Attack on Titan: Why Did Zeke Allow Himself to Be Killed?

As far as Attack on Titan characters are concerned, we know that they are usually quite complex with a complex backstory. Many of them have greatly written stories, which is, in all honesty, one of the strong points of this series. One such character is Zeke Yeager, Eren’s older half-brother, whose story is one of the best in the series. This article is going to be dedicated to Zeke Yeager as we have deiced to explain to you why Zeke allowed Levi to kill him in the end.

Near the end of Attack on Titan, a resurrected Zeke is seen calling out Levi’s name, and a moment later, Levi decapitates Zeke and kills him permanently. Before being decapitated, Zeke ponders on how beautiful the world is and how he did not deserve to witness such beauty because of the atrocities he had committed. That can be attributed to his willingly allowing Levi to kill him.

The rest of this article will further elaborate on the given answer. The life and death of Zeke Yeager are one of the most interesting aspects of Attack on Titan, which is why we have deduced that they need some attention here. Plus, Zeke is a very interesting character in his own right, which explains why this topic is so relevant. We have collected all the relevant information in one place.

How did Zeke Yeager die in Attack on Titan?

The story of Zeke actually begins with the story of Grisha Yeager. Long story short, Grisha had two wives and a child with each of them, which makes Zeke and Eren half-brothers, with Zeke being the older one. They were unaware of the fact for a long time before Zeke learned of Eren. Zeke’s mother was Dina Fritz, while Eren’s was Carla Yeager.

Although at their first meeting, during the battle in the Shiganshina District, they were enemies fighting against each other, in time, Eren manages to embrace the help his brother is offering him and his vision of the salvation of the Eldians, and decides to go over to his side. During the days before the raid on Liberio, they are already seen working towards their common goals, ignoring their factions during the impending war. Zeke is sorry to see Eren subjected to the same monstrous brainwashing he had suffered from their father as a child.

Eren accepts Zeke’s euthanasia plan to sterilize the Subjects of Ymir, sharing its goal, and decides to side with his older brother. Eren trusts Zeke enough to rebel against the Survey Corps and get away from his friends to plot the attack on Marley with him and organize the revolution inside the Walls to overthrow the government of Paradis with the help of the Yeagerists and Anti-Marley Faction volunteers.

Similarly, Zeke relates to Eren in a fraternal, even affectionate way, feeling happy to be able to relate so deeply to a family member after years and trying to protect him from enemy attacks during the final battle at Shiganshina. However, Eren’s behavior turns out to be only a facade, ultimately shocking Zeke.

Once the Founding Titan is activated and arrives at the Coordinate, he reveals that he exploited his brother to be able to use the Founding Titan to its full potential, refusing to accept his plan for the sterilization of Eldians. Eren’s betrayal of him leaves Zeke embittered and deeply wounded. Still, he decides not to abandon his brother to his wickedness, preferring to make him think about the indoctrination he received from his father as a child and trying to save him.

Despite this, Zeke discovers that it is Eren himself who has manipulated his father’s actions from the future through the power of the Attacking Titan, and observes the scene of his brother who forces the Father to exterminate the Royal Family to steal the Founding Titan from them and transfer it to Eren himself in the past, to arrive after his plan.

Eren reveals that he wants to use the Founding Titan to destroy the world, and even if Zeke tries in every way to make him think about their father’s life and his actions, in the end, he gives in and tries to stop his mad plan. From their confrontation, Zeke is defeated and exploited by Eren as a catalyst for using the Founding Titan.

But, although Zeke was actually killed in the story once and even devoured by a Titan, he returned during Eren’s rampage before eventually coming back to life after a chat with Armin. While observing the beauty of the day before him, Zeke Yeager summoned Levi Ackerman, who decapitated him and thus killed him for good.

Why did Zeke Yeager allow Levi to kill him?

Now that we know Zeke’s life path and the fact that he had died once before being decapitated by Levi Ackerman, it is quite interesting to see why he actually died near the end of the series. Namely, from what we have learned, the guy was tortured, devoured by a Titan, and then put inside its stomach, and he somehow miraculously came back to life. Completely healed and regenerated, Zeke Yeager was definitely able to fight or run away, but not only did he not do that, he intentionally called Levi to attract his attention. Knowing Levi, he did not think for a second before jumping in to decapitate Zeke and thus kill him permanently.

Now, considering all of these facts and circumstances, it becomes obvious that Zeke was not killed by accident or by someone else’s will but because he wanted to be killed. He was perfectly capable of doing something, but he summoned the exact person who he knew would kill him – Levi. And it happened exactly like that. So, why did Zeke do it?

Some have speculated that it was because of his own nihilism, his personal beliefs, or because he realized that his plans had failed. Still, if you observe his final thoughts before his decapitation, they will actually reveal why Zeke wanted to die. Moments before Levi’s blade sliced his blade, Zeke was observing the day around him and was amazed because it was so beautiful.

Admiring the beauty of the world around him, Zeke wondered how he had not noticed it earlier but then added that he did not deserve it in the first place because of all the atrocities he had committed. At that moment, Levi’s blade struck him and killed him.

This basically reveals why Zeke did it, i.e., why he allowed Levi to kill him, heck, why he invited Levi to kill him. Seeing what had happened around him and all the chaos, Zeke realized that the time for his punishment had arrived, and he accepted it. He summoned it by summoning Levi to kill him. It was a self-imposed punishment for everything he had done, as Zeke finally accepted that he had been the villain and decided to accept the only possible and just punishment – death.

And it was all the more ironic and more painful for him as he died when he finally realized how beautiful the world he had wanted to destroy was and how he would not be there to enjoy that beauty.