my interpretation of the beauty and tragedy surrounding eren jaeger's character

also explaining the newfound meaning behind his 139 & rumbling arc appearances

and why aot's final message is that eren's birth is the embodiment of freedom itself

for easier understanding, i'll start with eren's motivations first

adult eren didn't want to finish the rumbling and live with guilt afterwards neither did he want to give paradis freedom through a worldwide genocide

he wanted what his child & teen self always wished for

that was to eradicate all titans in this world by ensuring to break the curse

it was his strongest desire until the day he died which makes his character consistent, but in an unexpected way

it was assumed that eren moved on from that goal as the world's problems increased

but this interaction in paths disproves this completely

eren always stayed the same, following his desire to end the titans, which is why his answer to king fritz's
"so long as MY world exists"
is
"i'll put an end to THIS world"

the world in which titans exist, not humans

and this line, that talks about eradicating all titans, was used to remind the reader of eren's very first motivations and was never aimed at humanity as a whole

all these child appearances in the rumbling arc happened to foreshadow the final motivation of our current eren

with this knowledge in mind, we should look at his emotional outbursts in 131 & 139 and how they are tightly linked to the core beliefs of teen eren

someone who always loathed mass murderers which explains why eren was so disappointed of humanities' existence outside paradis

he didn't want to fight more people as they will only be another obstacle in the way of

1. finishing his mission to end the curse
and
2. his desire to turn the world of armin's book into reality

a childhood dream that eren wasn't willing to let go

he refused to grow up

he was still a child at heart amongst the cruelty of war which forced him to grow up way too quickly

this is why the line at the corner of this panel says

"to the *boy* who sought freedom ... goodbye"

eren's soul was always boyish and led by a will, stubborn and determined

eren wasn't sorry about his morality being corrupt and therefore being his reason to move forward and kill humanity

he was sorry because it became corrupt due to his childish stubbornness of wanting to break the curse no matter what

forcing him to become the monster he despised

139 reconfirmed how eren was never a cold-blooded selfish monster who thought the ends justify the means or saw any noble motives behind what he did

that's why he refuses to be redeemed or get a second chance, as he is facing death

133 takes a look at this conflict as well, where the alliance tries to reach eren

wanting him to "come back" and "always stay together" due to their emotional attachement when eren was aware of how he reached the point of no return a long time ago

he followed the path of taking away the freedom from the ones who do the same to him

the "ones" only being the titans and the people who prevent him from breaking the curse

it was never about his friends who want to stop the rumbling which is why giving them freedom makes sense

since eren saw the future in which all of their choices lead to fulfilling his mission as well

eren's innocent idealism of a titan-free world never vanished completely and i think that's beautiful

he carried out the will of the survey corps members as he always had a part of their dreams in his heart

let's move on to 97 which explores this further

when talking about "pushing yourself into hell" eren was referring to the day he led dina's titan to his mom so her death can activate his rage

the panelling making it obvious that this was a direct callback as well

eren did this for what he saw "beyond that hell" which was the final result that promised him to free the world from the titans

therefore being one step closer to the world he saw in armin's book

but eren questions what's beyond & whether it's tied to "hope" or "another hell"

this indicates that eren knew he won't be alive to witness the aftermath way before he talked about this in 139

since if he was, he would be aware of the outcome in his future memories

eren walked on this path despite knowing that he won't be alive in the titan-free world he always desired

he had to sacrifice his humanity and defeat his enemy only to be united with him in death

this makes his fate a tragic but also beautiful one

but how?

eren died and suffered from the powers of the AT and FT while living under the oppression of the titans for the majority of his life, so what part about him was free?

why was grisha the one to say this to him when he wasn't free either?

the answer is that the "you're free" quote was never supposed to consider the world eren lived in

neither was it about eldians as a whole who weren't free yet

it was about the one person whose destiny was to save humanity from the terror of the titans since the day he was born

about eren jaeger who was that one glimpse of hope amongst all the people trapped in this birdcage as he was the one who chose to walk on the path of freedom that his AT represents

eren pushed himself into hell to end titan history and therefore free the founder and humanity

since the day eren kissed historia's hand, he had to align his actions to what he saw in his future while experiencing his past, present & future as well

this took a toll on his mental health which is why he wished for things to change but he knew they can't since he wanted this

doing anything for that one result as it was out of his own free will

making eren the freest of them all as his fate was in his favour like no one else's

being promised to achieve what you've always wished for since the day you were born

eren was born to eradicate the titans and free the world that way

not to end the conflicts between humanity as a whole

his birth was also the birth of the end memory that would free everyone as he was the only AT who's able to meet mikasa

it's why he kept mentioning his birth whenever he faced people who couldn't understand his life story

"because i was born into this world" being a quote which reminds eren of his freedom, his reason and his mission

from the day we're born, we have a purpose

this new perspective on things makes child & teen eren's journey much more hopeful and emotional, since future eren desperately wanted to show the end memory he saw to everyone else as well

eren was the first one to see the meaning of freedom

eren's innocent dream to show his friends a world without titans always remained and it's why he wanted them to survive so badly all this time

his will was so strong that the message of saving mikasa and armin reached previous attack titan's as well

thanks to 139 being the final puzzle piece, it was revealed that eren was always one step ahead

therefore the titans never truly trapped him in a birdcage or overpowered him since all of this was planned by him to reach the end memory, which ultimately destroys his enemy

eren's statements shown in the paths chapters get a new precious meaning as well because he was being simply straightforward

he was always like this because he was born into this world

his mission was to prevent the continuation of titan history and nothing else

it also feels like eren's answer to armin's question about why he did all of this is him being connected to the very first conscious memory he had as a baby, considering the panelling as well

but a look at his eyes at both ages is enough proof

they're shining out of curiosity

this panel just screams "because i was born into this world" to me

eren isn't saying these exact words because there's no need to

we are literally witnessing his birth right before our eyes

this whole scene is also another parallel to trost where armin asks about the "why?"

eren expresses the unexplained desire to go down this path which was his destiny & freedom since day 1

connecting eren's birth with his death to the point he can't seperate his feelings/thoughts shows how his journey came full circle

this context makes his answer beautiful

at last, i wanna discuss the final question which is

what's the meaning behind grisha saying "you're free" to baby eren?

it could simply mean that grisha listened to krugers words of loving your child and not repeating the same mistakes again, which he didn't do with zeke before

not putting the burdens of the past on eren this time since he's a special case

but why? and how did grisha know this?

through eren's birth and his inheritage of the AT, grisha was shown memories of the future

the key memory being that it will all go eren's way, which he probably saw way before eren was even born

just like it happened to kruger

and if the AT carries out his will, it means that he walked on the path of freedom

the moment the final attack titan is born, he is free

end of the thread

i hope this interpretation allows the fandom to see eren in a different light as it turns out that he had an inspiring dream and died fulfilling it

the moment he was born, eren was the embodiment of freedom

the enemy which was supposed to destroy him ultimately freed him at the same time

this only being possible because eren moved forward and overcame his biggest fear by facing it with a brave heart

his determination led him towards a future in which his wishes will be fulfilled

i have much more thoughts about the ending and attack on titan as a whole

so i might make another thread explaining why leaving the future of paradis uncertain was a good choice and what it adds to the story's overall message

but for now i need to process this whole ending further and be sad because my favorite manga ended after so many years

thank you for reading!