Here Is How ‘Attack on Titan’ Manga Ended (& Why Is the End So Controversial)

Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan is an absolute modern hit, and no anime fan can claim to be a true fan if they’re not acquainted with the story of Attack on Titan, regardless of whether they are fans of Isayama’s series. Attack on Titan is a true modern-day classic, and that is actually what inspired us to write this article, in which we are going to talk about the series’ controversial ending. The ending of Attack on Titan caused a lot of uproar when Isayama wrote it, and in this article, we are going to explain what happened there.

The ending of Attack on Titan was very controversial as it seemed quite pointless

So, what happened there? How did Attack on Titan end? Here’s an overview! Eren meets Armin and Mikasa one last time. Sasha’s father finds out about Gabi’s murder of his daughter, but he lets her go so as not to continue the cycle of revenge. Zeke Yeager is held captive and interrogated by Levi’s special unit, where he believes that for the good of humanity, the Eldian people must be sterilized, which would also eliminate the destructive Titan power from the world.

Meanwhile, Marleyan soldiers and titan shifters have arrived on Paradis and challenged Eren to battle. With the appearance of Zeke, the reunion of the Founding Titan, and a descendant of the royal family, the coordinate, the link between all living Eldians, is activated. Eren and Zeke now find themselves in the so-called Path, where the first Titan shifter, Ymir Fritz, has lived for centuries and serves the royal family before Zeke moves forward with his sterilization plan, as he wants to let Eren know how her father abused her for his own purposes.

However, he realizes that it is not Grisha but Eren himself who is responsible for his actions and the almost complete elimination of the Reiss’ since the Attacking Titan could access the past and future. Eren approaches Ymir and explains that she no longer has to obey the royal family and is free to make her own decisions. He eventually wins their favor and is thus able to assume the full form of the Founding Titan and freely control the Colossal Titans within the Wall, beginning the Rumbling, a massive attack on the rest of the world.

Eren is eventually defeated and beheaded by Mikasa, stopping his rampage and seemingly bringing peace to the world. The war was over, and the Titans disappeared, while the surviving fighters aimed to create a world where Paradis and Marley would be able to live together. It would be a tough process, but they wanted to give it a try.

The epilogue reveals that Mikasa founded a family but that she frequently visited Eren’s grave as Paradis blossomed as a nation. Soon, a tree appeared over Eren’s grave, growing in size. As Mikasa dies of old age, the wars that had been raging outside of Paradis finally reach that nation as well, and Shiganshina is completely destroyed in a bombing. Many years later, the ruins are overtaken by a forest, and the manga ends with a lone boy and his dog reaching Eren’s tree, just like Ymir Fritz did all those years ago, which has now become gigantic.

And thus, the cycle continues, as it seems, and that is the whole point. The fans did not like Attack on Titan‘s ending because it seemed like nothing mattered. The whole story was seemingly pointless – Eren’s sacrifice might have destroyed the Titans, but the problem was not in them; it was the humans who caused all the trouble.

And while that does hit hard, and is the truth, the fact that all was destroyed not long after Mikasa’s death showed that Isayama basically stomped over his main plot, as the all-revolving cycle – as the final scene suggests – never ends. The boy and his dog are a strong implication, but we don’t know if that will simply start another cycle or break it. But we do hope that whatever future Isayama had in mind redeems the ending he wrote for the manga.

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