Eren Won. Zeke and Armin Save the Day – Shingeki no Kyojin Ch 137 Review

Check out my review of SnK Chapter 136 here. 

So I should have done this earlier, but better late than never, right? 

It’s funny, last night I held off on writing this after reading the chapter because it was almost midnight. Now, it’s just past 12:30 am as I sit and type this. My reasoning yesterday to not start this was because it was late. I have no clue what my excuse would be now. 

Anywho…this review is going to be short and sweet. 

Why? 

Because our boy Eren won. 

Or well, my boy Eren won. I know everyone feels differently about the events transpiring in the manga. If I happen to be wrong, I’ll gladly admit defeat on this one. But I can’t get over how much of a troll this would be on Isayama’s part if he really did end the series like this. 

We have 2 chapters left.  

I know that whole “he wanted the Guardians of the Galaxy ending” argument is going on, but there was also an interview that surfaced where Isayama talks about wanting to “hurt the reader”. So, take either option with a grain of salt – but here’s where I stand on this. 

This was the first time I actually took notes reading a chapter (mainly because I didn’t want to waste my time scrolling back and forth this late in the game – don’t know if that’s mean to say) so I’m literally going to post my notes as subtopics and provide the supporting evidence for my arguments. 

(There was also some more stuff with the S2 Op and ED that could be analyzed – but maybe another time. It’s 3:04 am and my editing self is tired. Haha ☺) 

Eren’s Founder Titan Formation 

So, I did catch this before, as did many others. When Eren first forms in chapter 122, it’s from feet first.  

The same as the War Hammer Titan in chapter 101. 

In chapter 124 you can get a better angle on how exactly it’s forming. 

Then, in chapter 134 Eren creates missile-like projectiles to shoot down the Marleyan airships from dropping bombs on the colossal titan army.  

With the (presumed) help of Ymir, Eren also forms a beast titan and other ancient, primordial titans to fight for him. 

From this alone, it would be safe to theorize and presume that Eren is not inside of the founding titan, and might even still be on Paradis Island awaiting the birth of his child with Historia. I know a lot of people still think Historia slept with a random Farmer, but I am not in that camp.  

Lara Tybur had a cord for her War Hammer Titan that went under the theatre stage. Maybe Eren’s cord is being obscured by the sea. The gigantic titan head is most likely just a fake out for Helos Squad to see and target.  Maybe they can’t even tell that it’s not real – as Reiner couldn’t initially tell the beast titan was fake and immediately dove at it in chapter 134. 

Historia, Eren, and Founder Memory Manipulation 

In chapter 130 Eren has simultaneous flashbacks of interconnected conversations with both Historia and Zeke.  

Zeke and Eren seem to be talking about love, and Mikasa – while Eren thinks about Historia and the conversation about a baby. Then we see Eren have a flashback to wanting a child to grow up in a peaceful world while thinking of Ramzi, and Sasha’s death by Gabi.  

He then is shown in the trenches cutting off his leg and gouging his eye out. 

The way I interpret this scene is Eren being fully resolved to carry out the mission in Liberio – to strike first and save Paradis Island and in turn, his unborn child.  

If you’ll remember, Historia had her memories wiped for years by her older sister Frieda. She only received flashes of those erased memories back with the help of her father I believe in the season 3 anime.  

(I can’t remember the manga chapter) 

Historia would be opposed to having her memories wiped due to that experience, and that could be one possible reason that she looks so depressed each time we see her. Eren could have also manipulated the Farmer’s memories as a cover, and Historia is disgusted with playing along. 

But that tangent aside, memory manipulation was present in this current chapter. 

Armin was sitting in the PATHS realm with Zeke just casually building sandcastles and bonding over their mutual self-loathing. Armin then finds a leaf of all things, and it reminds him of a memory he had of himself, Mikasa, and Eren running towards a big tree. 

Seemingly, the same tree Eren fell asleep under at the start of the series. 

In the interview I linked above, Isayama mentions something about characters like Armin and Eren being necessary to the story. Like opposing factors, or ‘foils’ to one another.  

Armin then goes on to mention how he believes he was born just to run up that hill at that moment.  

In Season 3, Eren Kruger told Grisha Yeager that if he wanted to “save Mikasa and Armin”, he needed to love someone in the walls. To get close to someone, otherwise it would all repeat. 

He then makes the point to mention that someone else could be seeing those memories, as well. 

Grisha obviously has no clue who those people are, and Kruger wonders whose memories he’s seeing. 

Linked with the current events of the story, and the revelation in chapter 121 that the Attack Titan can see the future – I am going to theorize and propose that those were indeed Eren’s memories.  

And that in order to stop the cycle of hatred against Paradis (and Eldians everywhere) he himself needed to start a family, and love someone inside the walls.  

This had to be done to save his friends, and his family. 

This also puts the conversation with Zeke and Eren’s thoughts on both Historia and Mikasa into better perspective. Remember this scene from chapter 123? 

Eren asked Mikasa what he was to her, and she got flustered and completely blew it. 

Some time after that he’s having a brotherly chat with Zeke, and while Zeke attests that Mikasa loves Eren, Eren has kind of already made his decision… 

Zeke and Armin Will Save the World 

During their little sandy chat, Zeke wonders if the catharsis of dying provides one with freedom. Slowly, he decides that he would like to be reborn one day. Continuing on from earlier, when Armin finds the leaf and holds it up to Zeke, he sees a baseball – which symbolizes his will and promise with Xaver. 

In chapter 120, Zeke tosses a baseball to Eren and tells him something along the lines of “…we must save everyone (of Eldians)” to which Eren purposefully drops the ball. Blaming his stint in the hospital for his lack of strength. 

I also really love the 2 panels afterward, because the look of betrayal on Zeke’s face is hilarious to me. It completely mirrors what happened in PATHS when they went through Grisha’s memories.  

Also, the panels theory could apply here – Eren is to the Right and Zeke is to the Left. 

To me personally, Eren quite literally dropping the ball on Zeke’s proposed plans, hopes, and dreams was not only foreshadowing, but a reinforcement of Eren’s will.  

That he will not play with, or gamble the lives of the Paradis people. 

Armin on the other hand, passes the baseball back to Zeke – which causes him to ‘hallucinate’ his former mentor, father, and Eren Kruger along with a few others into PATHS.  

I say hallucinate, because we were shown chapters earlier that the shifters were under the control of Ymir.   

As with the rumbling and death of Ramzi, Ymir is here at this scene too, silently observing. And as with the scene with Ramzi, it is unclear if only Armin can see her, or if Zeke can but is just too busy to notice. 

In chapter 122 when Eren grabs Ymir and wakes her up from her trance, Ymir’s eyes go from hallowed out to bright again. In chapter 133 – “controlled Eren and Ymir” have eyes that are similarly blacked out – which causes Armin and the rest of the Scooby gang to question just how “free” he really is.  

As a sort of mockery that riles them up to fight at the same time – causing our current chain of events. 

Look at Bertholdt’s eyes here – does he look like he is currently of his free volition? Especially when he was crying (again) while looking at Armin chapters earlier before he attacked them all on the Founder’s spine. 

If anything, I’d say this was a memory manipulation in order for these two characters to get closure. 

Zeke’s willingness to die and then escape PATHS to immediately be cut down by Levi means that his Beast Titan was never passed on. 

And that…an unsuspecting Eldian baby being born at this moment could inherit his titan powers. 

Hmm…I wonder what character we know that just went into labor as the rumbling started? 

What character has continually been linked with the beast titan being forced on her against her free will? 

Ah yes, Historia Reiss. Current Eldian Queen of Paradis. Of Royal Blood. 

This is perhaps where the AnR ending theory would come in, in a perfect world. 

Perhaps it still could. 

Either way, I’ve rambled on long enough.  

Long story short – is Eren Yeager dead? No. Absolutely not. 

Eren lives on, and so does his will. 

As Eren prophesized, Armin would save the world. As Grisha declared, Zeke would save them all. 

They both fulfilled the promises placed on them, just not in the way anyone expected. 

Did Zeke actually die at the end of this chapter? Will Historia’s baby inherit the beast titan? 

How do you think Armin being the narrator of the Attack on Titan story fits into this theory? 

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to follow us for weekly Attack on Titan the Final Season anime episode reviews! 

Recommended: How Will Attack on Titan End? 

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