Attack on Titan Breaks Mikasa with Eren's Latest Revelation

Attack On Titan just broke the core bond between main characters Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert - and it doesn't look like it will ever be repaired again. As the Attack On Titan anime returned this week with two of its final new episodes, the first one, "Savagery" picks up with the major cliffhanger that saw Eren surprise Mikasa, Armin, and Marley warrior Gabi for an impromptu meeting. Now that Eren has allied with his half-brother Zeke and created a separatist group of Eldians called "Jaegerists," needless to say his surrogate family (Mikasa, Armin) badly needs an explanation. But when it comes to Mikasa, Eren's "truth" breaks her entirely!

Warning: Attack On Titan anime SPOILERS Follow!

In Attack On Titan Episode 73, Eren reveals to both Mikasa and Armin that even though they both think they're loyal to the scouts and Paradis Island, they're both actually compromised in ways they never realized. With Armin, it's simple: inheriting the Colossal Titan from Bertholdt has corrupted Armin with Marleyean Warrior's memories - which is why Armin is doing weird stuff in secret like obsessing over the cocooned Annie Leonhart. But for Mikasa, the truth about her own compromised mind is much deeper - and ultimately, more painful.

As Eren reveals, Mikasa's Ackerman bloodline comes with a catch: the power they command in battle is programming meant to activate around those of the royal bloodline; Eren holding the Founding Titan is what has kept Mikasa by his side and at his call - not any sisterly love, at all. Eren twists the knife deeper by stating that whatever real persona Mikasa had died on that day the robbers killed her parents and Eren ordered her to fight; the stoic, killer, Mikasa became is actually just her bodyguard/assassin programming, which is all that remains of her. If that wasn't enough of a mind-screw, Eren finishes with the emotional uppercut that he's always felt a queasy negative feeling around Mikasa - and now he knows why: She's a mindless slave, and he hates mindless slaves.

Of course, Mikasa and Armin think that Eren is the one who has had his mind twisted by Zeke - so Eren demonstrates the point. He starts a fight, and when Armin tries to attack him, Mikasa reacts and restrains her friend before she even knows what's she's doing. After that, Mikasa doesn't have any fight left in her - if she's even capable of it. Armin, Mikasa, and Gabi are now Eren's prisoners, with their fates very unclear. Is Eren truly done with his friends? Or is he hoping they'll see the truth in him and Zeke's Eldian Euthanasation plan?

Attack On Titan's final episodes are streaming on Funimation and Hulu.