MY THOUGHTS ABOUT AOT’S FINAL CHAPTER
THREAD

#aot139spoilers

This is going to be a long thread. I’m going to talk about AoT’s narrative conclusion, how it handled character arcs and pretty much every aspect of the chapter be done with all of it at once

So I would really appreciate it if you took your time and read it. Feel free to put it on pause during the halfway through and continue to read the rest of it when you feel like it tho

To tell you the truth, I still don’t know how I feel exactly about the final chapter and I’m not sure if I can put my thoughts into words given I’m still at the processing phase

But after reading the chapter for several times, my thoughts about it started to shape more clearly and one thing for sure is that I have mixed feelings about the chapter as a whole

The chapter started with the the talk between Eren and Armin, which was something that’s been a long time coming. I liked how Eren beared his soul to Armin and explained how he tried to push them away from himself

Seeing them finally reach the places they always wanted to go together even though circumstances are entirely different than what they imagined put a bittersweet smile on my face

All right, the way I see it, this chapter made Eren’s motivations behind his actions pretty clear by dividing them into 3 respective parts:

- Making what’s left of his friends, the Alliance look as the heroes who stopped rumbling
- Putting an end to the era of Titans
- Attaining his idea of freedom itself and saving Paradis in the process

Let’s start with the first one. Eren - as he said to Armin - seperated himself from his friends & decided to make himself their & whole world’s enemy. So they can stand against him, stop him and then make them look as heroes in the eyes of the world

Moving to the second one. Eren basically wanted Ymir to remove the curse and titan powers after Mikasa set her free from the agony of her obsessive love for King Fritz that lasted over 2000 years by showing Ymir her idea of love

and that’s why he kept moving forward after he recieved those memories during medal ceremony back in RtS , which were always meant to happen. Because he knew the result Mikasa’s choice

Everything was set in stone from the start. Which is the reason why Eren killed his mother. Because something like this was necessarry in order to trigger certain events in Eren’s path and push his character to this point

The third part is the part that brings out the core aspects of Eren’s character. The part that craves for freedom. The dark, twisted and cruel form of freedom that was always a part of his character since the moment he was born

Eren himself states that even if he didn’t know that Alliance wouldn’t stopped him in the end, he still would have flattened the world. And this is where that cold and dark aspects of his character comes out. Because it’s more than just saving the Eldia

It’s about how far he is willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve his selfish desire of freedom, even if that was meant to contradict his desire to save his friends and cost their lives that he was trying to save along with the island

Eren's selfish desire of freedom is what he always dreamed of after he read Armin’s book for the very first time

The world Eren always dreamed of was a world where everything was consisted of ‘’flaming waters, land made of ice & fields of sand’’ but it was also a world that was free of hatred, ignorance & cruel people like Gross, who killed Grisha's sister

It’s nothing like the world he saw after he learned humanity beyond the walls existed. A world like he dreamed of was never meant to exist. That’s why he felt disappointed after he learned it

And that’s why Eren & Armin’s ideals of freedom were always meant to clash with each other since day 1

As I said, Eren’s ideal freedom is mostly based on a world where hatred & cruelty are removed, he believes he has the right to live in a world like this, because as he always says, ‘’he was born into this world’’

While Armin’s idea of freedom on the other hand was about a world he can always cherish even the smallest precious moments of life despite the conflict around him and the entire world that still goes

Eren is a multilayered character & that’s why he has more than one reason behind his horrible actions & why his words here regarding Mikasa were in character for him considering how childish, selfish & bratty he can be, which is why Armin’s expression here was like “wtf was that“

Eren wants Mikasa to be happy. But he also wants her to think of himself even though how selfish that sounds

Eren wants to live and be with Mikasa and his friends, but he also knows he doesn’t deserve something like this considering the millions he killed also wanted to live and be with their loved ones

This ch doesn’t remove other aspects of Eren’s char. Eren is still the same Eren that we saw at the beginning of the series. He's still a malevolent, childish, bratty, selfish, wicked person that loves his friends, but dark aspects of his char always cost their lives in the end

His mentality about freedom is still the same. The only different thing about post ts Eren is that his expanded view about the world, that’s it

The only thing that seemed off to me regarding his character in this chapter was it was rushed as everything else was. The plot surrounding his character was all over the place

That’s probably why some people are having a hard time understanding his character or disliking the way Isayama handled his character,

which is understandable if you ask me. Because this final arc as whole was rushed and the final chapter was the one that was tarnished the most to some degree due to it But I’m mostly okay with the closure of Eren’s character. It was way better the ones some others got

Moving on to the Ymir. I wasn’t actually expecting to not hear one single word from her in this chapter. The way Isayama explored her motivations, why she chose to continue the era of titans – thus cycle of hated – & obeyed King Fritz’ orders for over 2000 years seemed off to me

I understand the idea of Ymir suffering from an obsessive ‘’love’’, stockholm syndrome to be frank and Mikasa- considering her role in this final arc- saving her from the state of agony Ymir was in by showing her idea of love and putting an end to titan’s curse in the process

But I think Isayama should’ve worded that part better. I just refuse to believe that the ‘’love’’ Ymir had for Fritz was healthy or genuine, when you take into account that everything he did to her and that she was literally a child when he was already an old fart

Personally, I’m not sure ıf I’m completely sold on the idea of that Ymir was waiting someone to free her from her obseesion for over 2000 years. But I understand, because it was obvious love was going to play a big part at the end of the series

And Ymir never recieved any kind of love during her time as a slave, which is probably why she developed an unhealthy obsession towards King Fritz

About Eren and Armin’s final farewell, it was bittersweet. They were always meant to drift apart from one another due to their different views about the world. But seeing these two best friends bid their last goodbye was really emotional

But one thing that I’m not a fan of was the way Isayama worded this panel. His intention behind Armin and others words about Eren is clear, but the way he worded them feels extremely off, considering the conditions & what Eren did. The idea was there but the execution felt wrong

I think one of the biggest reasons why people hate those panels is because the wording and morals in them kinda contradicts Eren’s actions, which is genocide

Isayama’s intention in those panels, the idea he was meaning to come up with was to show how Alliance understands the reason why Eren decided to make himself the devil, why he chose to carry the burden on his shoulders alone

I don’t think Isayama’s real intention in those panels was to make those characters feel grateful to Eren for wiping out a large amount of population, basically destroying 80% of humanity

Rather than that, I think it was basically meant to show that Armin and others understand and accept that why far Eren went this far even though they hated his horrible actions. And he will try his best not to drag the world to a situation like this ever again after that happened

Before any of you jup on the gun and say that I’m defending Isayama, I’m not. Quite the opposite, it’s as I said, I don’t like the way Isayama worded these panels. It was off and weird. I still don’t like it, but I understand. He definetely should’ve worded those panels better

But I also don’t believe and hope that the same guy who wrote those panels is trying to justify genocide. That how I see it at least. Feel free to disagree

Moving on to other characters and their closures, which are one of the weakest parts of the chapter in my opinion, especially Reiner’s

Some character conclusions in this chapter didn't make me feel emotionally invested in them. Which is one of the main factors that makes a story's ending satisfying in any form of fiction

I know AoT is a plot driven story but these characters are one of the biggest reasons why we loved AoT in the first place. So seeing Isayama taking a kinda bland and unsatisfying route with them is one of the biggest cons of this chapter in my book

We got Reiner, one of my favorite characters in the series and without a doubt one of the most prominent ones from post ts, and he didn’t even get one single memorable quote in the chapter - besides his talk with Karina - let alone a big moment

I actually don’t have a much problem with the infamous sniff panel. We all know how Yams always likes to put jokes out of the blue. Kinda got used to them at this point. My biggest issue regarding Reiner’s character is how he didn’t have a worthy dialogue that carried some weight

I thought Warriors would’ve got their moment to shine during their fight with hallucigenia in this chapter. But since Isayama went with the usual 45 pages route, I guess expecting things like this was a bit too much considering how Isayama was burned out at this point

Same goes for Jean and Connie, but at least Isayama wrapped their characters up in 138 when they both knew that they fulfilled their duty as a member of SC to the very end and seeing my favorite trio again for one last time made me hella emotional

I’m fine with the closure Annie got. Sure it could’ve been much better than what we got, but I think underlying development regarding her character was there

Annie's character is about finding. Finding herself in the cruel world of AoT, going beyond her former self who used to only think about herself, and start knowing to love & care about others and putting other people before herself

I think the way Isayama handled those aspects of her character ever since she came back was just fine. Not great or anything, but I'll take it

Despite my problems with them, I liked EMA’s closure and how Isayama handled it in a tragic way, which is how it always meant to be

Levi's closure is my fav moment from the ch & probably whole series. Him finally ensuring that he didn’t let his fallen comrades' sacrifices go in vain after everything he had to endure, then saluting to the soldiers who devoted their hearts one last time brought tears to my eyes

Armin convincing Muller about they’re not titans anymore was such an amazing callback to that time when he did the same thing to Garrison for the similar reason during TA. It just shows how far Armin has come and is much more confident about himself compared to the last time

Moving on to the state of the post rumbling world. I liked the route Isayama took with the conflict between Paradis and the world, which was one of the main topics about AoT’s story, especially from post ts onwards

To me, Attack on Titan is about a world where everything is surrounded by darkness and everything characters can do is clinging to their hopes and dreams and move forward in its cruel world. Eren himself didn’t know what awaited them after the rumbling

The way how Isayama didn’t magically fix the conflict between Paradis & the world & left characters with their hopes & dreams, so they can make the cruel world of AoT a better, beatiful place while staying faithful to the core themes of the series was done quite well on his part

Also that Historia panel gave me chills. It’s just so powerful that it makes me wish that Isayama used her more after time skip, instead of using her more of as a symbolic significance

And last but not least, Mikasa. Mikasa playing a big part on the climax of the story was foreshadowed multiple times during the early parts of the final arc and that’s exactly what happened. The closure she had is my favorite one right after Levi and Zeke’s. Excluding Erwin ofc

At the end, she came to terms with the fact that she needs to kill Eren. She smiled, she cried and she was at peace, which answered the big question from the Final Exhibiton

All and all, the final chapter had a lot of missing points that I didn’t like, but there were also moments when Isayama delivered, he delivered it beautifully and it hit right in the feels. I adored it, I smiled, I teared up. All multiple times

This chapter wasn’t everything I wanted, but it was exactly what this fandom deserved. I think it was narratively and thematically satisfying, for the most part. But can’t say the same thing fort he conclusion of some character arcs and the off moments didn’t help either

139 is a chapter that grew on me after I read it several times. It was a 6.5/10 for me, which is really low for a (9/10) series like AoT - where quality of the chapters are high in general - if you ask me

I think the biggest issue regarding the final arc & ch139 is pacing. In the end, the underlying ideas & message were there, but the execution was off Isayama’s idea for the ending of the series could’ve turn out better than what we got if he left more space, like 3 chs for them

It was rushed and some parts of the final arc, especially final chapter felt weird and out of context. But I understand, the guy was literally burned out at this point and I really hope the anime will handle the final arc better

But regardless of everything, this chapter doesn’t reduce my overall enjoyment for the series. I will always love & cherish the memories this bittersweet story gave me & be forever grateful to Isayama & everyone who who has contributed and continues to contribute to his work

That’s all I can say about 139 and pretty much the series in general. I’ll probably continue to vent about AoT and my thoughts might change slightly, but what I said in this thread are my definitive thoughts for the chapter and the series in general

I know I said that I’m not going to make any threads about AoT anymore in my Armin thread (Would apppreciate it if you could check it out sometime) https://twitter.com/ArminButWLowIQ/status/1376220159854178309?s=20

And tbh I didn’t think I would write this much when I started making his thread. But I’m glad I did. It felt good to put my thoughts into words regarding all parts of this chapter and the series in general

I wanted to talk about the chapter and touch all parts of it one last time. So this was my final thread regarding AoT, for real this time. I’m done. It's about time I move on and let Attack on Titan hold a special place in my heart forever

As always, thank you, if you came this far and read my thread, I really mean it. Because this thread was hella long. END OF THE THREAD
https://twitter.com/ArminButWLowIQ/status/1380174804788056071?s=20

@ejisan_ @mikasasagayo Would like to hear you two's thoughts about this sometime