After taking the world by storm almost a decade ago, the phenomenon that was Attack on Titan finally came to its epic, bittersweet conclusion in April 2021. The ending to Hajime Isayama’s magnum opus was highly anticipated by his dedicated readers and, for the most part, it didn’t disappoint.
Many fans were emotionally fulfilled when Chapter 139 finally made its way online, whereas others had more concerns than tears to shed. Without giving away anything right now, it’s safe to say that Attack on Titan will continue to spark fan debates even after the anime’s eventual conclusion.
Updated on March 14th, 2023 by Ajay Aravind: Attack on Titan's culminating episodes will be released at some point in the fall of 2023, and the fandom can barely contain its excitement. This world-class series has made an eternal mark on pop culture, although some fans believe that the ending wasn't as perfect as it could have been.
Spoilers ahead.
It's Perfect
Isayama At His Artistic Best
It goes without saying that Isayama’s art and paneling are something else. When put beside other hit manga, Attack on Titan's terrifying carnage is juxtaposed almost perfectly against serene landscapes. The manga also boasts a well-designed character roster and this consistent quality was carried all the way to Chapter 139, where the epilogue reveals their older selves.
Comparing Chapter 139 to Chapter 1 shows just how far Isayama has gone in terms of illustration, layouts, and non-linear storytelling. A good chunk of the finale takes place in the Paths, which is where Isayama’s skills shone the most. While the story’s quality is subjective, fans unanimously praise Isayama's artistic vision.
Everything Comes Full Circle
Attack on Titan’s finale connection to the beginning is nothing short of genius. Events and clues from the earliest arcs paid off in the biggest ways, such as Armin’s daydreaming while on the ship sailing away from Paradis. In this dream, Eren confesses that it was he who made the Smiling Titan kill his mother while ignoring Bertholdt.
This was done to make his younger self unwaveringly determined, and keep Bertholdt alive long enough for Armin to eat him years later. A more tragic version is the dream that made Eren cry just before the Titans breached Wall Maria. What he saw was a romantic future with Mikasa — a reality they now know can never come to pass.
The Titans Are Eradicated
For eons, the Titans brought nothing but misery. Born from Ymir’s agony and torture, the Titans were used by different rulers to perpetuate a seemingly unbreakable cycle of death and misery. But after generations of endless suffering, Eren finally ended the Titans’ wrath by using the Founder to erase the Titans’ power once and for all.
In doing so, Eren freed humanity from the fear and dread that the Titans had inspired. Most importantly, he saved his fellow Eldians from being exploited for their bloodline, while removing the cursed legacy that burdened them from birth. He even freed the remaining Shifters from the Curse of Ymir, allowing Reiner, Annie, and the others to enjoy long lives.
Nearly Everyone Gets Closure
The one thing every anime fan wants for their favorite characters is for them to live happy lives. Given Attack on Titan's bleak setting and high mortality rate, it’s actually kind of surprising to see most of the Alliance’s survivors make it out alive and well.
Cases in point: the Eldians who became Titans regained their humanity, Reiner and Annie redeemed themselves, Levi made peace with his fallen friends and soldiers, Armin went beyond the walls, and Mikasa had her feelings reciprocated, albeit after Eren's death. Granted, these endings may seem uncharacteristically saccharine, but at least their suffering is finally over.
Eren Knows He's Wrong
Eren’s harshest critic is none other than himself. While he realized that waging war on the world was the only way to give Eldia a future, he didn’t like it one bit. The emotional and moral weight of global genocide crushed him, to say the least. Most of all, he regretted pushing his friends away in order to save them.
Eren’s realizations gave him yet another layer of humanity, making him one of the most complex anti-heroes ever written. The fact that he forced himself to commit harrowing sins only deepens his tragedy. In fact, he’s currently being compared with Code Geass R2’s Lelouch. While some praised Eren for being more relatable and compelling than Lelouch, others thought that the Rumbling was a bootlegged Zero Requiem.
It Fell Short
No Romantic Pairings
This is really more about denied fan expectations than fatal plot flaws, but it bears mentioning. Attack on Titan had some of the most dedicated anime ships but, sadly, none of the fan-favorite pairings came to be. Those that were confirmed ended in tragedy, which only threw salt on fans' wounds.
Ymir’s one regret in life was not marrying Historia before she was devoured by Porco Galliard, while Mikasa and Eren only admitted their feelings before the latter’s death. The only canon pairings that didn't perish were Annie/Armin and (to an extent) Falco/Gabi. That said, the epilogue shows them standing by each other platonically rather than romantically.
Supporting Characters Lose Focus
Not everyone in Attack on Titan got the spotlight in the final arc. For example, the Azumabito clan and the founder Ymir played an important political role in the lead-up to the Rumbling, but were inexplicably dropped out later. The worst hit were Historia and Yelena, who disappeared after the biggest moments of their lives.
Historia took a backseat after her pregnancy and only reappeared in the epilogue, with her dialogue limited to a letter. Yelena all but vanished after she was outed as a glory seeker, last seen alive on a lifeboat after Falco shifted into the winged Beast Titan. After everything they went through and did, Historia and Yelena deserved a more substantial farewell.
Ymir’s Motivations Are Weird
One of the biggest mysteries introduced by the final arc revolved around Ymir Fritz's true motivations. By defying Zeke and siding with Eren to start the Rumbling, fans initially concluded that Ymir was acting out of vengeance. Turns out, it was a twisted form of love.
In the Paths, Eren claims that Ymir waited for Mikasa to free her from her devotion to King Karl Fritz, the man who had enslaved her in the first place. Minus the uncomfortable implications of this relationship, an even weirder issue was Ymir's lack of screen presence during the final battle. Despite being the linchpin, Eren did most of the talking for her.
Eren’s Goal Is Short-Sighted
Some critical voices decried Eren’s gambit to make the world hate him and view the “Demons of Paradis Island” as heroes for being stupidly short-sighted, and the manga proves them right. As expertly explored by other works like Watchmen, scaring the world into world peace only provides temporary respite.
Because of Eren, Eldia became a militaristic state that’s now expecting armed retaliation from the world. This was what the Alliance warned Eren about, and he obviously didn’t listen. War may have been looming on the horizon before the Rumbling, but peace was never out of the equation. Unfortunately, Eren stomped on diplomacy along with a horde of Colossus Titans.
The Ends Don't Justify The Means
While the manga didn’t paint Eren in a wholly heroic light, the same can’t be said for his in-universe reception. At the Rumbling’s end, the surviving Eldians regain a previously erased memory where Eren explained everything to them in the Paths. This makes them tearfully thank him for his sacrifice while back in Eldia, Eren is valorized as the nation’s savior.
Simply put, Eren killing over 80% of humanity was justified. He may feel bad about it, but the Rumbling was framed as a necessary evil for Eldians’ sake and not an avoidable extreme. Armin literally thanks Eren for becoming a mass murderer while Mikasa yearns to one day see her genocidal lover again. In fact, some fans argue that Eren deserved a whole lot worse than what he got.