Hajime Isayama's highly lauded dark fantasy series Attack on Titan has enthralled its fans for well over a decade now. What started as a simple tale of humanity's struggle against the immense might of the mysterious titans, is now a complex political thriller racing towards an apocalyptic showdown that brings the story full circle on all fronts. Following the end of the manga last year, the upcoming release of the third part of the anime adaptation's fourth and final season, produced by Studio MAPPA, is set to bring this epic narrative to its grand conclusion. With its much anticipated finale set to air during the next year, viewers must prepare themselves to bid farewell to this global phenomenon, which could easily be categorized among the anime that have defined the past decade.
Continuing where the story left off in the final episode of Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2, the army of Wall Titans commanded by Eren's massive skeletal Founder is about to bring its trail of devastation to the shores of Marley, signaling the implementation of the genocidal resolution undertaken by the series' divisive protagonist. Simultaneously, in a last ditch effort to save the world, Armin, Mikasa, and the remaining members of the 104th Training Corps, alongside their allies from Hizuru and Marley prepare to confront and reason with their old friend and prevent him from wiping out humanity beyond the walls. Racing towards its gripping climax, the final battle is sure to answer a lot of important questions about the series, with respect to individual characters and overall lore, including the origin of the titans, the future of the Eldian race, various interpersonal dynamics between the main cast, and finally, Eren's true motives in triggering the rumbling.
The Origin of the Titans
The revelation of Ymir's story delved fairly deep into manner in which the Power of the Titans was passed down over generations, but there is still a lot of lore yet to be explained concerning their origins.
Depicted as a spine-like organism that attached itself to Ymir during her flight from her Eldian captors during her flashback sequence, the true nature of "the source of all living matter" which was shown to be the origin of titan powers has not been elucidated in its entirety. Moreover, the connection between the Founding Titan, the paths, and the creature itself remains obscure, but with little over 8-9 chapters of the manga left to adapt, it remains to be seen whether this will factor significantly into the ending itself.
The Fate of Paradis Island
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=1500&dpr=1.5)
One of the driving forces behind the story of Attack on Titan is the centuries-long conflict between the empires of Eldia and Marley. While the former exerted total dominance over much of the world throughout the majority of history with the aid of the Power of the Titans, Marley's resurgence following the Great Titan War prompted a thorough restructuring of the prevalent world order. Formerly seen as the most powerful race on the planet, the Subjects of Ymir became the victims of persecution all across the world, after the 145th Fritz King abdicated his throne on the mainland in order to find refuge behind the walls on Paradis Island. However, the fragile peace between Eldia and the rest of the world has been thrown to the wind by Eren's actions in Liberio, which effectively amounted to a declaration of war against all humanity beyond the walls.
Now, with Eren's commencement of the rumbling in reaction to Marley's invasion of Paradis, the Eldians of Paradis are taking extreme action against the perceived threat to their existence posed by their enemies. Although his own motives are difficult to justify, Eren's resolve is only a product of him witnessing the world's unyielding hatred towards his people during the Survey Corps' visit to Marley. In his view, the time for reasoning has long since past, as evidenced by his assault on the gathering of officials from across the world in Liberio. On the other hand, Armin's more moderate standpoint on the impending war still places diplomacy and negotation as Paradis' only hope. Finally, Zeke's euthanization plan, though extreme in its own right, presents a flawed yet possible third course of action. The battle between these ideologies is sure to play a vital role in deciding the resolution of this ancient war, finally bringing a sense of closure to this conflict.
Eren's Point of View
While the last episode of Season 4 Part 2 did present flashes of Eren's memories in the months leading up to the attack on Liberio, little has actually been revealed of his true motives and goals. As someone who prioritizes freedom above all else — to a degree where he is prepared to oppress others in order to defend his own liberty — his actions are somewhat in line with his overall character arc, but there is a glaring gap in the plan in regard to the fate of his friends and fellow inhabitants of Paradis. Although his decimation of enemy forces across the world with the rumbling is sure to buy the islanders some time, there is no shred of doubt that the forces allied against Eldia will be sure to respond in kind after rebuilding their own military might.
Besides this, the ever lingering question of Eren's relationship with Mikasa is also yet to be fully explored. Raised as step siblings from early adolescence, the two have a bond that goes far deeper than family, despite not being related by blood. Often regarded as one of the series' most prominent potential romantic pairings, any future hope of a relationship between the two has been cast into serious doubt with Eren's actions during the round table discussion with Mikasa and Armin, where he explicitly declared his hatred for the ones closest to him throughout the story. Additionally, with a possible alternative course of Eren being the father of Historia's child — in spite of its likelihood of being a massive red herring — opens up even more doubts about how this dynamic between them will eventually play out. No conclusion to Attack on Titan would be complete without resolving this much disputed connection between the two, and hence, fans can eagerly await Isayama's own view of the same coming to light in the series' finale.
Some Much Needed Closure
In addition to the serialized release of the final chapter, the final volume features a slightly expanded conclusion which does leave the story open-ended to greater extent. The likelihood of this ending making it to the screen is fairly high, but the final decision will be in the hands of the team at Studio MAPPA and Isayama himself. Considering all the backlash that accompanied the release of the final chapters of Attack of Titan, there still remains the possibility of an anime-original ending, even if the major points of the story only slightly diverge from the source material.
Lastly, the ending will also need to wrap up parallel plot points such as the relationship between Armin and Annie Leonhart, Jean Kirschtein and Reiner Braun's final fates, the destiny of Connie Springer's mother and other pure titans, as well as deciding on which characters will survive the final battle and live to see the new world —for better or for worse — created by Eren's actions. Even if many of the finer details related to the final installment's length are yet to be shared, fans can be sure that one of the most loved shows of the past few years will definitely go out with an action-packed thrill ride at a pace that is just as breakneck as when it first debuted on screen nearly a decade ago.