After taking the world by storm almost a decade ago, the phenomenon that was Attack on Titan finally came to its epic, bittersweet conclusion. The ending to Hajime Isayama’s magnum opus was highly anticipated by his dedicated readers and, for the most part, it didn’t disappoint.
Chapter 139 made its way online and while some fans were emotionally fulfilled, others had more concerns than tears to shed. Without giving away anything right now, it’s safe to say that Attack on Titan will continue to spark fan debates even after the anime’s end sometime in 2022.
Warning: Colossal spoilers ahead.
10 IT’S PERFECT – The Chapter Was Isayama At His Artistic Best
It goes without saying that Isayama’s art and paneling are something else. When put beside other hit manga, Attack on Titan stands out for its terrifying carnage that’s set against serene landscapes. The manga also boasts a well-designed cast roster and this was consistent quality was carried all the way to Chapter 139, where the epilogue shows their older selves.
Comparing Chapter 139 to Chapter 1 shows just how far Isayama has gone in terms of illustration, layouts, and non-linear storytelling. A good chunk of the finale takes place in the Paths, which is where Isayama’s skills shined most. While the story’s quality is subjective, something fans agreed on unanimously was how good Isayama’s art is.
9 IT FELL SHORT – None Of The Romantic Pairings Happened
This is really more of denied fan expectations than fatal plot flaws, but it bears mentioning. Attack on Titan had some of the most dedicated fan shipping ever but sadly, none of the fan-favorite pairings came to be. Those that were confirmed ended in tragedy, which only threw salt on fan wounds.
Ymir’s one regret in life was not marrying Historia before she’s devoured by Porco Galliard, while Mikasa and Eren only admitted their feelings before the latter’s death. The only canon pairings that haven’t perished were Annie/Armin (left) and (to an extent) Falco/Gabi (right), and the epilogue shows them standing by each other platonically rather than romantically.
8 IT’S PERFECT – Everything Came Full Circle
For lack of better words, Attack on Titan’s finale connecting to the beginning is nothing short of genius. Events and clues from the earliest arcs paid off in the biggest ways, such as Armin’s daydreaming while on the ship sailing away from Paradis. In this dream, Eren confesses that it was he who made the Smiling Titan kill his mother while ignoring Bertholt.
This was done to give his younger self his unwaveringly murderous determination and keep Bertholt alive long enough for Armin to eat him years later. A more tragic version is the dream that made him cry just before the Titans breached Wall Maria. What he saw was a romantic future with Mikasa; a reality they now know can never come to pass.
7 IT FELL SHORT – The Founder Ymir’s Motivations Are Weird
One of the biggest mysteries that the final arc opened was what the founder Ymir’s true motivations were. By defying Zeke by siding with Eren to start the Rumbling, fans initially concluded that Ymir was acting out of vengeance. Turns out, it was a twisted form of love.
In the Paths, Eren tells Armin that he believes Ymir waited for Mikasa to free her from her devotion to King Karl Fritz, the man who enslaved her in the first place. Minus the uncomfortable implications of this relationship, an even weirder thing is how little Ymir herself had to do and say during the finale, despite her being its linchpin. In fact, Eren did most of the talking for her.
6 IT’S PERFECT – The Titans’ Power Was Finally Erased From The World
For eons, the Titans brought nothing but misery. Born from Ymir’s suffering and torture, the Titans were used by different rulers and finally Eren to perpetuate a seemingly unbreakable cycle of death. But after generations of endless suffering, Eren finally ended the Titans’ wrath by using the Founding’s to erase the Titans’ power once and for all.
In doing so, Eren freed humanity from the fear and dread that the Titans inspired. Most importantly, he saved his fellow Eldians from being exploited for their bloodline, while removing the cursed legacy that burdened them from birth. He even freed the remaining Shifters from the Curse of Ymir, allowing Reiner, Annie, and others to enjoy long lives.
5 IT FELL SHORT – Important Supporting Characters Barely Factored In The Finale
As a consequence of having a massive character roster, not everyone in Attack on Titan got the spotlight in the final arc. For example, the Azumabito clan and the founder Ymir played an important political role in the lead up to the Rumbling, but dropped out later. The worst-hit were Historia and Yelena, who disappeared after the biggest moments of their lives.
Historia took a backseat after her pregnancy and only reappears in the epilogue (left), with her dialogue limited to a letter. Yelena all but vanished after she was outed as a glory seeker, last seen alive on a lifeboat after Falco shifted into the winged Beast Titan (right). After everything they went through and did, Historia and Yelena deserved a more substantial farewell.
4 IT’S PERFECT – Almost Everyone Got Closure & A Happy Ending
The one thing every Attack on Titan fan wants for their favorite characters is for them to live a happy life. Given the setting’s bleakness and high mortality rate, it’s actually kind of surprising to see the most of Alliance’s survivors make it out alive and well.
Cases in point: the Eldians who became Titans regained their humanity, Reiner and Annie redeemed themselves, Levi made peace with his fallen friends and soldiers, Armin went beyond the walls, and Mikasa had her feelings reciprocated – even in Eren’s death. Granted, these endings may seem uncharacteristically saccharine, but at least their suffering is finally over.
3 IT FELL SHORT – Eren’s Goal Was Short-Sighted At Best
Some critical voices decried Eren’s gambit to make the world hate him and view the “Demons of Paradis Island” as heroes for being stupidly short-sighted, and the manga proves them right. As expertly examined by other works like Watchmen, scaring the world into world peace only gives temporary respite. If Eren saw this through the Paths, he should’ve chosen another route.
Because of what he did, Eldia became a militaristic state that’s now expecting armed retaliation any time soon. This was what the Alliance warned Eren about, and he obviously didn’t listen. War may have been looming on the horizon before the Rumbling, but peace was never out of the equation. Unfortunately, Eren stomped on diplomacy with a horde of Colossus Titans.
2 IT’S PERFECT – Eren Knew He Was Wrong The Whole Time
That said, Eren’s harshest critic is himself. While Eren felt that waging war on the world was the only way to give Eldia a future, he didn’t like it one bit. The emotional and moral weight of global genocide crushed him, to say the least. Most of all, he regretted pushing his friends – especially Mikasa, who he truly loved – away for the sake of others.
Eren’s realizations gave him yet another layer of humanity, making him one of the most complex anti-heroes ever seen. The fact that he forced himself to commit harrowing sins only deepens his tragedy. In fact, he’s currently being compared and contrasted to Code Geass R2’s Lelouch. While some praised Eren for being more tragic and compelling than Lelouch, others thought the Rumbling was a bootlegged Requiem Zero.
1 IT FELL SHORT – Eren’s Ends Justified The Means
While the manga didn’t paint Eren in a wholly heroic light, the same can’t be said for his in-universe reception. At the Rumbling’s end, the surviving Eldians regain a previously-erased memory where Eren explained everything to them in the Paths. This makes them tearfully thank him for his sacrifice while back in Eldia, Eren is valorized as the nation’s savior.
Simply put, Eren killing over 80% of humanity was justified. He may feel bad about it and his comrades may have scolded him before, but the Rumbling was framed as a necessary evil for Eldians’ sake and not an avoidable extreme. In early translations, Armin literally thanks Eren for becoming a mass murderer while Mikasa yearns to one day see her genocidal lover again.
About The Author