Attack on Titan Fans Think Eren Succeeds Where Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Fails

Game of Thrones is gearing up for a series finale several seasons in the making, and while anticipation is high it’s clear that fans are not as excited for the final episode as they thought they would be. Most of this stems from the actions of the characters that seemingly are completely out of character, and Daenerys Targaryen’s actions stand at the top of this heap as her choices resulted in the most volatile responses from fans.

But while this turn definitely seemed to come out of left field, and seemingly built up as well, fans can’t help but compare it to Attack on Titan‘s Eren. Eren Yeager has a similar “heel turn” late in Attack on Titan, and one fan detailed why fans were more accepting of this than of Daenerys’ sudden twist. It’s simply a matter of time.

Major spoilers for the Attack on Titan manga below!

MartinaS90 on Reddit presents a strong argument comparing the two protagonists turned antagonists, and like most, believed that Daenerys’ turn fails due to its suddenness. Both main characters had a dark turn in which they killed innocent people. But Daenerys’ turn to this decision just did not get enough time. Pointing to Attack on Titan Chapter 100-101 in which Eren “[killed] several innocents in Liberio…He aimed at military targets and killed several innocents, not only with his transformation and his actions but also with his plan (as he specified where and when the Colossal Titan should appear wiping Marley’s fleet and blowing up several civilian houses in the process).”

The argument goes onto present the idea that Eren’s turn to a more nihilistic point of view was built up over the course of the series such as when Eren and the others discover the ocean for the first time, and his conversations with Falco and Reiner in Marley, Eren seemingly had more time to evolve into the villain he is now in the series. But the real crux of the argument comes that Eren’s more nihilistic actions are him accepting that civilian death is just collateral in order to do what he wants.

This argument does not include many of the smaller moments in which Daenerys’ turn was foreshadowed in the series, nor does it include any of her actions in the original novel series. But this, once again, comes down to time. Daenerys simply did not get enough time for a suitable turn, and thus her actions come all the more suddenly.

And there’s no telling if Eren’s solid presentation now will hold as Attack on Titan heads towards its eventual end as well. But what do you think? Do you think Attack on Titan succeeds where Game of Thrones failed?

Game of Thrones‘ final episode premieres Sunday, May 19th at 9:00 PM EST on HBO and HBO NOW. Attack on Titan was originally created by Hajime Isayama, and the series has since been collected into 23 volumes as of 2017. It’s set in a world where the last remnants of humanity live within a walled city in order to escape the danger of the Titans, a race of giants monsters that eats humans. The lead character, Eren Yeager, ends up joining the military with his two childhood friends Mikasa and Armin after the Titans break through the wall and attack his hometown. Now Eren, Mikasa, and Armin must survive in a world where they not only have the Titans to fear, but the very humans they are trying to save. You can currently find the series streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Saturday nights on Adult Swim’s Toonami block.