Attack on Titan Ending Explained (2024)

Warning: Contains spoilers for Attack on Titan: The Final Chapters Part 2After 10 years and going through two different anime studios, Attack on Titan’s anime finally came to a close on November 5th 2023. The series finale, for better or worse, was largely the same as the extended ending to the manga with a few small changes, so people who read the manga and people who only watched the anime will likely have similar reactions to its conclusion.

Having unlocked the full power of the Founding Titan, Eren started the Rumbling and sent his Titans around the world to kill everyone outside of Paradis Island. Despite knowing that the Rumbling is the only way to ensure the safety of their home and that they don’t have any better ideas, Armin, Mikasa, Levi, and the rest of Eren’s former allies refuse to accept genocide as a solution, and they team up with some of the Marleyan forces to stop Eren.

Many more lives were lost in their journey, most notably Hange, but they still made it to Eren with the full intent of stopping him and saving the world.

How The Final Battle Against Eren Starts In Attack On Titan

In part 1 of Attack on Titan’s finale, “The Battle of Heaven and Earth”, Armin planned to blow up Eren’s Titan form with his transformation, but before he could activate it, an okapi-like Titan swallowed Armin whole, revealing that Eren had summoned countless Titan Shifters of the past to fight them. This even included more familiar Titan Shifters like Bertholdt, Galliard, and Ymir, and their combined power stopped Pieck from blowing up Eren’s neck. It looked as if everyone was about to die, but at the last moment, they were saved by Annie and Gabi flying in atop Falco in his new Titan form.

With the situation more desperate than ever, the Global Alliance reluctantly accepted that they had to kill Eren, so they split into two teams: one to blow up Eren’s neck and the other to save Armin. Neither team has any more luck fighting off the ancient Titan Shifters. Armin bemoans his uselessness as he watches his friends risk their lives. As Armin does so, he questions how he’s able to think in the first place, and that leads to Armin realizing that he’s been transported to the Paths dimension, upon which he meets Zeke building a sand castle.

Armin Proves That Compassion Was The Best Solution In Attack On Titan

In part 2 of Attack on Titan’s finale, “A Long Dream”, Armin tried to convince Zeke to help him stop Eren, but Zeke no longer saw the point in life. Armin, however, made Zeke realize that life was all about the small, meaningless things that bring people joy, and that made Zeke think about how happy he would have been if he'd just kept playing baseball with Ksaver. That realization caused the spirits of the deceased Titan Shifters who appeared in the series to manifest, and Armin and Zeke gave them the strength to resist Eren’s power and fight back against him.

With the old Titan Shifters on their side, the Global Alliance regained momentum and fought back against Eren. Mikasa freed Armin from the okapi-like Titan, and Zeke allowed himself to be killed by Levi, forcing Eren’s Titans to stop the Rumbling. Jean took advantage of that opening to detonate the bomb around Eren’s neck, which forced out the worm-like creature that first bonded with Ymir Fritz, and Armin attempted to destroy the worm-like creature and Eren with the explosion from his transformation. With Eren and the worm-like creature dead, it appeared that the threat of the Rumbling was finally over.

How Attack On Titan Ends Eren & Mikasa’s Relationship

In a final gambit to continue the Rumbling, Eren reemerges with a new Titan form to fight Armin and the worm-like creature releases a gas that turns all the surrounding Eldians, save for Mikasa, Levi, and the Titan Shifters, into an army of Titans to help it reconnect with Eren. As Mikasa struggles with everything, she has a vision of a world where she and Eren ran away and lived together in peace as the world goes to war. Said vision strengthened Mikasa’s resolve, and Mikasa decapitated Eren from inside his Titan form and said goodbye to him with a final kiss.

Eren’s Death & True Plan In Attack On Titan Explained

In Attack on Titan’s final part, “Toward the Tree on That Hill”, Eren and Armin met in the Paths where Eren revealed that he wanted his friends to become heroes for defeating him, earning enough respect to protect Paradis Island. He also revealed that everything was predetermined and designed to free Ymir Fritz from her love for King Fritz, something that Mikasa was the key to accomplishing. Armin berated Eren for playing with Mikasa’s feelings, and Eren admitted to not wanting to die but said it was too late with how the Rumbling killed 80% of humanity outside the island.

Armin was horrified and was taken aback by Eren’s assertion that this was the only path after trying countless different scenarios. Armin called out Eren’s plan for how it would only make things worse, and Eren admitted that he only said it was inevitable because he was an idiot who couldn’t make something different happen. Armin, in a final act of compassion, took responsibility for making Eren care about the outside world in the first place and said that they’ll be together again in hell. After embracing one last time, Armin returned to reality to tearfully reconfirm Eren’s death.

Attack On Titan’s Ending & True Meaning Explained

With Eren’s death and the destruction of the worm-like creature in Attack on Titan's ending, not only did the Rumbling end, but all Titan powers ceased to exist. The spirits of Sasha, Hange, the Survey Corps, and Ymir Fritz all appear one last time to thank everyone before leaving, and Mikasa went off to bury Eren's head at the tree they used to play under as children. Armin, meanwhile, stayed behind to deal with the lingering tensions between the Eldians and Marleyans, doing so by playing into Eren's planned narrative of Armin becoming a hero for defeating him.

Three years later, tensions are still high in all corners of the world, with the Yeagerists becoming more radicalized and the outside world still not trusting Eldians. As Armin and his friends headed off to a peace summit, they acknowledged that people have plenty of reasons to hate them, but Armin believes there’s still a chance for them to come to an understanding if they have a chance to talk. From there, the episode had a montage of different characters interacting with the outside world and ended with Mikasa thanking Eren for everything one last time.

Attack On Titan's Epilogue Explained

Unfortunately, as shown in the end credits, Armin’s ideals wouldn’t come to pass as Paradis Island would be bombed to ruins at some point in the future; it’s unknown how much time passed or if the outside world was truly responsible, but it still shows that despite Eren and Armin’s best efforts, the cycle of violence didn't end. The final scene shows a boy in the destroyed Paradis discovering the tree Eren was buried under, now resembling the tree where Ymir Fritz gained her Titan powers, implying that he will gain Titan powers, as well.

If Titan powers really can come back, then it’s likely that the fighting will never end, but it’s unknown what the current state of the world is, and if it’s a world without violence, then the new Titan powers could be used as a force for good, or simply not be used at all. Everything is up to interpretation, and that’s likely intentional because for better or worse, the story of the characters everyone knew came to an end with them living out the rest of their lives in peace, and that’s one of the few bright spots in Attack on Titan’s tragic ending.

How Attack On Titan's Anime Ending Differed From The Manga's Ending

Attack on Titan's ending in the anime was largely faithful to the manga, but there were some notable differences. For starters, while the extended epilogue from volume #34 was maintained for the anime, when Paradis is bombed, Paradis' architecture is made to look futuristic instead of the more modern look in the manga. This suggests that Paradis was destroyed far enough into the future for none of Eren's friends or their family to still be alive, thus making it feel less like Eren's actions were pointless compared to the manga, thus fixing a major point of contention with the epilogue.

Regarding Eren's actions, the anime also changed how people reacted to them. While the manga had everyone reluctantly thank Eren for trying to help everyone by using the Rumbling, the Attack on Titan anime had people repeatedly call out Eren for how terrible and flawed his actions were, with Armin even pointing out that his actions would only make people hate Eldians more. A major criticism of the manga was that it didn't do a great job of making it clear that Eren wasn't in the right, so those changes served to better sell that point than the manga did.

The change in how people reacted to Eren's actions is also reflected in how Eren reacted to them. Thanks to Armin reacting far more negatively to Eren, Eren reflected on his actions in a way that wasn't present in the manga, and that led to Eren admitting that none of what happened was truly predetermined and that he only said as much because he wasn't able to think of anything else. Once again, the Attack on Titan anime's finale changed things to better sell Eren as in the wrong, and while it's still controversial, it does make things more consistent.

Does Attack On Titan Justify Eren's Actions?

While Attack On Titan leaves much open to viewer interpretation, the topic of Eren's morality is often a sore point in the fandom. When Armin thanks Eren for his sacrifice in the manga, it can read as the series itself saying Eren's actions were right even if they did lead to a great deal of suffering. This, combined with the horrible way Eldians were treated throughout the series makes it easy for some fans to sympathize with Eren's perspective.

Despite these points though, a closer look at the ending in its totality doesn't support Eren's actions. Even though it does bring a end to the immediate threat posed by Marley, it's made clear that Eren's actions have done nothing to stop the endless cycle of war and violence. Eren might have bought Paradis Island sometime, but it's unclear how much considering the island suffers a series of bombings at some point in the future. That, combined with the mass extinction of life outside Paradis, makes it clear that Attack on Titan ultimately condemns Eren.

What's Next For Attack On Titan Now That The Main Anime & Manga Are Over

Though A Sequel Is Possible, Fans Shouldn't Get Their Hopes Up

Though both Attack On Titan's anime and manga have ended with quite definitive conclusions, a few projects set in the series' universe either have released or will release in the future. The first post-ending release was a short chapter from series creator Hajime Isayama exploring Levi. The chapter, titled Bad Boy showed Levi awakening his Ackerman powers and explained a few other minor details about his character. Though fans may have expected something big for Hajime Isayama's first Attack on Titan project after ending the series, it was a relatively small chapter that didn't really change the series' lore.

Beyond Bad Boy, the biggest event for Attack on Titan fans after the ending has to be the recently announced Attack on Titan - THE FINAL CHAPTER: THE LAST ATTACK. A movie set to recreate the series' ending in a far more cinematic way, Japanese fans can look forward to THE LAST ATTACK when it releases on September 8th. Unfortunately, no international release has been confirmed. The recap movie may have a few new scenes or two, so it will definitely be worth seeing for any fan.

The big question left by the ending of the series though is whether Attack on Titan will ever get a sequel. While other popular shonen series like Dragon Ball, Naruto, and Bleach have received continuations, it seems unlikely that Attack on Titan will get its own continuation. The ending of a boy finding the tree where Eren's head is buried feels more like a thematic note indicating the cyclical nature of violence than it does a story hook.

Even if Attack on Titan ever did return, it would likely be unrecognizable. The series' main cast is all long dead by the time of the epilogue, and the technology present in that epilogue is far more modern, so even if the series did continue, its most iconic characters and ideas would mostly be missing, as would the sense of mystery that drove so much of the plot. Given all of this, fans hoping for a sequel to Attack on Titan shouldn't hold their breath.

Attack On Titan

TV-MA

Animation

Adventure

Action

Based on the manga, Attack on Titan is a dark-action fantasy series set in a world where humanity has been corralled into walled cities from fear of monstrous human-eating Titans that exist outside of them. When protagonist Eren Yeager's mother is killed in front of his eyes at a young age, his thirst for vengeance leads him to join an elite group of soldiers created to fight back against the Titan menace.

Cast

Matthew Mercer , Josh Grelle , Hiroshi Kamiya , Shiori Mikami , Jerry Jewell , Kishô Taniyama , Jessica Calvello , Masahiko Tanaka , Yui Ishikawa , Romi Park , Robert McCollum , Tomohisa Hashizume , Hiro Shimono , Trina Nishimura

Release Date

April 7, 2013

Seasons

4

Main Genre

Action

Franchise

Attack on Titan

Production Company

Wit Studio, MAPPA