Thread by @whofavoredfire

Development vs. Desires - Everyone & (Especially) Eren is a Slave

An exploration of how Eren does develop, but it doesn't end up changing things for him- and why this makes Reiner and Gabi such effective and necessary foils to him

#aotmangaspoilers

Eren has an innate drive for freedom, it's core to who he is and something that always motivated him, but it's an uncompromising view of "freedom" coming with massive costs and a constantly moving goalpost he can't reach; it isn't logical or obtainable so it can't make him happy

This is something we see visualized with the Rumbling, like:

- Tearing down the walls leads to many civilian deaths

- Seeing the "scenery" is depicted under the lens of carnage & childishness

- Eren's depicted as a miserable, decapitated head attached to a giant pile of bones

"Born this Way"

This is what Isayama doubles down on when he's discussing Eren being "born" a certain way throughout the narrative. Eren has since birth been readily capable of violently asserting his (and others, particularly those he cares for) freedom.

And while it starts off by feeling understandable, i.e. traffickers should be stopped & walls do limit freedom, it's still established early on as not normal. Eren is established early on as not normal

We accept Eren brutally murdering traffickers who pose a threat to Mikasa's freedom because they're clearly awful people in the wrong threatening an innocent

But what happens when one person asserts their "freedom" to live or get what they want & it comes at the cost of others?

The Rumbling and powder keg of circumstances of the plot lead Eren to the point where the extremeness of this mentality is tested and falls apart- and yet it does nothing to stop him from enacting the Rumbling.

Eren's Development & DoW

It also comes into conflict with his character growth, his experiences, & his capability of empathy

Unlike Zeke, who places little value on lives & uses people as tools, Eren's able to form connections, empathize, & even recognize his actions are wrong

That's part of what's so compelling about his dynamic with Zeke in Paths, Eren has the morally worse plan to use the Founder's power, but he also wins over Ymir and gains that power by treating her as a human- something Zeke is unable to fathom at the time.

But because his desire for "freedom" is something innate, something illogical, it can't be combatted by development or rationalization

And Eren does develop. He begins as someone convinced of a black & white view of the world, someone quick to label people "animals" & "inhuman"

But Eren is forced to confront that viewpoint as he realizes the truth of the titans & the people of the outside world

This is why in 131 Eren even acknowledges the logic of Karl Fritz & that the scale difference of killing everyone outside the island vs. letting the island die

Eren knows that the people inside the walls vs. the people outside aren't any different, it's not all enemies vs. allies, it's people vs. people- and knowing that makes it impossible to miss what that scale of difference of killing everyone outside vs. the island really entails

This is the power of his conversation with Reiner in Declaration of War- it calls back to Eren & Reiner's CoT conversations and justifications.

The whole conversation is Eren giving Reiner the out by reminding him of Reiner's previous justifications while saying he's "the same".

Reiner also mentions Eren's promise in Clash to cause them miserable deaths, something Eren dismisses- highlighting how Eren has moved away from this black-and-white view of the world, developed a new understanding of the situation, since Clash because of his experiences.

He pushes Reiner because he's come to the conclusion that Reiner also experienced this dismantling of justifications Eren did, another "half-hearted piece of shit".

That's why the final "we're the same" & conversation end hinges on Reiner admitting his selfish motivations

Reiner's confession parallels Eren's to Ramzi in 131. Because external factors aren't the true reasoning, even if they are factors.

And Eren has realized, like Reiner did, that once the justifications don't hold up, that it's something innate that drives them.

Foiling to the Brauns

This is one of the reasons why the Brauns are such incredible foils to Eren.

Like Eren, Reiner had external factors to do something awful like breaking down the wall, and clung to them, but in the end, he recognized he was motivated by something selfish.

After recognizing his selfish motivations, Reiner began to make choices that slowly led him on a path that ultimately let him act selflessly- he was able to act to save the world with no hope of it benefitting him, a sharp deviation from his desire for heroics originally.

Like Eren, Gabi was someone who witnessed the destruction of her home for reasons she couldn't fathom & clung to revenge + rage as a result of that trauma. But more than that, she also had a selfish desire to have the Paradis people be devils for the betterment of other Eldians

But unlike Eren, when Gabi realized the truth of the world and her own selfish motivations, she was able to change paths, she let go of her hatred and ultimately allied with the people she had thought of as devils.

Gabi has always existed to represent the path Eren could've taken, and this is why.

The idea is if it were only Eren's trauma and the circumstances of the war, he would've changed paths once he realized the nuance of the people demonized and his own selfishness, like Gabi did.

The Brauns realize the truth of the world, empathize with their enemies & recognize their own inner "devils" & selfishness- and these experiences impact them, leading them on paths of saving people who would demonize them with the belief that they won't benefit from these choices

By contrast, Eren's own similar epiphanies based on his own experience living among his "enemies" don't drive a change in direction for him.

He was on a path of destruction that he couldn't stop.

Everybody's a Slave

Many characters are driven by something & forced to reconcile their wants with their realities
Some, like Armin's sacrifice in RtS & Mikasa with her choice to kill Eren to stop his actions, give up their dreams and desires for something bigger than themselves

Or Erwin who reached out for help to let his enslavement go because he couldn't; Kenny himself in his last moments gives up on his pursuit of power to do something selfless for his nephew

Both Kenny & Erwin smile in those moments, at peace having put aside their enslavement

Eren is a standout among characters is because his nature overpowers his development and other, more logical wants. It's not that he lacks complexity and the ability to develop, it's just that it doesn't matter in the end.

It's also why he foils Erwin

Eren realizes that people outside aren't all enemies who deserve to die & he's doing the Rumbling primarily for selfish reasons. But he still can't stop himself. His destructive inner nature & enslavement to "freedom" just always wins

Everyone has a "devil" in them & Eren's wins