AOT - The Last Attack - Part 4 + The Final Chapter

When eren says he did it because there was no other way, he means it ina VERY literally way. Because eren can see/live the future and past at the same time, the future is set in stone because the future HAS to happen for the present to happen (erens life is basically one big time paradox) and nothing eren could do would change what was already pre determined to happen

i sobbed my way through this AGAIN, but you’ve been an incredibly satisfying companion to watch with, jamaal. this story is so utterly captivating, and i’ve loved watching it inspire the level of thought and attention (even tho you never recognise anyone lmao) in someone who loves film and tv and storytelling. also, as someone who kinda couldn’t really understand why you were so set on eren having some definitive reasoning and all that, i really enjoyed watching you come to terms with where the story was probably going. it was like watching a muscle relax but in your brain. i do have to say, watching you start to lose your words towards the end there, stuttering about birds was so fkn funny. my laugh scared the cat.

Too much pause

Man seeing you crying over jean and conny just to learn they are ok in the end broke my heart😂. I honestly think that is the biggest flaw in the ending. I sure wanted them to have a happy ending, i think jean is my favourite character, but this show knows how to break your heart, i think they should have done it here too with them. What a ride man! Im happy you got to enjoy my top 1 show of all time.

On your question if we've seen a character like Levi in other shows. I would say mikazuki from "mobile suit gundam iron blooded orphans probably comes the closest for me"

You mentioned that Falco’s quick mastery of his Titan wasn’t very plausible, and I agree. That said, there are a few reasonable explanations. He had extensive military training before inheriting his Titan, was influenced by Zeke’s spinal fluid which may have helped with the wings, and he inherited memories from previous Titan holders. On top of that, he was in the middle of a war, so he had no choice but to learn and adapt on the spot.

Are you planning on watching the Attack on Titan OVA's?

Erens entire last conversation with Armin is sympathy bait because of his guilt. Erens two main internal conflicts are nature vs nurture and his guilt of the rumbling. He constantly tries to convince himself and others around him that "ive always been this way since birth", blaming his selfish actions on his nature, when really, it was himself alone and the world around him that drove him to the rumbling. He did not do it for his friends, it was selfishness.

Congratulations on surviving the emotional rollercoaster that is Attack on Titan! Are you okay? Do you need a therapy session or just a really long hug after that ending?

Hey Jamaal… Remember when Eren said the past and future existed simultaneously because of the founder’s power Eren had the power to influence the past; Eren being the last and only attack titan to possess the founder allowed him to selectively send memories to all past wielders so as to have things go his way. Reason why Kruger had seen mikasa and Armin And also after grisha killed the reiss family while spiraling out he asks why eren wouldn’t show him everything He always said “everything happened by my will”. That’s what he meant by that

I’m going to write a bit about Eren Yeager, my interpretation of his character, and his motivations, because in my opinion, he is probably my favorite character ever. Just to clarify, this is my personal interpretation. While it isn't spelled out exactly like this in the show, I strongly believe this to be true. This might be a bit long, so read at your own discretion. P.s: I write this all kinda off the top of my head so I ran it through an AI just to clear up some of the grammar and sentence structure mistakes, so if it sounds a lil off that’s why. The ideas are all still mine though. First off, I feel the need to clear up a few things to remove confusion regarding how his foresight works. When Eren touched Historia's hand in Season 3 and saw his own future, he did NOT see everything. He saw a select few memories. Crucially, he did not know he would eventually stop the Rumbling. He only learned this when he gained full access to the Founding Titan (when he talked to Ymir in the Paths) and acquired all memories of the past and future. This means it was not Eren's plan all along to only complete 80% of the Rumbling and turn his friends into heroes. Before he unlocked the full power of the Founder, he fully intended to wipe the slate clean. Because Eren operates with different sets of memories—and therefore different goals—at different points in the story, I’ve split this analysis into three parts to make it easier to follow. Also, when Eren says the future has been "determined," it is not deterministic in the traditional sense. There is no external, magical force ensuring the future matches the memory. It happens the way it happens simply because Eren doesn’t want to change it. It’s easiest to grasp if you remember it is a memory of the future, not a vision. It has to come true because someone has to see this future in order to send that memory back. If I send you a memory from the future of you going on a rampage, and you never decide to do it, then that memory could never exist. Essentially, Eren's memories didn’t force him to do the Rumbling. If he didn’t want to, he wouldn’t, and those memories would never exist. The future he saw was the only possible one simply because it was the only one he could accept. Child Eren and His "Freedom" Eren's concept of freedom and his motivations are best understood by comparing his and Armin's dream of the sea. They both dream of the exact same ocean, yet when they reach it, their reactions are polar opposites because the sea meant entirely different things to them. Armin is an existentialist. He wants to see the sea not for some grand philosophical purpose, but simply because it’s beautiful and awe-inspiring. His dream is just to experience it. Eren dreams of the sea because it is a physical milestone proving he is free. In his early childhood, Eren dreams of joining the Scouts to be free of the physical walls. Once the titans eat his mother, he realizes there is another wall blocking his freedom: the titans themselves. He wants to reach the sea because then the titans and the walls would be behind him, and he would truly lack any chains or restraints. Yet, in his own words: "When I found out people lived on the other side of the sea, I was disappointed." The Marleyans and the outside world were simply the next "wall" restricting him. Kenny’s speech about how "everyone is a slave to something" resonates with fans for good reason, and this childish, naive version of freedom is exactly what Eren is a slave to. A tiny tangent: I believe this is part of the reason why certain right-wing or "red-pill" young men defend Eren and call him "based." Even if they don’t support genocide, they resonate with that hyper-individualistic dream of being entirely untethered. It's similar to wanting to move to Dubai to avoid taxes and achieve complete financial freedom, completely disregarding the people beneath them or the ones they hurt along the way. "Freedom to the wolves means death to the sheep." This is what I believe Eren truly dreams of when he talks about freedom. Not something real and tangible like Armin's dream, but an unobtainable goal of being completely unrestricted. Eren is a "slave to freedom." Pre-Rumbling Adult Eren and Cognitive Dissonance: By Season 4, Eren is no longer a kid. His dream of freedom and killing titans no longer aligns with the rest of the cast. His rage and hatred can no longer be ignored by the audience because it is now aimed at human beings, not mindless monsters. Eren didn't actually change; rather, the way we view his actions changes because we can no longer justify his violence by saying, "He's killing titans, so it’s fine." Remember how he killed those three traffickers as a kid without a second of hesitation? Eren has always been a bit crazy; Season 4 just forces you to confront it. In Season 4, Episode 5, we get the incredible conversation between Eren and Reiner. Here, we get huge glimpses into Eren’s character, the most important being his recognition that not everyone in Marley is terrible. He lives there, talks to Falco, and realizes good people exist outside the walls. The world is no longer black-and-white, and he is faced with a massive dilemma: Do what is right, or do what I want (what I am a slave to). In his own words: "If we kill all our enemies on the other side of the sea, will we finally be free?" Many characters face this dilemma: Reiner had to choose between breaking down the walls to become a "hero" vs. living a happy life with the Scouts and abandoning his mission. Erwin had to choose between leading humanity to victory via a suicide charge vs. running away to selfishly learn the truth in the basement. Almost everyone in the show must choose between doing what they are a slave to and doing what is right. Unfortunately, just like Reiner, Eren chooses wrong. He decides to move forward and kill his enemies in the desperate hope that it will make him "free." This is ultimately why he chooses the Rumbling. The show gives other reasons—protecting his friends, protecting the island, stopping the cycle of hatred—but ultimately, Eren chose the Rumbling because he wanted to. He could have gone along with Zeke's Euthanization plan (flawed, but bloodless) or the partial Rumbling plan (which was arguably the most strategic; imagine negotiating with the world when you're the only country holding a nuke). Both alternative plans would have protected his friends and Paradis. Yet, Eren chooses global genocide because he is disappointed with the outside world. It wasn't the empty, utopian canvas he dreamed of. I don't necessarily think this is his conscious thought process, but it is definitely what is driving him on a subconscious level. He simply uses "I want to protect my friends" as a convenient justification. You see this so clearly during his iconic "This is freedom" scene, floating above the clouds. He is shown as a child for brilliant symbolic reasons: that is the only part of him that enjoys the Rumbling. Child Eren is delighted because he finally sees the outside world as he dreamed it, untainted by the people who robbed him of his freedom. Child Eren is the only version of him that can ignore the blood and death left in his wake. In the brief glimpse we get of his real, physical adult body inside the titan, he looks miserable and exhausted. Adult Eren sees the slaughter and knows the victims aren't all terrible. Unfortunately, Adult Eren cannot overpower Child Eren because, at the end of the day, he will always be a slave to freedom. Omniscient Founding Titan Eren: Up until this point, I’ve talked about Eren as if he acts in the present like a normal person, but I only did that to make it easier to explain. In truth, once Eren gained full control of the Founding Titan, he became essentially omniscient, experiencing the past, present, and future all at once. It was at this point that he decided to end the Rumbling and sacrifice his own life. This is probably the most open-to-interpretation part of the story, but I believe that once he actually enacted the Rumbling, he realized that "Child Eren’s" perception of freedom was inherently flawed. He accepts that the adult part of him is distraught over the unimaginable pain and suffering he is causing. He finally comes to realize that the only barrier left to his freedom is himself. It is his own endless, obsessive chasing of this elusive freedom that stripped it away from him. It’s why he could never look down and appreciate the beauty of the seashell Armin showed him. I think this tragedy is best exemplified by the dark twist that he (in a way) killed his own mom. The supposed catalyst for all his righteous rage was his own doing. He started it. He is the villain. It was never truly about the walls, the titans, or even his friends; it was always about his selfish, childish desire for a freedom that could never exist. Acknowledging that he is the villain doesn't take away from the tragedy of his story. He was born that way into an incredibly cruel, yet beautiful, world—he just couldn't see the beauty. So, in the end, he breaks down the final "wall" blocking him: himself. He stops himself from being a slave to freedom by giving up his life. At least, that is what I believe. Many people have conflicting interpretations about his omniscience and why he stops after being so passionate about it, but I truly believe in this reading of his character

By the time I got to the last episode of AOT, I had realized... The monster is everybody. In s1 Armin was the one who said "to defeat monsters we have to abandon our humanity". That statement echoes through every arc. Everybody does that at some point in this show. Nobody is innocent. Who is to blame for this whole thing? In the end, they all played a part. Everybody used the end to justify the means. And so I REALLY loved the scene where Armin says to Eren "we'll be in hell together." Yes, Eren was the one controlling the rumbling, but nobody has clean hands. I felt like Armin saying that was the show's way of acknowledging that these characters aren't really heroes- they're survivors. They did what they had to to survive, to protect the people they care about... But whatever their motives, they all had to abandon their humanity to defeat the monsters. Ugh. Gets me every fucking time.

Birds - From what I know the bird symbolism is meant to symbolise Eren and Freedom, and especially that there's a bird called Jaeger, similar to Eren's last name, which I think is the bird shown in the show

Connie was my favorite character since the start and I loved his friendship with Jean as Sasha, so same as u that scence of them standing there F*CKED ME UP

I think the confusion around Erens choices and how they seem paradoxical is fair but intended. On one hand he states he had no choice, on another he claims he wanted this. I believe that the latter reason was more a questioning of the self than a direct explanation. He makes it very clear that his head is all over the place and that internal conflict only grows as he does (as symbolised in the aging when talking to Armin, directly tied to his lessening of optimism and surplus in fatalism). Something that helped me summerise the ending without confusing myself was zooming out of the characters. If eren didnt carry out the rumbling, paradis would eventually be overthrown and erens birthplace destroyed. If he completed the genocide there would be no conflict (at least for a long period of time). If his plan is prevented (What happened in the show) then humanity gets a breif look at peace, and his friends live a long life. All of which were acknowledged by Eren as valid in their own right, it really just came down to who got their hands on the power to decide. I believe AOT is a story destined to become a tragedy, where countless human lives are predetermined to be sacraficed on nothing but a whim that peace is possible. Which is why its hard to judge the ending of AOT because that choice usually falls into the hands of the villain not the protagonist so its uncomfortable for veiwers to sit with. Its definitely an ending that you cant be narrow minded to enjoy or understand, and i think its a situation where you can interpret the intentions of the characters and the reasons for the events that happpens. AOT has never been a show about definitive, objective conclusions so complaints that it was a messy ending if anything compliments what it has always intended to be.

Noo you rushed through the credit images and watched the 2 minute thing and reacted to that😂. The images basically showed their friends living a long and happy life and showed Eren could not stop the violence whatever he would do.

PLEASE READ BOSS!! Kruger said save Mikasa and Armin cause he was recollecting Eren’s memories in the future through the attack titan. Two things to note: 1) in the scene in S3 they replace Kruger with Eren sitting on the wall in a video frame 2) the “on your feet dad” speech in S4 is the same Kruger gave Grisha on the wall Eren is the LAST attack titan. His memory has the biggest influence on previous attack titans

Last little bit is a joke but the credits part wasn’t.

I've watched so many reactions to these last few episodes of the show but it always amazes me the sense of hopelessness that Isayama managed to convey from his writing. It gives me goosebumps everytime. When Eren said that he sent the titan to his mum I always get teary eyed - what would it feel like to be in his position. Knowing that this will only end if you die. The amount of dread and despair you would feel... Gosh I love this show

Two things that confused me on my first watch but after seeing others discussions and rewatching the show, here's my interpretation: 1. What Ymir saw in Mikasa/ What Mikasa was able to do that Ymir wasn't - I think it was the fact that Mikasa was able to kill the person she loved (Eren), whereas Ymir wasn't able to do that to King Fritz. We see the scene where Fritz has a spear through his chest. Remember, Ymir jumped in front of Fritz and let herself be hit and she ended up 'dying'. So I think she think that scene symbolises what Ymir wishes she would have been able to do (let him die, or essentially 'kill' him, rather than let herself die). Ymir has been looking through the 'memories of the future' for 2000 years to find someone who would be able to put an end to the titans - and she found that in Mikasa who was determined to be the one to kill Eren. 2. Eren's justification for everything being that he was a 'garden-variety idiot with too much power' - One of my biggest issues with the ending is that one line. I still don't love it and it might just be cope but I see it as meaning that 'if someone else got their hands on the power, or if someone else had been thrust into the same experiences as Eren, they would have been able to figure things out'. Perhaps if Armin was in Eren's shoes, things wouldn't have ended up this way. Idk... it's the only way I can justify that sentence because otherwise it just seems like a really lazy resolution. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this + everyone else's!

If you got time, I wrote down my thoughts on the end of Attack on Titan. It's not all of my thoughts of course. Because there's a ton to this show. But this is what helps me understand the end a lot better. If you never want to make the time, I also understand, you seem like a really busy guy. But based on your confusion of the ending, I wrote this in hopes that maybe it helps answer some things. The ending of Attack on Titan leaves a lot of things open ended. And personally I think as an artist it was a very intentional move. I'm sure you could tell by so many things that felt unanswered. But I think that's what I love about it. Because partly it's up for interpretation. But the other parts I think he's just left breadcrumbs throughout the whole show for you to piece together yourself. And I like that. Because it makes rewatching the show such an insane experience. I had a very similar reaction to what you experienced watching the end here. I felt very empty and hollow by the end. But there was more there I also just couldn't explain. I've never seen a show do something quite like this for me. And because I had those unexplained feelings I had to rewatch it, and even watch you, because even now I'm still trying to fully understand what this effing show did to me and my confusing AF feelings. So here's my analysis. And I'll have more if you ever want someone to talk with about it. The entity that is the origin of life itself that Ymir comes into contact with that gives her the power of the titans is basically granting Ymir what she wants and multiplies it according to her will. Because that's what Zeke says is the purpose of life during his interaction with Armin in the Paths. She becomes a giant monster because it's a physical manifestation of what she yearns for, freedom out of the hell hole that has been her life. Becoming an outrageous monster that is unstoppable against humans is her self protection and her way to fight back against the hatred and violence. Then she falls in love with King Fritz and because she wants to do whatever he wants because she has an obsessive type of love that is bonded with Trauma similar to Mikasa's situation, her will is now King Fritz's. So the cycle of the titans starts because Ymir continually nudges the cycle forward pushing toward a toxic love she feels trapped in. And she doesn't understand a way out. Her first experience with love is him. It's a real harsh example of love. For 2000 years she works her life away molding titans in the paths granting the power of the entity to the eldians as a form of protection for her lovers people. Whenever they partake of the spinal fluid, they tap into what gave Ymir her powers of the entity with her permission. Which is why she molds them in the sand. Only 9 are ever special enough to go back to being human. Maybe that's the number of kids he has? We never find out. But she has 3. And we know their lot in life. Those of royal blood with the power of the Titan get special treatment from her, especially the founding Titan. I assume because it's the one that connects back to her original form. And then Eren comes into the picture. A man obsessed with freedom from his hell hole. Someone who will take someone else's freedom before his is taken. At first she listens to Zeke because that's her cycle. Then Eren stops her in her cyclical tracks and says she's been waiting 2000 years for someone like him. He's had memories of the Future in the paths. Which is where time is abnormal. So when he touched Historia, I always wonder how long he was there for. Because he saw the rumbling and his dad's memories. But he also understood Ymirs pain at this point. And he wanted to help her find a way out. And she took it. For 2000 years hate and violence boiled within her, and it blew up at the chance. Eren was her way out. And now it's all she cared about. She wanted him to show her further the way out of this. But his way had an end to it. And it was only ending in the taking of freedom from everyone else. I think she noticed Mikasa because she was already in contact with Eren. And I think when she saw Mikasa she could relate. And she realized Mikasa was her way out of her own toxic relationship. Because as a tortured lover, Mikasa has to kill Eren in order to end the cycle of violence he perpetuated. She still loved him, and she could continue to do so. She just couldn't go along with what he was doing anymore. Which is exactly what Ymir had been searching for for 2000 years. So when we see that shot of Ymir hugging her children after she'd killed Fritz, she got to physically manifest or maybe she just visualized her own way to her true freedom. And that's where everything ends. She ends her own toxic cycle because of Mikasa. And also because Eren first shook her out of her torturous mundane cycle. If course there's still so much more to Attack On Titan, but essentially that's what I've gotten out of this whole thing. I've watched it a few times now, and this is my interpretation. Also Mikasa and Eren basically get to live out four years in their own timeline right as Mikasa's on Falco about to kill Eren. They use the power of Ymir and the Paths to jump into it. And Ymir allows them to live out Erens last four years of life in that alternate timeline. Which is why when they're at the cabin and she bends over to his dead body and says, "I'll see you later Eren" and then she picks up his head she cut off in our timeline. She got to have her own proper goodbye with him. Also Armin gave Eren the dream of seeing an unblemished outside world that was purely nature at its greatest wonders with no humans about. That's partly why I think Eren says , "I wanted to see this sight". it's also why Armin connects with that and says he'll be joining him in Hell because he's the one who gave him that dream to begin with. And that dream of theirs and what it does for them is littered so well throughout the show. And when Eren is saying I'm sorry to the kid, Ramsey, it's around that area where he's talking about that dream and freedom of the outside world. It's why it hits when he says he's constantly disappointed with the hate filled world that he found was really there beyond his dream. He wanted to see all of that hate and people wanting to steal that dream and that freedom away from him eradicated from the world. So when he looked out to the blood soaked rumbling, him and Armin related in the most fucked up, yet terribly human way those two could. The symbols of freedom are awesome too. The birds who represent people who become free and the Scout Regiments wings of Freedom as a goal to such ends. And Eren even being a slave to Freedom. Because it came at a cost to the cyclical ends of violence and hate. This show is just insane with its thematic symbolism and the artists were stepping right in line with Isayam's vision for this show. It's truly a show unlike any I've seen before. And if you're like me, it's one you'll be coming back to in order to seek your own answers to your own questions for. Because so many answers are riddled throughout the show in the tiniest of details. This show is the definition of blink and you'll miss it. It's why I love it so much. The attention to detail is on another level. Especially between the collaboration between the creator and the artists.

What a painful reaction to watch

Aot was always meant to be a cautionary tale, hence the pretty bleak ending and images of endless conflict at the end, however the overall message is still an amazing one in my eyes (forgive me I’m about to rant). From the very beginning, Eren has desired freedom, hence the constant symbolism of birds. However, freedom for him could only be achieved through external means, hence why he always kept “moving forward”. In reality, such a mindset would never lead to true happiness, instead he’d forever keep searching for the next thing. That’s what Armin was referring to with the seashell, that Eren always “looked ahead” at the next thing he had to fight/obstacle to face instead of appreciating what he had “at his feet”. Like Armin says, Eren’s future was determined by himself, by his own nature. He was always going to “want to level everything” as he said because he was always going to hate the world he found, as it didn’t match what he hoped for. He called himself an idiot because he finally accepts that he caused this through his refusal to accept the world and his refusal to stop trying to externalize his “freedom”. At the start of the movie, Eren is standing on a high top, over the “clouds” (in reality titan steam), proclaiming that he has achieved freedom. Him being a child during this is symbolic of how deeply he’s indulged into his childish desires, how much of a slave he is to freedom. It’s ironic that Eren calls both Armin and Mikasa slaves (although not meaning it), yet they were able to give up what they wanted most (the ideal sights for Armin and Eren for Mikasa) for the good of the world, whereas Eren was the one who overindulged to the point of dooming the world. Armin is a perfect contrast to Eren. As he tells him, he too was disappointed that there were people outside the walls and he too sometimes wished they would disappear (which is why he thanked Eren and told him he would go to hell too). However, Armin was never someone who sought freedom/fulfilment externally but rather had it internally. Notice that when Armin brought the book, Eren mentioned he envied the “look in Armin’s eyes” hinting at the fact Armin was already free because his freedom came from within. When talking to Zeke, he mentions fulfillment came from accepting and appreciating the small things in his life, what he “had at his feet” the same thing Eren could never do. That is what the seashell represents. Armin represents hope. Despite the constant reminders of how terrible the world is, and constantly being disappointed by it, he continues to hope for a better future. He tells Eren that they must hope for a world where everyone can understand each other, where people aren’t selfishly following their desires and fears like slaves like Eren did, and like many others did before him. It is through people like Eren that the cycle of hatred and conflict continued. As mentioned by Kenny, people are slaves to something (money, power, vengeance, fear, etc) and many would do the unthinkable for it. It is through people slaving to their desires, willing to do terrible acts of selfishness that the cycle of hatred continues. Titan powers represent said cycle, being inherited by both sides generation to generation to fight against each other. Both the cycle of hatred and titan powers can only come to an end by one way: love. Love is represented through Mikasa. People often hate on Mikasa, and although she at times seems a little too obsessive in the anime (not nearly as much in the manga), her importance to the plot and writing is extremely underrated. Mikasa’s ideology also contrasts Eren. As I said, Eren hated the world, both inside and outside the walls. Mikasa’s main line, however, summarizes her ideology and drive “the world is cruel, but also beautiful”. Just like Armin, she recognizes the cruelty of the world, but she also acknowledges its beauties. This can apply also to her love. Mikasa, inspite of the cruelties she faced, loved the world, loved her friends, and most of all loved Eren. However, in episode 2 she punches Eren when he insults Armin, showing she’s willing to stand up to him and put him in his place. In episode 6, she continues fighting despite believing Eren is dead, because despite an object of her love being gone she still has love. These are few of many moments to show she was never a slave to him like Eren and many fans try to claim. Mikasa reaches her peak during the conclusion, when she also accepts Eren as cruel and dark, but also beautiful and loving. She kills him because he is cruel whilst loving him because he is also beautiful. Despite everything, Mikasa will always love. Not the fake love that imprisoned Ymir, but true love that frees. That’s why Mikasa was the only one who could free Ymir and end titan powers, because she was the only one who could truly love and also selflessly sacrifice the object of her love, which is completely opposite to the cycle of hatred. Going back to what I said, despite the show’s bleak ending as a cautionary tale of hate, I think the message is simultaneously a beautiful one of love. Love brings freedom. Love the little things in life, love the people you spend time with, love despite the flaws and cruelties. Love your dreams, and love also your reality. Love your desires. Love the world. Find your freedom and fulfillment within you. However, don’t overindulge in your desires to the point you forsake your love for selfish gain, like Eren did. Rather, love like Mikasa did. Have hope like Armin did. Through the love and hope portrayed by those two humanity can escape the cycle of hatred.

Must leave this comment there’s a super popular theory that historia kid is erens, as historia was the one that told eren she should get pregnant, and in a coloured version of the manga the kids eyes are green like erens

Your reactions have been my absolute favorite out of anyone! This was so much fun to watch

My FAVORITE interpretation of the ending with the boy walking into the tree like Ymir did that I found in a comment section about a year ago, I hope this reaches you Jamaal, not as absolute truth but as hope. The comment refers to the scene where Armin and Zeke talk about what truly mattered to them. "I love this scene because it proves that what someone sees in the paths reflects off of them as a person and their feelings, like when Ymir first goes into the tree the hallucigenia turns her into a big titan to defend herself since she was being chased, and it represented what she was feeling. Leading to the theory that the boy who goes into the tree at the very end doesn't end up becoming a titan because he seems to be calm and safe. Maybe it even turned him into something to bring safety to the world instead of suffering." We will never really know what the boy will experience, but we can hope that it's something different. Just as a person cannot succeed without being ready to fail time and time again, humanity cannot either. We must believe we can change if we believe anything can. If we are to believe that a person can change, we must believe humanity can. I've had countless moments in my life that I can say were the equivalent of Armin running up that hill, or Zeke throwing that baseball. I feel like I owe those priceless experiences to me being born and to humanity's existence. I think the least I can do is hope.

Mate this was an incredible watch along. Thank you

Thanks for letting us tag along on this journey with you! I felt the same after watching that final episode, just a sense of overwhelming emptiness. It’s a lot. It’s been a blast and your feelings are valid.

Reaction did not disappoint lmfaoo. What a journey. I'm in the camp that the ending was beautiful and I think it will age like fine wine and kinda already has imo. Looking forward to seeing your full thoughts.

Best £3.50 I’ve ever spent watching you experience this. I had some issues with the final, particularly how hard it was to perceive when certain scenes are meant to be taking place. But I did find that the outcome being put down to Eren being an “idiot” quite satisfying. To most people his plan was selfish and quite stupid. But as Eren said in the Memories of the Future episode, he’ll steal someone’s freedom before they steal his. Which is exactly what was taking place. The outside world was banded together to kill everyone he loves on the island, so he stole their freedom first. Another thing I enjoyed was how deterministic it was. After Eren witnessed the horrific thing he does in the future at the medal ceremony, he becomes completely different to the character he was before, just quiet and angry. He knows exactly what will happen but he tries numerous times to find some other way to save the island, all to no avail. I think at the end, the only options were let his people be wiped out, the rumbling, Zeke’s euthanisation plan or Armins plan. All of these options Eren just couldn’t accept. I think you should watch Death Note next. Very short series (~30 episodes) with some really fun writing and ideas.

Btw Jaeger is a type of seagull !!!

Eren’s ultimate goal was always what he swore as a child: to eliminate all titans from the world shattering the very weapon civilization used to oppress and hurt people. Yet, his vision and sense of freedom evolved into a deeply twisted, radical definition; to him, true freedom meant achieving a completely blank slate, even if it required wiping out the rest of humanity to get it. The ultimate irony of Attack on Titan is that in pursuing this liberation, he became an absolute slave to his own obsession. He spent his entire life fighting against external walls, only to realize that the ultimate cage was time, destiny, and his own nature. Once he perceived the future, his free will vanished; he became a prisoner to a pre-determined path, making the most powerful being in the world also its most captive. A profound philosophical truth embedded in the narrative is that for a soul so burdened and restless from suffering a difficult, ruthless, and tragic life, true freedom can never fully exist within the confines of the living world. In this universe, life itself is a continuous cycle of violence, trauma, and heavy burdens. Therefore, death is not presented as a mere punishment, but as the only genuine liberation the final shattering of metaphysical chains for those who have endured too much.

I forgot to mention another point: the love between Mikasa and Eren was profound. However, the reason Mikasa didn't fully express her feelings—and why Eren didn't reciprocate—was that, early on, Eren was driven to achieve his dream of freedom; he believed that living a happy life with Mikasa amidst the hellish reality of the Survey Corps would negatively impact that goal. Later, after seeing the future and realizing that a life together was impossible, he tried to sever the bond of her love and set her free, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Ultimately, the entire series revolves around the absence of absolute freedom.

I think a cool detail with Eren killing his mom. Is that in episode 1 we see the smiling Titan pick up Erens mom kills her by snapping her back. Then eats her. Which we have never seen a pure Titan do that ever again for the rest of the show. So it seems Eren wanted to give his mom a quick death and not suffer by getting eaten alive.

Holyyy what a journey it has been indeeed! First and foremost thank you for inviting us along to see you experience this. Secondly I think its safe to say you dont ever gotta apologize for the emotion ever especially with you holding it together all the way till the very end. I was caught crying while rewatching a couple times especially during Hange's grand exit. As you kept saying you needed a minute i was glad you were vulnerable with us and let it all out. Magnificent commentary the whole way along. All I can really say is thanks again for bringing this little community together and am so glad you enjoyed the show for what it was.

I always found the hallucigenia to be so intriguing, Humans being granted powers through the very first being that was considered "life"; a being that acts solely on instinct and desire, that grants people powers based on those very things, is a beautiful idea. The hallucigenia beautifully represents the part of humanity that continuously moves forward, even if they don't know why. This perfectly parallels Eren and his nature as a human being as well; constant, unrelenting action simply due to an inherent urge to act. But no the titans powers won’t return. What creates Titan powers is a creature called hallucigenia that has contact with Ymir. The purpose of this organism, like all other living beings, is to reproduce. However, it cannot reproduce on its own; it needs a host, similar to a virus. This host becomes Ymir. But Ymir is nearing death. If Ymir dies, it cannot reproduce. Therefore, Ymir is made invulnerable to being hunted by any creature in nature-hence a Titan. Ymir’s daughters consume Ymir’s spine, allowing this creature to reproduce. We call the humans in whom this creature resides Eldians. Thus, this creature, hallucigenia, has absolute control over the humans in whom it resides-also known as the Founding Titan. The Founding Titan exists in a timeless space. Therefore, it is immortal and can intervene with its parts, the Eldians, at any point in time. Kind of like a mindless god that needs a host, a symbiosis, to survive and function, that’s the vibe I was getting in the final part where it lunged for Eren and Reiner had to restrain it. It was desperate to reattach to its host and was fighting to survive; the steam it released was like a last effort survival mechanism to evade its predators. Ymir entered the tree with fear, sadness, loneliness, and anger. The boy enters the tree with awe, wonder, innocence, and companionship. Zeke makes clear, Ymir sort of built up what she felt she needed from her newfound power. Even if the parasite is still in there, chances are there won’t be a new age of titans brought about by hatred, but a new hopeful beginning. Also indicated by the beauty of the scene, no longer is the tree painted in a grim sepia tone, but a stunning Ghibli-eqsue scene. I think it mirrors how life on our planet started very well. One day, life started & even our scientists can’t reach a conclusion on exactly how. Also, The Paths as they were with Ymir ceased to exist. They all faded away like the ghosts of the Scouts. However, the power that gave birth to The Paths could still exist in some form below the tree Eren was buried under. That does not mean that power will reemerge in the same form with a new age of titans. The Paths and the titans themselves were a product of Ymir’s trauma and her needs for her survival. She was looking for connections hence the paths where all eldians are connected. And the last scene that may look like afterlife kind of thing, it’s actually paths that is now dying and they are seeing there comrades for the last time.

in the final chapter/episode, Eren constantly deflects and lies to Armin about his motives for the Rumbling. When Armin presses him about if the 100% Rumbing was necessary to make them heroes, Eren changes the subject to Ymir instead of answering. When it comes to Ymir, he says everything he did was to get to the point where Mikasa would free her, but he then admits that he doesn't know what she will do. The anime makes Eren's final confession far more explicit when Armin asks if the Rumbling was truly for him and their friends, and Eren says no, even though he thought it was. In truth, the 100% Rumbling was a selfish act by Eren to achieve the freedom of an empty world he wanted. ( I explained it in detail in another comment). This is why when Eren breaks down to Ramzi in chapter 131, he says "It's to protect the island, but it's more than that. The reality of the world outside the Walls was nothing like Armin's book. When I discovered humanity existed beyond the Walls, I was so disappointed. So I made a wish to wipe it all away. I wanted. A partial Rumbling would be enough to protect Paradis, but a 100% Rumbling is purely to fulfil Eren's vision of an empty world, which is freedom to him. That’s why he says he’s bigger piece of half assed shit than Reiner. Eren and Reiner both hiding their true and more selfish motivations behind the more “justifiable” ones. Reiner- say that it’s to save the world (a more noble cause) but then breakdown and cry while revealing that true reason he broke into the walls was because he wanted to be a hero. Eren- say that it’s because of Eldia (a more noble cause) but then breakdown and cry revealing that the true reason as to why he wanted to do the rumbling was because he was disappointed that it was not like what he saw in Armin’s book and wanted to reach that scenery (which he does when he regress to his childish state and says “ This is freedom”) but that doesn’t mean he didn’t care to protect paradis or his friends but they came secondary. Eren says "I'm an idiot. A garden variety idiot who got his hands on power." When given what is basically omnipotence, Eren still decided to kill the entire world because it didn't match up with his naive view of freedom, rather than earnestly trying for peace. It was never about rebuilding the Eldian Empire; it wasn't that he was out of options and so genocide was the last choice to defend Paradis; it wasn't that he would destroy the world to protect his friends: it wasn't all to free Ymir. It was to fulfil his selfish dream. Everything else was incidental and secondary. Eren used his power to try fulfil his selfish desire. He knows better, but he went ahead and did it anyway. That's how much of a slave to freedom he was. He was a slave to his dream, and that's ultimately why he is wrong and is defeated in the story. He’s idiot in a way Walter white is kind of. “ they are their own worst enemies “ thought it should also be noticed that eren wouldn’t have been able to go with the rumbling if Paradis was not in danger or his friends were not, he would still be disappointed and wanted to do it very much, but without this secondary goals or rationalisations, he wouldn’t bring himself to do it. So he adapted this willfull ignorance that even if it’s for my selfish dream, it woukd still protect Paradis and his freinds but we saw how Hange and Sasha died because of him, so that’s why he’s an idiot… a philosophical one, not an intellectual one. Also he didn’t know he would be stopped until he started the rumbling, before that he intended to do 100 percent and even after the rumbling he was moving forward. So he’s not literally saying he’s stupid, but rather it’s the way of self loathing. he was able to exist in past/present/future simultaneously. So had his friends not been able to stop him, he would have completed the rumbling. when Eren says to forget about him, and move on, then Mikasa By wraping the scarf around herself and refusing to let it go of her love for Eren, Mikasa was able to show Ymir a real and genuine demonstration of love, one that didn't bound her, Eren asked her to get rid the scarf in Paths, as if he considered himself a burden to her, but by not leting it go and still being able to kill him she showed Ymir that what impriosioned her for 2000 years of servitude towards the idea of Fritz could never be love. The idea of Mikasa keeping the scarf is precisely a demostration of her main theme, the idea of being able to perceive beauty in a cruel world, she rejects the idea that Eren as just a burden, something he himself belived in her last moments with her, she wanted to protect the last remnant of her home, and yet had the courage to do the impossible choice at the end, and yet keeping a memento, a memory, of what he meant to her. Eren, Mikasa and Armin all freed Ymir. Eren freed her from slave mentality, and the reason Ymir is shown watching ramzi is because that’s the scene where she starts to doubt Eren, and then she starts to observe the alliance and what they would do in overwhelmingly condition, it’s a bit of a test but also learning from them, and Armin and Zeke’s conversation is what makes her understand it really well, it’s the 2nd step because she held the same views as Zeke but when Armin talks about enjoying little precious moments in life ( her daughters for her), she let them awake the titans and Mikasa is then the final puzzle).

To clarify a few points: first, the final two minutes aren't really part of the main narrative—they were meant for comic relief. Second, why did Eren call himself an idiot? Because he isn't a righteous hero like the Avengers; he embodies the full spectrum of humanity—selfishness, compassion, and regret. He represents the human condition literally. The actual ending occurred just before those last two minutes; the dove was symbolic, and the scenes of war and explosions reflect the reality that conflict never ceases, no matter what.

I don’t usually leave comments and stuff, but here I really would like to thank you for what you are doing. Especially taking into account that I just love art and people who can experience and analyse it :) Thank you for bringing me back into my childhood with the mature and professional insight that has come upon us all in some way. These watch-alongs were incredibly satisfying to be a part of, especially hearing all the theories and seeing a real person show real emotions (even though sometimes as an avid AoT fan I might’ve as well screamed at the screen to point out some of the minute details and shit😂). I’m not getting into details, but this story deeply resonates with me on a multitude of levels, both warm and dark, and seeing someone to go through it, engaging and truly making an effort to understand it is a breath of not necessarily fresh, but certainly needed air. Thank you again, Jam, for this has been a wonderful journey and I hope that you will continue striving in what you are doing, as it means so much for many people — you’re a treasure. I am very much looking forward to seeing your other work, especially if it comes with reactions to Vinland Saga or especially Death Note lol Much love from Ukraine, now living in Scotland❤️

Listennnn I was a mess for WEEKS after this. AOT had me fucked up! And yeah, 10 years. So many times during this last season I've wanted to comment "it's OK to cry when things start to hit you" but it felt like an emotional spoiler. No need to apologise. Your emotional experience feels really common to all of us who watched it (actually, you have cried far less than many people!). Hange's death and seeing Erwin again? Bawling. The scene with Jean and Conny that got you? Bawling. I might've bawled through this whole final chapter, I don't really remember. I loved your commentary on crash-test-dummy grief. Re your commentary on Eren, early on: Yes, I experienced it the same way. I desperately wanted Eren to have a good reason to do what he did, and suddenly realised part way through this final part that I might not get that. And maybe Eren is just the villain, and this is the story of how a villain is made. And maybe I won't understand. I also want to say that mangaka storytellers are built different T_T sure, they have editors and some like Isayama have a small production team, but nothing like a "writers' room". You're in for a real treat. Yes, AOT is GOATed. But also, yes, there are more amazing stories out there from this wonderful storytelling tradition.

It’s been great to watch this alongside you, couldn’t be more excited about what’s next!

I think it’s important to notice that, when Eren said those pathetic things about Mikasa and that he is an idiot with great power, it was also meant to show that he is still a 19-year-old boy and has all those feelings, even though the show makes you think that he is some all-knowing being who can see the past and the future. At the end of the day, he is still a young man who hasn’t even hit his twenties yet, and throughout Season 4, you never really saw the side of Eren that you saw in the previous seasons, where you could tell that he was just a teenage boy who sometimes had irrational and emotional thoughts. I thought it was kind of refreshing to see that again. Even if you think his reasoning is dumb and childish, I think it’s supposed to be a little like that because he is still a child.

It said it the beginning that there is some extra scenes after the credits that is where you see modern eren, armin and mikasa that is not in the manga and the feature length episodes that released before I belive it was just a fun fan service thing for the movie

I'm so excited to watch this, and also very inspired to finally watch lost afterwards

also do watch that Eren Armin convo in dub. I think the message is clearer there. When he says its cause he's an idiot i believe its that this was bound to be the outcome when someone like him gets so much power, he isnt special, this wasnt some grand plan from the universe , he's not Eldias saviour. He's just a kid who got too much power.

"did she have his child?" my brother in christ thats why we're here. Please rewatch From You 2000 Ago. you know, i never quite caught that Ymir had her tongue cut out which is why we never hear from her. Her story perfectly encapsulates the idea of show don't tell. Also about the ending, i wouldnt lose sleep over it. Its not in the original episodes. Most importantly you NEED to look up AOT edits specifically Meet the Jaegers

Just to clarify, when Eren Kruger said this titan - the attack titan - had always been fighting for freedom it was Eren pushing back into the past to control the actions of all the Attack Titans before him. He was able to do this because he had the power of the Founding Titan in him. So when he said save Mikasa and Armin that was Eren’s influence.

If you would like to understand ymir as a character and what was her role and how did the titan powers disappear i recommend watching the youtube video “The final Mystery of Attack on Titan” by invaderzz on youtube

Man i wanted to list some criticisms i have with the ending but you had so much fun during the reaction, i am not gonna do it haha. And its not like you cant find them yourself, youtube is full of videos about the ending. But if you enjoy it then just leave it as that and dont analyze it to death. Its better that way.

I started watching anime this year and AOT was the first one I watched and my goodness I will never forget this show, I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that I don’t think about it truly life changing imo

Birds and feathers means freedom

I'm so glad to see your reaction and watch how this series made you feel. It's a cruel story through and through. A large part that I take away from this series is keeping the children out of the forest. Eren inherited the titan at 10 years old, uses it for the first time at 15 years old in trost to seal the hole and meets his end at 19 years old. Erens choice for genocide was absolutely horrendous. The adults in every situation of this story should have done better for the children. War is unfortunately a given, a cycle of violence and hatred that seems doomed to repeat forever. Why place the fate of everything on the shoulders of a child? So many choices made by so many people lead to how this story ends.

The final scene is a joke. Author releasod alternative universe short spinoff pages with some manga volumes called "attack on school castes". This one was released with final manga volume. It was not in original 2 final episodes, they added it when they re released them as a movie as an easter egg and also as a bait for people to see new original content that was not in anime before.

I think this series of reactions will be my comfort watch for a very long time

First of all thank you for re-experiencing this show with you. 1. Isayama (author) worked a lot with what if scenarios at the end: the scene between Eren and mikasa where eren said let’s live this last 4 years of mine in peace; what if mikasa really told eren her feelings for him when he asked what he is for her — instead of telling him he‘s like family for her. And the image where we saw King Fritz getting killed instead of Ymir jumping in front of him and getting killed. She is getting to be with her children. I interpret this kinda as mikasa unleashing Ymir from her chains of love that kept her a slave to the will of king fritz because she never had the power to kill him for what he did and mikasa managed it to kill eren at the end.

Glad to have been along for the ride

This ending left me more than confused on my first watch, but for anyone who see this, this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/comments/17o8b05/breaking_down_attack_on_titans_ending_and_why_i/ I think perfectly surmises the key points the ending was portraying, and my thoughts after mulling over it for a while. It has been a joy to see these reactions, you seem a very insightful person, thank you!

Thank you for going on this journey, love seeing your reactions and your commentary. What you said about TV giving us a safe space to love people that we may lose really hit home, beautifully articulated

1:24:37 its the way we went from complex detailed commentary to “birds is…. birds. birdie bird birds.”

i have so many things to say about this journey we got to go on with you experiencing this… but all i'm gonna break it down to is: good to know you now have aot-bird-ptsd

I am so happy you said “is that bird Eren? “ lmaoo because the memes were hilarious.

most satisfying reaction video ever

Please read all of this. It’s really important to understand Eren and what freedom means for him. Eren is a determinist and existential failure who can only find meaning through external reactions. This is why he idolizes Armin as the embodiment of true freedom because Armin can create his own meaning internally as an existentialist. Eren is also not a nationalist. In fact, his development in Marley revolves around his nationalistic worldview being dismantled and replaced by his individualism. So the determined” here is Eren’s nature. The future is determined because Eren willed for it and he can’t change as a person, but at th same time he feels so guilty about it. that’s his entire dynamic with Reiner is about. It’s recontexulation. His dream was often buried under the more pressing trauma of survival and intense Revenge against the titans that killed him mom. Eren forgot about the dream because of hatred for titans and revenge for mother after s1, but he never forgot about it unconsciously, in chapter 73, he talks about how he envied the look in Armin’s eyes, and after he sees the future memories, he straightens himself out. He admits that they are not his enemies, yet before transforming he says “ I will keep moving forward, until i destroy my enemies” It’s willfull ignorance. His nature overpowers the development he had. He can’t stop himself from wanting it. So, Eren did the rumbling to attain freedom for himself. What does freedom mean to Eren? Well, freedom means attaining that same 'look in his eyes' that Armin possessed and which Eren lacked. This 'look' is existential fulfillment, the ability to create your own meaning internally in a world devoid of it. Eren envied Armin's freedom and wanted to possess it for himself. He considered life inside the walls to be hell, as there's no opportunity for him to implement his curiosity, there is only monotony that drove him to boredom. Eren finds peace boring as there's no excitement with a life devoid of risk and devoid of questions. They are merely cattle who live to die. They are slaves, which is why Eren despises and looks down on those who are content with their pitiful lives within the walls. Eren realized that the outside world would be his sole escape from 'those miserable walls', it would grant him this freedom to explore, this freedom to live his life the way he wanted and enact his birthright. The outside world is a mystery, untouched, ready to be explored without any walls surrounding it, meaning it would finally give Eren the opportunity to find the meaning he is missing in the walls. The unknown is what motivates Eren the most, which is why he's so fascinated by the mystery of the basement and the potential of the outside world. An established world limits possibilities and freedom, but this outside world has infinite potential for freedom in its nothingness. Unlike Armin, Eren is an existential failure that cannot create meaning internally. He can only find meaning externally, through violence and fighting as a form of escapism from his emptiness and as an outlet for his hatred. This escape through violence is ironically the only way Eren can find peace. Eren needs to always find an enemy to 'fight' in order to give his life meaning. Thus, Eren mistakenly believed that the freedom he sought could be attained physically by reaching that empty paradisiacal 'scenery' outside the walls found in Armin's book, and the only way to do this is to eliminate the 'enemies' that obstruct him. Eren reinterpreted the intangible as tangible. He didn't view the outside world with wonder, he fixated on that which was being deprived from him. It was no longer curiosity that drove him, it was pride, envy and hatred. He would grasp it from his 'enemies', those that 'try so steal his his freedom away'. This is what enslaved him, what led to him 'forgetting his dream' (Midnight Sun), what distinguished him from Armin. If he could reach that scenery, that would surely cure his emptiness and he would surely see the same thing Armin sees. Except... freedom does not lie outside the walls. It's just more of the same: already established, already victim to cyclical conflict, already infested with livestock, already filled with 'walls'. The paradise Eren can escape to, the scenery he can lay his eyes on, doesn't exist. Eren's dream is shattered, and thus he's met with extreme disillusionment and disappointment. Armin accepted his dream was a fantasy, he could 'move forward' from it, but Eren couldn't. And so... he 'made a wish'. Eren would create it by 'wiping it all away'. Eren would externalize his voidness and reconstruct the outside world to match his idealized, childish fantasy. And this is what the iconic Freedom scene displays as Eren creates his desired scenery to attain 'freedom'. This is why Eren did the rumbling. Eren is an unreliable narrator for the majority of his conversation with Armin. We know he is lying because he is blatantly contradicting his true motivations, UNTIL he finally takes off his mask and reveals the truth at his most vulnerable state ever. None of Eren's internal monologues or previous confessions mention Mikasa's choice or Ymir a single time. This is because that was never his goal. In fact, Eren didn't know the truth about Ymir until he made contact with her when initiating the rumbling. He didn’t know he was going to be stopped until he started the rumbling. ( I will talk about other stuff later, and would really like for you to read).

fun fact the opening scene of this movie is actually the opening panel of the manga. The previous studio decided to cut it in the anime for some reason.

i personally like to forget that eren said lines like “i did this because i wanted to” cause tf you mean?? thats so out of character for him, i dont even know why those lines were written.

Not fully finished so maybe you speak on it at the end, but I’ve always loved the choice that eren sent the titan towards his mum (many people think its just shock value, which is understandable) but to me it almost full circles erens story. HE is the cause of his own trauma and HE no longer has any ground to stand on when it comes to justification. I may not be explaining this well but his driving motivation for the first half of the show is not longer an external force that forced him along his path. He did it to himself. Granted it does get a little messy since young him didnt know that he did it but hopefully you get my point.

I like how they still hit us with that last minute twist there

You should definitely watch the OVAs , especially the one “no regrets” of how levi got into the scouts, and one for mikasa and her relationship with eren, there is also one for annie planning for that raid on the scouts in s1

The journey Attack on Titan takes you on is one that will stay with you forever... What I love about this series is how you find there are so many hidden details about the foreshadowing of Eren’s decisions. One of my favorites, which I highly recommend looking up, as well as others, is this: Eren’s eye color changes throughout, so people believe it’s because the story is told through Armin, as he narrates some scenes, and especially how the episode ends with his last words. I find it so beautiful, especially to show how we can easily forget the details of someone close to us. But the eyes in AOT have always been drawn with so much meaning, especially Eren’s, when he starts to lose himself to himself.

woohooooo!! stayed up tonight for this (coming from someone in canada it is almost 3am)

what are you going to watch next

w jamaal bro

Never been so excited to watch a reaction in my life.

So happy to have come along on the journey!!