Attack on Titan may have ended its manga this year, but the story is still driving discussion in a big way. After all, the anime is far from over, and the fandom is still reeling from how the manga ended. As you may already know, the manga closed with more questions than answers, and now one update has confirmed a theory most fans gathered from the finale.
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So you have been warned! There are major spoilers below for Attack on Titan‘s finale chapter. Proceed with caution!
If you have read the manga, then you know Attack on Titan ends with Eren Yeager’s death. His end comes around after he led a rogue army against the whole world. Eren did plan to wipe out humanity aside from Eldians after seeing how Titans were persecuted by Marley. Of course, this despotic plan turned Eren into the story’s biggest villain, and he paid for all his crimes with death.
However, the final chapter does hint that Eren did everything he planned because of his friends. His final talk with Armin left fans convinced that Eren’s main goal in attacking Marley was to give his friends a chance to stop him. By stopping and killing him, the Eldians would show their commitment to humanity, so Eren chose to become the bad guy voluntarily.
This was confirmed in a recent promo for Attack on Titan‘s finale, and Twitter user Aiko_Catto translated the message. It was there fans learned this popular theory was spot on. “For his friends to survive the devastating future he saw through his Attack Titan powers, [Eren] became the devil himself and let him get defeated,” the blurb reads. “After it all ends, Mikasa returns to her hometown and embraces her feelings for Eren who was sacrificed, and Armin decides to have a talk with the others.”
This sort of ending was unthinkable to fans when Attack on Titan began, but the manga set up this shift in its final arc. The sudden turn left fans of Eren stunned, and his self-sacrifice made some furious given its short lead time. But in the end, it seems Eren did choose to justify his genocidal plans by putting his friends’ futures first.
What do you think about this Attack on Titan confession? Are you surprised by Eren’s last act? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.