What an absolutely fantastic finale! Every main character's arc gets rounded out perfectly.
Levi fulfills his last order by killing Zeke, absolving himself of the deaths of Erwin and the Scout outriders. He finally embraces the idea that Armin is necessary to save humanity, forgiving himself for picking Armin over Erwin. After everything, his body is broken, and the titan killing tool he had become overextended itself when he killed all of his men, dearest to him in the whole world, in the woods. He now has to live without being that tool, and he is all the more peaceful for it.
Zeke, who has scoured his own life in search of any semblance of meaning for his suffering, is confronted with the horrible truth that, in doing so, he neglected the sources for all of his joy. His life's goal, the sterilization of Eldians, had been a dismissal of both any possibility of a joyous future and the Eldian race as a whole. As his last act, he rallies the most terrifying avatars of the Eldian race he hates so much. And in his last moment before dying, he enjoys the simplest of small wonders-the nice weather.
Mikasa holds on to the love she has for Eren and her commitment to him, despite his final wish not to do so. And it is through this unfathomable love, this fundamentally unbreakable loyalty to him, that she manages to save him by ending him. The biggest act of love she could ever show him was killing him. It is the final testament to Eren never being able to grasp how her love for him worked. He thought that she needed to let him go to save him, but she would never. And it is through this that she stops the rumbling.
Armin's final moments of greatness embody his three main characteristics: his incredible mind, his role as Commander of the Survey Corps, and his devotion to Eren. Through sheer willpower and critical thinking, he not only manifests himself in the paths, but for his last move, he figures out how to come out of there stronger than he was forced to. As the final commander of the Survey Corps, he asks for not just an army of Scouts to lend them their strength but an army of fallen Eldian souls through path-manifested titans. By finally standing up to Eren and proving himself his superior, he gets to see the sights he always wanted. And he finally proclaims himself as Eren's equal by owning up to setting him on his path, even though the legacy he claims is one of genocide.
Reiner has always been a shield, forced to be a weapon. His soul commands him to protect those he loves, but his mission dictates that he attack them. It has led to a broken mind, but finally his mission and soul are aligned. He is not charged with killing Eren. His only goal is to protect his comrades while they finish their missions. And at the end of it all, he stands as the shield against the souls of all titans in defense of all of humanity.
Eren is a difficult one for me because there's so much going on with him that I do not understand. But one thing that stood out to me is what I feel his story has been all about. He's never been as steadfast as Reiner, as talented as Mikasa, as smart as Armin, as charismatic as Jean, as dangerous as Annie, or as beloved as Connie and Sasha. He's always been average. Average but dedicated, and coincidentally gifted with godlike powers. He is a warning to us all of what happens when ordinary, unremarkable people manage to get lucky enough to be embued with powers they shouldn't have and are willful enough to use them. He is every world leader with a finger on nuclear codes. He is an omen for the end of humanity. An average person with the potential for divine consequences.
Jean is more difficult for me. I feel like Jean's primary arc has always been that of someone who despises the idea of responsibility, is drawn to it, is good at it, and is thrust into it. His arc got 2/3 fulfillment from (1) his acceptance of his fate as a Scout, even being proud of it, and (2), after all of these years, finally being the one to end Eren (in his Founding Titan form) and bringing their rivalry to its natural end. I feel like it should've been him instead of Armin who rallied the Marleyans to put down their weapons after the Eldians got turned from titans into humans. It would've signified him taking charge of his people's fate and being prepared to shape the future they would share with the rest of the world.
Connie turning into a titan is poetic considering his mother being turned into one was one of the first steps for Eldia to understand the titans. I've never really understood what his character was actually meant to say, though I've loved him greatly. Maybe the role of a normal person among great people Maybe he is a mirror to Eren in that regard? What choices can an unremarkable person make to become a great one? In any case, him embracing Jean before they turn into titans is absolutely tear-inducing.
The ending of this story is both sad, true, and meaningful. While the "heroes" (as Eren calls them) will be able to form a better world from the ashes of the old one, the sacrifice Eren made will never be worth it. War, genocide, and human destruction are cyclical. Even the metaphorical presence of the titans will repeat itself. That, to me, is the great takeaway Isayama intended. No, none of Eren's actions were worth it. It will all happen again. There is no excuse strong enough to justify the destruction of human life.
277 out of 330 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
