Four years ago, Hajime Isayama alluded to the possibility of the friendship between Eren and Armin coming to an end.
“[Armin’s story is] still up in the air for me, but I just don’t see ending things with him being best friends with Eren forever.”
– Hajime Isayama, Attack in Titan: The Anime Guide (2014)
Now, Chapter 112 has finally made this possibility real. Zeke has taught him much during their time together in Marley whether in person or through letters, and Eren now sees his friends in a new light because of it.
Some people are of the opinion that none of what Eren has said is true to him, and that he’s lying to his friends to protect them from whatever he is about to do for the sake of Eldia through Zeke’s currently unknown plan. But after some thinking, I’ve begun to see Eren’s conversation in a different light.
Eren is not lying to his friends. He is lying to himself.
When Reiner told Gabi and the rest of his family about the 104th, he described Mikasa as someone who’s blindly loyal to Eren: a boy “whose head is filled only with revenge.”
He didn’t refer to Mikasa (or Eren) by name, and I doubt Gabi knows the name of the solider who saved her anyway, but I find it rather poignant that Gabi was first “introduced” to Mikasa as someone who’s blindly loyal to a child’s need for revenge no matter what. Given the chance to prove Reiner’s words true, Mikasa instead saves Gabi, of all people, from a child’s revenge—instinctively, immediately, and without hesitation.
I’m sorry Anon, I’m not quite sure what you mean! Are you saying Eren might “sisterzone” Mikasa or that the writing is? I’ll answer both, if that’s okay.
The writing definitely is not “sisterzoning” Mikasa. Mikasa’s feelings I think are abundantly clear after chapter 50, in which it’s entirely possible she was moving to kiss him during the Clash of the Titans Arc. For the record, I didn’t ship it until chapter 50, though I did always think she had feelings for him.
I don’t think it’s a realistic reading to deny that Mikasa canonically has romantic feelings for Eren–it’s kind of blatant. Furthermore, Falco’s feelings for Gabi also clearly have a romantic component; pretending to be siblings doesn’t really change that and I just don’t think that situation is the best comparison as I doubt it’ll have further relevance.
As for how Eren sees Mikasa, that’s a different story all together, and Isayama pointing out Eren sees her as a motherly presence is not the same thing as saying Mikasa sees herself in a maternal sense (but there is some Oedipal-ness there). And it’s true–Mikasa is always trying to protect him as Carla asked her to do, but she would have done that anyways because she pretty clearly sees him as a major part of her identity, even to an unhealthy extent which I’ve talked about before, and that protectiveness is actually pushing Eren away in some sense. I do think the end goal of Mikasa’s arc has to be growing away from Eren; that being said, it’s not unrealistic to imagine that Eren would realize they could have had a happy future if, if, if.
If the circumstances of their world weren’t so cruel.
If they didn’t have to constantly fight to survive.
If Eren didn’t have a time limit on his lifespan.
If he’d decided not to go to Marlay.
Eren’s arc is tragic as hell. Even looking at the symbolism in the scene from chapter 50. Mikasa is essentially telling him she loves him, maybe wants to kiss him, and he focuses on I want to fight to save you. In doing that, he saves her, but he also loses that moment.
Eren will probably help save humanity even if Armin is the actual hero, but the cost is pretty clearly going to be his relationship with his loved ones–though I do absolutely think Mikasa and Armin will love Eren no matter how they disapprove of his actions, and I think he will love them regardless. But the closeness and the future, however short, they might have had, is probably gone.
And Mikasa knows this as she says here:
There isn’t a happy ending for them together like she’d have wanted, but she’s still clinging as we see in recent chapters wherein her clinging almost leads to her and Armin getting blown up.
To save the rest of her loved ones, Mikasa won’t be able to save Eren. I think that’s definitely where the story is going, but I do think it’s also realistic that Eren and Mikasa will have a moment wherein Eren acknowledges what could have been, and that he loves her, regardless of whether there is a romantic component.
I personally think there is likely to be (the set up is obvious, like with Touka and Kaneki in TG or Ochaco and Izuku in BNHA–it’s def a darker story with no hope for a happy ending for them, but main female character + main male character in this kind of story with a scene like chapter 50 that is clearly designed to put romance in the reader’s mind, is almost certainly intended to be romantic, plus we know Mikasa feels romantically). That being said, I also think it doesn’t actually matter whether or not Eren acknowledges romantic feelings for Mikasa. I just want him to acknowledge, and tell her, that he loves her and is grateful to her–because he does and is, regardless of whether that is familial or platonic or romantic, and the exact definition of that love doesn’t matter to the overall tragedy and beauty of their story. But acknowledging Mikasa’s personal romantic feelings would be a beautiful ending, imo, but that’s just my preference.
“The sun will rise. Mikasa will support Eren.” It’s been the truth of the shingeki world for 109 chapters. Mikasa has disagreed with Eren plenty. There’s nothing new in that. But potentially withdrawing her support is ground breaking. It’s the sort of character development many of us have wanted, myself included.
Whatever happens I don’t want it to be forever. Life is too short (literally) for Eren, Armin and Mikasa to permanently part ways. But for now I’m very excited for this development.
Another thing that excited me about the last chapter was seeing Louise and the callback to an event I’ve talked about very recently concerning Mikasa’s development.
I’ve referred to her salute here as the beginnings of her development into a proud soldier and defender of the peace. What is especially significant about this development is that it is wholly separate to her love for Eren. So, seeing Louise give the same salute here in trying to convince her to help Eren ignites a certain cognitive dissonance within her.
She’s seeing, in an image, her duties as a soldier combined with her desire to help Eren.
I don’t think the power is triggered through emotional attachment, since Levi was already a badass before he met Erwin, as was Kenny before he met Uri. Additionally, Mikasa’s connection to Eren begins proper when he gives her his scarf (that’s the memory she always comes back to when thinking of him), but she unlocks her power before that incident, when she kills the slaver.
This wasn’t Mikasa’s first headache either; every time her family is endangered, they hit her. When Carla was eaten:
When she remembered her parents’ deaths:
When she thought Eren was dead:
When the Female Titan seemed to eat Eren:
And when Eren was abducted by Reiner and Bertholdt:
So I don’t think it means she’s losing her power or anything like that (after all, Levi kept his abilities when he stopped idolising Erwin). It’s a post-traumatic effect from losing her family in childhood, potentially manifesting in the form of a headache from being clocked on the head back then.
Talking to Louise reminded her of Eren’s dangerous situation, which is what set it off again, but into a full PTSD flashback this time. Witnessing the memories again but with her newer perspective is what caused her to see things so differently.
Also, notice that the headache wherein we see Mikasa’s past for the first time was brought about by seeing Louise. Now, we are seeing Mikasa’s past again under a different lens due to a headache after her encounter with Louise. The parallels are superb.
Concerning that last quote, we can already see how Mikasa is becoming more like herself before the trauma. She is now much more open with her emotions (crying at Eren’s actions in Marley), much more empathetic to people besides Eren (reaction to Sasha), and much more able to control herself (restraint over Eren’s situation). Even as troubled as she is now, more and more she is seeming like the sweet girl she used to be.
Hi! Sorry but I’m going to play a safe card with this question lol. I think both speculations have validity.
On one hand, I think Louise’s words “only with strength can we protect someone” and “you’ve been saved by Jaeger, right?” impelled Mikasa to reconsider what consequences can “strength” and the will to “save” bring about, especially after she saw Eren launched the attack in Marley. So the flashback is in line with her change of thinking. In this sense, it is more like an internal self-questioning which led to her alternative viewing of the past.
On the other hand, I totally understand why people suspect her memories are altered. It’s because of the headache. The headache forced her to think about her past, as if there is some unnatural power activating her thoughts. She didn’t want to do it. If all those flashbacks just happened like a normal monologue, then it wouldn’t have seemed so weird.
So yah, I’m standing astride both options, lame, I know lol. We just need more information from Isayama.
midnight-in-town 