Attack on Titan had its ups and downs through the years. My feelings on the show as a whole are complicated and I may not agree with every story decision that has been made. But one thing has to be said, the conclusion feels just right. I was very afraid of this very last part, mainly because I've heard that many people are disappointed by it. My biggest fear was new pointless sacrifices, all in the name of stopping Eren and his rumbling. And yet, it didn't happen. Everything I've wanted for this conclusion has happened, and so much more.
I really liked the metaphors and the messages. How Eren's motivations and reason for his massacre are explained and how and why Mikasa was chosen by the founder Ymir to be their final executioner. The part where Armin and Eren are talking about everything feels just correct. They may be going to hell, but at the end of the day, it is all a part of a very big trolley problem. Do you eradicate your friends and people you care for, or do you sacrifice 80% of humanity in trying to protect them - even sacrificing yourself in the process? Eren's play wasn't perfect, hell it was dumb. But he was always aware of that - he's an idiot who didn't know better and this was his shot at saving the people he cares about.
Now I'm not a big fan of the explanation that Eren manipulated time throughout his history, but that was something set up in a previous season and I can't fault the conclusion for also making use of this ability for some explanations. In the end, every character had a meaningful epilogue and there is a big hopeful message at the end. Even though so many people suffered, so many people die for something they had no power to influence, there are also people who got to see their family members for the first time in a long while. People who can perhaps find happiness once again. Although not everything went perfectly in the world, that was always impossible. Conflict is in human nature, and we can only try and do our best to swim through it as well as we possibly can.
As a full package, Attack on Titan is a sensational story full of friendship, betrayal, tragedy but also... happiness. In the end the world moves on, the age of titans is no more and there is newfound room for peace and prosperity. There is something so very human about this complex and very well-written story. Whilst not perfect, its mere existence brings me a lot of joy. Thank you for everything, Attack on Titan.
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