Attack on Titan: Does Jean Die & Does He Become a Titan?

Jean Kirstein is a major character in the Attack on Titan series. He is an elite recruit and member of the Survey Corps, with matching physical ability and a high ranking for his age. Jean initially opted to join the Military Police Brigade as he valued structure and safety. Still, after witnessing the death of one of his comrades, he chose to join the Survey Corps, eventually becoming one of its last surviving members. Although he presents himself as selfish and materialistic, Jean values the lives of his comrades very highly. Because of this, Jean frequently leads the charge, which has put his life in danger numerous times. Now that Attack on Titan has ended, did Jean Die in the war or become a Titan? 

Does Jean become a Titan?

As the “source of all living matter” was ripped out of Eren’s Founding Titan form in chapter 138, it began letting out a strange gas. This was likely Eren’s doing, as he wanted to create as much chaos and confusion as possible. We can see how suddenly the gas envelops the civilians. When Annie and her father see each other for the first time in years and begin approaching, the gas suddenly washes over them.

Connie recognizes the gas as the same type that turned everyone in his hometown, Ragako Village, into Titans. Panic immediately overtakes everyone present as they realize that all the Eldians are about to turn into Titans. Levi yells at Pieack and Mikasa that they need to get on Falco and fly away because Titan Shifters and Ackermans are an exception. If they don’t escape immediately, they risk getting eaten by the soon-to-be crowd of Titans.

As panic and sorrow wash over the crowd, Jean seems oddly calm. It’s almost as if he has accepted his fate. It’s a stark contrast to his younger self, who was terrified of becoming a Scout. Despite wanting a cushy life in the Military Police, Jean puts everything on the line for his friends and humanity.

As panic and sorrow wash over the crowd, Jean seems oddly calm. It’s almost as if he has accepted his fate. It’s a stark contrast to his younger self, who was terrified of becoming a Scout. Despite wanting a cushy life in the Military Police, Jean puts everything on the line for his friends and humanity.

Jean and Connie have a short but sad talk, reminiscing on their younger days. Knowing their Titan transformation is unavoidable, Jean and Connie spend their last few moments as humans appreciating their long friendship.

As the gas takes effect, we see Jean in his Pure Titan form. It’s always sad to see a beloved character turn into a Titan. Their Titan forms are a twisted, mocking mimic of their former appearance as humans.

Jean doesn’t stay a Titan forever. When Eren is defeated, the Power of the Titans is vanquished from the world. All the Eldians who were Pure Titans immediately turned back into humans. This includes Jean, Gabi, Connie, as well as Connie’s mom back in Rangako! It’s possibly the kindest resolution Isayama could have given to us.

Does Jean die?

In the final act, Jean gets close to death more than a few times. He plays a big role in the fight against Eren, so he has to put himself in several life-threatening situations. Let’s recount a few times Jean came close to dying during the Rumbling.

When everyone realized Eren could inexhaustibly revive Titans from throughout history, they were incredibly intimidated. Most of the team also used to be Eren’s friends, so they were still not completely on board with killing him. Pieck takes courage and exclaims that she will lead the charge since she isn’t Eren’s friend. She runs up to Eren’s nape in her Cart Titan form and wraps explosives around his neck.

Pieck emerges from her Titan form and is about to detonate the explosives when an iteration of the Warhammer Titan stabs her Titan form. Reiner goes to help her but is caught off guard by the appearance of the Jaw Titan. Specifically, this is Galliard’s version of the Jaw Titan, which shocks Reiner.

Seeing things get out of hand, Jean tries to get Reiner back on track and lead him in the right direction. While he’s doing this, Jean isn’t paying attention to his surroundings and almost gets devoured by another iteration of the Jaw Titan, but Levi saves him at the last minute.

In another life-or-death scenario, Jean catches Reiner as he’s just about to fall off. Their 3DM gear is damaged, and they’re about to get eaten by a Titan, but Jean still doesn’t let Reiner give up on his life.

Reiner tells Jean to let him go so that he can transform into the Armored Titan, but Jean says that he’s always hurting himself despite ironically having the Titan with the greatest defense. Reiner’s pessimism gets the best of him, as it often does, and he thinks they can’t possibly win this fight.

Instead of making empty promises, Jean agrees that they may die but will at least go down fighting. Soon after this scene, they’re both miraculously rescued by Falco’s flying Jaw Titan.

Jean always seems to be the most down-to-earth and honest person, as evidenced by these panels in which he’s the first to assert that they have to kill Eren. There’s no other way to win. If they hesitate, humanity is done for. The others know this, but Jean is the first to vocalize and finalize this action plan.

Jean prioritizes the preservation of human lives over most things in battle. This is the correct outlook to have in most situations, but this final battle is one they absolutely must win. When Jean believes Pieck is in trouble, he’s too preoccupied with trying to help her when he should be detonating the explosives still hanging off Eren’s neck.

However, Pieck is an extremely capable fighter and has a brilliant strategic mind. When Jean realizes he has underestimated Pieck and she’ll be fine, he instantly sprints toward the explosives.

Jean is the one to reach Eren’s nape and finally detonate the explosives. He calls Eren a “stupid little suicidal blockhead,” though his sad expression betrays his true emotions. Jean was the first to vocalize that they must kill Eren, and he’s now taking the first step toward doing that.

After the explosion, Eren’s Titan head detaches from its gigantic body, releasing the “source of all living matter.” We see its swirly, worm-like form come very close to making contact with Jean, but it simply falls to the ground.

Jean’s possible appearance in Chapter 139.5

Years after the final battle and peace negotiations between Marleyians and Eldians, we see a small family visiting Eren’s grave. The woman is reminiscent of Mikasa since she has Mikasa’s signature scarf.

Although we never get a definitive answer, many fans thought the man was Jean. His hairstyle looks similar enough to Jean’s, but what supports this theory is that Jean always had some romantic interest in Mikasa.

They’re also some of the only people who would bother to pay their respects to Eren. The rest of the world sees him as the common enemy who united both Eldians and Marleyians due to his wickedness. Some fans say Mikasa wouldn’t settle for anyone other than Eren. This might be true, but it’s still not a bad ending to have Mikasa live her own long and happy life, and Jean ends up with his crush. Whoever Jean ended up with, he probably gave them a very happy life and finally got to live out his dream of being safe, rich, and comfortable.

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