AOT Finale Add On's

If there's spelling mistakes I do apologise, or if it doesn't make sense it was a rush stream of thought process haha. I had to write up my thoughts before filming to include it in the Chapter 5 outro!

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I’m inserting this here because my analysis of Historia was quite harsh, and I didn’t really take the time to think her actions through due to the intense emotions and how quickly you’re blindsided by her narrative being reinserted back in to showcase the last four years of Paradise after Eren’s death and the Rumbling.

I took some time away and considered it in relation to her journey to becoming Queen and her alignment with the Jaegerists very appears to be feigned compliance. Historia came to her position through a coup, so she’s aware that she could also lose her position that way too which would put her and her daughter in danger. The Historia we see outside of her role as monarch is one that is truly enjoying her life, valuing the time with her family, and sharing in the joy of being a mother. We then see the stark contrast of her as a Monarch where she is stoic and tense at the side of the Jaegerists. She knows that if she condemns them there is no one here to protect her. She will be thrown from this position as quickly as she came to it.

Historia is biding her time and waiting, playing the obedient Queen as she played the obedient girl all her life. Compliant but waiting for her opportunity to strike when she knows she has the force and means to do so. She's incredibly perceptive and clever in that regard. She's just playing another role before she's able to become the 'worst girl in History' once more which likely begins when her friends return. Their support and the growing interest in why they went against Paradise to help the rest of the world would likely bolster those who do not agree with the Jaegerists. We know that there are many who do not agree with them but are probably too scared to speak up due to the power and authority they possess now. However, the return of her friends emphasises the potential for peace to be fought and established and for the Jaegerist's power to be removed in favour of a more fair and democratic process.

The old command have all died and in their place are the Jaegerists. Historia had no choice but to appease the new, powerful movement but I still think this is also a way for her to defy. In remaining Queen, she has the potential to influence and change Paradise for the better. She keeps the door open for her friends to return and for them to engage in peace talks whilst offering them her protection as a monarch. Without Historia, they likely would be killed or imprisoned upon arrival as ‘traitors’ to Paradise, which is still a threat they fear but one they are willing to embrace if it means bridging the divide between the rest of the world and Paradise. Historia may not have complete authority but she has enough to protect those she cares about and we know how motivational and beloved she is by the people.

Historia acknowledges that this is not what Eren died for, but this is the legacy that he left behind and what they have to live with. He left behind this nationalistic resurgence and as a result, Historia is bearing the burden of that responsibility because what other choice does she have? Hitch yawns during the nationalistic displays of the Jaegerist emphasising that there are still those within Paradise that do not agree with the direction they are attempting to take Paradise in, again showcasing that there is room for change which cannot be done without Historia being in power and the gang returning to help influence Paradise’s direction.

Historia standing on the docks with other ambassadors from around the world behind her signifies her openness to peace. She’s willing to cooperate and work with the rest of the world to rebuild after the threat of the Titans. If she was against this, she would not welcome the ambassadors into Paradise, nor would she on the dock waiting for her friends, knowing that their return is to establish peace after advocating and helping the rest of the world to rebuild after the Rumbling for the last four years.  

We know that Historia was against the Jaegerists and Eren. She disagrees with the plan that Eren wants to commit and even throws the idea of becoming pregnant as a way of halt and hinder his motivations by showing him that she was willing to sacrifice herself and her future children, if it meant preventing millions of innocent people from dying. Historia was willing to do that because it was the only way she could think to defy him, to show him that she was willing to accept the consequence of continuing the link to the Founding Titan’s abilities through her lineage, because Eren’s plans were so unfathomably horrible to her sense of morality that she could not in good conscience agree with him. I still fully believe that her pregnancy was a means of defying Eren. Of showing Eren that she did not agree with him. Her choice to have a baby with someone she previously hated because he bullied her also emphasises how one can overcome resentment and anger to establish something hopeful and new. It’s a way to try and dissuade Eren from his pursuit by giving him a glimpse of what can happen if we learn to forgive and attempt to find alternative ways to move forward.

Her letter to the group could also be seen as a warning. She is making them aware of what to expect when they return, but it’s coded in such a way that if anyone read her letters it would seem as if she was complying and in agreement with the Jaegerists. She fills them in on what has happened in the last four years, and the rise in militarism, which is not a negative thing considering every country has the right to protect itself and after what they have experienced you cannot blame Paradise in wanting to ensure they have the means to prevent a future genocidal threat. Tensions are still high and won’t be erased overnight, but with the group returning and Historia remaining in her position as Queen, there is hope that things will progress for the better and that they can establish the legacy that Eren wished to leave behind of granting them long lives of peace.

And they did. We don’t see any militaristic action until long after Armin has died. Peace was established for a period of time. Again, the return of violence and conflict long after the deaths of the original gang is not meant to display humanity as beyond change or redemption, but to emphasise the dangers of forgetting the lessons of the past and replicating the same mistakes that lead to conflict to begin with. It does not mean that peace isn’t worth fighting for, or that Eren’s sacrifice meant nothing in the end. It does not mean that we should justify the Rumbling or excuse it as valid because of what inevitably happens in the future. Rather, it’s a warning to us as the viewers to not be blinded by hatred and to keep fighting for change even if it feels impossible to make a difference. That there is good to be found in the world. If anything Isayama is emphasising the dangers of cycles repeating if we do not completely break them, rather than showing that humans are doomed to repeat the past or refuse to change, and symbolically the destruction of Paradise in the future is his way of emphasising just how difficult it is to break away from hate, but that we must continue to persist.

Why?

Because, in Eren’s words, we are special because we are born.

I also never really discussed much the closing scenes because they were so small in the movie credits. I was sent screengrabs though on Patreon so was better able to see some details. Such as Mikasa waiting 10 years to marry, and I fully am dying on the hill that it was Jean she settled down with and that’s a ship I’ll gladly support and die for because if Mikasa couldn’t be with Eren then she deserved to be with someone who values her for her strength and loyalty. I also love that the scarf never left her. Eren truly did wrap it around her for the rest of her life. Then there’s the fact that Armin is the last one left alive reiterating that all of this is Armin’s account of what happened and was the narrator of this journey.

I also agree that the boy and the dog is not a negative. It’s purposely left ambiguous, and I think you could read it as being a replication of the cycle, but in a way that benefits humanity rather than destroys it this time. Ymir escaped into the tree full of despair and fear of death. What manifested was a stronger body that protected and shielded her from the threat of the world she inhabited. The boy enters full of wonder and exploration as to what he may find.

This could lead to him inheriting the Hallucigenia and Titans re-entering the world once more. But without the fear and threat, whose to say that it wouldn’t be a positive force. We know that Ymir also helped to build towns and cities to benefit others, so we know that it can be used for good. The boy’s removal from the violence of the world that Ymir suffered could signify a change in that this power is granted to someone who will use it to help rebuild humanity rather than destroy it. Eren mentions that if the Founding Titan had fallen into the hands of someone smarter than him, then everything could have been different, the Founding Titan could have been used to resolve conflict rather than create it. This could be foreshadowing the eventual inheritance of the boy inheriting the hallucigenia.

However, there’s also NO GURANTEE that he would find anything. Eren could have truly broke the cycle. The boy being able to explore without fear or threat of violence from Titans which is what Eren desired and wanted to establish for all of humanity. This could be Isayama’s poetic way of showing that the era of Titans is over and this new world is truly free to flourish signifying hope for the future. This boy is doing what Eren always dreamed of and is a symbol for what the world has become now that the Titans have been removed from it entirely.

I also find it very fitting that Levi spends his retirement with Gabi and Falco. They look and act very similar to Isabel and Furlan. In some way Levi is reunited with the spirit of those he lost before they were coerced into joining the Scouts. He can see a life that might have been if Furlan and Isabel had lived, and they had been able to grow old and retire together. Through Gabi and Falco he seems them live on and he finds peace and contentment in what life has to offer him know he is no longer a soldier. That is just my head canon on this so don’t come for me, but I’d like to think that’s why he finds himself with Gabi and Falco at the end, that he gets to live the life he could have had with Isabel and Furlan through Gabi and Falco.

Levi being able to live in peace and retirement is everything to me. He sacrificed so much to ensure that the deaths of his comrades meant something and that their lives were not wasted, that their memories would live on through him and his actions. In the end he was finally able to accomplish what he set out to do, saving and protecting humanity from the threat of the Titans, and giving his comrades the respect they deserved in getting them this far. His final salute and the tear that rolled down his face broke my heart because it’s his acknowledgement that his duty is done, as the lone soldier left of the old command, it’s his turn to rest and be at peace.