This video will change how you see Eren

In this video I talk about Eren, his conclusion, and the ways it has been misunderstood.

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Major shoutout to L_Luck__ who inspired a big part of this script (everything related to perfect predictors basically). Check him out on Twitter as well:
And his thread that inspired me:

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Music List

Sources
“Eren is back”
Himeanole
Determinism
School Castes personalities being the same
Eren and Armin diverging
School castes
Newcomb’s paradox

[sourpancke]

Crazy how the story used to be so simple it was like "Titan bad, kill titan."

[jmanjt]

Even at a surface level, I still think it's absolutely genius to give a character obsessed with freedom the ability to see an unalterable future.

Edit: Jesus Christ this comment thread.

[wesleycascio]

I saved this video for after I saw the ending if the show and I’m so glad I did. I really liked how Eren had always been a slave to fate and his nature throughout the whole series. I have no clue how Isayama had everything so perfectly tied together seemingly from the start

[lachlanle]

There is a blog article I really like called "Eren the Slave" by linkspooky. It was written at around September 2019 (after chapter 121 was released). I want to quote a particular section that explains the scene where Eren's choice of trusting his comrades over himself.

"A lot of people misinterpret the Eren and Levi’s corps scene. That if Eren had fought from the start that he would have been able to protect everybody and trusting his comrades was the wrong thing. However, the point of that scene is that Eren chooses to try to trust in people and they all die. He then changes his choice and tries to fight on his own and it’s the same result, he’s captured and more people die. What Eren had to learn to accept in that scene was his own powerlessness. That no matter how strong he becomes there are times where he’s going to be equally helpless because that’s how the world is, massive, and beyond our control. Eren’s ideal version of that scene is that he did not have to trust anybody, that he was so strong that he could fight on his own, kill all the enemies, and not have to endure the loss of everyone. Therefore his ideal is where he has enough power to control every single factor. What he wants is not *freedom* but rather *control.*

A brief tangent that is also why Levi is his foil, Levi’s narrative is continually about despite him having a miraculous strength he constantly has to learn to accept the loss of his comrades and his important people. Why? To disprove the idea that *the strong are the ones who can protect their loved ones.* This right of the strong idea is toxic and infectious, _if I’m strong I won’t have to be on the losing side anymore, I can take instead of being taken from._ The thing is even if Eren was the strongest Titan he can’t stop from losing everything. In an attack that works basically perfectly according to his plan when ambushing Marley, Sasha dies for basically what amounts to random coincidence. Eren started a chain of events yes, but that chain is so convoluted there was no way Eren could have foresaw it coming or protected Sasha. Mikasa can catch a cold and die tomorrow, in a situation that has nothing to do with Eren’s personal strength. There are things that are genuinely out of his hands, and yet Eren will never accept that, instead he makes everything about personal strength and control.

That’s the thing Eren isn’t trying to solve the conflict or unfairness of the world, he doesn’t care about what happens to weak people who are taken by the strong. *He just wants to be on the side of the strong, taking from others.* His solution actually reinforces the cycle of the strong taking from the weak because all he does is try to climb to the other side, he still believes in the idea rather than figting against it.

In Eren’s foiling with Levi, this is what he is supposed to eventually come to accept. That the strongest person in the whole world, the person with the most freedom, is still going to be powerless. Because people are born for no reason, live meaningless lives, and die for no reason. This is an idea that can both be liberating, or restricting depending upon how you see it.

This is basically what Hange says to Eren and Mikasa as well, that they have to accept that they’re going to lose people, and moving forward in spite of accepting that is true strength. That is the lesson Eren is set up to learn with his foiling with Levi, but does not."

[nafisaxhas]

“Eren’s sense of freedom was a corruption of Armins childlike wonder” - BLEW MY MINd CUZ I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT IN THAT WAY.

[grantnalts]

This entire story would be amazing to discuss in an English class, can u imagine

[omadeus]

I postponed watching this until I watched the ending, I read that people did not take the ending well, I believe it was ended well tbh, and damn it was emotional

[MaxWollheck]

Finally... the time has come... I can watch this video. Literally had it on watch later for almost 2 years

[Suited_Nat]

As a person who’s read the manga, Eren is never free. He’s tied down by the fact that he has to free everyone else.

[gabevelez]

Never forget that the show starts off with, “80% of humanity was destroyed by the titans.” This was later found to be a lie as we discover humans exist outside of the walls but the story ends and as fate would have it 80 percent of humanity was destroyed by the titans… Im sitting here thinking about this and realize that in much of AOT the past present and future exist all at once just as Eren sees when he gains the founders ability. And we as the viewer almost gain the founders ability in the end where we can see all of AOT history truly existed all at one. In a way when the show starts off with 80% of humanity was destroyed by the titans the narration is saying it in the past present and future.

[TakeTheWorld]

The new dialouge from the anime finale confirms everything from this video, Eren ultimately never grew out of being the psychotic rage child we knew him as and turned out as the biggest slave of all.

[JuscallmeKon]

i’ve had this in my watch later for literal years looking at the thumbnail waiting to divulge in this video after the anime had ended, you did not disappoint at all. Thank you. Eren truly is one of the most complex characters in all of fiction.

[tsukinousagi]

''It's clear to me. He is a true monster and not because of his titan abilities. No matter how you try to hold him down, no matter what cage you lock him up in, forcing his mind into submission is an impossible task.''
One of Levi's hunchs.

[mediumsurmoon]

The entire concept of Eren not beeing a free person himself was the whole reason why he hated those that are bounded/stricted by something (AKA not free) in the first place

[an]

Now that the anime has ended, i can finally watch this analysis. Any lingering doubts and questions I had about the ending and regarding eren decisions has been made clear by this excellent, exceptionally well made essay. Thank you, thank you so much for this. I already loved the ending but seeing this had elevated it even more in my eyes. Aot is truly a masterpiece.

[JC-mciv]

The scene where Eren confesses to Ramzi that he was disappointed when he learned that there was life outside the walls which lead him to desire to wipe it all out is truly astonishing. And completely supports the statement that he is doing it BECAUSE HE WANTS TO, and further showing how he is like Reiner. It is just such a chilling scene. And Imagine being Ramzi and seeing this man sob a cry and you not understanding what he is saying. Sends shivers down my spine

[Yanessa]

The fact that Levi pointed out so early on, that he could sense Eren's true nature in season 1. (When they were being chased by Annie in the forest) The amount of seeds planted in season 1 is actually astonishing. 👌 AOT is award winning writing

[ivosilva]

"If I have to hear one more time, that you did this for your friends"
"I did it for me. I liked it, I was good at it, and I was... really... I was free"

[btsnoonafan]

With the extra dialogue that Isayama included in the anime between Eren and Armin, your theory is all but confirmed. I originally liked the ending but always felt that Isayama could've spent a few more pages to come to the conclusions you did and what he ultimately put in the anime. Cheers!

[AllyMarley]

I barely finished AOT and it was my first time watching it! Let me just say that after finishing it, i kept just thinking about the story and Eren for days until now. There’s just so much to think about when trying to understand Eren on his mindset and why he did what he did. When a show leaves me thinking about it for days after watching it, I automatically know that it is one of my favorites. I enjoyed this video because you give such a deeper understanding of Eren! ☺️