Why Mikasa And Armin Are Stagnant

進撃の巨人 The Final Season Pt. 2 Preview

9th January 2022

I guess Isayama remembered.

He referenced it in the final chapter.

Now I'm sad. I guess it means Eren's death ended the Titan Curse which let Historia and her child live their lives freely. So Eren was able to "change something" while preventing Historia's sacrifice.

Ohhhhh!!!

Source: https://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/exhibitions/attack-on-titan.html

Thank you! I'm glad I was able to help. What you've said about never seeing Eren as a bad person really resonated with me, the best way I can describe him and his story is that of a boy born a monster. I really like how you talked about those ideas, it felt like you were expressing something I struggled to, so thanks for that as well!

“They were just there wherever I looked from the day I was born. Those miserable walls.”

I think this is the most important line we need for understanding Eren. From the moment he was born Eren felt caged no matter what he did and he longed for release.

This desire was unconscious at first, but seeing Armin dream so passionately brought about the realization that Armin was seeing and believing in something that Eren couldn’t, and this brings about the realization in him that he’s restrained/caged from doing something.

He initially believes that this indignation from a sense of being caged is because of the Titans or oppressors but as time goes on and the circumstances change, Eren realises that this is something internal and the fact that it’s something that no one else experiences is one of the sources of his tragedy: he can’t communicate/share this desire.

(There’s probably some symbolism in the fact that Eren confessed his truest desires to a child that didn’t speak the same language)

At first, Eren associated release with the “sight” of the things in Armin’s book. He believed that seeing those things will give him the release and liberty he’s been longing for, though it should be noted that Eren says he doesn’t care what the particular sights *are* just that he sees them so I think he cares much more about the feeling of liberation that those things stand for than the sights themselves.

So I think that even though Eren might say that he’s disappointed that the world wasn’t what was in Armin’s book I think what he’s really sad about is that he didn’t feel liberated by the world beyond the walls, but because he associated those feelings with the sights in Armin’s book he uses them interchangeably(I think this is supported by the fact that Eren still feels caged and empty when actually seeing those sights in 139).

The reason Eren slaughters humanity beyond the walls is because from his perspective, *they* are walls/barriers obstructing his freedom. “That Scenery” is one of the most important motifs with Eren, it’s the liberty that comes with transcending or breaking a wall, but one of the ironies in 131 is that Eren is deluding himself to think that it’s freedom. Eren’s very nature demands that he cannot see beyond the “walls” and this is testified to by Eren looking unfulfilled immediately after the freedom panel and the fact that he still needs Armin’s approval. Besides Isayama deliberately contrasts Eren and Armin by saying that Armin still believes in a world beyond the walls, with a panel of Eren’s eyes closed.

Eren’s tragedy is that of a man born with the inability to look past the repression of life(or you could say he was born with the ability to see restraints everywhere). I think this solves all the contradictions I thought I saw in Eren’s character and addresses the “Problem of being a Slave” that Isayama once brought up.

Before I go there’s one last thing I have to say about the final chapter and this motif, Eren can’t see the dream Armin enjoys and he can’t see the future that lies ahead, but his love for his friend(s) let’s him transcend that nature by putting his hopes in them at the end. He won’t ever be able to see beyond the walls, that’s just how he is, but he can be at peace with the fact that his friends will.

Edit: I made this post mainly because I was tired of people rooting Eren’s actions in trauma or an ideological mistake or lack of development. Eren has developed enough as a protagonist, especially by chapter 100, his “mistakes” in the Final Arc are a result of his nature, I think that’s what Isayama wanted to convey.

This was great! It was really well written and it really makes me appreciate both relationships more, so thanks. One thing I'd like to add concerning your point on cause and effect is how in chapter 122, Eren eventually sees himself and probably Historia as wellin Ymir and uses that same dialectic to free her. It's really cool how it all comes full circle, Freckles Ymir is guven her name through the legacy of OG Ymir and through the overcoming of her weakness she frees Historia who frees Eren who eventually frees the OG.

Yumihisu and Erehisu - how do these ships compliment each other?

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a longer post. Recently, I’ve been feeling a bit more inspired, though - and, once again, my thoughts are occupied by my two favorite ships from SnK. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that shipping both is impossible, or that shipping one of them authomatically means that you’re against the other. I think it’s ridiculous - even more, I think that shipping both is quite logical.

Today, I’m going to write about how Yumihisu and Erehisu are, in my opinion, tied to each other. (As always, a short disclaimer: there will be spoilers, and the pictures/gifs used in this post don’t belong to me. Have fun reading!)

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Usurper

This is just me trying to make sense of how the chapter title of 139 is connected to the extra pages so this might come off as more of a stream of consciousness than an organized post.

The first thing I noted was that the tree is constantly growing admist the growth/development of Eldia and its subsequent fall and destruction. I'm not sure whether there's any intent behind it, but from what we know this is the site where Eren was buried and it may be interpreted as the fruits of Eren's actions being displayed. In the first panel the leaves are barely covering the tree and it may be seen as the long lives of Eren's friends being the first fruits of his actions. They all live long lives with their families and grow to old age all the while keeping him in their hearts as exemplified with Mikasa.

Next, we see War in Heaven sorry I couldn't resist it. The tree grows a bit more and the seeds of Eren's actions are shown more exhaustively. His actions have brought about war, a continuation of the cycle and ultimately, Paradis' destruction. All the good has faded away and the development has crumbled. The Eternal Return, Moira, Ananke, Fate and the Cycle are bound to the world. It almost serves to validate Reiner in 117 and Zeke from 137. Striving is futile, and despite the efforts of Eren and the Alliance, this is the destiny of the world.

Then there are the final pages.

I think there's something quite hopeful about them. Despite the fact that the story ends with the grievance of a child wandering in the forest, seemingly destined to repeat the titanic tragedy from the ages before, there's also a sort of hope.

This child doesn't seem injured or depraved like Ymir was, he seems curious and almost in awe. And I think this rekindled the spirit with which the Survey Corps faces the cruelty of the world. If we don't know we'll see, if they don't know us, we'll show ourselves to them.

So though things are left slightly ambiguous, the parallel to Ymir serves to show us that this boy's Will will shape the new age, our will in the face of cruelty will shape the direction of the world. So as Nicolo said, though this devil may lie within the heart of humanity, we still need to strive our hardest to leave this forest of our making.

Destruction versus change

The world of AoT is entrapped within a vicious, bloody conflict. What began as a violence committed by monster with no reason behind it, has been revealed to be something much more complex and difficult. The world and its characters have been imprisoned inside a cycle of hate. This hate generates revenge and thus by the attacked person striking back, the cycle is continued into the end of eternity. The origin point of this hate that generates revenge, can be found from a bloodstained history. What makes this especially dangerous is that within this context, hate has a wide range. A painful memory or an event can be from something that happened 3 years ago, or a terrifying time period, which occurred during an almost mythological past. People draw from this past and thus are unable, or simply unwilling to forgive and look ahead.

What can the characters then do? Are they forever trapped within this bloody cycle, or is there a way for them to break free? The series presents two solutions to this problem, one shown by Eren and one shown by the Allied forces of the Survey Corps and Marley. In this post I`d like to inspect these two methods and ponder what they mean. Eren`s solution could be viewed as destruction, and the Allied forces method is change. I will start by focusing on Eren`s solution as the first section, and then in the second section inspecting the one proposed by the Allied forces. 

Two quick side notes are in order before we dive into the heart of the analysis. I am aware that the manga has concluded, but I am still behind two volumes/9 chapters. I do not know how the story ends. This post has been made with the information, that has been revealed up to chapter 130/volume 32. I would also like to thank @aspoonofsugar​​ for giving me feedback and helping with the post! 

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Thank you! That was an amazing articulation of the points I brought up. Personally, I think the ideas executed in this ending are good(except how the Titan Curse ended), but the execution and tone are terrible, add that to the fact that it's pacing is off and plotlines were abandoned, and it strikes us as bad, but I think there's still quite a bit of good to be detected behind the fan-service. About Eren wanting not to be seen as a monster by his best friend, I've been thinking about that quite a bit. He did push away Armin and Mikasa but deep down he's still lonely and wants to be accepted, I think the ending could have portrayed this better by diving into the complex emotions Armin and Eren must be feeling towards each other right then. There's a lot of tension, but there's also a desire to understand and reunite and the internal conflict caused by this should have been better presented.

Critique of the Ending

After an unreasonably long wait, here are my thoughts on the ending in more detail. I’ve always tried my best to decipher the author’s reasons behind their narrative decisions instead of dismissing them off the bat if they rub me the wrong way. But, in the case of this final chapter, I can’t help but find it unworthy of all that came before it.

This critique is divided into four subsections: ‘An Irresponsible Plan’, ‘Underwhelming Heroes’, ‘Wasted Characters’, and ‘A Gimmicky Solution’. The ending launched so much new information at us that I can’t cover everything, but I have addressed those errors in plot, themes, tone, and characterisation that disappointed me most.

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