Attack On Titan‘s ending has come, and it’s one that fans are going to be talking about for years to come. We warned you that Attack On Titan wouldn’t have a happy ending (see the video above), and we were certainly right about that. Eren Jaeger made the forever-controversial choice to unleash The Rumbling upon the world – a cataclysmic event that brought untold death, suffering, and horror to nearly all of humanity. The battle to stop Eren brought Mikasa and Armin (and all their allies) to the breaking point of love and friendship – but in the end, Mikasa was afforded one emotional reunion.
Warning: Attack On Titan chapter 139 and Ending SPOILERS Follow!
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The penultimate chapter of Attack On Titan‘s manga saw Mikasa finally make the hard choice that she’d been avoiding all throughout this final arc: killing Eren. By severing the head of the Founding Titan, Mikasa didn’t just end Eren – she ended the Rumbling and the entire Titan threat for good, returning all Pure Titans to human form. Mikasa also got the reveal that she wasn’t actually programmed to protect Eren, she just loved him – and it turns out, despite all the horror he unleashed, Eren loved her too.
This being Attack On Titan, the end of the Titans doesn’t mean a happy ending for humanity. Marley still doesn’t trust that the Eldian race is no longer a threat, and the Titans are truly gone; Paradis Island and its Jaegerist military faction still don’t trust the outside world. Humanity isn’t at each other’s throats anymore, but the tension is still there.
While Armin, Levi, Reiner, Annie, and other survivors of the final battle all set out on a mission of global peace, Mikasa simply retires on Paradis Island, burying Eren’s remains under the tree they used to race to as kids. It’s on that site that Mikasa has a final reunion with Eren. Well, sort of…
Mikasa tells Eren’s grave that Armin and co. are returning to Paradis Island and will visit him, before breaking down to confess that she desperately wants to meet him again. At that same moment, a bird flies down and pulls on the scarf Mikasa is wearing – the scarf that Eren gave her after saving her when they were young. As the bird lies away Mikasa’s spirits are clearly lifted, as she says “Thank you for wrapping this scarf around me, Eren…”
Attack On Titan‘s final scene of Eren’s reincarnation has been one of the bigger controversies about the series’ ending (amongst many others). On the one hand, fans love that creator Hajime Isayama foreshadowed this ending from the very first scene of Attack On Titan. On the other hand, some fans aren’t too thrilled with the implication that Eren committing mass genocide ultimately got him the karmic reward of coming back ‘free as a bird’ like he always wanted to be.
Attack On Titan‘s manga is now over. The anime’s final arc of episodes will arrive in 2022.
