Attack On Titan: Can Eren Be Forgiven For the Show's Worst Deaths Yet?

Attack On Titan anime fans are now left exactly where manga readers were years ago: struggling with the question of how to view series protagonist Eren Yeager. Attack on Titan: The Final Season – Part 3 debuted this weekend, and the extended episode turned out to be exactly as horrific as a lot of fans had been dreading for nearly a year... 

(MAJOR ATTACK ON TITAN SPOILERS FOLLOW)

In "The Final Chapters (Part One)" Eren's apocalyptic attack "The Rumbling" lived up to its reputation, as the army of Colossal Titans Eren set loose from the walls of Paradis Island to trample people and civilizations under their massive feet, leaving behind nothing but fire, ash, and the dust of worlds that have been crushed. Eren's attack doesn't just claim the lives of millions of innocent people – his friend and comrade Hange gives her life, just to keep Eren's closest friends and loved ones (including Armin and Mikasa) from being annihilated by The Rumbling. 

Can Eren Yeager Be Forgiven or Redeemed In Attack On Titan's Ending?

As you can see in the graphic above, the list of crimes – let's just go ahead and call them atrocities – that Eren Yeager has now committed are staggering in both scope and number. That has sparked a massive debate – and the fact that it is even a debate is crazy in and of itself. Clearly, Attack On Titan creator Hajime Isayama struck a massive philosophical chord with his bold choices of where to take Eren Yeager's story, because already there are clearly fans who think that Eren's methods, while unspeakably brutal, are justified by his ultimate goal of world peace, and an end to humanity's unending cycle of violence. 

There are some fans who seem to take a "Thanos was right," approach to Eren's act of genocide with The Rumbling: fewer people, and no scheming powers behind warring nations, mean no more wars between peoples. On the other end of the argument, are those who believe that no goal of peace is worth it if mass genocide is the route to getting there. 

Hajime Isayama has admitted that the choice to take the ending of the series in the direction he did wasn't an easy one – but he's taking solace from fans where he can: 

"I want to express my gratitude to all fans. I wasn't sure how to feel about the end of the story. I was having a really difficult time and I apologize. Carrying heavy feelings, I was down for a long time, until yesterday when I met fans during the [NYCC] signing. Fans told me the ending was great and that they loved the ending and it made me happy and coming to New York was a great experience for me. Thank you."

Attack on Titan is streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.