Attack on Titan’s Ending Could Have Been Better

I’ll start by getting this out of the way. I was an anime-only watcher for most of the series. A cardinal sin, I know. I only began reading the manga after the release of chapter 139 and the fear of imminent internet spoilers. I devoured the rest of the series in a single night.

And I’m not sure how to feel.

Attack on Titan (AoT from here on) has been a staple of my life for years now. My college roommates and I watched weekly while the third season was airing and I’ve made sure to catch every new final season release. It is one of the first shows I’ll recommend to anime veterans and beginners alike. The cohesive plot, worldbuilding, thematic throughlines, and so much more make it one of the best animes I’ve ever seen.

But it seems like Hajime Isayama bit off more than he could chew with the release of AoT’s final chapter. The incredible quality and depth of the series feel slightly marred by the finale. Many fans feel it was rushed, convoluted, and harmful, myself included.

However, I don’t think the ending was bad. There were quite a few parts I loved. I definitely feel it could’ve been better, though, and I will attempt to explain why.

There will be major spoilers (obviously) for both the manga and anime going forward, so if you haven’t reached the finale yet, please stop reading.

The Town Where It All Began

To start, I’ll lay out the series’ narrative, major plot points, and my perspective on it.

AoT’s core premise is that the entirety of the human race has been living inside three massive walls. Outside of the walls waits a horde of giant, sexless, human-like titans whose only known purpose is devouring human beings. It is assumed that the rest of humanity was eradicated by titans, but life with the walls is peaceful and safe. The story begins with the end of that security. We follow the main character, Eren Jaeger, and his two friends, Armin Arlelt and Mikasa Ackermann, as the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan bash a hole in wall Maria. Ordinary titans flood through this breach, devouring Eren’s mother and forcing the rest of humanity to flee behind the wall Rose.

It is a surprisingly simple, primal opening. Eren is forced to helplessly watch his town be destroyed and his mother eaten alive. The design of the titans makes this violence horrific and incomprehensible. They behave like enormous, thoughtless babies. The hate Eren latches onto seems unable to be returned. He is raging against a force that cannot be understood. This core emotion is undoubtedly what drew most people into the series.

From there, the story evolves and grows. Eren and his friends enlist in the military to fight titans. After a brief training period, they are thrown into immediate conflict as the Colossal titan appears again to destroy the gate to wall Rose. While fighting Eren is eaten by a titan, only to later return as one.

For me, this was the moment the story transformed and I became absolutely, irrevocably invested. I had a million questions. Are the other titans humans then as well? How did they become titans? Is the threat of titans one made by humans to keep them under control? Does this mean there are people outside the walls?

The beauty of AoT is it answered every last one. I originally started watching with a friend who had read the manga and despite his many protests that it would answer everything, I couldn’t imagine how the series would. Nothing made sense. I couldn’t fathom how it would all be wrapped up in a neat little bow. My other fear was they would be answered but in disappointing or irresponsible ways.

Perhaps this is the best place to discuss the authoritarian and fascist elements of the show.

Attack on Fascism

I know many people may be worried by the section heading, but I promise, I’m not here to tell you the series is fascist or in support of fascism. However, discussing the presence of fascistic elements in AoT and their implications for the story is important, especially with the recent rise of fascist movements and rhetoric around the globe.

There are countless examples of fascist or Nazi symbolism in the series, from the salute to the Eldian ghettos and armbands. Because of this, AoT has been admired by alt-right actors online. There’s also been justified concern over revelations about the Eldians and Tybur family which feed a little too well into antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jewish people secretly running the world. Unfortunately, Isayama has staunchly refused to comment on the politics of his work, leaving fans to defend or vilify these allegories in his place.

But I do believe the series, while utilizing many symbols of fascism, attempts to condemn those beliefs. The series showcases impressive action and violence, but it devotes just as much time to the horror of death and war. Gabi’s character arc is centered around her understanding and rejecting the nationalistic, racist propaganda she was raised to believe. Even the dehumanized titans lurking outside of the walls, which could be interpreted as a not-so-subtle nod to immigration fear-mongering, are shown to be normal people transformed into monsters by a fascistic nation.

Of course, if you’ve read all of the series, there are more obvious elements that come to mind when you hear the word fascist. Namely, the two solutions the series presents for ending its cycle of hatred and violence.

The first is Zeke’s Euthanasia Plan. From an early age, Zeke understood the cruel suffering Eldians experienced in this world. He eventually decided that the only way of preventing Eldian suffering was for those Eldians to have never existed. He planned to use the power of the Founding Titan to alter Eldian genetics and ensure they can no longer have children. It is a solution straight out of the eugenicist playbook. Similar abhorrent eugenic practices like it have been used against minorities and people considered “degenerates”. Yet, this is nothing in comparison to the other solution the series presents to Eldian suffering.

A worldwide genocide.

I have always hated Eren. As a character he is fantastic, but as a person, I can’t stand him. Like every shonen hero, he has a singular goal he is constantly working towards. Kill all titans, save his friends. As more secrets about the titans and the world are revealed, Eren’s violent goal never changes. Even when his enemies are other humans, violence is his only solution.

So Eren decides to wipe out every other living thing to ensure his friends have happy lives.

I wasn’t too scared by this development. For a while leading up to this moment, Eren had become the villain of the show. If not the main one, he was at least working against the goals of the other main characters and even actively harming them. I believed Eren was going to become the ultimate example of “violence begets more violence”. His friends were going to have to stop him from massacring the rest of the world.

And they did. But in the end, the series couldn’t commit to making Eren the bad guy.

Chapter 139

Here will be a quick refresher of the plot of the final chapter.

Chapter 139 begins with Armin and Eren chatting in the space between life and death days before the final battle. Eren visited all of his other friends for a chat too. He was able to erase their memories of his visit with the power of the Founding Titan, but once he is killed by Mikasa the memories return.

Eren explains how everything, stealing the Founding Titan, killing his mother, genociding 80% of the planet, was done so Ymir could follow Mikasa’s example. Ymir was the original titan. A slave merged with some unknown lifeform centuries ago. King Fritz used her to conquer other nations, build an Eldian empire, and bear his children. Despite it all, Ymir loved King Fritz and couldn’t disobey his final command to create more titans and conquer the world with them. She needed an example of someone murdering the person they loved in order to disobey.

With the battle concluded and Eren’s head cradled in Mikasa’s arms, everyone breaks down in tears as they realize Eren committed genocide to make them heroes. Mikasa takes Eren with her and leaves, heading to that tree on the hill from their childhood to bury him. The cycle of hatred and violence is not ended after the battle though. People are still fearful of the Eldians, not believing titan powers have truly been eradicated. The new nation of Eldia strengthens its military in fear of retaliation from the rest of the world.

It concludes three years later with the whole cast of characters traveling back to Eldia as envoys of peace, hoping to forge a peace treaty with Historia. Violence never ends, but they have hope. The final pages are of Mikasa at Eren’s grave, looking for a sign that Eren is happy with his actions.

(There are additional pages that have been added to the final chapter, but discussion of those will be saved for a later section.)

Love Despite It All

Despite it all, I love the ending. The bones of something truly great are there. But there had to be a better way to go about it, right? Boiling the conflict of centuries down to a woman being unable to leave her abuser feels reductive and harmful. To compound the problem, once Eren is killed and his friends remember their forgotten conversations they mourn Eren’s loss and seem to, if not love, condone his genocide. He did it for them after all. He took on the heavy “burden” of massacring millions of people.

If only Eren wasn’t the hero. This is all I found myself thinking after reading and rereading the ending. Despite Eren’s claims that Armin was the true hero, it’s clear from how the other main characters react to his “sacrifice” that it’s Eren. He only became the villain out of necessity. And it does make sense that his friends would mourn him. His final act for them, even if it was genocide, was tragic.

But imagine if that hadn’t been the case.

It is openly stated in the chapter that Eren would have begun the rumbling even if he didn’t think they were capable of stopping him. Instead of visiting his friends to explain his plan for making them heroes, he explains how this is the only way they’ll be safe. Eren has become a part of the cycle of hatred and violence that plagues the world of AoT. The only way to truly save his friends is to end the cycle, but Eren can’t imagine a world without it. He believes it’s easier to end the world than it is to end hatred. It could have been the perfect encapsulation of his character.

For me, this avenue carries so much more power. There’s no grand plan, no justification for genocide. Eren is just a scared kid with too much power forced on him. No longer an antihero, but a tragic hero, brought down by his own flaws.

Which leaves us with Ymir.

Surprisingly, the more I’ve thought about it, the more I enjoy her part in the final chapter. I don’t love how it was handled, but I do think it is a necessary part of the story.

Far too often, popular media portrays love as purely benevolent and pacifistic. A villain can commit the most heinous, horrific deeds, but the hero is always expected to show them mercy and kindness. This is doubly true when the villain is someone the hero cares about. They receive a thousand second chances. Sure, they did unspeakable things, but if the main character just shows them enough kindness, they will eventually understand the error of their ways and change.

Ymir highlights the danger of this idea.

Ymir loved a cruel, evil man who abused her and slaughtered thousands of innocent people. There was no depth given to her love for Fritz, which is why so many are calling it Stockholm Syndrome, but I think if it were given room to breathe it could look exactly like Mikasa’s love for Eren. Despite everything Eren did, Mikasa still loved him above anything else. Loving terrible people isn’t anything new.

Ymir’s love hurt people, though. It led to centuries of war and death. The only way Fritz’s descendent felt he could repent was by stealing his people’s memories and abandoning those outside the walls. The violence of love has been an unseen throughline for the entire series. Reiner pressed on to destroy the walls because he loved his country and his family despite being given the chance to turn back. Zeke planned to euthanize all future Eldian children because he loved the Eldians who did exist. Eren destroyed the world because he loved his friends.

In this way, Mikasa does serve as an example. Despite how much Mikasa loved Eren, she killed him to save the world. All-conquering love is a romantic and potent idea, but it doesn’t always work in real life. AoT forces us to confront the harm that can come from love.

Toward the Tree on that Hill

Additional pages for Chapter 139 were released, in large part, due to backlash from the fandom. Many fans wanted a Chapter 140 or a complete retcon of the finale. That isn’t what these extra pages provided.

They pick up immediately following the end of the original chapter. Mikasa has returned to Eren’s tree, only she is older and has a husband and child. A modern city has been built around them, with automobiles and apartments. Then we see Mikasa being laid to rest briefly. The following panels show a war breaking out and the city which was once there destroyed, leaving only Eren’s tree. Finally, a child and their dog find the tree. It is heavily implied that the same unknown being which bonded with Ymir is alive inside of it, waiting to bond with this new child. The titans will return, just as hatred and war returned.

Most fans had mixed feelings about this. Some believed it cheapened the story as a whole and others thought it was simply unnecessary. I was happy with the additional pages, though. Far from making the story pointless, I believe these pages complete the story and strengthen the ending.

Eren achieved his goal. Mikasa was able to die happy with a family. Likely, Armin and the rest of his friends also died long before the new war broke out. Yet, it also shows he was wrong. His genocide didn’t stop war. Destroying the world wouldn’t have put an end to violence or the threat of the titans. In fact, the world destroyed itself just well enough without him.

While it wasn’t exactly the way I wanted, Isayama did improve AoT’s ending. It could still be better, but I can live with it as is now at least. All fans of the series will have to.