“In what way are you free?” Attack on Titan “The Final Chapters: Chapter 2 — Sinners”
Spoiler alert! This is about the second half of Attack on Titan’s “Final Season: The Final Chapters, Special 1”. If you’re planning on watching but haven’t seen it yet, refrain from reading.
We ended the previous part with the heroic death of Hange Zoë, which even now, when the days have passed, still breaks our hearts. Chapter 2: Sinners begins with the faces and emotions of Hange’s comrades and friends, who are of course saddened and distressed. Onyankopon is heartbroken and says that: “This flight is our last hope, and Hange died giving it to us. To deliver you to that base. I swear it. So make sure you stop the Rumbling, no matter what it takes.” These words of Onyankopon are followed by Jean’s words, who says: “Of course. We killed many friends and comrades to get this thing in the sky. We can’t allow that slaughter to have been for nothing. Everything is to stop the Rumbling. I will do whatever it takes.” Jean initially joined the Scouts only to not disappoint Marco and other soldiers. Now we see that he has formed into a real brave fighter who has the same desire as before — to restore peace. He also wants justice to be established in the world and people not to die for no reason. In AOT, we see similar desires in many other characters, especially Jean, who seems to be not such an interesting and strong character for a number of people. In this episode, we clearly see and understand that he wants to end the suffering of humanity like others and is developing into a strong person and a character that really changes the attitude of viewers towards him.
Connie Springer is more emotional about Hange’s death and questions Reiner, who has more experience killing people and losing friends:
Connie says, “I shot Samuel and Daz and sliced up other people I knew. I got called a traitor as I did so, all the while telling myself it was to save the world. Tell me, Reiner. It was agonizing for you, Bertholdt, and Annie too, wasn’t it?”
Reiner answers with this: “I can’t even make up for the sins I committed anymore. Even if we save what remains of humanity, I doubt I’ll ever forgive myself.”
This dialogue captures the sadness that Reiner has and most principally reminds the other characters that what they are doing right now will not go away. On the contrary, it will stay with them and always bother and remind them what they did in the name of peace. Despite this, since they are not going to back down, we can boldly and loudly say how much spiritual and emotional preparedness they have to carry out their plan, especially when that plan even means killing your friends. It also shows how committed they are to the idea of peace for all in the world; they sacrifice almost everything for humanity, but rely on the idea of their leader Erwin Smith that “The few must sacrifice themselves for the many.”
“Well, let’s at least save what remains of humanity.” These words of Reiner can be considered as an expression of Erwin’s philosophy about life and mankind.
The next discussion turns to Eren’s skills. Armin says that Eren has the power to control all the Titans and Eldians, but as it seems, he is not doing so. Accordingly, they conclude that Eren is purposely giving his people free will to do whatever they want, and it is during this conversation that Eren summons them with his powers. Armin and the other friends take advantage of this moment and try to make Eren hear their thoughts. Armin, overflowing with all his heart, love and sadness says loudly: “Eren! Please hear me out! This is already enough! I’m sure that no one will be able to attack the island for hundreds of years! The terror and destruction have been just that extreme! If you stop now, we can end all this by agreeing to a non-aggression treaty. You don’t have to kill any more people! The island will be okay now!” After a short pause, he adds: “I’m sorry, Eren! We were the ones who drove you this far!”
Jean says: “Eren… Eren! We’ll figure out the rest. You don’t have to keep committing genocide for our sake!”
Connie says: “That’s right, Eren! I hated you after what happened to Sasha, but in truth, you were hurting too, weren’t you? And yet, I didn’t even bother to see things from your perspective at all!”
Mikasa says: “Eren… I, I want to shoulder your sins with you. The sins you’ve committed. We’re guilty of them, too. So please, don’t push us away anymore. Please, Eren, come back to us!”
Levi says: “You heard ‘em, Eren. Do it now, and I’ll let you off with just a swift kick in the ass. Well? Ain’t it about time you said something?”
And Eren’s answer is: The rumbling will not stop. Nor will I leave Paradis Island’s future to chance. I will keep moving forward. In order to obtain freedom, I will take freedom from the world. But I will not take anything from any of you. You all have freedom. You are free to protect the world’s freedom. And I am free to keep moving forward. As long as we each hold unbending convictions, a clash is inevitable. There is but one thing for us to do. Tatakae (fight).”
Armin asked the next question directly about why he summoned them here. Eren’s answer to that is: “To discuss the fact that there’s no need to have a discussion. If you wish to stop me, make me draw my last breath. You have freedom.”
We can catch a lot of important information in these few minutes of dialogue. There are the ones that fully express the characters, the ones that show the inner state of the characters and the ones that show us the true reality.
Eren doesn’t want the Rumbling. We viewers already know that. Eren is a peace and freedom-loving boy who was not captured and driven “crazy” by these ideas, but, differently and contrary to that, he relied on these ideas to protect his loved ones, his people and the island. He saw these actions as the only way, and that was his mistake. Also, he spread these ideas in his mind against the background of this boundless love, and “What won’t you do for love?”
But at the same time, we all have morals, the voice that we hear if we go against our deeply held internal values. It’s hard to escape from that voice, and even more so, a person like Eren can’t escape. A boy with such love, compassion and respect as Eren could not easily ignore these incessant voices of morality which would constantly remind him of the crimes he had committed. Eren is more worried about all of this than he shows it to us. He wants someone to stop him, he wants someone to arraign him for everything he had done, and because of that, he gives his friends free will to do whatever they want. In addition, he added that they have the right to even kill him. With this speech, the depth of the complexity of Eren’s character, which we saw from the very first episodes, was once again proved. Besides, we spotted part of the real Eren’s face, who can no longer hide his true self.
As for the phrases uttered towards Eren, first of all, we have to separate the emotional appeal of Armin, who tries to logically explain to Eren that he should stop everything because this is enough to restore peace on Paradis. Armin’s words are important to the audience because it reflects the retrospect that the people around Armin relied on. If this point of view lacked some type of credibility, at this point I think it should have become somewhat clear to everyone. The irreversible process of the Rumbling decided by Eren was no longer within the scope of what is called a just war. The Rumbling is now absolutely identified as genocide, which is clearly unacceptable to everyone including Eren.
Mikasa’s speech is also worth noting because it is clear that she understands the essence of the situation better than anyone else. This has a very simple explanation. Mikasa is an observant and intelligent character, she has the ability to see things in people that others don’t notice. And of course, she knows Eren the best and therefore she has absolutely understood what Eren said and what it means. Mikasa took the moment to tell Eren that the sins that he was goaded into were their fault too and that on this account he should not be deterred from retreating and returning home. On top of that, Mikasa once again showed us an example of her unconditional magnanimity, loyalty, respect and love. We once again had the opportunity to see the turning point of this great character, which will form the basis of her views and actions in the near future.
Finally, the episode ends with Armin’s question to Eren: “I have another question to ask you, once we drag you out of there: In what way are you free?” In this part, we can raise another complex issue with Eren’s character. Eren, who will do anything for freedom, first and foremost, should be free. As Armin says, maybe he is the one who is trapped in the very idea of “freedom”. One may say how the idea of freedom can make a person a “slave”, but how do we see the rational steps on the way to freedom? No, we do not, and Eren himself sees that and he is the one who thinks that this is not right. In consequence, with a cover-up and a hidden message, he tries to get his friends to free him from this captivity and from the foolishness that this endless struggle and idea forced him into. He doesn’t stop because he thinks there is no point in stopping anymore. He knows that it will be difficult for him to live with so many crimes and sins and that his friends won’t accept him after what he had done. He surrendered, but did not “put down his shield”. He fights, but he does not want to fight…
Correspondingly, a boy who only wanted freedom turned into a faithful servant of an idea and no longer knows in what way he is free…
