EXPLAINING EREN YEAGER IN CHAPTER 139 (a thread)

I want to start with a quote from Kenny’s monologue from Chapter 69:

In this panel, Kenny mentions that everyone is enslaved to their own will/motive to keep moving forward. This quote is very relevant to the portrayal of Eren in Chapter 139:

we see the effects of someone who's enslaved to not only the memories of the past/future but also Eren’s own perception of achieving “freedom.” This irony shows just how tragic his life has been: he has been pursuing freedom for Eldians while he himself will always be a slave.

Eren was aware of this situation yet was forced to “move forward” and execute the plans of Ymir for Mikasa to save the Eldians.

The concept of a mental and emotional conflict is nothing new to Founding Titan holders: this is a hardship that was also showcased by the former Founding Titan’s predecessor, Frieda.

While the ending revealed that Eren knew that his genocide wouldn’t be fully effective in the end, this does NOT discredit his hatred for those outside the walls and willingness to kill all non-Eldians to achieve freedom.

When Eren is asked why he still would have flattened this world, he responds with this:

Note the paneling in the above picture. By showing Grisha say those words to Eren while he is contemplating his reason, it is to connect Eren’s willingness to commit genocide to his enslavement of wanting to ensure Eldians do not have to die off and

that the rest of the world would pay for making them suffer all these years. It is simply that Eren was not fully aware and conscious of how strong these feelings were and that he was truly “drunk” (as Kenny would put it) on flattening the world.

This chapter still validates Eren and Reiner’s conversation in Marley. The parallel between Eren and Reiner is in fact even stronger now as it shows that both were determined to carry out their mission while still being human and showing affection even towards the ones they harm.

When Reiner breaks down and regrets his actions, Eren realizes that they both hate having to follow their actions but do it anyways to reach the end goal. Eren compensates for this feeling by saying that he just has to “move forward.”

For the infamous moment when Eren talks about Mikasa, Armin’s reaction to what he says is similar to what most of the audience had.

We didn’t expect Eren to say something so pathetic and didn’t realize his feelings for Mikasa ran deep enough for him not to want her to be with another man. You may take this as “simp behavior” but what it showed me is that Eren was broken

about not being able to confess his feelings for Mikasa due to being enslaved to the plan he had to execute. The realization that he couldn’t enjoy his time with his friends and beloved took a huge toll on him and the effects became worse and worse over time.

Overall, this chapter served to portray the true mental/emotional suffering of Eren due to having the knowledge of both the past and future while also tying it back to the central theme of AOT: there will never be true “freedom” and we will always be enslaved to a certain will.

The tragic story of Eren is one that fans may not want to see, but it’s the one that has been set in stone from the start and makes the most sense to execute given the circumstances.