Attack on Titan The Final Season
The final episode of Attack on Titan premiered November 5th. This final season reaches to an inner part of our humanness that most refuse to acknowledge, despite seeing evidence of this side of humanity existing constantly. Not only does it reach this part we don't like to acknowledge, it does it well. Where so many others have missed, Attack on Titan hits a bullseye. This final season of Attack on Titan in particular touched a part of me that is very rarely active anymore. With better life choices and a more optimistic outlook, seldom do I ever feel the level of nihilism, cynicism, and futility that this final season brought out.
It reminds me of our current word in so many ways. I see the parallels in places that I will never actually see but know exist. In these places that are far enough away they could be considered on another planet, populations are being wiped out. This type of behavior has been going on for as long as humanity has existed. We like to avoid these situations. We acknowledge their existence and wave it away. We avoid watching the news or looking at Facebook because it’s everywhere, and unfortunately atrocities sell ad space. We see things like the Israel Palestine “conflict.” A group of people is oppressed for being different. Lives are lost, and civilians are seen as casualties, but there is nothing casual to the person that is losing their mother, father, sister, brother, child, friend. We brush it off if they are not our person and they are relegated to being a small piece of a much larger number. We avoid the truth of the situation, until the casualties are our mother, father, sister, brother, child, friend, and with the loss of enough mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children and friends, the potential casualty is no longer a casualty. They are an enemy combatant, terrorist, freedom fighter, hero, villain. When there is no choice left, nothing else to lose, or if there is something to lose it becomes a sacrifice that the enemy combatant, terrorist, freedom fighter, hero, villain is willing to make. The oppressed have surrendered to their feelings of anger and hatred, years of generational trauma have left nothing else.
The preceding seasons lead you through an intricate story full of twists, turns, and character development. The Scouts go through dramatic transformation, the characters change, the dynamics of the relationships of the Scouts change, friends become enemies and enemies become friends, culminating in everyone uniting to overcome this common foe. The Eldian scouts have come to kill their friend Eren that they have laughed, cried and bleed with and stop the complete elimination of the Marleyans. The scouts have suffered numerous losses. They are by no means a regimen that is assured victory in any situation. The story that has transpired over 4 seasons is one of constant loss and failure. The scouts very rarely win a battle and never win without serious loss of life. Attack on Titan time and time again shows that the Scouts are not infallible and frequently suffer defeat.
The theme of enemies finding a common foe to rally against and save humanity is a common one. It leads to a climactic battle for the sake of humanity resulting in the unification of these enemies and a new era of peace. Historically this is rarely the case. The first example that comes to mind is World War 2. The US, and USSR become allies to defeat a common foe, but once the war has concluded these two allies are back at odds with one another. This is not uncommon throughout history. Examples demonstrate that alliances formed out of necessity in times of crisis can be tenuous and prone to breaking down once the common foe is defeated, often due to underlying ideological, political, or territorial differences among the former allies. However, this does not make for the type of feel good hero story that we all know and love. Writers paint a happy new reality of friendship, and family usually closing with a huge parade, loud cheers and the heroes receiving metals, badges, and accolades. After the threat to humanity is gone, all is forgiven between opposing sides. This narrative of forgiveness not happening is one aspect that makes Attack on Titan’s final season so powerful.
In walks Eren Jeager who has become willing to go the distance, willing to take extreme measures, willing to make the loss of life casual, for the sake of his mother, father, sister, brother, child, friends, whose loss of life was anything but casual to him. Desperate times call for desperate measures. When all else has failed and the only choice is complete and total victory, which is also complete and total destruction. but even after near total destruction, the fighting continues. There is a lyric or line of a book that always stuck out to me and it was something to the effect of, ‘If they nuked Jerusalem people would still be fighting over the radioactive glass.’ Bonus points to anyone who can identify the author and let me know. This same idea is demonstrated by the two races in Attack on Titan, the Eldians and Marleyans.
The feelings of nihilism and futility really become prominent in the Marleyan last stand against Eren. In their desperation enemies turn allies, and there is a genuine sense of hope that in this unification of enemies the good side of humanity is able to practice forgiveness and unify for the global good. The reality is that desperation doesn’t last forever, and only goes so far. Once the battle is over it is back to business as usual. Even during this time of desperation the Marleyans are still hesitant to trust the Eldians who have come to help fight in the Marleyan last stand. Eren seems to be the only one who has given up on any sort of peace between the Eldians and Marleyans. Eren through his own experiences has been consumed by his hatred of the Marleyans for making the loss of his mother, father, sister, brother, child, friends casual, and this is why he goes to these lengths. This is why he also makes the loss of life casual, because he is the only one who sees that the cycle of hatred will never end without the complete destruction of one side. His story is not unique among the Eldians, so many have lost so much. Despite this we find his fellow scouts fighting against him in this last stand. The same people who have felt the loss of their loved ones are fighting against him to save the Marleyan people, their enemy, from genocide. The momentum has become too much for Eren to stop and with his newfound powers he finally has the ability to do something about it, and end the war between the Marleyans and Eldians.
The final battle does an excellent job of blurring the lines between protagonist and antagonist. It confuses you about who should win, and which side is the moral choice. In Attack on Titan there does not appear to be a moral choice. In real life this aspect of right and wrong is also often blurred. In Attack on Titan this becomes even more blurry when the long standing protagonist of the whole show, becomes the leader of a genocidal movement. Should Eren succeed? Is he doing what’s best? It leaves you guessing what is really the best outcome, and who the good guys are. This blurring of lines is one of the most masterfully done parts of the story. Maybe I root for genocide now? There is never a clear cut good or bad side. Geographical location plays a massive part in what side of the story you are on. It is incredible to me how much a detail like where you were born plays such a massive part in your life, and you have absolutely zero say in it. I guess the moral or lesson to be found in Attack on Titan, if there is one, it is that small detail. That geographical location of birth has such a huge impact in finding your real life heroes, your freedom fighters, and your terrorists. This small detail determines what you hear, what you are told, and how you perceive the violence in your area, and it permeates through all cultures, places, and times. The reality is there is no good or bad side. There are only sides. Every action has a reaction and that is how the word works down to a fundamental physical level, and it affects every action no matter how big or how small. To exclude oneself from this is a lofty goal only obtained by the most spiritually high beings like Jesus and the Buddha. A figure like this is never seen in Attack on Titan, and if they did just like in our world their lessons would be misconstrued, manipulated, and largely ignored.
