Not only that, but im confused at what the f*** i read, will have to read it a lot of times, and maybe 139 will give it some extra context

AAAAHHH F*** I'M IN AF FOR YOUR REACTION to 139

What was mikasa's dream and why was it parallel yet also polar opposite of eren's????? So many questions, not enough answers :damn:

i think i got it now, will post my thoughts later

I got spoiled by a f***ing youtube rec. Goddamn it man

Been staring at a wall for the last 10 minutes, f*** man

If you're caught up with the anime, and if you digest manga, id say just go read it. Its only 9 chapters, waiting a year for 9 chapters is a lot, at least it was for me lol

This the same feeling i got from end of evangelion episode 26, ashita no joe final chapter, devilman final chapter, berserk eclipse and hunter x hunter episode 135. If the manga got me this wrecked, the anime with the va, ost and animation will f***ing destroy me

Means you actually liked it in some way tho, i guess

I was like 'whatever' at the end and went on with my day. Actually showed me the most that the ending wasn't good imo. That i didnt care much

yooo, you finally read the manga? damn bro, now you know

most of the time I read manga endings at least twice but with aot I just couldnt

nobody wants to relive a tragedy

You're talking about 138 too right? Would love to hear your thoughts after completing 139

Oh no i was meaning the last chapter sorry haha. Finished that a year ago

Oh ok, thought it was weird you'd find 138 not interesting. Wondering what the f*** happens next chapter that supposedly changes everything

138 - A Long Dream
Wasnt sure i would do a write up today, its a super dense chapter, im still not sure, but for now i'll write i guess.
Last chapter we saw the rumbling stop, this one starts with another look at it, from a specific pov - my favorite panel of 134 was that of the crowd lifting up a newborn while the rumbling was approaching, so im happy it was used again to portray the end of the rumbling. The colossal titans look like they're bowing in defeat, and the baby has stopped crying. Seems like the world hasnt ended, part of humanity has survived, ironically like what the premise of the story was back when it started.
The wings of freedom bring the warriors back to their families, to sort of close off the battle of heaven and earth. They can finally reconcile with their families. Mikasa has another headache, and she remembers eren's last words to her before distancing himself from her and armin. He always hated her. At least that's what he said. We know its not true. She doesnt yet, and doesnt want those to be the last words he tells her, because we all know why. The moments with the warriors are so bittersweet and earned for all of them, in particular Annie for obvious reasons, and thus will soon be completely subverted into something horrible. And it does. But before that, i want to bring focus to connie and what he says.
In seeing his previous enemies being reconciled with their families, connie, and by extension the ex survey corp, all having lost their families in large part indirectly or directly due to this same enemy, wonders whether they did the right thing in helping the enemy, as if they didnt have enough regrets already. The scarred look on their faces makes it even clearer. Also shows they're not just benevolent heroes, they also have their regrets and in this case, envy, not fitting for super heroes. I love that this moment happens right as the warriors go back to their families, since connie also wanted that for years but couldnt because her mother is a titan. This is also important because connie's situation is also referenced in another, less subtle way. The hallucigenia, faced with death, fears for its life, and like zeke said, tries to cling to life by releasing a gas that transforms the liberio refugees into titans, in the same way zeke and pieck did in ragako, as in fact connie notices (dont know how he knew for certain that was the gas though, he didnt witness the ragako incident, but whatever lol).
Its timing is also unfair. Not only because they just reunited, not only because the marley general finally recognized eldians as equals by helping mr leonhart getting up, but most importantly because annie had finally reached her goal of a irl decade. All undone out of a creature's fear for its life. Titans rush to defend the hallucigenia from reiner and to help make it advance towards eren, as the only way to ensure its survival is to live a symbiotic relationship with the founding titan.
I think the titan powers will cease to exist next chapter, i doubt the parasyte will survive and without the parasyte i think neither paths nor the founding titan can exist, so they'll either die or return to normal. And since connie's mom is in ragako and i really doubt gabi is gone like that, they'll return to normal. Almost forgot, but jean and connie's last moments were heartwarming in a way, the last legacy of the survey corp, the idiots who were the spirit of the group since day 1 reminiscing about their origins and good days of season 1 before turning into titans. I thought falco's scream at first was supposed to be like zeke's, mainly because of the light inside his mouth, but it doesnt make sense because of the rules the story's established, so i guess its isayama's way to highlight the agony of falco.
Armin's colossal looks as depressed as ever, he hates that form. Reiner is f\*\*\*ing defeated, his plot armor titan is all defense no offense, man been dropped left and right, he getting jumped this chapter too, but no matter what he has to keep on surviving. They thought they were done, but eren isnt. I knew he wasnt dead because i knew he was inside the head, after all eren human is like the titan head, a head and a spine. And until his nape is sliced he'll keep moving forward, hes the advancing titan after all. His new form is sick, although i miss the shingeki no kyojin we all knew. But against armin he needs to be up to par, so he became colossal attack titan. Now, why it was possible, i admit i havent thought too much about it, because other things took my attention this chapter. And its sick.
From one side armin, from the other reiner, they are humanity's last bastion, and once again its ironic they're the armor and the colossal titans, the same that started the story. The eren and armin splash page was massive, leggendary, i loved it. That whole little battle reminded me of eren telling armin they've never battled because armin would've never beat him, and he was right cause armin in a way lost this time too. But armin doesnt use hands he uses words so he got the excuse. On the other side, reiner, annie and pieck (they were already shifters so gas wouldnt do a thing to them) struggling against the horde of titans and the hallucigenia, with reiner wondering why do they keep fighting, will their efforts be rewarded? Same question connie asked himself, although worded differently. Will their act have been for nothing, will their curse end, will the hate on eldia end, or did they fight only because they were against eren's cruelty and the world will not thank them?
As she approaches eren, the headaches get stronger and stronger, and we see THAT ONE PANEL, the panel i've been waiting to get recontextualized ever since i started this f\*\*\*ing story, and that dumbass tetsuro araki changed in the anime so now this scene will inherently be worse in the anime because there just isnt the connection what the f\*\*\* wit. Still, in the manga its insane, you know where its going. And mikasa wants to go back, back to when it was all easy, life wasnt about difficult morally grey choices and eren wasnt a genocidal monster. Something many irl want too ironically.

Made a second post just in case, i know i would've passed the character limit for this part lmfao. So, we're at the elephant in the room. The last 15 pages. What the f\*\*\*. In chapter 137 aot got philosophical, in 138 it got surreal, almost like a child of evangelion and devilman. It all starts with mikasa and her eyes closed. Eren wakes up. How long has she slept? And you immediately make the connection, because its impossible not to. A mystery 10 years in the making, a plot thread opened in the literal 1st chapter, that in the anime is f\*\*\*ing ruined because dumbass tetsuro araki, dumbass production committee and dumbass hajime isayama didnt talk it out. So this scene will lose some meaning in the anime, but in the manga its all preserved. And while i didnt feel like the manga readers who started in 2009, 2012 or 2013 with this chapter, the emotional weight was still there. "Why are you crying?" You notice that the scene is extremely familiar, but also different.
This time MIKASA was dreaming, this time they're adults, this time SHE'S crying. And you get confused, what the f\*\*\* is going on? Mikasa answers eren, she's crying because she feels she doesnt belong here, but eren says there wasnt any other choice. He explains they ran away, the war of marley ended, they're about to begin the attack on paradis, armin has been looking for them for a long time. You're even more confused, you were just in fort salta, armin is fighting against eren, what the f\*\*\* is going on here. But there's already a clue. Isayama shows eren and mikasa running away dressed a certain way, more specifically, it seems they're dressed the same way they were in ep 87/chapter 123\. And then eren adds some context. He couldnt sacrifice historia, but he couldnt sacrifice the world either. So he ran away, to live the remaining days in peace with her, just like she told him. And now it becomes clear: in this "reality", when eren asks what he means to her, she gives the other answer, and this changes the remainder of the story.
Eren doesnt attack liberio, he doesnt meet zeke, he doesnt access paths, he doesnt influence his father, he doesnt activate the rumbling. This is when it gets weird though. If eren never convinces his father to go through with the murder of frieda, how did he even get to this point in the first place? Eren asks mikasa to forget about him and bury forever that scarf, the scarf that enslaved her to eren, that couldnt let her free, a sort of chain around her neck that kept her at the mercy of eren. Mikasa's eyes get sadder, and in the following panels we transition to our reality. Transition starts from mikasa's eyes that mimic her expression in the "real" world, and we see eren with the titan marks in his eyes, asking her to forget about him. We see another bird flying high, which i now think is ymir.
Now comes mikasa's first explicit rebellion; she wont forget eren, despite his wished, and she will keep the scarf, now that she realizes that eren hasnt lost the part of him that saved her and wrapped that scarf around her. The paneling is great, you see the newfound determination in her, to rebel against eren, and to save him. Its her time to repay that favor. Found interesting mikasa knew where eren is, will become important for a later point. We get the long awaited EMA reunion, although in a more cursed way, and with levi's intrusion because hes levi. The following action panels are heavy, you know what is going to happen, you're not ready, but you go along and read. Mikasa enters eren's titan head, she reaches eren. They both give eachother a last look, mikasa with a beautiful smile, the most happy and relieved she's ever looked, and eren looks fulfilled, content and proud. See you later eren. Final spread is a masterpiece, one of the best pages isayama has ever drawn, a fitting, fulfilling, bittersweet, maybe more bitter than sweet, end to the two characters that defined this story and a generation. Oh yeah, there's also ymir smiling, as if she's been planning, or waiting, for this moment the whole time. Goodbye, boy who sought freedom.
Ive been losing my mind today trying to make sense of what happened in the latter half of the chapter, and i'll look funny in the light when its revealed next chapter i was wrong on all levels, but i dont care if im wrong. If i get an explanation, which honestly, isnt really needed for this moment, good, the man himself will tell me. If not, I'll have my cool little interpretation. So, i've looked around to see what people thought, of course all theories made before 139\. Many thought what was being presented was a alternate universe, where mikasa gives eren that night another answer. I dont see it that way, mainly because like i've previously wrote, if eren and mikasa ended up running away from everything and everyone, eren wouldnt have convinced his father to eat frieda, and the story would've never started, and eren would've never reachhed marley. It cant be an alternate universe, unless in 139 isayama gives a good reason.
The chapter is titled a long dream, so using occam's razor, the most simple conclusion would be, it was a dream.
Mikasa has always been wondering about that answer, and if a different answer would've changed the course of the story. So, she made just that in her mind. She dreamt of a world where her selfish dreams came true. The world was doomed, but she was with eren, an eren that didnt have the devil inside of him, that devil that gave him the strength and the determination to kill all the enemies to gain true freedom, a eren idealized by mikasa, a eren saved mikasa, not horribly murdered at the age of 9 two murderers. A eren that gave her that scarf. She's also been wondering about if the eren she's always imagined was the true eren, and thus if present eren has changed, or if he was always this way. And in this dream of hers, it matches up with her thoughts. This was how mikasa always saw him.
But it isnt him. Eren cares about freedom too much not to go forward with his plan, eren cares too much about his loved ones not to sacrifice himself to give them a better world. And thus, she feels unfit in that world she dreamt of, because in that world eren isnt eren, and mikasa isnt mikasa. The true eren she loves is inside that awful titan, suffering for what he did, suffering for the unending search of a freedom its impossible to obtain. But i also feel eren was in this dream too, the real eren i mean. That's because we get eren's true feelings in a way.
The eren that wants the best for mikasa, who wants her to get rid of her obsession with him, something that has hurt her for such a long time. And the transition to eren with titan marks, plus the fact he had his eyes closed, cant help but think they were both dreaming of this, of another way, but it wasnt possible. And maybe ymir through paths or whatever made this connection possible, that's why she's smiling at the end. It also matches with how their eyes are opening and closing. When in one reality they're open, in the other they're closed. And in the final pages, when mikasa gives eren his final goodbyes, she does it both in that dream and in the real world, but in dream he has his eyes closed, because hes finally opened them in the real world. And thus, we get the culmination of eren and mikasa as characters.
In eren's case, he could finally make the person he loved the most free, and could also free himself of the shackles of fate that were pushing him forward, not knowing true freedom, something he would've never reached, at the hands of mikasa. In mikasa's case, she was able to finally rebel to eren by never forgetting him and wearing that scarf to the end of their moments. She was able to let go of eren by dealing the final blow, finally rejecting the idealized boy and confronting the real eren, the one she truly loves, the one whos beautiful but also cruel. Just like that kiss. A kiss that came too late, but nevertheless a kiss that demonstrates their love, and a kiss of goodbye. There's the enigma of the headaches, but for that one id have to read the entire story again to see when she has them and find a pattern so i wont speak on it, although for now i think it happens when eren isnt acting like the way he is in her mind, but it may be total bullshit. What does eren dream of in chapter 1 then? Well, i think that he dreams of whats to come for him in the story, up until he gets killed by mikasa, but in the final moments he doesnt see his death, he sees mikasa saying her goodbyes to him.
Isayama introduced the cruel but beautiful world concept in chapter 5 with mikasa, and with mikasa he ends it in chapter 138\. Amazing. Waiting for ymir's reasons for all of this and what she's hiding, and a final pov of eren. We heard armin, we heard mikasa, now its his time.

yeah man everybody might as well go ahead and wrap up the manga if they wanna drag the final season out lmao

138 final moments in anime might break the internet more than anything we've ever seen tbh, if the execution is right, and it will, mappa is the best at handling important character moments, it will go down in history

I think Levi looked upset when he killed Zeke is because in that moment he wasn’t killing the monster that massacred the survey corps and titanized Ragako Village, The Beast Titan. He was slaying a man that chose to sacrifice his life in order to give them a chance to end this. Levi could see that from the peace in Zeke’s eyes that he was different and I guess Levi wasn’t happy with it ending that way, since previously Levi just wanted to see him die a very painful death but Levi just ends him with an almost gentle slice through the neck freeing him from this world and freeing Levi from his promise to Erwin

Damn i forgot to come back to that post with my thoughts, but i love your interpretation so that will do lol

As a dub watcher that turned subs at the start of S4; it was great to watch the last ep dubbed. I forgot how great it was

What was y’all’s favorite ep this season?

im pretty sure that Connie knew about the gas because Zeke explained to them how the operation went in Ragako. At least we know that Levi and the other SC members in the forest knew and I don’t see why Connie who was directly affected by it, wouldn’t have found out

yeah after thinking about it i was wrong. I thought he was smelling the gas and connecting it to ragako's gas but that was impossible, his smelling was to confirm whether it was a titan's death gas or not, and through process of elimination he found what the gas was. Thank you though

Btw, isayama you son of a b****