After a decade, the anime adaptation of Hajime Isayama's masterpiece Attack on Titan has finally concluded in a bittersweet finale. Many harsh realities were accepted, along with their painful consequences.

While Attack on Titan has had many big questions, one in particular has stood the test of time: what is the deal with Eren and Mikasa's relationship? After theories and speculation from fans (anime watchers, naturally), the series finale has opened Eren's mind to us and we learn exactly how he feels about Mikasa. To the fans who believed that Eren was in love with Mikasa, you were right.

A Brief History of Eren and Mikasa's Relationship

Eren and Mikasa meet at a young age when he accompanies Dr. Grisha Yeager, his father, to Mikasa's home to perform a medical check-up. Upon their arrival, Mikasa's parents are found murdered and Mikasa appears to be missing. Eventually, Eren finds and defends Mikasa from the thugs that kidnapped her and planned to sell her off for her "exotic" looks. Eren's famous words as he fights the criminals, "If you don't fight, you can't win!", awaken Mikasa's Ackerman genes and she stabs Eren's attacker to death to save him. The two have been inseperable ever since, with Mikasa even living with the Yeagers.

As they grow up, they develop the reputation for being joined at the hip. It is well-known throughout Shinganshina that wherever Eren is throwing a temper tantrum, Mikasa is closely behind ready to jump anyone who comes into his path. Even when Eren decided to join the Scout Regimen in a quest to kill all titans and avenge his mother who was killed in the maw of one, Mikasa followed him there without question. To her, only his protection mattered.

The First Hint of Eren's Feelings Towards Mikasa

When the Scouts made port at Marley for the first time, the group stayed the night at a refugee camp. That evening, Eren and Mikasa have the start of an uncomfortable conversation. Eren asks her why she cares so much for him, which leaves Mikasa speechless. What leaves her flabbergasted is when Eren asks her the famous question in arguably the whole anime: "what am I to you?". He wanted to know if this was devotion to rescuing her as a child or if it was because he's family. Flustered, Mikasa tentatively says "family". Eren is visibly disappointed, he clearly was hoping for a different answer.

A few years later, when Gabi is exposed as Sasha's murderer, Eren tells Mikasa that he always hated her. He calls her a slave to him, for her Ackerman blood will not allow her to be anything else. He cuts her deep, telling her that he hates people who are not free more than anything. Mikasa has always been a hard person, but hearing such painful words from someone she loves deeply bruises her badly. Eren only did this to distance Mikasa from him, so that she can move on quickly from him once he enacts his Rumbling plan. Sadly, it works and Mikasa abandons the famous red scarf that Eren gave her as a child.

Eren Frustratingly Never Got to Tell Mikasa How He Felt

In the final episode of the anime, Eren and Armin had their last conversation before the Rumbling, which would soon be forgotten and re-remembered when it is over. Armin asks Eren if he thinks that Mikasa can forget him when he's gone and live a happy life with someone else, just like Eren wanted. When he replies with "who knows", Armin punches him in the face in anger. Armin scolds Eren, saying that he never forgave him and how can he disregard Mikasa's love for him so easily. He is appalled that Eren was so dismissive of Mikasa's deep affection for him. Armin continues to yell at Eren, claiming that Mikasa deserves to forget a heartbreaker like him and should be happy. Cheekily, he taunts Eren that Mikasa could quickly find a suitor in no time.

To Armin's shock, Eren cries at this jest. He wails that he does not want Mikasa to find another man, but she must pine for him even after he dies, at least for ten years. Hilariously, Armin is surprised that Eren would give such an answer, calling it "pathetic". Eren implores Armin to speak nothing of this to Mikasa, for he wants her to be happy but he is scared of dying. He does not want to leave her, or any of his friends for that matter.

Eren clearly loves Mikasa, and wants to spend his life with her. He loves her so much that he wants to be on her mind even after his thirteen-year lifespan is over. He has hinted at his feelings in the past, so Mikasa has some indication that he has a certain kind of love for her. The question does Mikasa feel the same way?

Mikasa's Heartbreaking Vision of What Could Have Been

In the Paths, Mikasa experiences a different kind of reality. She lives in a small cottage away from the city in what appears to be the countryside. In this life, she is with Eren. They both fled the city to this place, because he could not stand to begin his original genocide plan and bring an endless cycle of pain onto the world. In this reality, they are both living a simple and quiet life in Eren's remaining four years, doing things like woodcutting and fishing. As they embrace, Eren asks her to throw the red scarf he gave her away after he dies, for he wants her to move on and be happy.

In Eren's final moments, the Scouts decide that they should kill him. Mikasa decides it should be her to deliver the blow, and so she makes her way to the mouth of Eren's titan form. Once inside, she beheads him and kisses him goodbye.

Attack on Titan is many things, one of them being a tragic love story. Mikasa and Eren's love for each other was always felt, but was never returned to one another. In dire circumstances, their love was strong, yet doomed. Hajime Isayama crafted a tale of two lovers that could never be, where only we were privy to it except Eren and Mikasa.

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