#lostauses meta

I’ve had a few Anons asking if I’ve seen the additional page leaks, I have, and I’ve also seen a lot of outraged yelling about them from certain parts of the fandom.  Everyone is entitled to feel angry, hurt or disappointed if they dislike the end of a series that they’ve invested so much time and emotional energy in. However expecting any piece of mass media to cater specifically to your whims, and to threaten violence to the creators if you don’t get your way, is just arrogant and childish beyond belief.  Honestly, it shouldn’t have to be said. Sheesh.

From my perspective, the additional pages don’t really change my opinion of the ending.  I’m still disappointed that there wasn’t stronger condemnation of Eren’s actions and I’m still disturbed that his friends were so willing to forgive him for slaughtering 80% of humanity.  Nothing in the new pages changes that.  However, I do appreciate the small glimpses of clarity these pages provide, particular with regard to Ymir and Mikasa.

It seems clear now that Mikasa’s headaches were a result of Ymir “peeking into her mind”, so that’s one mystery solved at least.  It also appears that by killing Eren, Mikasa enabled Ymir to rewrite her own story, so that she no longer felt compelled to sacrifice her own life to save the king, thus saving her daughters from the awful fate of having to consume her corpse, which is what originally caused the Titan curse to be passed on to the Children of Ymir.   I think it was the fact that Mikasa was able to kill someone she loved that enabled Ymir to make that choice, to realize that she had the power to free herself from the shackles of a love that was a never ending nightmare.

I know some readers have expressed disgust at Mikasa thanking Ymir for bringing her children into the world, when those children were born as a result of an abusive and coercive relationship. While that may be true, I don’t think that there’s any question that Ymir loved her children deeply and by freeing Ymir from her sacrifice, Mikasa ensured that these children did not loose their mother, as she herself had, and that they were saved from the appalling fate their father forced them to suffer.  I thought the fact the Ymir and her daughters appeared briefly in the fake preview as a normal mom and kids on their way to the cinema was a really nice touch.

I don’t have particularly strong feelings about Mikasa and her family.  Her partner could be Jean but it’s really not clear, so that’s a shrug from me.  I guess I’m happy that she did have a life and a family of her own, as family has always been so important to Mikasa.  It’s clear that she never forgot Eren though, which is honestly a lot more than he deserved, but it’s also to be expected.  Mikasa is an Ackerman after all.

I got an ask last week about what I thought the main themes of SnK were and I said the futility of hatred and war, the power of love, and the dichotomy of fate and freewill.  @tsuki-no-ura​ added freedom to that list.  Having seen these final pages, I think another important theme is family.  It really struck me that in the last few pages we see Ymir, Historia and Mikasa all portrayed living happily with their children.  I don’t think Isayama is suggesting that women can only be happy and fulfilled if they have children, at least I sincerely hope that’s not what he’s getting at.  If there’s a message there, I think it’s about the unconditional love that ideally exists between parents and children, a love that so many of the characters in this story have lost or been denied. I do think it’s interesting that all three fathers are “absent” in one way or another; the king is dead, Mikasa’s partner is unidentified, and farmer-kun remains a nameless enigma.  I know there has been reams and reams written about the figure of the absent father in literature, but I’m really not the right person to analyse what, if anything, this might mean in the context of SnK.

There’s been a lot of speculation about how much time has passed in the last four pages.  Some readers have pointed to the phenomenally rapid modernization of Japan over the last century as evidence that change of this nature can occur within a few generations. It’s impossible to put any kind of precise timeline on events, though I think it’s clear that the destruction of Paradis occurs at least a generation after the main cast’s lifetime.  Whether that destruction was caused by civil war or external conflict is unclear, but I’m pretty sure that a direct line can be traced back to Eren’s genocide.

The fact that the tree survived the razing of Paradis has raised a few eyebrows, however almost every city that has been destroyed by war seems to have a single building or monument that miraculously survives, whether it's the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima or the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin.  Though in this case, it does seem like there is more than chance protecting the tree.

One other thing I liked about the additional pages was the fact that Levi didn’t appear.  That might sound odd, but I thought his ending was pretty much perfect as it stood and I don’t want anything to change that.  Some people have interpreted the empty wheelchair at the end as being the one that belonged to Levi, but I’m pretty sure it’s Mikasa’s, as she is obviously very elderly by this stage. Knowing that Levi will have passed away long before these scenes take place is deeply poignant.

I also rather like the ambiguous open ended nature of the final panel.  It could be leaving the door open for a sequel, but I don’t think that’s it’s primary purpose.  I think Isayama’s intention is just to leave us with a question mark.

The fake preview also made me laugh.  Poor Isayama, he can’t win.  People will be arguing over his story until the cows come home.  I think this is the first and only time I’ve ever agreed with Eren though.  For me, the most important thing about this story has been sharing it with friends.

[part two] Second of all, I'm planning on updating the Eruri Wiki (hence why I went on a quest through all possible eruri receipt posts that exist, including your whole blog) and I want to start off by writing about their canon first encounter, acwnr. So here's where my selfish request comes. Idk how to properly summarize it. So I was wondering, if you would like to and if this doesn't seem demanding, if you could walj me through Eruri moments of all of acwnr. [part two end]

[part three and last one, I promise] Thank you soooo immensely much if you do decide to answer me for taking the time to do so. And once again, excuse me if this seems demanding. I really don't want to come across as such. I just believe you're the best when it comes to analysing Eruri. PS: sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language.

i can't believe I said "hi mom" on my asks 😭 Now I'm on mobile and I have to apologize for my mushy brain and bc I've been listening to Youhearbiggirls' podcast all day and I got mixed ahh :/ Anyways, I'm really sorry!! I wasn't mistaken on my message, and I didn't mean to send it to Momtaku, my message was specifically for you, but I just got names mixed 😖 Sorry once again.

Awwww don't worry Anon! It's not the first time folk have confused me and @momtaku. I mean, it's an easy mistake to make even though I'm hundreds of days older than her! Just for the avoidance of doubt, momtaku is the mom around here and I'm the cool aunt 😂

Anyway, thank you for your ask and your kind words. Honestly, there's no need to be nervous, I'm just another daft weeb, same as everyone else around here!

When you say updating the Eruri Wiki, I'm not sure if you mean the Eruri entry on Attack on Titan Ships Wiki, the Shipping Wiki, Fanlore, or some other wiki. In any case, you're doing gods’ work.

In answer to your question about ACWNR, the entire story is literally one great big Eruri moment! If I had to summarise it, I’d say something along the following lines.

A Choice with No Regrets is a spin-off manga written by Gun Snark, which tells the story of how Levi came to meet Erwin and join the Survey Corps. Levi is a petty criminal and Underground gang leader, who together with his friends Farlan and Isabel, is recruited by a corrupt noble to kill Survey Corps Squad Leader Erwin Smith and recover some incriminating documents he has in his possession. During their first encounter in the Underground when “the two who met with freedom in their hearts”, Erwin is visibly impressed by Levi’s skill with 3DM gear and resolves to recruit him to the Survey Corps.

Erwin returns to the Underground to capture Levi and his friends, offering them a deal that their crimes will go unpunished if they join the Survey Corps. Levi agrees to join, intending to kill Erwin at the first opportunity and recover the documents. During their first expedition Levi and his friends take down and abnormal Titan, Erwin watches on captivated “So your wings are the real thing after all Levi.”

Later, while Farlan searches Erwin’s office for the documents, Levi keeps watch in the corridor where he encounters Erwin. They stare at eye fuck each other intensely before Erwin praises Levi’s fighting skill and acknowledging the sacrifice of all those soldiers who died having dedicated their hearts to save humanity.

During their next expedition, the three plan to kill Erwin, but when the weather closes in Levi resolves to go after Erwin alone, leaving Farlan and Isabel behind. Unseen in the rain, a group of Titans attacks their squad killing Farlan and Isabel. In his rage, Levi wipes out the Titans single-handedly. When Erwin and Mike find him kneeling among the remains, Levi attacks Erwin, knocks him to the ground and threatens to kill him by holding his blade to his throat. Erwin reveals that he knew all along about Levi’s plan, and that the documents were fake, part of a counter-plan to force the corrupt noble to reveal himself. Levi blames himself for needlessly causing his friends death but Erwin grabs Levi’s blade in his hand and reminds him that it is the Titans are responsible for all their suffering.

Erwin offers Levi a choice asking if he will kill him and return to the darkness of the Underground or to fight with the Survey Corps and use his strength to save humanity.

In a moment of epiphany Levi agrees to follow Erwin and fight for humanity.

A visual novel version of the story also exists, which makes Levi’s choice to follow Erwin more explicit:

What a man Levi thought to himself.

When he'd gotten caught in the underground, he'd felt humiliated. He had thought that Erwin was brimming with an air of superiority as he looked down at his catch, but now, Levi knew that he'd been mistaken. That kind of quarrel about superiority or inferiority had never concerned Erwin even in the slightest. He was, after all, fighting a more important war against the titans. No, perhaps, it was against something even bigger than that. Fixing his sight on that something, he'd carried on fighting, trying his hardest to defeat it.

Levi thought he'd been obsessed only with his pride, limiting his horizons only to that, and had then lost important friends as a result, with his current self, he definitely had no chance at winning against this man.

If that's the case … "All right, it looks like you have something that I lack. Until I know what that 'something' is, I'll go with you."

Having made his choice, Levi stood up. And then, catching up to Erwin, he began to trod through the heavy rain that obscured everything before them. Towards the hope surely left somewhere in this broken world, he began to walk.

The OVA however made substantial changes to Erwin’s character and the ending of the story, which makes Levi’s decision to remain in the Survey Corps and follow Erwin, much more obscure.

I’m not sure if that’s any use to you, but feel free to use any of that and edit as you see fit.

The other little detail that I love from ACWNR is that Levi canonically calls Erwin "Blondie". Never fails to make me laugh.

And talking of canon, there used to be a lot of debate as to whether ACWNR could be considered canon as it wasn't written by Isayama himself. Those arguments were resolved when Isayama included a pivotal panel from ACWNR in chapter 76 of the manga.