@leapingtitan Titan This Was 100% Inspired By All Of Your Zeke Memes Lmfao, You’re Honestly A Blessing

Celestial Ceilings

“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.

never thought I would do manga colourings for this but here I am

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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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.

since I can upload things right now, I also drew a little ymir jaeger.

Zeke and Armin’s conversation was planned since 2011

In 2011, Isayama wrote this on his blog:

http://blog.livedoor.jp/isayamahazime/archives/5193783.html

人が本当にやりたいことっていうのは、お金を稼ぐことだったり

将来役に立つ事だったりといった、生きるのに必要な蓄えを増やす事じゃない

（たぶんそれらは「やらなきゃいけないこと」だから）

人が本当にやりたいことには、意味がないことだったり何の役にもたたないこと、

儲からないし何の見返りもないけど、でもやるんだよと言って飲まず食わず寝ず

誰からも褒められずにやってしまうこと、それが本当にやりたい事だ」と

ただ、生きるのに必要以上にお金を稼ごうとする行為は「やらなきゃいけないこと」ではないので

それは「やりたいこと」かもしれませんね、

必要ないことをやるという行為には、反生物的な美意識を感じます、

それは生命維持や種の繁殖といった全生物に組み込まれた命令に背く行為だからです、

これに逆らうことで自分が有機物で作られた機械ではないことを証明し、

自分の中にある魂というものの存在が確認できるのだと思います、

What humans truly want to do is not increasing one’s savings, things that are essential for life or useful for one’s future (the reason we don’t want to do these things is precisely because they are things we have to do).

What humans truly want to do are meaningless things that aren’t useful at all. Things that aren’t profitable with no reward, but we do them anyway. Not drinking or eating or sleeping. Things we truly want to do, we do without being praised.

However making more money than is necessary to live is not essential for life either, so in a way, it’s also something humans want to do.

When humans do these meaningless things, I feel like it’s a beautiful act of going against our biology. Because it violates our genetic code - the commands built into all living things that order us to survive and propagate. When we fight against it, we’re proving that we’re not just machines built from organic matter. It allows us to see within us the existence of our soul.

—end of translation

This was essentially the meaning of Zeke and Armin’s conversation in 137. Armin agreed with Zeke that life is meaningless and humans are constantly struggling to survive and propagate for no reason. But he reminded him that meaningless moments like running to a tree or playing catch allows us to see the human soul within us - that we’re not just machines mindlessly reproducing.

Isayama has had these beliefs since 2011, finally publishing them 10 years later in ch 137!

[“One of the very hardest things about preventing and ending violence is that most of our work isn’t really about getting someone to stop being violent. Most of the time, that’s not the heart of the thing. The even-more-rigorous struggle is to cultivate all of the awareness and skills that would have been necessary for the violence not to have happened in the first place.

Which is why, when we talk about violence, we always end up talking about everything: slavery, binary gender, the original disconnection of humans from the rest of life on this planet, and so on. Solving violence is rarely as much about the moment at hand as it is about everything else that preceded it.

Which is where shame comes in.

As a therapist who has spent the last decade working with movement folks who are survivors of intimate violence—as well as with many people who have caused harm—I see shame as one of the most pervasive, painful, and insidious barriers to our efforts to fulfill the aspirations of transformative justice.

In order to develop real responses to the myriad harms in our lives—or even the capacity to develop real responses—we need to understand shame and develop tools for working with it, individually and collectively.

(…) Shame is different than guilt. While guilt focuses on our behavior (“I did something bad”), shame creates an identity: “I am bad.” Shame keeps us stuck, isolated, and hiding. With no way to escape from the totality of our belief (“I just am wrong”), we may do some of the following:

hide what we feel is bad about ourselves and try hard to pass as “good.”

overcompensate in other parts of life through overwork, caretaking, or perfectionism to make up for whatever is “wrong” about us.

defend ourselves from any insinuation that we might have done wrong, attempt to rationalize, or justify our actions.

blame someone else, try to divert responsibility, or shift the focus onto another.

attack anyone who draws attention toward the source of our shame, try to have power by dominating or shaming others.

numb through self-harming use of alcohol, substances, food, sex, technology, and so on.

Most of us use all of these strategies in different moments. Overaccountability and underaccountability are two sides of the same coin: “I can’t stand how bad I feel and can’t imagine making it right (overaccountability) so I’m going to hide that it (whatever it is) even happened, or lie about it or blame someone else (underaccountability).”]

Nathan Shara, Facing Shame: From Saying Sorry to Doing Sorry, from Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories From The Transformative Justice Movement

The Reason Eren Sent the ST after Carla (theory)

In 139, it was revealed that Eren directed the Smiling Titan to where his mother was. This was not a plot twist done for shock value as it been hinted at several times in the older chapters by emphasizing on the Bert's panel and reaction as well as even including it in Eren's memory fragments through the Smiling Titan's eyes. However the chapter did not elaborate on it (like many other pressing topics, it was left behind).

Now, let's begin:

Many fans felt frustrated why this critical plot point was not addressed in the finale: why Grisha gives Eren the Founder and Attack Titans' powers despite he was horrified by the path Eren choosen and more importantly despite he told Zeke to "stop Eren".

Yes, Grisha was not on board with Eren's plan... at that point in time.

There's something changed Grisha's mind.

Just like his mind changed from submitting to the Reiss family because of his morals to murdering them in a shocking turn of events:

It's consistent with Grisha's character to switch from morally hesitating to ruthlessly and angry murdering given his goal, trauma and past failure which motivate him to complete his mission.

During the murder of the Reiss family scene, Eren was the factor in changing Grisha's mind by reminding him of all these things.

Upon seeing Eren's future memories, Grisha hesitated again. It's when he told Zeke to "stop Eren" in Eren's presence.

Zeke pulled off his memory-travel connection with Eren before they visited the fragment of the Attack Titan inheritance, therefore Eren is not able to directly influence Grisha's volatile will.

Eren on the other hand was established here to be fully focused on his goal more than saving his mother, which means his goal is something he will put ahead of her; something he will choose over her.

Eren also kept Carla's fate in the dark from Grisha.

And then, Grisha knows this:

"Eren, avenge your mother. You must. I know you can."

When Grisha found out his wife was eaten by a titan, just like how his sister was eated by dogs, because of Marely, because of this world, Grisha's morality hesitation solidified into wrath and anger again. (Grisha, after all, is very similar to Eren)

Grisha entrusted Eren to complete the mission in a parallel sense to how he burdened Zeke with saving Eldia mission. "He's my son."

In 139, Eren admitted that he wants to flatten this world because that exists in his nature, even if he doesn't understand why he just feels he has to because that is his call.

Eren sent the Smiling Titan after Carla to convince Grisha to give him the Founder's power, the power he was after from the start.

Edit: a more flattering interpretation of plot twist is that Eren, being a plot device protagonist, had written himself in the corner and felt no other choice but to follow a preset of events.

Attack on Titan The Final Season Part 2 - Official Main Trailer

Part 2 of Attack on Titan: The Final Season will premiere on January 9, 2022.