Aot 138 - Tumblr Posts

AOT THEORY 139

AOT THEORY/RANT ‼️ DO NOT READ IF YOU’RE NOT A MANGA READER // 138 SPOILERS

ok so im like 90% sure that Eren has been going through a time loop and that dream or alternative reality or whatever with Mikasa was just one of the many or  multiple times he’s lived that reality. When he closed his eyes and Mikasa said “see you later Eren” he then wakes up under the tree bc the time loop isn’t allowing him to live that peaceful reality and he also sends those memories of that alternative reality to the Eren of the past. 

So in other words he MUST go through with the rumbling in order for the time loop to stop. When he asked Mikasa what he meant to her and she said “family” , that was his sign that the time loop was broken and the only way to move forward was to continue with the rumbling. Had she answered any different and they would’ve lived in the cottage with him dying and waking up under the tree once again. 

In the right panel along with the top left, we see Mikasa with the shortest her hair has been, which is why when Eren wakes up he questions her hair length. 

I think 139 will be Eren finally admitting everything to us (the readers) on how he’s lived through the time loop many many times, trying to find a different loop hole with each and every time it ending up with him waking up under the tree. Thus meaning the ONLY way to break the time loop has always been to continue with the rumbling aka the only way to move forward. 

To add to this, Kruger himself says “save Mikasa, Armin, and everyone else” never does he mention saving Eren. Eren can’t be selfish because every time he is, the time loop just starts over again. So by continuing with the rumbling Eren enters a timeline that’s never occurred meaning it’s a new beginning BUT he has to die in the end in order for the time loop to stop. 

Ymir will most likely revert all the eldians into humans and remove their ability to become titans thus making them “normal’ beings with the world starting anew, absolutely FREE. 

Historia’s child will be the first Eldian to be born “free” of the curse, war, bloodshed, etc. Maybe Eren is her baby daddy (honestly I dont care bc im not a shipper for either EH or EM or anyone for that fact) but ive been thinking that Historia’s going to be dead from childbirth or something (this is just a random long shot btw) and that MAYBE it’s Mikasa holding the baby in the final panel saying “you are free” which is bittersweet because it’s all Eren’s ever wanted but will never get to experience. I'm only saying it could possibly be Mikasa because of her short hair. 

And so the whole point of AOT has always been TO BREAK THE TIME LOOP.

I know a lot of people fear of the last chapter ending with him waking up but 138 is that. It’s showing us that he’s been waking up under that tree for who knows how long but we’re now watching for the first time is the time loop being broken. 

Now like I said I’m not even 100% confident and im sure there’s even better theories than this with better explanations but idk man the time loop is definitely the most plausible theory I think especially if there’s only one chapter left. 

Also something that stuck out to me that doesn’t really add to this rant but more of the time loop is when Zeke says ...

“I guess I wouldn’t mind being born once again after all.” 

when I read 137 that was the line that had me ?????? and I felt like no one was talking about it 😭 (on twitter at least). idk if this means he really will be reborn as historia’s baby or??? hopefully yams ties this in 139. 

Who knows maybe Eren’s body is in Paradis and he really will let everyone die, and it'll ultimately be him holding that baby in the end. or isayama can do a complete mind fuck to us and have it be grisha holding a baby Eren and restart the time loop. IDK IDK IDK but im literally this meme 

I feel like I could add more to this to make my theory stronger but I legit just needed to rant and get this out my system bc I felt myself going crazy. ANON OR MESSAGE ME ur thoughts and theories, I need someone to discuss all of this with. 

I was listening to berthold's ost "apple seed" AND IT FIT IT PERFECTLY LIKE???? I cried even more

FOR THOSE WHO'VE READ 138 pls send me songs that remind you of it i wanna get into a mood

Falco baby I'm sorry for even thinking that you were the one who transformed them into titans when you just screamed out of frustration 😭

Edit : could be both c:

isayama please let the kids be happy PLEASE

anyway i hated this chapter 😆👍 if everyone doesn't turn back to human in 139 like i'm convinced they will, i'm fucking leaving this planet.

gabi's development down the fucking drain because she's a mindless titan now — i'm not even a diehard gabi stan, but the thought of her process of disillusionment regarding marley's propaganda only being for nothing is tbh crushing

the pointlessness of pieck becoming a warrior for her father's treatment and only earning him borrowed time since he becomes a titan anyway

jean and connie literally surviving everything that's been thrown at them until this point as normal fucking humans

falco's promise to protect gabi

reiner not going through with his suicide attempt and him surviving all the times he's put his life on the line for the sake of other people since returning to marley

annie seeing her father for a total of 10 seconds before he transforms (and he even manages not to roast annie who was literally a foot away when it happened, mind you, for some reason — i know she'd heal from it quick as anything, but it bugs me, personally)

. . . what was the point of all that when in the end it all results in the titan shifters being eaten by the ones they care about the most? the titan shifters' time was just limited and there's no hope for them so we just need to resign ourselves to their fate?

i'm hoping that ymir herself will break the curse even if it's only because of a weird reason, namely mikasa giving eren's decapitated head just 2 seconds of lip-on-lip action (and i absolutely do not understand why she cares so much about mikasa kissing eren . . . can someone get this kid some primetime tv)

i believe that a story must give the reader some satisfaction, no matter how gruesome and tragic it is, and i personally have never been further from it.

also, i have never hated the time loop theory more than i do now because it seems highly probable ((to me)) and gives the option for either

an open ending if eren is considered to have failed to stop the cycle of conflict and it fucking repeats AGAIN and we're just supposed to imagine a world where eren was successful. isayama gets to leave us with no concrete, canon endings for the characters

or closed ending — ymir likes the kiss, apparently (😒) so she helps eren "succeed" this time by bringing back everyone? and everyone would have apparently learned their lesson about not perpetuating violence against other "races" after they died i guess. i only have the vaguest possible idea of how that would even work (and if it does happen i don't think my brain would be able to take it anymore)

which lets isayama keep everyone in the dark during the wait between the penultimate and the final chapter. i hate it here

Selfish is Eren’s trait.

No matter how much time changes.

Many people has been saying that Eren is selfless, how the Rumbling is the only choice to save Paradis so he had to set aside his emotion for greater good. While yes, that is true, it’s not quite right. Remember chapter 131?

Eren himself said he was selfish. He was disappointed the world is not as beautiful as in Armin’s book. He was disappointed humanity outside the walls exist. He wished to wipe them all away. But still, no matter how much he wished for it to happen, it’s still wrong. Just like Eren said in chapter 130, all the future he saw is still far away. Maybe things could change. Maybe his wish won’t come true, but at least things would turn out to be morally right. That’s why he decided to sit back and watch.

But no. Even after Zeke (another royal blood) and Azumabito (the mediator to the outside world) entered Paradis, they’re not giving him a great option. They’re blinded by their own selfish desire. Azumabito just wanted to use Paradis as a cashgrab, while Zeke wished for Eldia’s euthanasia. Paradis doesn’t give him another option either, even though the time is running out.

Of course Eren would snap. 

Fuck them all. Fuck them all, who won’t give Paradis a chance. Fuck them all, who choose to stay in their comfort zone. Time is running out. All lives matter, including Paradis. If the world refused to see Paradis as a part of humanity, then he’ll reject them as parts of humanity too. If Paradis refuse to move, then he’ll force them to move. Better bring out his dream to life if that’s the case.

It was all too convenient; the time, the circumstances. It was all matching with his dream to exterminate his enemies; to become free from shackles; to expand his horizon outside the walls.

He has the power, and he only have a few years to live, what’s the more appropriate time than now?

But still.  He’s painfully aware it’s wrong.  What’s he about to do is a one-sided massacre.

If I had to say, Eren has several options:

Wipe out the rest of the world

Let the world trample Paradis

Run away and forget it all

Share his future memories, and decide things with his friends.

Option #4 is already out of the window, because he doesn’t trust his friends enough to let them decide their future. He believes all the hatred and bloodshed will not stop until he buries the world to the ground, to avoid them laying a hand on Paradis ever again. He believes if he doesn’t do this, his friends would continue to live in misery until they die.

Option #3 is also out, since he had to move forward no matter what, so he’s left with 2 choices.

Again, he throw away option #2, because no matter how much he think about it, there’s no way he’d let his own people being trampled by the world.

So yeah, option #1 is to go, then. But he knew, it’s wrong.  He will take all the lives of innocent people. He will drag his friends into danger, he will hurt them, he will disappoint everyone. He will become a monster. There’s no guarantee Paradis will strive once this is all over. There might be another hell, he knew.

That’s why, even though he knows what to do, even though things is going according to his dream, he broke down. He still asked for forgiveness, even though he knew full well he’s the one at fault.

He couldn’t take it anymore. His guilt is eating him alive. 

At this time, he wished for an escape. He’s starting to reconsider option #3. And that’s where Mikasa came in.

Mikasa, the girl who sticks to him no matter what. Mikasa, who saved him, no matter how hopeless the situation is.

Maybe this time, she could save him too. He relies on her, he clings to her answer for dear life. Maybe he could stop him. Maybe things would turn out okay if she give a different answer.

But no. Things didn’t work out as he wished for. Mikasa didn’t see through his suffering, she is clueless as ever; so he had to move on with his initial plan. When Eren said it’s a perfect timing, he really meant that, since he could snap out of his emotional self and focus on what he needs to do. Back to option #1.

This is one of the moments where Eren’s half-assed-ness selfishness shine. If he truly cares for the rest of the world, if he truly cares for his friends’ feeling, he should’ve open up more. He should’ve told Mikasa his dream, because only then, she could understand where Eren is coming from. If so, maybe Mikasa could told him to give up his dream, just like Levi to Erwin.

But no. Until the very end, he didn’t told his friends anything, because he already decided. He didn’t want his friends to stop him at this point, not yet. He has to do what he needs to do first. Not even in the moment of weakness he’d let Mikasa stop him. Because he knew. If he let his emotion and moral get the better of him, he’d never find a solace. Sure, maybe he could live the rest of his life with Mikasa in peace, but he wouldn’t be able to live with another greater regrets.

He chose the solace instead of salvation from his sins. So he turned his back from SC and never came back.

Eren infiltrated Marley. He experienced it firsthand how, even outside the walls, bad and good people were all the same. Reiner’s confession surprised him in a good way, because of  how similar they are than he originally thought.

Both of them are moving with such selfish desire, under the pretense of “for the greater good.” Reiner destroyed the walls because he wanted to become a hero, while Eren is about to destroy the world because he wants humanity to perish. Their guilt is eating them alive to this day.

But Willy’s speech reminding him once again, that, in the end, they’re all the same, they’re just one side of the coin.

Willy reminded him why he’s doing all of these in the first place. He reminded him of his initial motivation.

It resonates with him so much that it hurt. Listening to Reiner and Willy gave him comfort,  that everything is not his, nor everybody’s fault. There’s no right or wrong. Maybe, everyone is born this way. Even if he moves with selfish desire, the world really doesn’t give him much choice so it doesn’t really matter. It’s just the matter of who will keep going until the very end.  

He keeps moving forward until his objective is fulfilled, no matter how much he suffers, no matter how much his friends suffer. But deep down, he wanted to be saved. So much that during the Rumbling, his mind regressed into a child, because it’s easier for him to kill “bad people” to reach his “freedom.” This is why he didn’t fight the Alliance seriously. If Eren really wanted the Rumbling to continue, he could’ve eliminated them on the get-go, or sent one of his titans to remove the explosives around his neck, or prevented Armin from reaching out to Zeke, anything. But he didn’t. Because now that his objective is fulfilled, as Reiner said, he wants someone to stop him. He decides when is the right time to stop; and that’s after he destroy Fort Salta, humanity’s last weapon.

TLDR; Eren is selfish for  letting his dream get the better of him; for deciding what’s best for Paradis himself; for dragging his dad and his friends into this mess; for choosing this bloody path; for wanting to be saved after everything he had done. But if he hadn’t done this, who knows what hell will await Paradis. He won’t take that risk, ever. Eren is aware of all of this; thus why, he asked Mikasa to forget about him.

His selfishness makes him a true monster, yet at the same time, a really flawed human being.

Eren Yeager decides where to start, and where to end his journey. He really is selfish until the end. 

What Mikasa is seeing...

Armin's struggling in the penultimate physical head to head against Eren.

Reiner, Pieck & Annie are all on the verge of death getting mangled by their own blood, family and sworn brothers.

Everyone she cares about and loves are dying in front of her.

This is her Last Stand and she is the only one with full physical powers & a hardened resolve who is capable of saving everyone.

From the looks of it, Ymir has finally found the truest, purest meaning of life: love. Through Mikasa's pure, selfless action, persevering through the pain of her unattainable dream; of letting go, Ymir is finally fulfilled and at peace, apparent from the smile on her face. She is seeing that humanity deserves the life it's been given.

Mikasa chooses to sacrifice the person she loves the most to save humanity and the other people she also loves & cares about from dying - that is the True Ending & the final route that completes Ymir's story.

It was a tremendous price to pay but Ymir has finally seen the beauty in this cruel world through Mikasa's eyes.

EDIT: Mikasa seizes control and fought against the very same person she loves and who has influence over her will, dreams and desires. She did what Ymir wasn't able to do against the first King Fritz despite this tremendous power that she wields. Mikasa is truly free. Ymir is witnessing it. Apart from Armin, Ymir has also been observing Mikasa in 135 but this deserves its own post!

Allow this poor, unfortunate girl the panel she needs for her closure & the space to say her farewell to the person she has built a world for in her heart and in her mind for the last 10 years.

GUYS WHAT THE HELL 😂😂😂

yaegerists blink if you need help

I’ve recently seen some misinterpretations regarding this scene so I wanted to share my thoughts.

The criticism, which I personally find so unfair and wrong considering Levi’s character arc in the final battle mostly revolves around: “Levi didn’t even care about leaving the kids behind to the point he ordered Mikasa, Pieck and Falco to depart without any final/farewell words to Jean, Connie, etc” or “I knew it!!! Levi only cared about killing Zeke post-time skip. It was obvious he’s gonna have NO motivation to fight”

I’m going to explain both claims from my own perspective.

1) About the first one, I think it is important to remember Levi’s rational motivation in such critical moment. So the situation is as the following >>> The alliance figuring out the steam released from the hallucigenia is poisonous just like Zeke’s spinal fluids and as many pointed out the reason there was suspect of them turning into titans came from the fact hallucigenia is the source of the titan power so it only makes sense for Levi to believe the Eldians exposed to the steam would transform immediately after. Did they have time to process the situation? No. Did they even have time to say goodbye? Hell no! It only took Levi, Mikasa, Falco & Pieck a few minutes before their comrades/families were titanized. There was absolutely no time for hesitation and as I’ve seen some people pointed this out Levi was the only one who thought rationally and was able to make such cruel decision in that moment. Was it painful for him? Of course it was! Was it hard for him to leave his comrades behind once again without even being able to say goodbye? SURE IT WAS!

Is this the face of a person who doesn’t care about leaving his family? I’m gonna leave the obvious answer to you guys.

Now let’s get back to even the more logical part. You gotta ask yourself why Levi decided what he did. Had Levi, Mikasa, Falco & Pieck aka the last hopes of humanity’s survival been caught in a horde of titans and eaten then who were going to defeat Eren? Marleyans who didn’t even have enough cannons to face Eren (oh well the cannons had no effect on the founding titan either way) or Armin was supposed to take him down single-handedly? Think about it, who else but all these people together could kill Eren?

It’s also worth mentioning what Levi tells Mikasa right after they had to abandon their comrades and people

“We’re the only ones that can kill Eren”

I think this part’s even more proof of Levi’s rational decision. Do I not love Jean and Connie? Of course I do. I’m not gonna lie, I’m still in denial about what happened to them and I’m hoping there’s a way they’ll revert back to being humans and if they really die I personally will find their deaths meaningless at this point of the story. However, I understand that they had no time for emotional talk. They had to defeat Eren and end this nightmare as soon as possible.

2) Now regarding the second claim, I think there are already many great meta writers who pointed out the obvious but I’m just gonna leave some panels and notes to emphasize how much such criticism about Levi’s not but a misinterpretation.

Let’s get back to chapter 135 where Levi literally told Mikasa he will act as bait in order for them to defeat the titans the founder Ymir sent their way

He knew Zeke’s still alive somewhere from Hanji’s words so if he only cared about killing him why would he try to sacrifice his life for the kids to proceed with their plans before taking down the monke?

Levi risking his life to save Jean’s in the same chapter right after the above panel

“Levi’s all about killing Zeke at this point. He doesn’t care about his kids any longer” is what the criticism says. I don’t think I need to explain this further because the panel is proof enough how much he cares for his kids.

Right after saving Jean Levi’s injuries worsen but he still continues fighting to protect them

The reason for his leg injury is saving Connie

And lastly, about him caring for humanity

“We’re doing both”

Levi’s the first person who actually said they have to kill Eren and save Armin among the corps. If he only cared about killing Zeke why would he suggest they have to consider both options? Why would he repeat himself in the very recent chapter again (about killing Eren) in order to end this nightmare? As I’ve said many times before Levi could’ve killed Zeke and fulfilled his promise a long time ago but he prevented himself from doing so because he assumed keeping Zeke alive was the best option for saving humanity.

Bottom line Levi’s promise to Erwin was never even about mere revenge. The man said it himself, “I will give meaning to your deaths” and he’s only able to do that through saving humanity. I’m not saying he didn’t hate Zeke considering all the suffering Zeke brought to Levi’s comrades. However, it is important to remember Levi was always ready to give up on killing him if his existence benefitted humanity. Killing Zeke wasn’t his sole purpose in life as some like to put it.

I really can't endure more pain...

[by kgeyma]

please, it’s spoiler, skip it if u avoid this thing

well, so there're ppl who persistent bout zeke power passed down to hisu's child? 

the hell r u talkin' about? it passed down to our freaking falco 

who is now a massive beast-bird, flying hopelessly and has titanizing-triggering scream power

falbi and eremika parallelism this chap hits different 

mikasa kills eren with her hand while falco's scream turns gabi into titan 

damn feels

Just Armin’s Eyes

but with full closure.

even his concerned and confused expressions give different impressions rn.

our commander.

Mikasa's Resolve (138)

(warning: this is quite long) Mikasa, You’re your own queen. You always be.

Mikasa owns the most painful, tragic, but beautiful resolve. Her strength is another level, not only her physical but all of her.

She embraces her loss and her love at the same time, so dearly yet so powerful.

She kills her only family left (levi and armin are different case), her dearest who had been protected by her for years, with her own hand. Without considering her efforts protecting him were meaningless, not even once.

The headache suddenly goes away while her eyes full of determination, not tears. She got her resolve. No longer regrets and what-if. Accepting the reality where she failed their feelings and gave eren the “you’re family” answer, not the alternate one.

Rather than throwing her muffler away, she wraps it. Accepting but not forgetting. This chapter is the answer to the rhetoric question of hers in 118 and 123.

Ch 123 mainly revolves around Mikasa’s “what-if”. This what-if, regret, and alternate memories inserted in her might be the main reasons for her headache.

Not cause she’s a freaking ackerman (levi doesn’t seem suffering the symptoms anyway), but because she’s Mikasa.

Eren’s dearest one and vice versa.

Even when in marley, eren seemed worried about his short life span when talking to zeke about her.

Either their love mutual romantic or nah (mikasa's is romantic ofc), but their affection for each other is genuine, their eyes always said it.

Even when table scene occurred, eren's face changed immediately as armin mentioned 'his freedom to hurt mikasa'

Her decision to be the one who kills eren without any halt even commands her comrades to help her gives us new insight into her. She’s no longer a confused teenage girl (actually I doubt she’s confused since the first place tho) or 15 y/o Mikasa who most likely work alone rather than teamwork, moreover give any command.

Last: the common context is eren freeing mikasa from him, but for me, mikasa also freeing eren from his confusion, hatred and their disappointing world. And she's free to love him until the end, to not forget anything about him.

"When you love someone, set them free" Well, they both did it.

This chapter reminds me about taylor swift's song out of the woods.

She. Lost. Him.

But perhaps she found herself and her happiness.

Well done, Mikasa.

My boys!!! 😭😭😭

I was never prepared for an ending without Jean and Connie

I wanted to say goodbye somehow talking a little about them

I always felt very close to Jean and Connie because they are both the characters that most resemble me.

😭

Connie always seemed to me the character with the most sensitive heart

Despite all his suffering and having lost his entire family, Connie always cared about his friends.

My heart is broken just by thinking how he must have felt all this time taking care of his mother and still fighting for humanity.

And Jean I am so proud of him 😭 He is one of my favorite characters, one of the few characters that NEVER disappointed me. The way he matured and grew up all these years makes me so emotional I I really wanted to see him have the life he deserved.

Now I can say that the ending of snk lost its meaning a bit without Jean and Connie I feel like I care less now.

Definitely if I can't see them being happy and alive then I'm not that excited about the ending 💔💔💔

And I still can't believe they're really gone

DHMU IM HUNTING ISAYAMA

I JUST WANNA TALK MAN

“This is the end... for us...”

“That’s the Scout’s way.”

“We ended up saving the world... because of you...”

“To the boy who sought freedom... goodbye”

Me: