it's disconcerting to see so many people applaud and cheer for what is basically a massacre of innocent people (even tho the shows KEEPS telling them it's wrong).

And all because they feel a strong connection to the protagonist who they've seen grow up.

This touches on a very alarming and frightening aspect regarding the volatility of human nature.

Explains why people literally d***ride weirdo politicians and it really shows why s*** like genocide can even happen

yep manga readers lost...

Either more paradis kids get killed or eren activates the rumbling to protect the island

The show already explored peace talks and obviously that didn’t work out. What other choice does he have?

Yeah, and on a smaller scale, why certain people feel the need to excuse and justify reprehensible actions by artists whose art they like.

He could literally do what Armin told him to do lol

@Blueface what was the self mutilation on the battlefield stuff Eren was on about, read the manga but I need a reminder

The story repeatedly makes a point of illustrating the importance of "talking things out" - first through Marco, and later Armin.

But, EVEN if what you said was totally true - two wrongs don't make a right. And there's a difference between understanding that the outcome is inevitably tragic and feeling sorry for it, and literally applauding it.

It was right before he infiltrated Marley as a wounded soldier.

Word, I guess I'm overthinking it but why'd he literally have to go to a battlefield instead of just harming himself somewhere else

That's a good point, idk actually maybe it was for dramatic purposes?

I think what everyone is trying to get at that it's disturbing to side with anyone in this show as both Eren and the world he's currently killing are commiting/have committed genocide

This is a fictional story where no one has anything invested from a real life standpoint (like people in actual wars do) that's supposed to allow you a 10000 ft view of the cyclical nature of hate and persecution

S1 EP 1

S4 EP 28

S/o @Jake

Word, I'm glad I'm not wilding

I gotta rewatch the episode but that mf seemed shook as hell trying to hurt himself and I was just like tf you MFs self harm all day every day to advance your goals why you gotta go and do it somewhere you could actually die

I went to check, and the manga does show Eren in a trench, but it does not show any conflict around him. For all we know he could have been there alone and during a quieter time of day.

The manga is way more explicit than the anime btw. This mf blinded himself with a bullet.

He probably needed to get in with their records saying he was injured in combat to get in that military hospital to get close to where Zeke usually hanged out.

I agree with you in essence, but to play sort of the devil's advocate, we've seen that peace talks where we at in the story were not possible, even before eren announced the rumbling. We see marco, Armin and Uri wondering why cant two sides just sit down and have a conversation, at least to understand eachother and come to a conclusion that benefits both; hange wonders this too in the railroad flashback, and they make the Avengers sit in a campfire trying to do exactly this, but while uri and kenny's relationship and the Avengers get together show clearly that there will always be a chance for people of oppsite views to come to an understanding, its still just a hope, that with time and with its unending pursue might come to reality, armin says so when they're at the shootout with eren, but eren doesnt have time, and that's a key aspect imo, and also, he's seen parts of what will happen in the future, and that future involves the rumbling. He wants to bring his loved ones the peace and freedom himself, because he wants to be sure that when he's gone they will keep on living a good life. He knows what he's doing is wrong and disgusting, but he has to do it, because the world as he himself knows is cruel and there was no other choice to him. Not justifying eren in any way, im more on team armin, but isayama has done a great job at explaining why eren is doing what we're seeing, and why talking things out is a difficult ideal to maintain in a world rooted in conflict. Maybe the later chapters will change my opinion or enrich it with new perspectives and revelations

I interpreted it as eren having to roleplay as a eldian in mare and so forced to go to war, and harming himself there while nobody's looking would make those injuries look like casualties of war, since a key factor in eren's deceiving of falco is falco thinking he's a scarred war veteran. Nobody would ever imagine the evil eren jaeger was actually in war on mare's side and got injured after all

Same rage, same instincts, same hatred, same determination

Damn I ran through the chapters post the first part of season 4 I forgot so much

Wonder why the anime choose to show the battlefield active for this part

Makes sense, guess he would have just left himself in one of those trenches until he could be taken to the hospital

Even as kids, Armin embodided optimism and curiosity, Eren embodied a selfish need for conflict.

Isayama actually wrote his story in a genius way - basically everything around Eren is constructed in a way that makes intepretation around his character appear very nuanced.

I think it will be insteresting to revist this topic, once you've finished the story.

But to me, Eren's actions and the main motives driving them, are absolutely reprehensible.

I think isayama wants to portray eren's actions as wrong too, since one of the main themes of the story is getting out of the forest where hatred and conflict are in a neverending cycle, and eren is the pinnacle of hate and conflict, but to not make his decision come off as too evil, in a series where there's no pure evil, he found ways to make the dilemma of paradis battle for self-affirmation very difficult. I also think that his motivations in a vacuum are just so far in the story, which adds to his nuance

Alr I finished the finale yesterday and this s*** is actually frustrating

So where does the finale finish off? I’m manga so dw

There's a flashback to where Eren and the OG crew get to Marley undercover to meet the Azumabito people and talk peace potentially. They got drunk w/ the refugees in the camp, but then Eren disappeared after the peace talks were unsuccessful. Then you flash forward to present day and the wall titans just destroyed a whole fleet of ships and were approaching land, and you see Eren's titan at the end of the episode.