Or, Hamlietâs review of SnK 139: the Final Chapter.
Disclaimer: this isnât intended to dunk on people who love/dislike things I love/dislike in the review. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and feelings thereof.Â
That said, the ending is pretty in line with my predictions. While Iâd give the final chapter an 8/10, the series as a whole gets a 9/10, because it nailed its themes. I donât think endings can ever please anyone, but this is a solid one narratively. It is bittersweet: there is hope, but also pain, cruelty and beauty. It isnât perfect, but the story was never set up to end with a fairy tale eucatastrophe. It was also never set up to end with a nihilistic ending. Whether the ending feels more bitter to you or more sweet depends on particular attachments, and itâs okay to feel how you want to feel.
The reason I personally find it satisfying is because the text did not suddenly swing a way it wasnât heading all along: the message and themes and majority of the arcs were very, very clear, throughout the manga for the most part but especially this final arc. In fandoms, especially in long-running series, people can get attached to their theories and headcanons at the expense of ignoring the actual text. Iâve been guilty of this myself too, but I donât think SnK pulled any last minute switches (yes it dropped some things; Iâll touch on that below).
About the conflict not being solvedâŚ
There is hope now. Paradis does have allies. Like, thatâs Hizuru.Â
The fact that the conflict is not solved is at admittedly disappointing, because Iâd like it to be, and yet thematically better that it is not solved. The framing of the genocide has always been wrong, but my one qualm has always been that if the genocide actually led to peace, then⌠the framing would be a bit whacked. I thought this would be explained away by saying the cost wasnât worth it, that it was a pyrrhic victory. Instead, Isayamaâs doubling down and saying not only is the cost not worth it, it solved nothing and set the stage for potential future conflict, which is probably the best way he could have ended this.Â
They have only to work towards peace slowly, with lots of risks, but itâs the only option. Thatâs part of what freedom means: freedom to make choices, good and bad. Erenâs attempted shortcut only hurt.Â
There are never guarantees.Â
The attachment she feels towards King Fritz is framed as a negative thing and tt isnât romanticized. However, I feel this wasnât fleshed out well and that we needed more build up to this, but itâs not the end of the world (OR IS IT? sorry I couldnât resist).
Basically, I felt it was hamfisted and a bit told, not shown. I think Ymirâs story suffered the most this ending, which sucks because sheâs important to it. I donât think the fact that Ymir loved King Fritz is inherently problematicâfeelings towards abusers are very, very complex (yes, you can love or be in love with an abuser, and it doesnât justify what they do to you, really). I think the series needed a chapter or two to explore this better.Â
Along with Ymir, this is the biggest complaint I have about this final arc. I think we should have gotten the rest of that conversation in 131âas Iâve said before, I think the point of that conversation was that Eren could not stop his friends from making a decision he did not like. However, this needed to be emphasized more, especially given the context of what that choice was and its disturbing implications.
My sister commented that the pregnancy is likely intended to be Historia choosing a pregnancy to maintain her life instead of being fed to Zeke as a way of fulfilling her promise to Ymir: to live instead of martyring herself. This is probably the case, but personally, I think Isayama really goofed with the framing. Historia seemed miserable, was even commented to not be taking care of herself, and while that can be explored with nuance (sometimes choices arenât what we want), it wasnât, so Isayama messed up here too.Â
As for early leaks suggesting she was just fine with genocide, itâs actually much more nuanced in the translation. Her actions here donât seem exactly OOC given her declaration about not caring about the world, but it needed more exploration.Â
I donât like that she didnât get to see freckled Ymir again like everyone else did. Even a panel of her appearing as she delivered the baby or somethingâcâmon, Yams.Â
Iâm going to headcanon Historia named Baby Girl Ymir.Â
I love that Mikasa is the hero in the end, even more so than Armin.
Personally, I see that last panel as Eren sending a memory before he died as a way to tell Mikasa it is okay to move on, and the bird flying away as a sign Mikasa will indeed rise and move on despite Eren always being a part of her. That said, I personally would have preferred to see Mikasa be rewarded for choosing to kill Eren, at least by giving her a family and/or showing her in Hizuru. But again, unlike the early leaks which framed it as Mikasa abandoning everyone and being miserable forever, the others are on their way to her. She will live, and she does have a family on their way to her.Â
About Hizuru, her mark wasnât fully explored, which is one of the dropped points, but not one with a lot of consequence.Â
The implication is vague enough, but I liked Jean combing his hair and it being either for Pieck or Mikasa ;)Â
I donât like Armin thanking Eren for destroying the world, because it doesnât fit with the rest of the framing, but otherwise the story hit the framing well.Â
The takes that Eren is OOC arenât textually supported at all. Eren has never, ever been rational. Like, find me ONE place in the entire story where heâs been rational, and where he hasnât wanted to escalate from 0-100 real quick. Heâs always been a hothead with a childâs black and white view of the world. Historia called him out on it, Levi did, everyone did. Throughout the story, it was a recurring challenge.Â
Eren is a big baby who has always been prone to violent outbursts (I mean he killed people at age 9 with no remorse and at age 10 went up to soldiers who were drinking on the job and screamed at them), and itâs tragic. Yet itâs why Eren has always stood out as a protagonistâbecause heâs allowed to be extremely flawed instead of a role model. And it sounds like Iâm dunking on him, but Iâm not, because this chapter reminding me of what I loved about Eren:Â he is a terrified, traumatized, self-loathing child.Â
I wish he had let Mikasa hug him. Good grief, she loves him so much, and he needed that love so desperately.
The point of his character is that it is tragic: heâs stuck in Neverland. Itâs why heâs such a good character. I wish he had been able to grow up, but he didnât and he chose not to. He chose to die; this was a sort of suicide. If I were in his place, I hope I would choose better, but who really knows? SnK doesnât encourage us to condemn, so I donât say this to condemn him.
It is really intriguing to me that Reddit Dudebros are raging that Isayama made Eren âan incelâ as if their theories about Eren causing the rumbling all to protect Historia and the baby werenât incel-esque? Like, itâs not that Mikasa wouldnât sleep with him (she loved him), but instead that Eren could not be vulnerable enough to accept that love. He was too scared, too selfish and too selfless at the same time in that paradoxical human way.
Vulnerability is the opposite of toxic masculinity. It is brave, far braver than going into battle, and Eren was too scared, too ashamed to look Mikasa in the eyes, even though Armin begged him to keep trying.
She would have forgiven him. She would have run with him.Â
Honestly, Eren is a Reddit Dudebro. Thatâs the point. They were reading themselves into Erenâas they were meant toâbut failed to comprehend the framing and themes of the series, because theyâre used to stories catering to their fantasies. They expected Eren to validate them, but instead Eren was written to call them out on their toxicity, entitlement, and lack of actually creating meaningful change. But also like Eren, they do have some reasons to feel scared, feel traumatized, and are genuinely sufferingâbut it doesnât excuse their inflicting that suffering on others. They are still human.Â
The beauty of Eremika is that even if Eren was a nightmare for most of the world, he was loved. Even if he couldnât accept that love, he was loved. Even if he hurt and lashed out and was the worst villain in history for no reason other than âI felt like it,â he was loved.Â
And it was that loved that saved the world. It was that love that made him existing in this world worth it. We know that Mikasa would never wish she had never met Eren. We know she would and will love him unconditionally, forever. Even if she moves on, she will love him.Â
For Mikasa, despite the pain he caused her, the fact that he was born into the world was enough, and without her love, the world never would have been saved. Itâs complex and hard to articulate exactly what I mean, but essentially SnK is saying Eren still deserved to be born and despite his cruelty and evil towards the end, he was loved, and that was beautiful.Â
Itâs not a popular message, this callout of toxic masculinity, nor the undercurrent underneath it, which challenges humanity to love and find beauty in the middle of cruelty, and asserts that no one, no matter how horrible a person in the worldâs eyes, has a wasted life just because theyâre here.Â
About Armin and Annie, Gabi and Falco, and Levi:
I never thought Armin and Annieâd be canon, and now Arminâs out here saving his father-in-law. Cherry on top. Annie and Gabi are kind of foils to Eren in that Annie is very selfish and Gabi is very ideologically-focused, but they are able to overcome their flaws, get positive growth, and deserve their happy endings. I also loved Gabi throwing Falco into an embrace. Levi, too, deserved this.Â
Anyways, I found the ending beautifully existentialist, far from perfect and worthy of criticism, sure, but highly satisfying on a thematic level. SnK was my first manga and anime ever, so really, itâs a major part of the reason I have this blog.Â
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