Attack on Titan The Final Episode Full Reaction

I’m probably going to be the latest person to comment on this reaction. But I have been watching this show with yall for years. Thank you so much for the journey, watching it with yall made it feel like my first time watching again. I have put off watching this reaction multiple times just because I know how it’s going to make me react(Yes it’s been a long time since the finale has come out, yes it still destroys me and yes I am just now watching theirs). Anyway, thank yall so much for this journey over the years. It has been an awesome experience watching with you. Yall are amazing people and amazing reactors, Thank you ❤️

Bessbuyyyy

what? it’s one of my favorite lines of the show because it’s true

tanasia

Yes, but mostly cause it would fit Erens character. His whole character is about not being a halfstepper.

Merlin

yeah they removed it, but i find other one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85OJomZZKkA&ab_channel=Uesama

Martin Roca

vid is private

rayman

You're right and I remember that scene but he was very somber in that moment, he's hardly ever like that. He wasn't telling the whole truth of how he felt. Him crying about wanting Mikasa to mourn him for 10 years was raw. After Armin punched him he let his real emotions out the same way he always did.

Shivering King Banana

Merlin do you really think he should complete the rumbling

Jesse S

This is not the first time Eren has shown an emotion besides hate. Back in Season 4 Episode 10, he expressed that he didn't want anyone to take over for him as the Attack Titan. He stated that he wanted everyone to "live long lives".

Gabriel Barott

Yeah I agree with everything you said. I said myself he is the bad guy. Doesn't mean he can't feel bad about it, he does, we see and hear his regret as he talks to Armin. It doesn't mean he can't love Mikasa. He's not a philosopher, he was just trying to protect who he loved. It's also true that it's the Jeagerists fault, if they weren't so aggressive maybe a peaceful solution would have happened. It's also true that it's Marley's fault. Paradise had no choice but to become more militaristic with that monster at their door. The second to last scene in the show was Erens hometown hundreds or a thousand years in the future, being nuked. I'm still processing what that means. But I think the most logical answer is that even someone with as much power as Eren can't decide the fate of the world. All he could do was save who he loved. Yes they all had scars but they got to live lives and start a family. Mikasas kids got to play catch thanks to Eren. She got the chance to feel love and raise a family because of what he did. What he did was the worst thing any human has ever done, but the results were nice for those he loved.

Shivering King Banana

"He chose the option that let as many of the people he loved live a full life." Going to need you to explain how you came to this rose-colored interpretation of Eren's actions. First off, for a guy who values freedom, Eren decided to take away his friends' choice to do the right thing and not be involved in wiping out billions of innocent families, thousand of species, ecosystems, etc. With the moral messaging of "keeping the children out of the forest" do you really think that the author's more moral characters (like Armin for example) come out of the events of the Rumbling without scars and deep regret for their part in the near destruction of life on the entire planet? Not listening to your friends wishes and saddling them with a lifetime burden of guilt and trauma is not a 'sacrifice' for the people you care about. It's a one-sided denial of their freedom and agency. All the characters we follow in the show are competent people who didn't need protection and had a right to make their own decisions. In the end, we see their futures decided for them by Eren. Whatever they thought they were going to do or become in the future, their ultimate fate was to clean up after Eren's mess for the rest of their lives. Eren imposed his will on the rest of the world via genocide. In the process, he made his friends bear the burden of his decisions and ensuring they would always be 'chasing after him and cleaning up after him' like they always did from their first days as recruits.

Nam Le

Nah

Shivering King Banana

He chose the option that let as many of the people he loved live a full life. He said he spent a lot of time going over different options, he was like Dr Strange at the end of Infinity War. Was it wrong, selfish, evil, the worst thing any human in history has ever done, yes. 100% yes Eren is the bad guy. But he was a human. How many lives would it take for you to sacrifice your family? I'm sure it wouldn't be a 1 to 1 ratio.

Shivering King Banana

The difference is that Reiner was still a brainwashed child being used as a weapon of war. He knew nothing of the world and was easy to emotionally manipulate due to tragic familial circumstances. Eren was an adult when he decided to destroy the entire world and the billions of inhabitants in it. He wasn't ignorant at all, but knew the truth of the world being not just an temporally omniscient entity but the de facto leader of an entire nation due to his control of the Jaegerists. He had the smartest and most capable people that were his most beloved friends to advise him. Despite all of this knowledge and support, he still chose the option that caused the most suffering to as many people as possible. I'm not sure how you think the two situations are remotely similar.

Nam Le

People actually like the "It's because I'm an idiot" line? What?? Yeah maybe for not completing the rumbling. He should have said "It's because I wanted to protect Eldians from extinction."

Merlin

exactly. So its honestly a great line isayama added.

Deno Baanu

I just found a video recording Mikasa's VA, if you still have tears left... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTYUcvLKdJ4&ab_channel=%F0%9D%99%85%F0%9D%99%9A%F0%9D%99%9E%F0%9D%99%AE%F0%9D%99%A7%F0%9D%99%A8%F0%9D%99%A8

Martin Roca

素敵です！ありがとう♡LMにも届きますように！

yi

there's a 4 hour discussion? I NEED.

Asylum

That was one of my favorite lines of the Final actually. It's honest and it's maybe the only coherent moral messaging that can be found in the show. When you give unlimited power to a ordinary guy who is kind of an idiot, things go south. In this case, billions of people died needlessly. Don't give idiots power.

Nam Le

when he was born, the first thing that was said to him was "you are free". Those words are a curse to Eren's mindset because, in his mind, he was never meant to be born the way he is. So although he knew of the future at such a young age, he was also aware that regardless, he would still feel the same way due to that "curse" that was placed on him. He never got what he deserved. He reset his memories and the others so that his emotions would be played out not just in a manner that would make sense but could also be "justified". Even the fact he had discussions with people in the first place reinforces the idea of Eren coping with his actions and justifying the effects he'll have on others. He was an idiot through and through who was led purely by his emotions. Hell, they even portrayed that in an alternate timeline, if Mikasa had said she loved him, he would have abandoned the rumbling entirely to live with her.

Komikall

im an idiot line fits well with his character if you look at it deeply. He was a raging idiot kid when he got the powers and that was what an idiot would come up with it. its implying that someone like erwin or armin got the powers he got, the mightve been able to come up with a different resolution. this is atleast what i thought of it. I understand if you see it differently. :)

Deno Baanu

Ty boss that was very kind of you

Diflexster

了解しました！あなたの解析を含む新しいコメントを書きます :) 今後のコメントに対してもこれを行うことができます。私は日本語の学習中でお手伝いできて嬉しいです。

TeaDrinker3000

Hi guys, Yi wanted me to translate their comment for them into English, so here it is: I thought that Eren was indeed a complex character and had tried various things, like a simulation game's multiple endings, including bad end routes and good end routes. That route became the path Ymir created, and after much contemplation, he chose the path that allowed him to see a world where only the people of Paradis Island were left. Despite struggling to create a future where everyone could be saved among the many branching choices, along the way, Sasha and Hanji also died. In his jumbled-up mind, he had to keep moving toward the goal he had set for himself, a future both in the past and the future. I guess he wanted to go to a world no one knew, but as Eren himself said, the idea of a world with no one in it is probably foolish. He was just a child. I thought about whether giving someone like Sasha's father the Founding Titan power might lead to a different future, but it seems that conflicts will never truly disappear, haha.

TeaDrinker3000

えー！素敵です。 こちらの内容を伝えたかったのです。 やっぱりエレンは複雑なキャラで色々試したんだと思いました。 シュミレーションゲームのマルチエンディングみたいなバッドエンドルートとか、グッドエンドルートみたいに。 そのルートはユミルが作った道になってて 悩んだ結果、パラディ島住人以外誰も居ない世界が見れるルートを選んで。 その沢山枝分かれしてる選択肢のルートの中で皆んなが助かる未来に出来ないか奮闘したけど、 見えてなかった途中の未来でサシャやハンジも死んでしまって。 過去も未来もぐちゃぐちゃの頭の中で決まったゴールに進むしかないって進み続けて… って感じなのかな。 誰も知らない世界に行きたい気持ちは分かるけど、誰も居ない世界ってゆーのはやっぱりエレンが言っているように馬鹿の所業かな 子供だったし。。 サシャパパみたいな人に始祖持たせたら違う未来かも？とか考えたけど、 争いは無くならないな笑

kie___y1

こんにちは、yiーさん! もし日本語でメッセージを入力してくれたら、それを自然な英語に翻訳します。またね👋😃

TeaDrinker3000

I think the toxic element of the relationship is intentional. I don't think the author is endorsing that, the story is more of a lament at that

enchantertim

Thank god they got rid of the terrible "thank you for becoming a mass murderer for our sake" line from the manga but then they instead went and added an even worse line in the anime with "It's because I'm an idiot" 😭

madgod

I'm sorry if it's hard to understand because I'm using a translator. I’m Japanese. Ellen has tried a lot of things. Like a bad end route like a multi-ending of a simulation game, or a good end route. That route is the road that Ymir made. As a result, his chose a route where I could see the world where no one except Paradis Island residents. In the route of those many branched options, I struggled to see if I could make a future where everyone could be saved, Sasha and Hanji also died in the future that I couldn't see. I guess he was idiot...And he was a child. If you let someone like Sasha Papa have an ancestor, it might be a different future? I thought about it, but The conflict won't go away….

kie___y1

i have it on my clock app just to not get confused when LM say "tomorrow" 😅

Deno Baanu

Some people think so. You're free if you just think about it. As Onyankopon taught me, Mikasa only chose freely.

kie___y1

They tweeted a photo of their review audio recording and it's 4 hours long 😂

Bryce

They probably still crying like the rest of us.

Martin Roca

Absolutely. One thing I'd say is that there are a lot of low quality anime shows out there, but anime as a medium has some of the best stories I've ever seen told. It depends on your tastes, but Attack on Titan is a fantastic place to start if you are okay with a darker tone. Maybe FMA: brotherhood if you want to go lighter. While ultimately anime follows the same rules of fictional storytelling as western shows, there is a certain cultural zeitgeist that may be hard to get if you're not used to it. Those two shows are some of the easiest for people unfamiliar.

Flubbedsquid

I'd be more shocked if their dynamic didn't have toxic elements considering how traumatic and shitty their lives were.

Spencer

ah okay i read the description :) Thank you for this and i was SOO relieved that the final episode of AOT turned out the way it did. Isayama took the critism about his ending to heart. I always felt like it was the perfect and only way you could end the anime. The only thing u could improve on is the pacing and dialogue choices and he nailed it.

michelle Meliton

it was smart as heck to not release this on youtube first because i absolutey wanted to see your reaction to it. Is the discussion portion found somewhere else?

michelle Meliton

yeah, it's nice to get into. I feel like at times it can be "deeper" than some shows simply because anime allows the story to portray a lot of internal thinking. It doesn't make it better than other mediums of storytelling by any means, but it's something I can appreciate. I also feel like I get a more personal experience since I'm reading subtitles and hearing a foreign voice. This is because I focus on the emotions in the voice rather than the execution of the words. If you're getting into it, I'd say to just watch on your own or with a friend without letting social media influence you. I know people who are passionate about it can come off as weird especially to people who aren't too fond or knowledgeable about it so it's better to just take a shot and form your own opinion. Hope I convinced you in any way.

Komikall

A genocidal maniac makes for a toxic partner. Who would have thunk it?

Seni Adeyemi

Should I get into anime?

cheech

I've truly loved all your reactions, so now I'm happy to have joined your Patreon once more to end this fantastic series. Thank you both, Milena and Lola!

Flo A.

I don't understand why so many people thinking Eren being open and vulnerable about Mikasa with his best friend is some flaw. It was the only emotional scene Eren had that wasn't based on hate. It was always either I hate the world or I hate myself with Eren. And he was always looking far away, like across the sea. That was the first time he openly appreciated what he had right in front of him and what it brought out was feelings of love. I wonder if the same people that think Eren deserved no redemption felt the same way for Reiner. Yes the murder of billions is worse than the murder of hundreds of thousands but if all it is is a numbers game then what number did Eren cross the line at? It doesn't make sense to say the line for redemption is somewhere between 6 figure casualties and 9 figure casualties.

Shivering King Banana

That was Jean! I mean I guess it's better than some random guy but still... I bet Mikasa pretends he's Eren sometimes in bed.... and Jean pretends he's Eren too.

Shivering King Banana

Probably because he couldn't handle seeing Eren the badass be vulnerable and honest for once.

Shivering King Banana

The scroll past this comment felt longer than the wait for this finale.

Shivering King Banana

I hope you don't mean Eren confessing how he really feels about Mikasa as wonky. That was the realest the show has ever felt.

Shivering King Banana

The majority of relationships have toxic elements to them. Just because somethings flawed doesn't mean it's worthless. They still found comfort with each other.

Shivering King Banana

For me personally, exaggerated love that turns into outright obsession is problematic for me

Abdullah

I thought it was beautiful that she kept it on till the end. I took it as her having a reminder of the love of her life and everything he meant to her especially now that he's dead and that's all she has left of him. I don't see it as dependency on Eren cuz it has a really special memory attached to it of when she literally lost everything and he was there for her. She was still able to move on despite her keeping the scarf. Tbh, it would've been more sad and tragic if she got rid of the scarf after his death. Mikasa is allowed to have multiple loves of her life so I don't view Jean as a second choice..to me it's more that he was the right choice for her at that moment.

StrawHat

I see your point but to be honest it fits for a show and world like attack on titan a broken tragic romantic relationship in a cruel world.

Jay

She was buried with the scarf and jean was simply the second choice

Abdullah

I would agree with you if the show didn’t make it clear that she did move on with her life, got married, had children, and lived to an old age. Still loving Eren didn’t stop her from living her life and for me, it’s enough to know that she was happy.

Darrach

Overall, I feel that the relationship between Mikasa and Eren in "Attack on Titan" contains toxic elements that are not in line with my ideas of healthy interpersonal relationships and the central themes of the series. This personal view has influenced my perception of the series

Abdullah

Mikasa's decision to keep the scarf at the end disappointed and frustrated me, as I think it is symbolic of the toxic relationship between her and Eren. The scarf represents the dependency Mikasa has on Eren and the way she has often focused solely on him. Instead of taking the opportunity to break away from this symbolic bond and show her own independence, she chooses to hold on to the past

Abdullah

anyone ever find themselves googling serbia time to wonder about a release? just me?

JustAMeloPancake

please let us have the record breaking 4+hours reaction

Deno Baanu

Glad to be back just for this and dropping some cash to watch it early :) Can't wait to watch the discussion. Loved this ride with you two, I hope ya'll are good!

IQLou

a bunch of people weren't too thrilled about that post-credit scene where Paradis goes down the drain. they were all like, "Eren did all that for nothing." But I'm looking at it from a different angle, and I think it's pretty well-executed. It's like Eren's deal was always to exterminate Titans, the tools people used to wage war from the get-go.(titans were just weapons, not the reason people started the war) It's a reminder that even if we try to erase it all, human conflict is kinda hardwired into us. So, the whole repeating cycle thing is a amazing way to drive home the story's message.

veljko Milosevic

best show ive ever seen, such a ride to watch u girls from the start, amazing journey

veljko Milosevic

I have never seen a tree grow that much in 70 years. And technology advancement isn’t going to be reliable considering an 80% humanity wipe and Paradis mostly relying on outside sources for technology.

Goob

Oh totally, I agree with you. It's inevitable with shows like this and was plenty annoying with Breaking Bad as well (and Death Note), and you're right, the addition of politics as a factor makes the bad fans that much worse. And I do think a lot of the fan base is very young and immature, and will hopefully grow past thinking the way they do. Like the other day I argued with someone and they literally said "genocide is only bad for the genocided🥳😂" and like wtf can you say to someone who thinks like that? So yeah I hear you and I have had cool discussions online about the show, but yeah I just don't have it in me to engage in the discussions like I used to.

Payam Sharifi

The decision to spell things out a little more plainly in the anime than they chose to do in the manga really helped get the true intent of the ending across better. As always, love your reactions.

Ben Ashworth

robert save yourself

LM Reactions

I completely understand that. I've already seen on Reddit that the Yeagerists now see themselves even more in the right, because that's exactly what they changed in the end. But I also think that this group can somehow spin everything so that they end up in the right. I can only repeat that: The Attack on Titan fanbase is just insufferable and as a fan of the story, you have an incredibly difficult time interacting with others.

Robert H.

Give yourself a break. Or just do it sparingly!

Komikall

I hate how some manga readers ruined it for ppl..it’s like they read it just to find things to hate on lmaooo. I remember when I read the manga cuz I was scared ppl would spoil me and I loved it. Even if there were some things that I would change I didn’t think it was the worst ending ever like some were trying to say it was. I was so confused I remember thinking I read the wrong ending or something loll.

StrawHat

Can I still think about whether I really want to write this timestamp comment? 😅

Robert H.

My point was just that even with the manga they were wrong because multiple generations passed and the situation in the final chapter makes it incredibly unlikely that the destruction of Paradis arose from something as simple as the outside world taking revenge. I'm almost a little annoyed that the anime felt the need to make it so ridiculously obvious because now people are acting like the anime fixed something that was never broken in the manga

tom

yeah, that's why I said "discussion" with quotations b/c I'm assuming most of it is just processing and then crying to the ending song lol.

Komikall

It's such a shame that the song at the end doesn't have subtitles. It's so beautiful, here if you want the lyrics: https://youtu.be/fNGhS2dTcs0?si=_57rDvxKdfKf7Lp-

sakurabraus

That the Madagascar theory is a troll should be obvious. But I remember how for several months this theory was defended by some Attack on Titan fans with "evidence" and "hints" that it was all real. That was back in the good old days. 😔 The No Requiem theory was already pretty developed before, but I completely agree with you that this theory and its supporters completely escalated when the finale disappointed many. There is even a very large No Requiem rewrite project that is still active, albeit being released much slower than in the beginning. Personally, I can only praise isolated scenes in it, as it's often just cringeworthy what the characters say. And the 70 years: I don't want to argue about that, because personally, I don't really care whether it was only 50 or even 250 years in the manga. Even if it had only been 80 years of peace, it would still have been worth it. I just wanted to explain, what this Yeagerist Cult in Attack on Titan is all about, because they already had contact with one. I think we all agree that it was clearly earlier than in the anime and many Yeagerist fans have seized on this to badmouth the Scouts and Armin in particular and to prove Floch right. I don't agree with that, but I thought that it's important to know. 🥺

Robert H.

Before editing

tom

Guys, I just checked their Twitter, and their "discussion" is just over 4 hours, haha. I don't think we will be getting the edited video today. But I mean it's worth waiting for, even if they apparently "blacked out" for most of the review. I can't wait to watch!

Komikall

Yeah the Ymir stuff makes me feel icky… curious to hear their thoughts but I know there’s so much to talk abt

space colon

The Madagascar thing was a troll. As for the ANR ending, context is required. It wasn't a fully fledged theory until the Eren x Historia / anti-alliance / pro-rumbling community had sprung up. They already had ideas of how the ending would go, and then the ANR theory was essentially their way of codifying it within the music video visuals (aka confirmation bias, but that's neither here nor there). EDIT: And the 70 years thing makes absolutely no sense. I will say at least there's reasoning put into the theory with the technology. But in focusing on that detail whoever made that missed the grand picture that you see Mikasa as an old woman, and the city doesn't look anything like what it does when Paradis gets bombed. We also don't even know how long until after the bombing Paradis is destroyed, or if it's just the beginning of the wall / a preliminary attack. The manga is ambiguous but it contains enough information to make it obvious that multiple generations had passed (and with the manga's philosophy about hatred being passed down and the way the outside world is portrayed as just wanting to survive in the end, the conflict probably had to do with something else altogether)

tom

It would be cool if I could experience an anime that made me feel this way. So far, everything with the exception of Clannad: After Story (which is a cheat anyway), has failed to do so. As a medium, I just struggle to connect with most of the stories and take them seriously. It's simply a weaker art form when it comes to writing, storytelling and characterization, in my opinion.

Aj

Besides the wonky dialogue between Eren and Armin, I loved everything about this ending.

Gangster Pikachu

When did Filmbuff recommend AoT to LM?

Gangster Pikachu

GG, Wp. It was one hell of a ride, but glad we all rode it together. Thanks for the memories Aot, patreon fam, and of course the girls. Onto Chimera!

Emori

I can really only agree with you. Discussing Attack on Titan on Reddit is an extremely difficult balancing act, as it quickly turns into hate and rejection. And insults against Isayama are really the very last thing. My heart still falls apart when I think about his performance in New York, how scared he was to face the fans and how insecure he was.

Robert H.

I was in a similar situation. When I started hearing all the discord about the ending, I got a bit worried and braced myself for the worst. I was this close to reading the manga but in the end I decided to wait for the episode. I think the ending was a solid wrap up for this amazing story. Isayama doesn't derseve all the hate he got for this

HenryM

I will miss ur Aot reactions :>>>>

Hamad 449

When I read the manga I have always assumed the destruction happened far into the future, like a 100 years at least, or during a time period where our characters are already long gone. Also assumed that it wasn't just Paradis Island that got destroyed, during the final shot obviously the entire world was in a mad-max-like post apocalyptic setting when the kid arrived. The message was clear back then too, conflict between humanity will never magically go away. Some of the manga readers were grasping at straws to shit on the extra pages after their stupid fan theories/expectations got debunked in the original final chapter, that's it. Thinking that killing literally everybody outside of Paradis will definitively solve the peace issue for all eternity is a child-like understanding of the world and most of those Jaegerist unironically believed that lol

enchantertim

Buddy, come down. I completely agree with you that this criticism and praise of Floch is completely stupid. I just wanted to mention it because Lola herself was once in contact with someone who is a pretty big Floch fan, and I wanted to go into a bit more depth as to what their reasoning was, also because it was a relatively big change from the manga. And r/titanfolk really took a turn for the negative after the finale, unfortunately. I really miss the old days there already. All the theories and analysis that were posted there after every chapter release back then were everything from funny, banal, stupid and well-founded.

Robert H.

Adding to your post??? You don't need to add to a 50,000 word essay my guy if you didn't say it in the first part it's probably not worth saying! The fact that it also starts with complete nonsense about 70 years is just, man, I despise /r/titanfolk so much lmao. The criticism was absolutely hare-brained day of the manga's release and it's hare-brained now.

Jay Craig

Yeah for sure. I hate being a Negative Nancy on what is otherwise a very joyous occasion. But you can see why I'm kicking myself, but I truly wasn't to know. I just didn't want it to be ANOTHER Game Of Thrones situation. Still, it's different from me getting the entire series spoiled when I was only on season 2, or something. AOT is firmly nestled in my top 5 series of all time, and the ending has done nothing to stop that. Years from now when I rewatch this whole series (and the girls' reaction to go along with it), it'll be so wonderful that it'll completely diminish the anger of being spoiled. I can't wait to discuss this further in the girls' review. I hope you enjoyed watching too, Darrach!

TeaDrinker3000

I managed to hold off for two years after hearing the ending had disappointed some people. I knew bits and pieces, like Zeke dying but that was always gonna happen. I can understand why with the choice of dialogue in the manga, people would be upset, but this ending with its slight tweaks really has fixed a lot of those issues. You may have spoiled the manga ending for yourself but you got to see this definitive, much-improved ending with everyone else for the first time!

Darrach

Your reactions made me realize that the AOT is really over.😭

いろ

Ha! Thanks! I've been writing this thing for the last few weeks. I hope it has clarified a lot of questions.

Robert H.

I mentioned before that I read the ending in advance last year because I heard there was severe disappointment and didn't want to be let down, and having now spent my first 5 minutes looking at Attack On Titan discussion on reddit, I am now no longer listening to anyone's opinion on anime ever again unless they're the girls, or a Patron here. My frustration in needlessly spoiling a fantastic ending for myself is no match for the senseless and cowardly bullying Isayama received for no reason other than he amassed an awful fanbase through no fault of his own.

TeaDrinker3000

@skitalks You're absolutely right about that. My point was simply what some fans were hoping for at the end or what funny ideas they had for a possible ending. The Madagascar Theory for example is the one that somehow managed to be present in the forums for months, which is why I can't forget it. :D @Tuomas Haikoaho As with many things, Attack on titan doesn't give a clear answer. As with many things, Attack on titan doesn't give a clear answer. The 70 years in the manga is a rough estimate: https://imgur.com/a/vl59Nik And I completely agree with you that even if it had only been 80 years of peace, it would still have been worth it. I just wanted to throw in another point of criticism, since the destruction of Paradise Island "relatively soon" after Rumbling gave many Yeagerist fans reason to be right.

Robert H.

And here we are at the end. I'll gladly join patreon again to watch it again with you too. I hope you enjoyed it.

Slaizio

There was never confirmation that it was 70 years in the manga either. Technology wise it could have easily been 100 years or more and by the passage of time in the panels it can't be 70 years bc that would make it close to after Mikasa died and there wouldn't be enough time to build the stuff that was there. But regardless the same point stands. For us WW2 ended 80 years ago, would another war starting now make that 80 years not worth it? Definitely not. The anime does make it clearer that a lot of time has passed just to make sure that people understand that it doesn't matter what time it is and what is done, human conflict will always exist and happen. But people still saying that it's not worth it after the anime made it clearer are just silly, their peace lasted longer than any peace in our world. Literally hundreds or a thousand years even.

Tuomas Halkoaho

Yea I got the information from a youtuber with 1 million views so I assumed he was right, but your right it’s definitely up for interpretation, I deleted my comment to not spread something that could be misinformation.

Jay

Just give them the new interview Isayama did with the new york times, he states that the ending he envisioned for the series never and couldn't be changed: https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/comments/17oi7ud/excerpt_from_ny_times_article_attack_on_titan/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

skitalks

Mikasa and Jean having kids is not accurate, considering Mikasa is buried with lilies symbolising she never married. Also given the color of the hair shown in the anime, it’s more likely that it’s Armin visiting with his kids, and Mikasa coming along.

Quo

why do u think that the dialog was clunky

veljko Milosevic

I would like to add something to my last post: In the manga, Paradise Island was destroyed about 70 years after Rumbling. This has led to some fans seeing Armin's path for peace as a failure and the scouts failing. The statement "King Floch was always right!" was then also reinforced, that Floch was right in saying that if Eren didn't kill all the people outside the walls, Paradise Island would be destroyed. In the anime, on the other hand, a lot more time was allowed to pass, around 200 years or more, which meant that this criticism was avoided at the end. [ What were other possible endings? ] I still want to talk about this. There really are countless theories as to how Attack on Titan could have ended. Here's a good insight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9LXvxbei20 There were also a lot of Art Works that tried to portray a moment differently, like this one: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fp0e8jhcgqlk81.jpg But there were also a lot of fun theories, like the Madagascar Theory https://www.reddit.com/r/titanfolk/comments/lat870/my_theory_of_the_ending_of_aot_with_parallels/ , where Eren ultimately turns all the Eldians into talking lemurs and he moves forward as King Julien. But the most popular theory was clearly the No Requiem Theory https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fuaubyobc7pj61.jpg This one is very much based on the Linked Horizon music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrQ0zZArUV8 and Isayama's claim to be a big fan of Muv Luv: https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/comments/kxbevu/how_shingeki_was_heavily_inspired_by_muv_luv/ Since I don't want to make this post any longer, I'll just link to a video that sums it up quite well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhfYyCugeFs If you want to read more about it, just take a look at r/ANRime's top posts. But a warning: the subreddit had hoped for a completely new and different ending, due to the criticism of the manga ending and all the hints at No Requiem. The subreddit seems like a religious cult at times, and the fact that the anime ended up adapting the manga very accurately blew up a few brains of some of them there.

Robert H.

Watching it with LM makes me cry again.

うどん

I honestly don't view the ending as simply "eventually, the cycle repeats itself". In the end we know that so many people still think it's kill or be killed, "If we win, we live. If we lose, we die". However, like Historia said, many people like the main cast of characters and all those around them who they've influenced fight not for survival but to end the fight for good. I'd like to believe that Isayama had that fast forward into the future not to show us that the cycle is inevitable, but to show us why we must fight to end the fight. He reminded us that yes, the cycle could absolutely continue until there is no one left alive, but to also remind us to fight for peace, so that we can not just envision but live in a world in which that war doesn't continue and there comes a time of peace. Now of course, it is in human nature that conflict will arise, and the idea that there will be ever-lasting peace is almost improbable. However, if we fight for the ones we love to live in peace like Eren did (albeit with less casualties), then we may see it in our lifetimes, however brief it may be. Even if conflict will come again one day, that period of peace, no matter how long or how short, is worth devoting our hearts for.

Eric Hutchison

This deserves 100 likes 👊

TeaDrinker3000

It’s been really cool watching you guys for this show the last few years, thanks Lola & Milena.

BoredTonberry

Yay for me, unfortunately

Reece

Nice essay, in my opinion the show has flaws and it wasn’t a perfect ending , it’s very hard to give perfect endings, so the question isn’t if the ending is perfect the question should be did the ending land ? and in my opinion it definitely did, sure there are many flaws and some plot holes but the ending is still solid. The ending was an 8/10 in a 10/10 show so I’d give it a good 9/10 or 9.5/10 overall in my point of view.

Jay

Loved the ending when the manga finished, loved it in the anime as well. Excited for the post episode discussion <3

Buse

Great explanation. Personally I really liked the ending. And Im not much into nitpicking small details so overall it was great. Imo not every details needs to be explained to the viewers as then it would end up being too upfront. It loses quality of writing in someway. Great shows tend to make people think and make you want to rewatch it to understand. I think Aot does a great job at this. As explaining everything will be as long as a comment as Roberts', ill refrain. But at the end of they day i think most anime only watchers loved the ending ( as far as i have seen on reaction channels ) and hopefully so will Lola and Milena. :)

Deno Baanu

After reading your long essay I must say… you make me dislike the ending even more lmaooooooooo. I didn’t remember these many plot holes but now that you mentioned them, the ending for me makes even less sense. Thanks Robert for making me hate the ending even more (｀_´)ゞ

Jack SV

So what's the final verdict? Eren baby boy, yay or nay?

Orr Malus

Jay

Ciertooooooo, Jean gustaba de Mikasa!!! Quedaron juntos al final!!

David Brown

Fue un verdadero placer compartir este show con ustedes. Son mis favoritas. Sufrirlo, disfrutarlo y amarlo con ustedes, como mis amigas, fue una maravillosa travesía! Ahora siento un vacío en el alma.

David Brown

it's a crime that the ending song while mikasa is under the tree doesn't have subtitles in english 😫 I watched in Spanish and crunchyroll added the subtitles making the scene so painful

Doeyi Tokki

jesus bro

bort

yea, but I also feel like people took that kind of the wrong way... I think Armin just wanted Eren to feel acknowledged in a way so that he wouldn't die thinking his friends hated him. The change in the anime was good though so that ppl don't misunderstand.

StrawHat

Fun fact: Eren said he wanted Mikasa to pine over him for 10 years after his death. If you count the number of seasons that passes in the credit + the 3 year time skip it adds up to 10 before you see Mikasa and Jean together vising Eren's grave

JustAMeloPancake

Anime made good changes, in the manga Armin doesn't take on Eren's burden in most translations he says "thank you for becoming a mass murderer for our sake"

HeavenlyR

Exactly!! You worded this great. It makes me sad during some of the reactions I’ve seen bc they act like it was weird when it made me emotional bc there was nothing wrong with him finally showing that vulnerable side for a min with his best friend :(

Amber

I loved the ending it was perfecttt.. ppl will always complain about stuff especially when a show is this popular but I don't think they could've done a better ending tbh. Eren and Armin's scene was so good I cried because it's just like Armin to try and take on the burden with Eren because he can see how much it was killing him. Armin comforting Eren by saying they'll see each other in hell and be together forever got me balling cuz Eren was so sad and scared of dying alone and not being with his friends. Mikasa and Eren's love for each other is everythinggg..and it made so much sense that Yumir seeing Mikasa kill Eren despite her love for him is what freed Yumir cuz it was what she was never able to do. Levi broke me...I need a whole series on him just living peacefully and running a tea shop it's what he deserves after everything he's been through. I could go on and on but this show from beginning to end was a masterpiece. this reaction was so relatable cuz when I read the manga i was full-on sobbing i had to take several breaks lmaooo

StrawHat

Well the reason it was unavoidable in the first place was because of Eren's nature.

tom

- You both look so nervous in the beginning. I'm dying to know what the discussion was like before you clicked play - Oh man they're crying from the recap action scene already. This is gonna be good - A lot of good moments overall. It's a shame the titan transformation thing with the humans was a bit confusing probably because you looked away during Connie's line (but I think the anime also didn't do too good of a job of conveying the tone (barring Connie and Jean's farewell), and I sensed a disconnect when Mikasa sliced the neck, when Armin transformed for the first time (appropriate reaction though since it clearly wasn't a definitive end), and with a lot of the Eren-Armin talk. I think it's a mixed bag though and I'll be interested on hearing both of your thoughts about it. All the Ymir stuff and how Mikasa's choice thematically and logistically impacts everything is a bit dense, as well as Armin's philosophy on everything, so I'd recommend going through again and just reading the subtitles if you need to. But either way, whatever your authentic reaction and discussion is will be perfect

tom

I feel the same. While some cringed and found the whole thing with Eren's feelings towards Mikasa a bit pathetic, I actually genuinely giggled because it's been so long since we've seen Eren express something so childlike and honest. You forget that he's 19 in the end... Literally about to die and never had a chance to experience normal things that we may experience at that age ourselves.

Lalisa Truong

I think aside from the questionable line Armin said to Eren in the manga (basically thanking him for becoming a mass murderer for them) and how a lot of people didn't really like how Eren "did a 180 and became a whining, simping pathetic guy because of Mikasa", what most people didn't really like was that end credits you saw. The anime made it very clear that Paradis getting bombed was wayyy far into the future but in the manga, it didn't look that long after the end. So to a lot of people I guess, it felt like everything Eren and the main cast did was all for nothing and pointless. Although I can see why some would be upset, disappointed and angry about it, I don't see why what happens in the FAR future should have impact on the main cast. They all still lived long, happy lives and there was peace for a good while. Just because what happens later doesn't mean it should invalidate what they did. The cycle will always continue and that's not something you can really stop. Even without titans, they still found some reason to go to war with each other. Maybe in the grand scheme of things, yeah it's all pointless but you can say that for our every day lives honestly. What matters though is we should always strive to understand each other and strive to obtain that peace, no matter how finite it may be at times. And also enjoy life's precious moments, as Zeke and Armin were talking about. It's not all pointless and I feel some people need to understand that. It's okay to not like the ending, but to say it was pointless or all for nothing feels like missing the point.

Lalisa Truong

I don't think it was their intention to focus so much on the good than the bad with Eren. I think it's just because he's our MC and he hasn't shown his true feelings and some vulnerability to his friends and us in so long, it was due time all of this was shown. Fittingly, on his literal deathbed. The show isn't forcing you to sympathize with the guy but this is what it is. He can show what his reasons are and it's up to you if you want to accept them or not. You can still condemn him, just as how Armin and Mikasa condemn his actions but still love him.

Lalisa Truong

ohhhhh... oh the best AoT reaction

Ercy Moreira Neto

It’s a difficult topic to handle for sure. But again, in this story, Eren is mostly focused on saving the lives of the loved ones he can. And while the ones he does save get a focus, I feel that their outlook, more prominently Armin’s, is a hope to find prolonged peace in spite of Eren’s actions. They neglect just sitting on their thrones as saviors to be guaranteed safety, but rather throw themselves into the fire once again to try and make peace. A reminder too, it’s likely VERY impossible from a lore standpoint that Eren can foretell any future beyond once the founder is eliminated. Anime Armin even implies going a step further, that they won’t accept their hero role, which they clearly don’t. As I said, they jump back to Paradis, where they’re seen as villains in the face of the rising fascist state being made due to Eren’s martyrdom. The ending shows that eventually, decades down the line, it’s fruitless. But that’s reality. We can only fight for prolonged peace. There is no such thing as peace for forever. That’s my interpretation at least. But the surviving scout regiment (and Annie) choose to fight for a chance at something. And that’s what scouts always do. It’s something I feel the anime captured ten times better than the manga with its phrasing and additional dialogue. I personally felt the ending fit it’s themes very well. It’s difficult to fit both character conclusions in a way that is in character, as well as tackle such dark and realistic topics such as genocide.

Goob

damn I cried so many times watching this

Velvet

If you have questions, this video explains a lot in a short time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ifg84tK0zc&ab_channel=TheDigiKnow

Martin Roca

Other than the dialog between Eren and Armin being kinda clunky at the end, I still love this ending. Eren was never going to create forever world peace, but his friends got to live long peaceful lives away from fighting. I personally like to believe that Mikasa and Eren actually got to experience those four years together in the paths and she was able to hold on to those memories after his death.

Ryan Coleman

Like many here, I discovered this channel through their AOT reactions, more specifically, that legendary 2x06 episode, it feels like a lifetime ago even tho it's only been a couple of years. What a ride it's been, I hope I'm not being overly dramatic when I say this, but thanks for deciding to start a channel and just... being you

HenryM

I can't speak to the anime, but there will be a Levi focused prequel chapter coming out next year. I've heard it'll be an 18 page chapter in an Attack on Titan art book, but I've also heard it'll be Volume 35 of the manga, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. Isayama announced that the chapter will be titled "Bad Boy."

Merfhew

As someone who really hates the ending I'm so glad you two enjoyed it as much as you did. The credits still got me emotional as this show was at one point in time my favourite anime. Ultimately moments like Riener and Bert's reveal, serum bowl, the declaration of war, "Stand up dad" and the basement reveal are going to stay with me forever regardless of how it ended. Can't wait to hear your discussion on this and how you felt about the Ymir stuff in particular.

Kya Colosseum

One thing about AOT is there aren’t branching multiverses and different timelines. It’s basically all said in ‘memories of the future’ the future Eren saw happened and was unavoidable otherwise he’d not have seen those memories. He was looking at a future that was 100% going to happen no matter what. This doesn’t absolve him morally as let’s face it he could kill himself and avoid that future. But he didn’t and knew he wasn’t going to otherwise he never would have seen that future.

Patrick

Came to your channel through AOT, and here we are at the end. It's been a true pleasure watching you girls react to and review AOT and all other excellent shows. The way you understand Media is sound and so enjoyable to watch along. I don't understand why you're not more involved in TV! (I feel like you guys would make excellent editors/ writing support)

Harfie

Coming from someone who would rate the manga ending a 5/10; the anime ending is a solid 8/10 IMO. There’s enough subtle addictions and subtractions that really elevates the tone of the ending so that it more closely matches the rest of the series.

James Damerall

Ha yes :D My post on Reddit somehow went completely through the roof. I hadn't expected that.

Robert H.

Coming back here after watching the reaction and im so glad you loved the ending as i did and cried as much as i did. Anxious for your discussions. What a journey it was and i cant stop crying. THEY ARE THE BEST REACTORS

Matheus

So happy to have been here with you guys watching the ending. I can't believe it's really over now...

Komikall

so you're the person who wrote all that on reddit lmao + posting on /r/titanfolk and doing a fan rewrite 😛

Rich

This show was one of the main reasons I subscribed to your channel all these years ago. And what a journey it has been. Thank you for your reactions and discussion which have been amazing throughout.

Camzeee

I want to say thank you so much for tackling this series. I was here from the kind-of very beginning for it. I found your channel through seeing Filmbuff recommend AoT to you, and wanted to keep an eye your channel because of it. Then I saw one day you had started and were a few episodes into the show. I immediately became a patron just from watching your first reaction and not having seen any of your content before. You may have started watching very close to the end, but I'm sure still there must be a lot of relief and catharsis just in the fact that you're now done! No more spoiler avoiding or worrying about hints slipping through the cracks. It's surreal as a manga reader to get here, but the closer we got to this point with the anime the more right it felt. I remember back in the end of Season 3 it felt so crazy to see anime viewers know terms like "Marley" and "Eldian", and now here we are. I think it's good you are filming the discussion separately. Maybe you can even watch the OP and EDs (sorry if you've spoken on those already) in the beginning, or if you end up doing two filming sessions (though I imagine it'd be impossible to know when to stop and maybe hard to get the second one going) you could always watch those in between the discussions, so that you get a sense of your first impressions of just the content before you engage with that extra material. Either way, this arrived just when I needed it to as I've had a long day and now I'm about to start the full reaction. Normally I'd wait for the discussion so I can watch the pre-episode intro and get it in chronological order, but this time I just can't and I haven't rewatched the episode in full yet so I'm looking forward to it. I also look forward to you guys rewatching the anime in the future on your own time, I know Lola planned a lot but she said just the first few episodes were too emotional, haha. I can't imagine how it must be now. I like knowing that my two favorite series from this channel, Mr Robot and Attack on Titan will have more value to provide for you as time goes on.

tom

First of all: Welcome to the club! You know the ending of Attack on Titan and you can't be spoiled anymore! You have achieved freedom. I'm looking forward to your discussion and your interpretations of the ending. I'd also like to go through this final episode for everyone and what led to Attack on Titan having a very divided fanbase and what parts are criticized. Ultimately, the question why the fanbase is so divided is pretty easy to answer: high expectations and too many unanswered questions, especially in the core elements of the story at the end, which gave rise to a lot of theories and various interpretations of the story. But I'll just go through everything from the beginning. A little foreshadowing: this is going to be the longest comment in the world. If you open it up, you'll probably have to scroll for quite a while. [ Chapter 134 - 136 | The Final Chapter 3: The Battle of Heaven and Earth ] The episode begins with the landing on Eren. However, Titans from previous generations, often referred to as Ancient Titans, appear relatively quickly. Their white color initially suggests that Eren is using the Warhammer Titan here, like he did with Zeke's Beast Titan, which is reinforced when you notice the cables on many of the Titans. However, if you look closely, some of them are not connected to Eren by a cable or anything similar. They move around freely. Also, they all seem to die when you destroy their neck. So there must be another explanation for them. As far as I could read, there are only two theories: Eren controls them as Pure Titans created by Ymir, or Ymir controls them herself. And the cables on some of them are only used to attach or create them. Armin suspects that it is Ymir, as he noticed her as a spectator in the fight against Eren and concludes from this that she also wants to see the massacre of humanity. Fortunately, Falco and Annie join the fight and help the Scouts out of a miserable situation. Nevertheless, the situation with Falco and Annie seems very forced. Annie didn't actually want to come along and fight Eren, but then does after she briefly talks to Kiyomi Azumabito and after Falco sinks the ship. Also, Falco is somehow too sure that he can fly in his Titan form. In some Rewrite Projects like Operation Usurper, they tried to hint at this earlier so as not to pull it out of nowhere so much. Some also say that the name "Falco" was enough of a hint, but for others it's not enough. This whole situation could clearly have been worked out and written better. Ultimately, however, nothing serious and clearly a minor point of criticism and pretty insignificant and picky. Armin's inner monologue and his frustration of his inability was perfect, especially Bertholdt's feelings of guilt in Armin are reflected by his falling tears in the scene. And especially the Rumbling scene from chapter 134 that follows is my favorite scene in all of Attack on Titan. The fact that it was adapted in this way moved me to tears. At first I thought it would be the opener for the special (it's a scene from chapter 134 after all), but the realization at the end of chapter 136 in parallel with Armin's scene fits so much better. [ Chapter 137 | The Final Chapter 4: Long Dream - Part 1 ] # The meaning of life Armin now enters the Paths and discusses the meaning of life with Zeke. A very nice dialog in itself and I love everything about it. Nevertheless, there is an understandable point of criticism from many fans: Zeke's lack of appreciation for the little things. In chapter 81 / episode 3x17, Zeke says: "You need to find joy in every little thing. Now let's turn thse soldiers into proud little chuncks of meat." Zeke has always tried to find joy despite the hard and terrible life he has lived. Even in the scene where Armin talks to him, he builds sandcastles. The fact that Armin had to tell him that these little things were worth living for, and that they could be the meaning of life alongside reproduction and multiplication, felt wrong to many. However, it was only a minor point of criticism and again pretty insignificant and picky. # The Way they defeated the Ancient Titans After Armin helps Zeke find meaning in his life, they notice several allies, friends and family members standing next to them, in a kind of trance. Ymir is also standing there, which leads Armin to suspect that she wants to help them. In the end, Armin and Zeke wake them up, allowing them to control their Titans in battle. Armin is released from the Okapi and the Scouts are able to win the battle. They manage to blow up Eren's head and thus separate Hallucigenia, the parasite, from Eren. More on this in a moment. In general, this way of defeating the Ancient Titan is heavily criticized. As a shounen anime, Attack on Titan actually broke with the cliches that are typical of these anime and aimed for a more realistic depiction of the fights, which is why it slowly became a Seinen anime for many. In the final battle, however, they win with Talk no Jutsu (using the art of speech to turn an enemy into a friend) and the power of friendship. Before the release of Chapter 137, there were many theories as to how the Scouts could have won the battle, but the power of friendship was probably the least popular of them all. There were also theories that the Scouts would lose, but that is something, I would discuss later. However, it must also be said that the realization in chapter 137 is by no means bad. If Ymir's goal is also her liberation, which should be assumed, she will also do things like Eren to achieve this goal and act according to the timeline and memories from the future. I will go into the concept of timelines in more detail later. Furthermore, resolving this conflict through dialog, through interaction with other people, through standing up for each other and through mutual understanding, follows the fundamental idea of Attack on Titan to resolve conflicts, which is also a nice detail. Armin's words about the meaning of life and the joy of the little things could also have moved Ymir. But this all remains interpretation. Personally, I would have liked an ending where not all the allied Titan shifters are woken up and support the scouts. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with Isayama's realization. # Why the Rumbling stops + Royal Blood After Armin got out of the Okapi, Zeke strangely also got out of the Paths, although he said in the conversation with Armin that he didn't know how to get out of the Paths. He may have managed to do so with the help of Ymir, but it wasn't explained. In the end, he sacrifices himself for the lives of many people and tries to atone for his actions. The Rumbling then stops. The question of why Eren needed Zeke to control the Colossal Titans in the first place is left unanswered. With Chapter 120 / Episode 4x19 it was revealed that the royal blood was only necessary to give Ymir orders. But if Eren is now the direct link to Hallucigenia or Ymir, he no longer needs Zeke. If the Rumbling had been stopped by Eren's head being blown off, it would have made more sense, since in most theories Hallucigenia embodies the connection of all Titans and Eldians, i.e. the Paths. But perhaps the fact that Royal Blood is only necessary to give orders to Ymir is also wrong. After all, Royal Blood also gave Zeke the ability to shout and controll his Pure Titans. In general, Royal Blood is a key point with a lot of question marks anyway. What Royal Blood is all about and why not every descendant of Ymir has it should have been answered somehow. # The Plan to Kill Eren + Ymir's Power The plan to kill Eren is also fraught with great risks: What will happen to the Colossal Wall Titans? Will they then run around uncontrollably and start eating the humans? The Scouts should have discussed this clearly. Or the plot should have sprinkled in information throughout the story that indicated that the Wall Titans would simply stop moving. For example, Mappa could produce an OVA set between the time skip of season 3 and season 4, in which Eren receives memories from the time the Wall was built about how the Wall Titans were created from nothing by King Fritz through Ymir in the Paths and thus don't have the urge to eat humans; and Eren would share these memories with the others. In general, this OVA could also be used to explain the royal blood or show information about the Ackerman family, the experiments to create them, and generally more about the situation just before or after the end of the Titan War. And speaking of Ymir, many criticize the scene where Ymir built Zeke from the sand. Instead of simply showing that Zeke is automatically built from the sand by the Paths and this is the regeneration ability of the Titan powers, they imply that Ymir has to do everything by hand, be it every transformation of every Titan shifter or their regeneration... It makes everything silly. There's also the question of who builds the Ancient Titans and the Titans for Falco from the sand after Ymir is freed. The consensus so far has been that the Titan form is determined by the personality and appearance of the person, and that this happens automatically through the Paths. Personally, I pretty much agree with these criticisms, but I also have to say that until Rumbling was stopped, I didn't think about what would happen to the Wall Titans if Eren no longer controlled them. They just seemed different to the other Pure Titans from the start. And you could relatively quickly come up with an explanation that it's because Ymir built the Titans in the Paths and no human person was involved, and that it works differently with the Titans having a human person as a base works. But still: In my opinion, the anime should answer this question and not the fans trying to find an explanation for it. # Hallucigenia Dealing with Hallucigenia, the parasite, in the final battle was kind of strange too. It suddenly appeared and then just vanished. The story should have provided more clarity regarding why it appeared and why it suddenly disappeared and died. There are just too many unanswered questions. According to a popular theory, Hallucigenia appeared because Ymir used it in Shiganshina to connect Eren's body, making Hallucigenia a part of Eren's spine. For the disappearance, there were many theories, but I won't go into this until I discuss Chapter 139. [ Chapter 138 | The Final Chapter 4: Long Dream - Part 2 ] # Berserk Titan + Battle After Eren's skeleton was destroyed by Armin's explosion, Eren transformed into his new Founding Titan. The fight between Armin and Eren, as well as the fight between Reiner and Halluzigenia were perfect in themselves. Reiner and Armin standing up to Eren and the Titan Powers is simply a nice symbolic interplay, as the two characters were set up in the final season as a parallel and contrast to Eren. Reiner in particular, who saves the world from the Titans as a new Helos, is a great scene. However, many fans were expecting something special here. A quick throwback: Do you remember the fight between Eren and Annie in the anime? Eren suddenly started to burn, his eyes glowed white and he lost control. His statement "I will destroy the entire world!" in particular hinted that Eren's Attack Titan in combination with the Founding Titan would open up another ability named Berserk Titan by fans. Many hoped that we would see the glowing burning Titan again in the finale, especially since the art work for Part 3/4 had quite a bit of fire on Eren's Titan. In the end, Eren was just a normal Colossal Titan, a pretty big disappointment for many, and for me... I really wanted to see this as it would have added more meaning to the improvised scene from WIT Studio in season 1. The scene where Hallucigenia turns the normal Eldians into Pure Titans on the spot was heartbreaking and a beautiful scene for Connie and Jean at the same time. But I remember quite clearly that many manga fans were upset when they changed back, because they wanted the battle against Eren to have consequences for our main characters and not have them survive everything through Plot Armor, no matter how huge and dangerous the battle is. Personally, I could have lived with both. The fact that they survived ultimately gave us a kind of happy ending. If they had died, as some would have liked, the ending would have been very tragic and would have hurt even more. # Mikasa's Dream Now it gets complicated. Mikasa gets increasingly severe headaches and suddenly sees herself somewhere else. We are simply shown memories of Mikasa from another timeline, and it is not explained why she suddenly gets them and how. Her only connection to the Eldians is the Ackerman bloodline, and they are immune to the Founder's Titan abilities. So we can't assume that Eren was able to send her these memories, or that Ymir sent her these memories, until we get an explanation as to why this is possible anyway. Unfortunately, the anime doesn't provide any answers here and as I wrote at the very beginning, these missing answers are one of the reasons why Attack on Titan is so divisive. Since most explanatory videos only mention one theory and sell it as the one true truth, it causes a lot of division when someone claims otherwise. So I'm just going to name a few. Many claim that you can't change or erase Ackerman's memories, but you can still send memories, similar to how Mikasa and Levi could hear Eren's voice when he spoke to all Eldians via the Paths. But who sends Mikasa these memories or illusory memories is again a matter for discussion. It is often Eren or Ymir who is supposed to influence Mikasa with these memories in order to give Mikasa the willpower to kill Eren. In the theories where Ymir does this, her goal is to see someone turn against the person she wants affection from, drawing a parallel between Mikasa and Ymir. In the theories where Eren does this, his goal is to give Mikasa one last dialog, a moment of goodbye, and to show her that a relationship between them would only have been possible if they left everyone behind on Paradise Island, allowing it's destruction by Marley, as well as giving up all her friends and contacts. What speaks against these theories, however, is that it was discussed in this chapter, about 3 minutes earlier in the anime, that Ackerman cannot be influenced by Titan Powers. Therefore, I would like to introduce the third major theory, which is supported by many fans: the Theory of Timelines. Since Chapter 1, there has been the Theory of Timelines, and that's no exaggeration, as I found a Reddit post from 2013 discussing it. Brief explanation: Attack on Titan always showed improbable conditions for an event in the show, and ultimately it led us down a path to the point in story where we are now. According to the theory, there was always the case of a condition occurring or not occurring, whether Mikasa's parents were killed by a gang of human traffickers or not (Mikasa OVA), or Bertholdt was eaten by Dina Fritz or not, or Carla died by Dina or not, or Eren was chewed up by a Titan in Trost or not, and so on. And each time the end of events was not the end of the Titan powers by Eren, the Attack Titan or Ymir or the Paths sent memories into the past and changed decisions so that another chain of events continued. And since members of the Ackerman Family are completely immune to the Titan abilities through experimentation, but are still connected to the Paths, they experience a stabbing headache when events differ from the original timeline. https://imgur.com/a/TUBpG4a So Generally, Mikasa's headaches are artifacts of memories from other timelines that all Ackerman feel because they can't be controlled by Titan powers, but the timeline changes due to memories from the future or chain events from the past due to memories from the future. But as I said, we never got an explanation in the manga or anime, these are just theories from fans. YOU ARE FREE to choose which explanation is right for you. And about the scene under the tree at the beginning of Attack on Titan: If you watch episode 1 and Part 3 Special 1 at the same time, you can see that Eren wakes up in different ways. In episode 1, he is shocked, as if he has seen something bad in his last moments. In Part 3 Special 1, however, he wakes up calmly, as Mikasa kissed him goodbye at the cabin when his 13-year cycle ended. In general, this difference has long raised the theory that the Anime is a different timeline than the Manga, that the Anime timeline is after the Manga timeline, that Eren woke up in the anime due to the failed Rumbling and beheading by Mikasa, and that Rumbling with 80% of humanity dead was also the wrong way to go to end the Time Loop. Another thing I would like to say is that I really like how Eren in Mikasa's Dream wishes that Mikasa would forget him after his death and live on. It really shows how much Eren wants Mikasa to be free despite his abandonment to see the empty world and to continue to fight for Paradise Island and the freedom of its inhabitants. [ Chapter 139 | The Final Chapter 5: Toward the Tree on That Hill ] Chapter 139 is the point at which the entire fan community finally broke up. The number alone causes psychological trauma for some. I think Attack on Titan is the only anime that managed to create not just an entire spectrum, but an entire 3D viewpoint space of the story. The poll at the time alone to rate the final chapter with 1 to 5 stars is just a fucking flat line. https://64.media.tumblr.com/221e583afde23fc247dab1f3c53e691b/536c8271b79c070d-c8/s1280x1920/c06cb9b7a98477ef04693924736f151b9eae241e.png So let me be a bit more detailed here. # Founder Ymir Ultimately, the chapter starts very well when we see Eren and Armin talking openly to each other about the situation. However, the first point of criticism comes relatively quickly. "The Founder Ymir... loved King Fritz." Many had expected something different, be it that she was unable to resist due to her slave mentality. Some had hoped that she loved her children and therefore fulfilled their wishes after their deaths when they became rulers of Eldia. The picture of Ymir was just barely drawn, as her lack of voice gave no insight into her mind and therefore there was a lot of room for interpretation. Personally, I just thought the wording was badly chosen. I would rather have said that she longed for affection and wanted to be loved, that the only person who made her feel needed was King Fritz, and that every time he treated her badly she believed she wasn't good enough to be loved. So all she could do was serve him, a slave seeking for affection. Eren could also have said that her desire to be loved haunted her even after death and that she kept the Titan Curse to feel connected to people. I would simply have explained it in more detail to make it clearer how she felt. I was sure that Mappa would add more detail here, also because dialog is far less animation work than the action scenes. This scene clearly needed more explanation to pick up all the fans. # Why do so many hate Mikasa The next point has caused a complete meltdown among some fan groups: "It was Mikasa." What this means exactly is not explained, as the anime, just like in the manga, pulls guard with the phrase "Only Ymir knows". If you're wondering why Mikasa is so hated by some fan groups, this is exactly why. Mikasa is usually a person who is very focused on Eren, but generally appreciates all of her friends. Especially in the Trost arc and the Return to Shiganshina arc, her character really blossoms. She can live on without Eren and trusts in the abilities of her comrades, for whom she is wholeheartedly committed, as we saw in the fight for Armin against Levi. In season 4, however, it's often just "Eren" that echoes through the room when she's in a scene. She loses a huge amount of characterization outside of the conflict with Eren, and most of her interactions with her friends and comrades also rely heavily on Eren. Don't get me wrong though: she should care about Eren, but she does almost nothing else and just acts disrespectful to all the other characters, be it Louise or Armin. Not caring about Louise feelings, not responding to Armin's emotional breakdown except with "Where's my scarf (that Eren gave me)?" in Chapter 124 / Episode 4x23 "Sunset" was just a slap in the face to many fans. https://imgur.com/a/kcHL0NB The treatment of the Azumabito clan is particularly sad too. So much could have been done for her character here. Ultimately, it only served to explain why people of Asian descent live on Paradise Island. If this connection to the Azumabito clan is not of great importance, she should not have been made a princess, but simply a descendant of an ambassador of Hizuru who was left behind on Paradise Island with his family and confidants during the Titan War. But all these points were no problem at all for most fans until "It was Mikasa". Many fans were annoyed that a character who seemed rather underdeveloped after the timeskip should suddenly play such a big role that she resolves the entire conflict. This made her a target for fans who really weren't happy with the finale at all. Whole tirades of hatred have been unleashed in some fan groups and hate groups have formed. It was so strange for me as a fan to see Mikasa's fan art and many comments praising her character a few days before the finale, and then a few days after that in the same fan groups she was associated with dogs, slaves and necrophilia. But I have to admit that some of the memes they made really made me laugh. Shame on my head. # What does "It was Mikasa" mean? But now to the attempt to explain what "It was Mikasa" means. Again, the anime doesn't give you an answer and leaves you free to believe what you want. Some fans claim that Ymir could identify with Mikasa because she also seeked affection from a person who treated and treated her badly. And that Ymir could have ended the Titan's curse at any time, but before that she wanted to see someone like her turn against the person she wanted to be loved by. Another explanation is that Mikasa, as a special Ackerman, controls the Time Loop and she subconsciously decides when it resets, and that Ymir wanted to thank Mikasa at the end that she is now free and the Time Loop is destroyed after the Titans' powers dissolve. There are many more theories with Mikasa as the true protagonist and where the solution has something to do with love, but they are all very similar in the end. Instead, I would like to discuss the Timeline Theory again, which I already mentioned in Mikasa's Dream. Eren freed Ymir, but Eren could only free her because he was sent on this path, on this timeline, by Mikasa's response in Marley. It was also only the beheading of Eren that really freed Ymir completely from her tragic existence. So it was Mikasa who freed Ymir, but indirectly. And Mikasa believes that Ymir has been pecking in her head because, from her point of view, it must be. But if we choose this theory, we know that Ackerman can't be influenced by the Founding Titan. They are memories from another timeline, which were very clear to Mikasa, especially in the fight against Eren, because it was very different from the current timeline. # Did Eren kill his mother? The question itself is not so easy to answer, as Eren does not say exactly how he did it. But in most theories involved, it's a yes. Many claim that the combination of Attack and Founding Titan not only allows him to see his own future through the previous Attack Titan owners, but also to control Pure Titans in the past, as in the present. This allowed him to save Bertholdt from Dina. However, others say that this statement is complete nonsense. The Founding Titan cannot control Pure Titans in the past. This concept of time travel was not established in Attack on Titan. We had memories from the future and the past, but no direct interaction from the future to the past. For those fans, Eren just had to let Dina eat Carla and not interfere with sending memories from the future to prevent it for example by having Eren Kruger stop her transformation to a Pure Titan. So we are simply in the timeline in which Dina has to spare Bertholdt and kill Eren's mother in order to achieve this result: free Ymir and free the Eldians from the curse of the Titans. One theory, however, is that Eren sent memories to Eren Kruger at the time, in which he made sure that Grisha did not reveal that Dina had royal blood. In doing so, he made the creation of Dina's Titan possible and thus killed his mother. However, as we have already said several times, there is a lack of confirmation from the anime. # Eren and Mikasa Mikasa loves Eren. This is very obvious and has been clearly stated several times. With Chapter 123 / Episode 4x28 and previously in Chapter 112 / Episode 4x14, the question of why she loves him was raised. Eren's feelings for Mikasa, on the other hand, remained unknown until the last episode. Not knowing why and how she loves him could explain his horrible behavior towards her in his youth. Maybe he thought she was doing it all for him because his mother wanted her to take care of him or because he saved her that day and she now feels obligated to be there for him. We don't know. Later, after Mikasa tried to kiss Eren in the season 2 finale, Eren's obnoxious behavior towards Mikasa stopped. Still, no declaration of love. And after Eren kissed Historia's hand and received memories from the future, the image of through Ackerman blood forced feelings of affection was probably already present in is mind, whereas 4 years later in Marley he learned from Zeke that this wasn't true. A long time, the point of view was more that he loves her as a sister and not romantically, which is why he always reacted angrily about her caring for him (Isayama's own words in interviews: https://imgur.com/a/Hetndoy). But by Chapter 130 / Episode 4x28 at the latest, it should have become clear that Eren would have gotten together with Mikasa under different circumstances and that he loves her. Actually, after Chapter 138 with Mikasa's dream, this should no longer be an argument. The only problem is that the quotes "No, I don't want that!", "Ten years, at least!" are so pathetic and egotistical that they've become a meme. Also, him not answering Armin's question about why he treated Mikasa so badly in her childhood was a missed opportunity to establish facts here. This crying scene also completely contradicts Eren's statement in Mikasa's Dream where he told Mikasa to forget about him and live free. It just seems wrong. Maybe it's simply that he would have liked to get together with Mikasa, but just couldn't because of his memories from the future, and he took out his frustration about it in this scene. Still, it remains one of the most controversial scenes in all of Attack on Titan because it doesn't really fit to Eren and the moment Armin and Eren had one minute ago. # Eren and Armin This scene is the first that has been completely changed. That scene in manga was so bad, it hurt. In it, Eren claimed he didn't know why he started the Rumbling. He could have said that he followed his memories because all prior attempts to change the outcome had always resulted in the same event. He could have said that he knew that the Titan curse would end, if he followed his memories (he wants to kill all Titans, he is the last Attack Titan after all). He could have said that it was an inner urge that he could only satisfy that way (Chapter 131 / Epsiode 4x29 "Rumbling"). But instead he just says: "I don't know". Not only was this very anticlimactic and unsatisfactory for a finale, Armin would have deserved a response from Eren! And seeing Armin thanking Eren for becoming a mass murderer to give Paradise Island a fair chance at the end was a complete disaster and the final nail in the coffin for this scene. https://imgur.com/a/oMbD2bC The anime explains the situation much better, shows more of Eren's thoughts and his state of mind, and again hints at the Timeline Theory, that he wanted to change things but has to accept the future he saw. In general, Eren and Armin's emotions seem genuine in the anime, no fake acting. And especially the artistic symbolism at the end of their conversation was very good. I loved everything about it. # Hallucigenia and the End of the Titan Curse Back to Hallucigenia. We still have to discuss why Hallucigenia suddenly disappeared after Eren was beheaded. Again, the anime and manga don't give an answer here, but there are many theories. Many thought Reiner would play a big role here, as he was clearly built up from the narrative as a parallel to Eren and as a new Helos who stops the Island Devils. If he had killed the parasite, it would have added a lot to his character narrative. Many fans even theorized that Falco eats Hallucigenia or bite it in half and thus kills it to explain the dream at the beginning of season 4. In particular, the symbolism "bird eats worm" had made this theory very popular. According to another theory, the source of the Titan powers (Hallucigenia) is vulnerable when separated from the Founding Titan. With Eren's death, the Founding Titan can no longer influence the Eldian race without a connection to Hallucigenia. Since the Founding Titan controls all Titan powers, all Eldians lose their Titan abilities, leading to the disappearance of the massive physical manifestation of the Eldian Titan powers: Hallucigenia. And others say that Ymir could have lifted the Titan's curse and killed Hallucigenia at any time, but first Ymir wanted to see someone like her turn against the person she wanted to be loved by. # Historia Now we come to one thing that really hurts: Historia. Her person came far too short after the time skip. How she reacts to the Yeagerists, how she feels about her current situation, what her pregnancy means, all of this is missing. Her pregnancy was ultimately only a plot device to prevent the government from feeding Zeke to her. Many have wished for more depth behind this. The Rewrite Project Operation Usurper paid more attention to her character and perspective and and showed her side of the story. https://imgur.com/a/GODoKtM What's particularly evil is that in the manga, a person is standing mysteriously next to her as she approaches the young man (Farmer-kun / Fabian Stonhard) who later lives in the house with her, as if there's more behind it. If they had at least shown Founder Ymir being reborn as Historia's baby after Eren frees her, that would have been great and would give the pregnancy some meaning! # Everything else The fact that Eren has talked to everyone, including Connie and Annie, and they all react emotionally, even Pieck wanted to talk with him, thus trivializing his mass murder, devalues the relationship between Armin and Eren and the point of view Attack on Titan is trying to bring to viewers. I hate everything about it and I really don't know why Mappa adapted it into the anime. If you can tell me why it's good, write a comment. How Mikasa could overcome 7000 km and a whole sea without food and other aids to bury Eren in Shiganshina, is also an open question. Just: How? https://imgur.com/a/Qbls5kw For me it's not a problem because it doesn't have to be realistic and it's just symbolic, but what's really ridiculous is how three years after the death of Eren Mikasa sits alone at the grave on Paradise and gets her scarf wrapped around her by a bird. In Fan Rewrites, it was rewritten that she says goodbye to Eren because she is ready to move on, just like Eren from the other timeline wanted (her last memory of Eren), for example "Thank you... for wrapping this scarf around me, Eren. I'll try to live my life without any regrets." https://imgur.com/a/AqkaJBd I just find that much more fitting. Also, this heavy reliance on Eren in the original ending generated a lot of disgusting memes about Mikasa, in which she forces her future love and life partner, to dress up as Eren, only have sex on Eren's grave and calls Eren her one true love in front of him. And the last big thing in Chapter 139: Beren - Attack on Titan Next Generation. https://imgur.com/a/kStmqWa In itself, most people think it's good that it's shown that humanity will always resort to violence and that people will always find a reason to hate each other, but the fact that a possible sequel is kept open with the last scene, in which the Titan powers will return, was too much for many. A lot of fans want an in-depth story about the Great Titan War. An "Attack on Titan: The Titan War" prequel with 7 noble houses and King Fritz, a story full of intrigue and mystery, a battle for control of the Titan powers, while King Fritz makes a plan with House Tybur to go to Paradise Island and leave the continent to Marley. The Attack Titan, as the king's right-hand man, refuses to follow the plan and goes underground with an ally of royal blood. We could see flashbacks about the reign of Eldia in the last 1900 years, and learn more about described events like the Fall of Lago, the Devastation of Monte and the Ravaging of Valle. ---------------------------------------------- Because of all these things, Chapter 139 has been a bad ending for many. I can see some points of criticism, but to equate the ending with Game of Thrones Season 8 in terms of quality seemed very ridiculous to me. It has its problems, it leaves too many questions unanswered and forces fans to use a lot of brainpower to spin theories to explain everything. Still, for me it's a very fitting end to the story. [ General criticism of the Final Arc ] I would like to talk about the entire story arc in general terms again, as a lot of criticism has already been expressed about previous decisions. # The World Building The world building itself and the interaction with the world has not been mature enough in hindsight. There wasn't a single person besides the humans who were on Paradise at the start of Rumbling who stood up for the Eldians on Paradise after they learned they were Eldians. At least, none were shown. Instead, we have even heard Udo saying that Marley is still most friendly with the Eldians of all nations, which only demonizes the world outside of Paradise Island even more. We were shown gruesome images during Rumbling that were meant to and did generate pity and horror, but all these people would have cheered and celebrated if the Alliance had rolled over Paradise in the same way and killed all the "devils", at least according to the story's account. They should have just gone away from the main characters again like they did with the Marley Arc and shown us other people deliberately helping Eldians, even if only for one chapter / episode. For example, we could have seen in the other nations that Eldians lived together with the others completely normally, that only a few people really hate Eldians there, and that the others have recently stopped intervening and preventing brutality against the Eldians because they fear a war of aggression from Marley, since the Eldians could easily be used as weapons due to Zeke's spinal fluid. Also, the use of hate propaganda by Marley tactically planned by Tybur to cause many people with Eldian blood to flee to Marley could have been shown, so Marley would have more to use in war. We could have seen the formation of the Association to Protect the Subjects of Ymir, built from Eldians of other nations and their allies, to oppose this treatment and fight this hate propaganda. Or the anime could have shown a Marley family hiding a friend from the police because a blood test revealed she had Eldian blood. We could have a story where civilians in Marley found out that the Scouts were from Paradise Island after the Scouts helped them in a dangerous situation, and in return did not betray them when the police and soldiers arrived and showed a good heart, maybe even wanted to help them make contact with journalists to help them to announce a peaceful living together. That Hange and Armin had not developed an alternative plan after they visited the Association to Protect the Subjects of Ymir was just bad too... It would have been great if we could have seen how the Scouts contacted the Tybur family to help for an announcment of peace, but failed due to the Tybur family's self-hatred of the Eldian race and so revealed the "rats" to Willy Tybur. We could have seen a new plan of Armin and Hange, how they want to contact journalists to publicly spread their words of peace and cooperation to clear misunderstandings, but then received the letters from Eren and had only a few days left to prevent a revenge action by Marley. It should be said, however, that the possibility of this still exists. Mappa can still produce OVAs that do just that. But at the present time, this does not exist. # Chapter 126 / Episode 4x24 "Pride" The next criticism goes to this episode. The problem is not what happened, but how it happened. Connie and Annie just seem completely out of character. Connie was no longer a comedian with the Marley Arc. He was portrayed as broken after Sasha's death and feared betrayal everywhere because of Eren. He even asked Mikasa and Armin accusingly after the attack on Zachary if they were on Eren's side. He has anger issues and is not in control of his emotions. He even almost tried to kill a child. However, less than an hour after this event, he can just laugh at Annie's appearance, whose intentions he does not know, who is responsible for the deaths of many of his comrades and is part of the group that killed his friends and family and that turned his mother into a Pure Titan. He didn't even apologize to Falco. Annie, not knowing what Armin and Connie are planning, also reacts questionably. The situation is just wrong. She had even threatened her friend Hitch who talked to her for years when they first met again. Many fans simply expected a stronger scene here. Therefore, there are many fan rewrites on this chapter that try to solve the problem, for example: https://imgur.com/a/TvIiXgq And I completely agree. In my opinion, "Pride" is the worst episode in the whole of Attack on Titan for that very reason. # Connie In general, Connie is for many a problem. His character gets lost in inconsistencies. With the Rumbling Arc, with his mother, with what he wanted to do to Falco, with his mental problems due to betrayal of Eren and death of Sasha, many fans wanted him to die emotionally https://opusurper.com/chapter-129/ , which would have an impact on other characters (Jean, Falco, Armin). Instead, his whole character development down into the abyss is suddenly just reset to season 2/3 after the scene with Falco and his mother. Personally, I have no problem with Connie surviving to the end, as I thought it was quite nice that he is now trying to save as many lives as he can for his mother as a real soldier. Still, I understand the appeal of using a character death to further develop the other characters. # The fight at the harbor between the Scouts and the Yeagerists The fight at the harbor between the Scouts and the Yeagerists was far too inconsequential for many fans. No one from the main cast died. There are 100+ Yeagerists fighting against 7 people. Many fans had wished for Connie's death here. For me personally, the episode is completely unproblematic. # Annie Annie's character is also difficult. Within 4 days of story you had to build a redemption arc for her, but at the same time develop the main story and the other characters to the point where they not only want to stop Eren, but even kill him. As a result, her interaction with the Scouts and Marley's warriors just feels wrong. https://imgur.com/a/tCX54eo And here I really have to say that I agree with the criticism. Many fans hoped that in the forest, Annie would have acted more like a bridge, starting with an explanation for her actions in the '57 expedition after she was confronted with them. That she would tell how she went into a bloodlust thinking she would see her father again soon, and that she would still do the same for that goal. She could apologize to Levi for her attack on his squad, whereupon he could say that he can understand her situation, that she just wanted to see her beloved again, and that he is no better than her after the things he did in Marley. However, he could then make her promise to save more lives than she took to make up for what she did, to which he just replies "Live without regrets" and thus pass on his philosophy of life to her. In general, this could have been a great turning point for her character to be less stoic and aggressive and more understanding, which would greatly improve the following dialogue and give her character a different motivation. Also, that Reiner, Pieck, and the Scouts will work together (Chapter 126 - End) becomes more understandable then because of Annie. If the Scouts could forgive Annie, why couldn't Reiner and Pieck? Likewise, the other way around. It would make the story more plausible and more along the lines of Paradis Island and the outside world being able to make peace when a dialogue takes place. I think that her character could so become another important element of the story and overcoming the past. # Levi And finally, of course, Levi. He is particularly criticized by fans in the finale, but not because of his character, but because of what the story didn't do with his character. In Fan-Rewrite Operation Usurper, Hange makes him see his promise to Erwin as a curse and discard it. https://imgur.com/a/VKkKLAE Many therefore see him in a position where he would sacrifice himself to save the lives of his comrades, something he has failed to do since the beginning. Seriously injured, he can still make a Sasageyo to his dead comrades, whereupon he then dies of his injuries, much like Kenny. In general, Isayama also planned to let Levi die, but was stopped by his editor Kawakubo. https://comicbook.com/anime/news/attack-on-titan-season-4-finale-levi-death/ I have to admit that I find it difficult to say what I would have liked better. I would really miss the final scene of Levi in the wheelchair helping the poor people in the world. -------------------------------------------------- Okay, that's it. This was the longest comment in the world. And I highly doubt I'll ever write a comment that long again for anything. Anyone who has read it in full gets my full appreciation.

Robert H.

Any series that tackles an anti-hero or protagonist-into-antagonist role will inevitably splinter off part of the fanbase into a toxic edginess who then choose their morals around the character they idolize. For example, Berserk, or Breaking Bad. It's just that in Attack on Titan the themes are inherently political so there ends up being overlap. I'm not trying to be like "Um actually, they're not all fascist so you're wrong!", even if you just came across one fascist-seeming AoT fan you would be completely justified in staying away because that's your preference, but just wanted to give some clarification into why I believe that is the case.

tom

Girls! the teaars 😭

Joaquín Calderón

I agree with everything you said, I leave my final considerations here and I'm happy to finally leave this chapter behind, I'm going to keep the good moments in my heart and that's it

Wallas

That’s fair, in my opinion they made it that way to it give it an emotional display, because of the fact that armin and Eren are family, and because of the fact that they hadn’t talked about themselves to each other in so long. if all we got was armin shitting on Eren for the bad consequences it would be fine too don’t get me wrong, but it wouldn’t be as impactful in my opinion in terms of emotional connection with the audience who saw both of these kids grow up together knowing the bond they always shared since they were kids, but atleast Eren didn’t get rewarded for the crap that he did which is why I liked the ending. Could it have been done a little better and focused more on the horror of his actions sure but it did show enough of the bad things for you to feel for people outside the walls, and for you to feel bad seeing all the death. But again your point is fair.

Jay

I thought this finale was well done in many ways and found it quite enjoyable at times and moving at others, but there were certain choices I didn't really vibe with, and some of those choices I've come to almost hate the more I've reflected upon it. I will also say that the release schedule has also really hurt the impact for me, as I found myself just not caring about these characters as much as I used to (none of the Eren, Mikasa, or Levi stuff did anything for me, but I did love the Armin and Zeke stuff a lot). I don't think it's an awful ending but it has left me with very complicated feelings on the show and kind of a bad taste in my mouth, so I will hold off on watching this reaction or engaging with other AoT stuff (also because a lot of AoT fans online are insane and lowkey fascist).

Payam Sharifi

There are only 3 anime I wish I could brain wash myself from reading the manga and watch the anime. And then brainwash myself again and watch the anime again. 1. Attack on Titan 2. Vinland Saga 3. Monster Attack on Titan is a ride like I’ve never felt in any medium. Animated or live action. I said goodbye to the manga a while ago by now. But to say goodbye to the anime feels like an even more final goodbye. See you later Attack on Titan, when I gain the emotional strength for a rewatch someday.

Goob

I definitely understand that. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Eren just didn’t have the mental capacity for feeling any romance towards anyone, but it was nice to see him express something so childlike in some of his final moments in revealing that he did care for her that way. I’m just a hopeless romantic & loved seeing that side of Eren

Amber

I actually feel the opposite, like one of the biggest issues I have with it was how kind the portrayal of Eren was. Like this man wiped out 80% of life but there was so much more focus on how he managed to save his friends and was just pretending to be cold and evil and had no other choice. I'm not saying the show paints what he did as good, but I hate how much more focus there is on the good consequences than the bad. Like I sympathize with Armin and Mikasa's sadness to a degree (mostly Armin because he actually feels like a fleshed out character) but I literally have 0 love left for that guy personally.

Payam Sharifi

In my opinion the ending wasn’t perfect it had some flaws but overall I liked it, it was an 8.5/10 for me and the story overall a 9.5 that’s just me tho. Lesson learned the biggest enemy of humanity is humanity itself. No matter what you do nothing will stop violence and war. Life will find a way to start everything again. You would think the holocaust would make us realize something but here we are today.

Jay

I think the ending is really over-hated. They tied up most loose ends and I personally think it’s a solid ending. The part with Levi shedding a tear and saying this is what you gave your hearts for, to all the ex-scouts is one of the best moments in the show for me

JATLA

it really warms my heart to hear to how much this series has meant to so many people the past 10 years. thanks for sharing your journey throughout it with us ❤️

Sebastian

I think Eren is a very good character but I'm baffled when people call him one of the best written characters ever, I don't even think he's top 5 best written characters in AoT tbh.

Payam Sharifi

I wonder what you girls think about the ending and the show in general, there were many people who loved it and some who didn’t like it the people who didn’t were mostly people who wanted Eren to kill his friends and the entire world and give freedom only to the island. I will look forward to the review 😎🍿

Jay

I just don't understand where the emotions he's vulnerable about came from personally. I knew he obviously loved Mikasa and was trying to push her away (although I thought it was more of a subconscious thing), but I did not for a second feel like he had any romantic feelings for anyone.

Payam Sharifi

So, the specific reason why some people didn't like the ending in the manga was because of a specific line from Armin, he basically thanks Eren for everything he did and putting the "hero" aspect on someone who literally committed genocide is really bad. ...they added more lines in the anime, but I'm still not a total fan of that moment. Even so, I still managed to find good moments in this ending, I don't think it was as good as what the show once delivered, but it was good given the circumstances the story took... I'll remember the iconic moments and all the tears that I poured out with affection, I spent 10 years following this show, I'm happy that it's finally over.

Wallas

Out of all the reactions I have seen for this show, you have been my favorite to watch along with. Rewatching AoT the past couple years with the additive lenses of your beautiful character analysis, emotional maturity, and incredibly thought-provoking post-episode discussions, has been nothing short of a transformative experience for me with the show. Thank you for watching this, I’m so glad I found your channel back because of this anime.

My Toasty Toast

well, i love annie, mikasa and ymir equally but i wish isayama gave ymir more "screentime" at the end or something with historia since ymir and historia were a big thing in s2 but i know isayama was burnt out and he could not write an ending everyone loved so i'm happy at least she made a small appearance.

sand_fl

Dawg I miss Ymir… I would replace Annie with Ymir if I could tbh.

Jack SV

well, it's been a long ride uh? i haven't watched the episode yet (thought i know alla that happens because i read the entire manga) i hope it ended up being what you hoped for. i have to be honest... when i read the final arc as it was being published i was not 100% happy on how isayama decided to end the manga, i'm still not totally satisfied but i liked it more the last time i reread it so i hope this time i'm a little happier with it. i know you adore all of them, specially eren, mikasa and armin, i myself i'm a warrior stan so my guys were reiner, annie and bert, well, and ymir though she was not a warrior. i adored mikasa too and loved armin. i know it must be hard for some to understand but i never got too attached to eren to begin with thought i admit he's one of the best written characters ever. i hope you make a video one day after you rewatch or even read the manga (i recommend it) and talk about the show and all and if your thoughts about it changed after rewatching or after all the time. anyway, just feeling nostalgic. been watching you for years but 2x04 (as a good ymir stan) was the episode that made me subscribe to your patreon for the first time, so this feels a bit like a goodbye in some way 😂

sand_fl

I’m gonna make this reaction another whole event for me to watch. I can’t wait.

Nerd Chronic

A 10 year journey for me personally. Feels honestly a little surreal having the full story after so long!

Darrach

I can finally put this show to rest. I hope they don’t make any continuation or spin offs of this show. I’m glad you guys enjoy the ending. I’m mixed about the ending to be honest and it did brought the show down for me from a 9/10 to 7/10. But hey at least I’m glad I was able to experience this anime in real time.

Jack SV

I’ve watched attack on titan for the first time with your guys full reactions and I’ve happy I can end watching it with them too. This show is my favourite anime and an absolute masterpiece I have full faith they’ll make an incredible ending.

Cole

Right back atcha Isaac! Us regulars won't be going anywhere 😁

TeaDrinker3000

Here we goooooo!!!! Oh god that video description has me a bit misty eyed already 😅

TeaDrinker3000

End of an era. Glad to see it through with all you familiar faces

Isaac

LM i'll leave this message before watching. Thank you LM, Thank you Isayama It's the perfect ending to my favorite show. I loved watching it so much, and I cry every single time I rewatch it. Thank you for your reactions and discussions, which were always the best. It was Attack on Titan that brought me here, and now I watch every show with you two. I'll miss Shingeki no Kyojin a lot, and there will never be something as good as this show was for me. I'm glad you two loved it so much too, and thank you again. Just grieving this show here. And now im going to watch it one last time (before the review of course) 😭😭😭

Matheus

Seeing Eren be vulnerable with armin in regards to mikasa was so good. I also sobbed when armin saw eren’s head for the first time & Reiner being accepted by his mom regardless of having Titan powers was such a touching moment too. This show was so tragic & beautiful. I hurt myself with how much I cried lol Eren will always be such a special character to me

Amber

Lola & Milena From the bottom of my heart, thank you for deepening my love and understanding of Attack on Titan. This show was the reason I found your channel and I swear, no one understood this show more than you two. My partner and I don’t know many ppl personally who watched the show, so your discussions were our major point of validation for our emotions throughout the series and grew my appreciation for the source material significantly. It was one hell of a ride and it will take a looooong time for it to sink in that its finally over, but y’all truly made the journey more meaningful, so thank you 😭🙏🏽 Shinzou Sasageyo 🫡

Daniel Molina

I can’t wait to watch your discussion & review

Amber

SASAGEYOOOO

Korin

Im so happy to have been on this journey with you!

Berlin

This is it, it'll be an honor to share this rollercoaster of emotions with all of you ❤️

HenryM

Yes! I first watch AOT literally 10 years ago so I can’t believe it’s finally over.

Patrick

What a journey!!!! Thank you both so much for all the tears and incredible analysis along the way!

Daniel Lee

AHHHHHH

veljko Milosevic