.

Eren’s transformation opens the door to a worrying possibility, that there could be other titan shifters. We soon discover this is the case, via the female titan escaping. Even worse, they are among us, the comrades we know and love. The problem we face can only be solved by purging them from our ranks.

So our main characters do it, they try to draw out the internal threats. They face down their comrades, but ultimately the intruders are saved by an external threat. With the introduction of Zeke, we get a stronger sense that there is something looming out there. This is reinforced when Eren finally makes it back to the basement. There is a broader world out there. The forces that they are fighting are not titan, but human.

From there, our heroes successfully defeat the remaining titans, and secure their island. While Armin and Mikasa are enjoying the joy and awe of seeing the ocean for the first time, Eren can’t. He points across the ocean, and asks if killing all of their enemies will free them. At this point, we are with Eren. The enemy must be defeated to keep Paradis safe. But we now take a hard shift in perspective.

Breaking Nationalism Down

In what I believe is the best thematic choice in the series, we find ourselves among the Eldian division of Marley. We spend several episodes getting to see the other side of the ocean. The great discovery here is the other titan shifters all have their own reasons for fighting against our original crew. Largely, it was to protect those that they loved from Marleyan persecution via the special status as a warrior. We also see that they are the same as our original cast, trapped within the walls of their society. We also meet a controversial yet essential character, Gabi.

Gabi’s arc is the key to the broader themes of the entire work. Upon her introduction, her parallels to Eren are clear. They both had a high level of competence, were ruthless in their fight against the enemy, and were completely committed to their beliefs. For Eren, that was freedom. For Gabi, it was the brainwashing against the “devils.” During the attack on Liberio, Gabi follows these beliefs into the airship and kills one of our most beloved characters, Sasha.

Gabi is captured and brought back to Paradis. When she escapes into the countryside, she finds something she doesn’t expect from the devils, true kindness. She meets Kaya, the girl Sasha saved before the time skip, who offers them food, comfort, and safety. Kaya later reveals that she knows they are from Marley, and is willing to help them anyway. Sasha’s family takes them, as if they were any other orphan.

When the group goes to be served dinner by Nicolo, Kaya learns that Gabi is the one who killed Sasha. She then tries to kill Gabi, getting caught up in the cycle of violence. After being exposed to the people of Paradis and some additional horros of war, Gabi realizes that they are just people after all. This is an essential step where her story diverges from Eren’s.

Gabi takes a quick diversion to decapitate Eren with an anti-titan rifle before risking her life to save Kaya. This selfless act causes Nicolo and Kaya to protect her from Paradis military, thus breaking the cycle of violence we have seen across so much of the series. The takeaway form this is pretty clear: In order to break this cycle, vulnerability and selflessness are necessary. The characters have to be able to view their adversaries as people first, and accept their humanity as equally valid.

There are many other examples of characters choosing the safety of strangers over themselves or loved ones, but Gabi’s provides the clearest parallel to Eren. Some other notable stories that support this point are Levy squad during the battle with the female titan in the forest, Sasha saving Kaya, and Armin attempting to sacrifice himself to save Falco.

Character Ideologies

Where AoT really shines is juxtaposing how characters on an individual level are able to break the cycle of violence, while those viewing the world through the aforementioned nationalist lens cannot. There are many reasons for it, but these actors refuse to forget violence in the past for varying reasons. Their central conflict consists of the war between Paradis and Marley. The richness of AoT comes from the way these characters respond to this conflict. Particularly in how their pasts shape their ideals, their ideals shape their solutions, their solutions shape their actions.

Marley and Tybur

This one is very straightforward, and completes the metaphor for Titan memory powers as nationalism through the literal use of nationalism. The Eldians left 100 years before the Marley we see in this story. No one we see is being personally victimized by the Eldian empire, yet they still hold Eldians accountable for the sins of their ancestors. They commit clear atrocities through the ghettos and lack of rights for modern Eldians. This our model for nationalistic thinking. The nation cannot forget the transgressions of the past, and continues that cycle of violence on to people who have done nothing wrong.

Floch

Floch is one of my favorite characters in the series. After surviving Erwin’s suicide charge on his first mission, he is left with an extreme case of survivor’s guilt. Many of the characters reference the weight of their fallen comrades, and how they must live up to that sacrifice, but Floch is completely shaped by this. In my opinion, he latches onto Eren, who has the entire reason for the operation. From here, Floch leads the Jeagerists believing that the only way to prevent their deaths is through a militaristic society that demands its citizens be willing to give everything for the continuation of the state.

Karl Fritz

King Fritz is our most apt metaphor for a nation acting upon its shared memory. Through the power of the founding titan, Fritz is able to experience thousands of years of history and force the inhabitants of Paradis to follow his beliefs, regardless of their own feelings. Due to his memory powers, he remembers all of the past violence committed by Eldians and Marleyans. To him, all future Eldians will be the same as those who came before. As a result, he values peace above all else, and essentially commits genocide against his own people, albeit with several generations of peace.

Grisha

Grisha’s path is understandable in a lot of ways. The early loss of his sister due to the Marleyan laws informs how he sees the world, and his singleminded focus on achieving restoration of the Eldian empire. He is created by Marley enforcing the cycle of violence as mentioned above. Grisha becomes so committed to this ideology that he forgets to appreciate the things in life that are not related to his beliefs. Breaking free from oppression is clearly a worthy goal, but Grisha has become selfish in his approach. Instead of doing it for the future of the next generation, he is trying to use the next generation to achieve his goals. I think it is interesting how he inverts this on Paradis. He shields Eren from the ideology and conflict of the outsides world. Instead he simply loves Eren as the child he is, right up until he must pass on the Attack titan. He gave Eren the tools to seek his own destiny without the baggage of his beliefs. I think there are a lot of interesting themes around what is passed on to the next generation in AoT, but that is best reserved for another discussion.

Zeke

Zeke is defined by the way he was raised, and is the real consequence of Grisha’s ideology. Grisha was so concerned with overcoming the Eldian oppression that he did not view Zeke as anything more than a tool. Zeke ends up seeking out the love he is not getting from his parents, first through his grandparents, and then through Tom Ksaver. I think through this lens, it is easy to see how Zeke comes to the conclusion that sterilization (itself a genocide) is a viable solution. He was caught up in the conflict from birth, and was never given the chance to grow up loved for who he is. He doesn’t see the beauty that comes from family, and feels he can deny that to all Eldians, so children are not brought up in a culture of hatred. This is obviously flawed logic, but it is definitely less abhorrent than Eren’s decisions.

Eren

Eren is the most controversial character in the series. In my opinion, much of this is a result of the narrative path Isayama takes, which leaves some viewers unable to shift their perspective from the nationalistic lens that seasons 1-3 present. The Third Wave experiment has a lot of interesting parallels to this effect, but that could be an entire post on its own.

Eren has so many parallels in this series. As presented above, Gabi provides what is the moral path to break the cycle of violence. When she is presented with the truth that those on the other side of the war are thinking, feeling humans, she is forced to assess her own beliefs. This leads her to see their lives as equally valuable to her own, and her actions change as a result. Reiner is faced with this cognitive dissonance, and it causes him to develop a split personality to avoid processing it. Once he sees the scout regiment as people from their time together, he cannot face how his actions affect them. Eren and Reiner are the same, by Eren’s own words. Eren copes with his own actions through a similar mechanism to Reiner. Eren tells himself that he must follow the future memories. Eren is wrong. He falls into the same type of thinking that Fritz does. He believes the memory powers of the attack titan show what must transpire, and he hides behind that facade. He does this because he is too cowardly to face being vulnerable.

Eren’s ideal of freedom is made a complete sham by his own actions. One of the basic tenants of freedom is that it should be extended to everyone. “My right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins.” Eren instead commits to his freedom above even the lives of others. In addition, he does not even allow himself to be free. As mentioned above, Eren becomes enslaved to the future memories of the attack titan. He says he is doing the rumbling to keep those he loves safe, but ultimately he does it for himself. Eren is a coward for two reasons: He will not face an uncertain future and he would rather murder strangers than risk any harm to his loved ones. This second reason is extremely key to why AoT uses so much WWII imagery, and we will come back around to it.

Armin

Armin has been the emotional core of the series from the first episodes. He thinks through problems in a way the other characters do not, except perhaps Erwin. The choice between Erwin and Armin with the colossal titan is pivotal to the themes of the series, and ties directly into the ideals they were chasing. Erwin had borne the weight of his dead comrades so that he could prove there was an outside world. He stated that he would rather see the basement and die than give it up and live. After the proof existed, Erwin didn’t have anything left to chase. In a perfect parallel with Erwin, Armin is trying to achieve his parents’ dream. He wants to see the wonders of the world outside the walls, and I think on a broader level is seeking basic human joy. This is most evident through his discussions with Zeke in the paths. Armin is seeking the little moments that make life worth living, and has the empathy to want others to have that opportunity as well. It is no coincidence that Armin comes up with a practical solution to the conflict. He wants to use a controlled version of the rumbling to ensure Paradis is safe, then pursue a longer peace.

The Ending Paid Off

Now don’t worry, the next section will focus on how the ending fell short, but I do believe the events presented in the Manga support the broader themes of the series.

The Alliance is True Heroism

While Eren’s decisions show the cowardice of valuing the safety of those you know over strangers, the Alliance is the complete opposite. The Marleyan members of the Alliance will not be able to save Marley due to the speed of the rumbling. The Paradis members are already safe. Many of them would be hailed as heroes under the new Jeagerist regime. Despite all of this, they take on immense risk to pursue Eren in hopes of saving strangers. They understand that their lives aren’t inherently more valuable than the rest of the world. They dedicate their hearts to a noble cause and attempt to save the world.

Ymir and Mikasa

This is part of the ending that is most hurt by poor execution. As we have already discussed, the titan memory powers serve as a metaphor for nationalism and/or racial memory. In the same way Fritz can see their history, so can Ymir. The implication is that in 2000 years, Ymir has not seen a single event that makes her believe she can act against the one she loves, Fritz. This is where Mikasa comes in. Throughout the series, Mikasa is one of the flattest characters. She clearly loves Eren fiercely and would give anything to protect him. Obviously this sets her up as the parallel to Ymir in the same way Eren parallels Fritz. In Mikasa’s decision to kill Eren in the end, we see an even greater elevation of the Alliance’s heroism. Not only is she willing to risk her safety for the lives of strangers, she actively kills someone who she has loved her entire life. It is literally her defining characteristic in the series, and she overcomes it for the lives of strangers. This is what allows Ymir to overcome her own obedience to Fritz.

The Extra Pages and Eren’s Legacy

The most critical aspects of Eren’s choices come in the final frames of the manga. The first aspect is we see the Jeagerists are still committed to being a militant nation, despite the fact that there are so few other people left to oppose them. Living under a fascist regime is less than ideal, and Eren dooms Paradis to this fate. This is part of the cost for his friends to live free from external threats in their lifetime.

One thing I wish was discussed more was the way Eren’s pursuit of freedom also stole Armin’s ideals as well. Armin wanted to see the wonders of the world, and experience life beyond the walls. There are only a few times in the series where we see true happiness in the characters, and the trip to Marley seems to be the longest section. During the rumbling, Eren crushes everything. Not just the people and cultures, but the entire landscape is changed. How many natural wonders that they could have enjoyed are now the same, bleak landscape of footprints? Eren destroys all of that and leaves the world a homogeneous shell of what came before.

Finally, we have to discuss the tree at the end. In my opinion, this tree is evidence that Eren has let the world down. The titans are the clear source of the racial hatred in AoT, and it is no coincidence that Eren’s genocide coincides with the ending of this source of racial hatred. In the immediate aftermath, there isn’t anyone else left to hate the Eldians for their differences. Over time though, the same hatred will return, it is part of human nature. By taking the easy road, Eren hands the same problem to their descendants, and leaves them with a dark “solution.” If titans return, people may point back to history as “the only way,” which leaves the world less likely to overcome difference through mutual understanding. To me, the presence of the tree communicates that the potential for racism can never be defeated. Every generation has to work toward greater acceptance and understanding, so we can save the beauty and diversity in the world.

If you read nothing else read this

One of the more controversial aspects of AoT has been the inclusion of WWII imagery, particularly that associated with the Holocaust. The morals presented in the story do justify this, particularly with the dramatization of Eren’s choices. As discussed above, the themes of AoT focus on what would you sacrifice to do what is right. When Eren commits to the Rumbling, he is in a very particular frame of mind. He views the genocide as inevitable, and he wants to ensure the safety of those closest to him, his family. This situation isn’t similar to Hitler, or the Jews in Nazi Germany. It is most similar to German citizens who knew or participated in the Holocaust. Those people weren’t inherently evil. They had family they cared about. And they went along with atrocities to ensure their own family was safe. Just like Eren. AoT is urging us to stand against evil, even when it requires us to stand up to those we love.

The Ending Didn’t Pay Off

While all of the themes of the ending are well setup and supported by the actual events of the series, the ending itself has some real issues. I’m hopeful that they will fix some of these in the upcoming final season.

Mikasa and Ymir Don’t Work

As mentioned above, the real moral conflict comes down to Mikasa and Ymir. Our understanding of Ymir is at a very strange level from what Isayama has given us. She has a Stockholm syndrome love for King Fritz, and is trapped by this; however, we are left to infer that she has been searching for someone like Mikasa for a long time. This works in theory, but in practice we have such a small view into here psychology that it feels unfulfilling in the manga.

Unfortunately for the Mikasa side of this comparison, I think it may be too late to really salvage this. Mikasa is barely a character through the series, being defined by her love for Eren and her badassery. She has been very flat through the series, but we haven’t really seen her with any agency. In my opinion, it would have worked better if we saw Mikasa choosing between the good of the scouts vs Eren historically and she finally overcomes that in the rumbling. I find myself wishing that Mikasa just had more independent character development through the series, but it would be difficult to address this in the final few episodes.

No One Dies

This is my biggest hangup with the ending. It is supposed to be an incredibly dangerous mission with low chances for success. Apparently 80% of the population is gone but none of those characters are people the readers care about. We see many characters in positions where they have almost no hope of survival (or have literally become titans.) This really undermines the themes for a couple of reasons. The danger ends up not feeling real, so the heroism feels weak. In addition, it let’s Eren off the hook with a lot of readers. It is easy to waive off fictional characters we haven’t met and say Eren did the right thing for Paradis. That becomes much harder for readers if Eren has killed some of his friends who have been with them all along, like Connie or Jean (or both.)

Character Reactions

The character reactions to Eren’s actions leave a lot to be desired. I could see an angle where they have the internal dialogue with Eren and understand his desires, but the universal forgiveness toward him seems strange given what has happened and what we know about our characters. I think Armin’s discussion in the most nuanced and I hoped they expand upon it in the anime.

Conclusion

Attack on Titan is one of the best stories I have read, in any medium. Despite the rocky landing in the manga, I think they can paper over some of these issues in the anime by making the ending conversations a little more informative. I don’t think they will be able to totally address all of the issues, but hopefully the anime finds a way to deliver an ending that still fits thematically while making it a bit more palatable. I think adding a few character deaths to the ending would add more weight to these conversations.