SNK'S Afterlife: Another plane of reality.
(This is my first meta so i'll try to be as clear as possible. (Also, sorry for the qualities of some screenshots.) )
Death is something that has been almost nothing but cruel and tragic in the world of Attack On Titan. Whether it's the horrific murder of Marco, the gruesome death of Ymir Fritz, the traumatic death of Eren's mother Carla or the sacrifice of Erwin Smith and lately Hange living up to the morals of the Survey Corps, death is always the end.
It has only been with chapter 132 " The Wings Of Freedom." that the prospect of an afterlife has been solidified.
After sacrificing themself for the sake of comrades and the hope of stopping the Rumbling, we see Hange in one of the Colossal Titans's foot crater. It is revealed that indeed Hange entered the afterlife. It is there, we meet Erwin and all of the dead comrades of Hange. And even a horse.
It is the first time where the afterlife has been shown in SNK.
Yet many people think it's only an illusion, a dream or a vision. I disagree. I think it's real and is another plane of reality. Most definitely something connected with the paths.
First, the fact that the environment is the same as the one in the living world. The craters are an example of it. The remaining blood of Hange on the ground.
It also seems as the dead are able to see what's going on in the living world yet people in the living world, can only see them partially, sense or feel them. The " They took off " by Erwin seems to confirm that since they are able to see the plane.
Also Hange and Erwin still have their injuries, it is because their scars have healed and so their body remains the same in the afterlife. At least that's what I think make the most sense.
But it isn't the first time we are dealing with this aspect of SNK. In chapter 80, Erwin reminisces and guilt about all his dead companions with Levi. Both who deeply suffered from losing all their comrades are the ones who are the most prone with Hange and even Jean to be connected with the afterlife.
It also seems that those who guilt about their dead loved ones will soon meet their ends. Erwin and now Hange are dead, it is still unknow whether Levi or Jean will survive. Jean seems to be the most in danger because he saw the same things that Erwin and Hange saw during their speech while Levi only had memories of them. But that is a question for another day.
The people who see the dead all see the same thing, a blurry version of them.
That brings me to something else.
Ramzi saw Ymir just like all the others because he was on the brink of death. She appears just the same way as all the other dead characters. Less clearly probably because Ramzi isn't an Eldian but who knows ?
Since Ymir connected herself with what we can call " The source of all Life" as Kruger putted it, perhaps even non-Eldians can be connected to paths, the afterlife or the powers of that dimension as they are also living beings.
This is also not the first time characters sees something that seems to exist in another plane of reality or that some characters existed in a certain place or time.
They are already two people that we know who have done it and one is still missing at this point of the manga.
As we see here, Grisha and even Baby Eren seems to see them. Yet both of them are alive at that time since the time in paths moves differently but it works the same way as the afterlife. This leads me to think that all of this has something to do with paths.
But the one that is extremely creepy yet I saw no one talk about it is this one.
This page has alot to uncover especially something about Eren and his attitude and how it relates to Frieda but let's stay focused. The way the page is composed is clearly showing us that Frieda is seeing Eren here.
So this particular trend of characters seeing things that others cannot and characters living in another plane of reality has been explored for quite a while now. And now we have the afterlife with dead characters like Ymir Fritz, Erwin and Hange, etc... who also works in similar ways.
I believe the afterlife is a real thing, it's too big for not being explored. They are alot of unfinished storylines for many characters who died.
I can think of Bertholt, Porco and Historia's ex-lover Ymir. I think that we will see them in some ways because of that possibility of an afterlife. Yes, they've been eaten but who knows, the paths opens up a lot possibilities. Marco and Carla could make an appearance at some point. Zeke's mother could also be back if she came back as an human. Many of their stories aren't finished or at least can have a new role now.
Erwin, Hange, Marco and many other characters can now possibly come back. They know the truth of outside of the walls.
And if Isayama showed us Ymir Fritz, it's not just because she is watching, she has a role to play but is still dead. So if she has a role to play, why can't the others also have a role to play ?
It is also not impossible that they'll try to do something as they seem to be searching for something in the afterlife. Maybe Erwin has a plan.
On top of that since Eren has transformed, paths seems to have been glitching first during his announcement to all Eldians during chapter 123 and in chapter 131 with Armin. A possible opportunity to connect with the dead as all Eldians were concerned, we even saw Historia's back in one the pages. All dressed up and prepared.
Could she have something prepared ? Will she meet Ymir Fritz and work together to stop Eren ?
There is so much possibility to what could happen now.
A tease of what's to come. The E.M.A trio watching young Eren while young Armin sees adult Eren watching them. Interesting.
