Thread by @cactuzzshash

Aot Manga Spoilers

The rise and fall of Eren Yeager

An analysis peeling back the layers of Attack on Titan’s MC

Mega thread

Structured in parts by laying out eren’s main desires/motivators by the end (freedom, long lives for friends, securing paradis, finish the titan cycle), and working back through his life to see how it was formed and how it ties to his ending.

Part 1: Freedom

Probably one of the most misrepresented concepts in the community imo. A flawed, childish concept that he never managed to fully escape from, however also somewhat sympathetic. The indignation of being trapped by your environment, powerless to do anything. +

He formed his idea of freedom around Armin’s book, an aimless child given hope and a potential purpose. He consistently gained strength from his conviction, which only further pushed him down this rabbit hole of his own creation. +

However Eren wanted a boundless freedom that is impossible to attain, he wanted to fly and not be tied down in any way, hence the overt bird symbolism. There are always limiters to human existence so Eren’s ideal was one that could never have been achieved. +

This is partly why eren is so broken at the sea, if he kills everyone would that actually be freedom? Reaching it isn’t enough anymore. It isn’t a retcon, this is eren honestly questioning his future, before he’s fully accepted what he’s seen but the realisation is catching up. +

‘Freedom’ is impossible to define objectively and eren, even with the power of a God, can’t have the limitless freedom he wanted because his own desires contradict each other. He’s prevented from carrying out one desire fully by the existence of another desire. +

In fact, any concept along these lines such as true freedom, utopia etc, is fundamentally flawed as they go against human nature. If we aren’t tied down by others we tie ourselves down and humans as a species aren’t able to overcome themselves. +

I wrote something on the freedom panel earlier and this seems like a good place to put it. It’s a coping mechanism, a childhood dream turned horrifying from the boy who could never fully accept the world that has birthed him (a similar mindset but opposite reaction to Zeke). +

https://twitter.com/cactuzzshash/status/1404508100644814848

I know people might argue that ‘oh his concept of freedom developed, he wants freedom to live for him & his people’, however 131 makes it overwhelmingly clear that isn’t the case. Deep down, beyond it all, this is a selfish and childish dream and he freely confesses to this. +

Even the context of the confession scene heightens this. The person eren confesses his true feelings to is someone who can’t understand his words (ramzi doesn’t speak the same language). It’s a selfish desire to offload guilt, but he doesn’t truly want to be understood/stopped. +

In essence eren by the end of the story is limited by no one other than himself. He’s tortured by the weight of his own guilt, his victim - perpetrator arc comes full circle by ‘allowing’ his mother to be killed as a result of bertholt living, and he dies with regret. +

He admits at the end that he doesn’t know why he’s always sought freedom, as he’s repeated multiple times throughout the manga. It’s a commentary on nature v nurture which ties his parallels to reiner even more closely. The selfish desire that they may have just been born with. +

It’s been staring us all in the faces pts. He’s never had a valid answer for why he does what he does. He rebukes zeke as he ‘just can’t accept an end like that’, he was ‘born into this world’, or ‘i am just me’. He is not a philosopher and 139 is consistent in that. +

The final nail in his freedom coffin is his inability to change the future. Everyone is a slave to something and eren is a slave to the concept of freedom, but more so he’s a slave to himself. He cannot change the future because, for all his guilt, he cannot change HIMSELF. +

It’s the truth of eren yeager in all it’s ugliness. He wanted everything that he did. Free will and determinism are not mutually exclusive for yams, in fact it’s only due to eren’s free will that this future is possible. He is who he is and he can never escape from that. +

Slight headcanon/side point, but i like to think his desire was so strong that is retroactively impacted all holders of the attack titan, much like Karl and his ideology. Ties into ‘to you 2000 years from now’ with eren being the embodiment of ymir’s desire for freedom.

p1 end.

Part 2: He Wants His Friends To Live Long Lives

Something that, again, was weirdly twisted by a portion of the fan base. As he says multiple times, all post time skip btw, this is a core and driving motivator for him. Probably the most selfless of them all in fact. +

Eren has wanted to protect those closest to him from the beginning. He tries to push Mikasa away from the SC, he ‘protects’ armin from bullies, and he even jumps into a titans mouth to save him. It’s a part of his nature, he also fights for those he loves. +

Jumping ahead but this part of his nature is also the reason he can’t stop himself from saving Ramzi. At his core he is also somebody who is unwilling to do nothing when an injustice like this is thrust in his face, no matter how hypocritical that may be. +

There’s so many instances of eren showing his love for his friends that it would be ridiculous to try to list them but the important thing is that this aspect of his character DOESN’T change post timeskip. All surface level but the takes i see 😳😳 +

Cue 130. Zeke asks what he will do about M’s feelings and he says he will die so there’s no point. He thinks of a new life being brought into this world to enforce the idea that life will go on after he is done, along with his friends. It’s not a retcon but a hint to the ending.+

Sasha and Hange are normally pointed out to ‘disprove’ this but those arguments are flawed. Eren, just like with the blank canvas + securing paradis, has to compromise on this desire or he wouldn’t be able to find a balance between the three of them. +

This is why he gets so angry at Sasha’s death. He hates himself for doing this therefore he laughs at his uselessness like he did with Hannes’ death, he feels the same way. It’s an unavoidable consequence for him to achieve some part of each goal despite how much it hurts him. +

Each part ties into the ending once again. When armin asks if he did this for them eren doesn’t reply because it’s not the whole truth. Yes it was the most ‘selfless’ aspect of his goals but it wasn’t his only goal and he’s not about to lie and say it is. +

He even openly admits he didn’t know the fate of each of his friends. All he knew was that Mikasa, kills him, and Armin, ‘saviour’, would survive (his two biggest priorities). He was willing to accept that outcome, despite him not WANTING that fate for the rest. +

The train/cart scene is the most overt display of this desire and there’s really not much else to be added beyond that. He wants to save his friends, even if he knows he can’t fulfil that to the extent he would prefer.

end of p2

Part 3: Securing Paradis’ Future + Ending the Titan Cycle

I’ve put these into the same category because it best exemplifies the contradictory nature of what eren wants. 100% security from outside threat means no end to the curse. The same thing applies vice versa. +

People will point to chapter 90 as proof eren grew past his desire to wipe out titans but 139 recontextualises this in a way that far better suits his character. He left him alive because he knew there was a chance he’d be turned back. +

Titans have been the focal point of his trauma since shiganshina, but it’s not just the titans themselves. It’s being forced into 13 years, forced to eat each other and forced to maintain something that turns them into cattle. +

Eren has always wanted to make a difference, from his childhood onwards, so he’s not willing to pass the burden of the TITANS into further generations. He has the power now and he will end it with his own hands. +

This attitude harkens back to the deaths of levi squad. Eren trusted in the ones around him and their deaths made him regret that. However he gets beaten anyway. He can’t trust others and he can’t trust himself either. +

This realisation is pushed to the brink in the cave. World view shattered, lamenting his existence and suicidal, it takes others to give him the courage to move forward again. To be able to trust in himself again, however briefly. +

Bystanders is vital because it presents an escape from eren’s depression. The story of uselessness is something that resonated with him but Carla’s words allow him to have a more balanced view. He IS special, but not due to his abilities. He’s special because he was born. +

Pts challenges this improved outlook once again. If he (and everyone else) are special, why must they die purely BECAUSE they were born? It’s wrong, unjust, and unforgivable in his mind. He must do something, it’s his duty, with the power he has. +

The problem arises here. If he rumbles the entire world, his people would still be forced into eating each other and the objects of his trauma would go unpunished & all his friends may die, but he’ll be able to achieve the blank canvas he selfishly desires. +

Cue 80% and why it’s accepted as a compromise in his mind. It’s a great tie in of his growth to accept help from others but also his selfishness and need to contribute. He makes them unable to counter immediately, and trusts his friends to find another solution after that. +

There’s so much hate for this concept when it’s perfectly in line with his characterisation throughout the entire story. He even uses the exact same words at the start of the rumbling that he used as a child screaming post Carla’s death. +

end of p3

Conclusion

Eren is multifaceted, with contradictory desires, but that doesn’t make him a worse character it makes him more human in a story predicated upon not dehumanising others - literally the point of the titan allegory in the first place. +

139 shows us the man who’d seen beyond the hell, who had stopped moving forward after achieving his goals (compromised as they were) and was left to be tortured timelessly by the weight of his own guilt. +

His selfish outburst about mikasa is just that, an outburst, which he immediately takes back. He even says the exact opposite to mikasa herself, canonically after this event. +

He’s getting his years worth of pent up desires, which he’s never intending to act on, off of his chest before he dies while talking to his best friend. It’s just human and about as out of character as erwin saying he wants to see the basement and letting levi decide. +

139 also isn’t approval of eren jeager’s actions. He’s painted as lost and regretful, the product of trauma and the ultimate perpetrator. Armin being able to sympathise despite immediately condemning his actions is just a step away from the cycle that’s bound them. +

Eren holds the duality of almost all of themes of the show within himself by the end which is also a cool interpretation of transcendence. God/Devil, Selfish/Selfless, Victim/Perpetrator, Beauty/Cruelty, Freedom/Slavery and i love that. +

He ends riddled with hypocrisy, willingly killed at the hands of the one he loved and wanted to protect, with himself as his only true enemy. A fittingly tragic conclusion for the tragic story of Eren Jeager. +

There will be people saying ‘oh it meant nothing who cares’ (like trying to attribute meaning isn’t a huge theme of the manga) but i honestly don’t care for such superficial takes. +

Eren was WRONG. Just as ymir was too submissive and twisted by her need for connection (not her fault), eren too was broken by his own trauma and his nature. The final pages shows us humans don’t change, but we will also never stop striving for a solution.

END 🤍