Attack on Titan: Isayama ending isn't a true resolution

Eren as seen in anime
Eren as seen in anime (Image credit: MAPPA Studios)

From the moment Attack on Titan began, one thing was for sure: It was not going to be a typical story of good versus evil. Hajime Isayama’s world was dark, morally complex, and built on layers of deception. No one, however, could have predicted the ending where Eren Yeager, a boy who was supposed to be the protagonist, is humanity's saviour and the biggest threat at the same time.

For the longest time after finishing the series, and trying to understand the true meaning behind the ending, going through countless online discussions, fan analysis, and partaking in debates with other fans, I have come to a conclusion. Isayama’s ending isn’t a true resolution. It is just another link in a never-ending chain of hate, tragedy, and misguided ideals. Eren didn’t break the cycle. He became it.

Ultimately, even after Eren wiped out 80% of humanity, I could not come to hate him. Because he was never a perfect hero. His dream of earning freedom was corrupted by his obsession to handle it all by himself. He thought he could protect his friends by becoming the enemy of the world.

It was clear from the start that his definition of freedom was about breaking out of the walls, escaping the Titans, seeing the world beyond the sea. But by the end, his idea of freedom had mutated into something monstrous. He no longer wanted personal freedom — he wanted to create a world where his people could be free by becoming the very thing that stole freedom from everyone else.

Eren and Ymir as seen in anime (Image credit: MAPPA Studio)
Eren and Ymir as seen in anime (Image credit: MAPPA Studio)

Suddenly, his idea of liberation looked more like a conquest. The irony is overwhelming. Eren believed he was breaking the cycle of hate, but he was only continuing it on a global scale. His descent from being the protagonist to anti-hero was gradual but never inevitable. It was clear that he chose a path in which returning to being his normal self was not possible.

I’ll admit it: Part of me hoped he had a greater plan. That the Rumbling was a bluff. That he had found a way to dismantle the Titans without bloodshed. However, he opted for mass destruction. The one good thing he did was eradicate the Titans, but it was just the side effect of breaking Ymir's curse.

According to me, one of the great tragedies of Attack on Titan is that it never gave us space to imagine true peace. Every character was too entrenched in generational trauma and war to break free. And maybe that’s the point.

Only if Eren in Attack on Titan had tried to share his burden with his friends, maybe there would have been a slight chance to find peace. Unfortunately, his decision left everyone traumatised, and it would take maybe two to three generations to recover from the lasting damage left by him.


What does the ending of Attack on Titan really resolve?

I believe with the ending of Attack on Titan, Isayama resolves a few important issues. The titans are erased from existence, and the Paradis still stands. However, that is it. Isayama didn’t offer a utopia. He offered a loop. He made us watch as every hopeful ideology, like freedom, peace, and revolution, collapsed under the weight of human nature.

And he showed us that when power is placed in the hands of the broken, the world breaks with them. As the rest of the world is out of balance and shattered, characters like Mikasa and Armin need to live on despite being haunted by the events they had to overcome.


To sum it up, it is true that Isayama ended Attack on Titan by not giving us a resolution. It gave us a warning. We cannot deny that Eren ended the titan curse, but was not able to end the curse of humanity. This show does not pretend that one man, even with godlike power, can fix centuries of hatred.

Rather, it shows us that true freedom can’t be achieved through violence and real peace can’t be built on the graves of billions. Finally, even someone like Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan does not have the right to play god. In my opinion, maybe that is the story we needed all along.

Edited by Vinayak Chakravorty