So, has anyone really recovered from the ending of Attack On Titan and Eren’s true goal reveal? Or are we still in the same traumatized boat? I mean, it won’t be surprising. Attack On Titan has to be one of the most beloved manga series of all time, and its conclusion was so highly anticipated. We’ve been following Eren Jaeger‘s story for so long, and to see it all go down has been taxing, to say the least. 

In the end, what even was Eren’s goal? To see a protagonist become the villain of his own story was a trip to see, for sure. But there was a method to the madness here. After all he had been through, Eren’s true goal was freedom. It was freedom to exist, the freedom to have his friends live long and happy lives without fear of persecution, no matter what it took. And if that meant destroying the entire world and his enemies, save only Paradis which is where he grew up? Then so be it. 

This mindset led to one of the most controversial endings in manga and anime history, in my humble opinion. Like, you could not escape the sheer panic of fans when everything went down with the ‘Rumbling’ situation. I mean, it’s not like we haven’t had anime that had a protagonist that slowly descended into a morally broken/antagonistic view point. That’s what happened with Death Note, after all. But we literally saw Eren turn from this bright-eyed fighter to a hollowed out martyr that would reduce the world to rubble for those he loved. 

And that’s the real conundrum here, isn’t it? Eren’s goals are only as important as his motivations, and his motivation has always been the people around him. But when those motives turned against him and his vision, well. That left things more than a little convoluted. So today, let’s discuss what even were Eren’s goals by the end of Attack On Titan, in yet another round of Lore Analysis.

Attack On Titan: You Either Die A Hero..

Before we get to what Eren’s goal was through all of Attack On Titan, we need to discuss the series plot itself. And as one of the most engaging storylines of all time rife with hidden agendas and explosive secrets, there is a lot that can be said about political rifts and earth shattering conspiracies that could have radicalized an already vulnerable Eren. But I digress. 

The last chapters see Paradis finally being restored to one rule under Historia Riess, as the sole surviving Monarch of the isolated island. And this is all thanks to Eren and his peers, finally restoring a modicum of peace to the war torn state. However, the moment he touched Historia during the award ceremony where he and the Survey Corps were being celebrated for their win against the Marleyans, visions came rushing in. 

The Foundation Titan awoke inside Eren, due to his connection to someone with royal blood, giving him access to ‘Paths’ where all past Eldians are connected in a singular realm. And thanks to the Attack Titan, Eren could perfectly see the entire history of what went down with his father, Grisha Jaeger, and the future he sought after. And that future is exactly what changed his mind, taking him from the protagonist that wanted to help everyone, into a soul that felt betrayed with only one way out. 

Eren’s Goal: Or Live Long Enough To Become The Villain

In the end, it was all for love and freedom. Eren believed that Paradis’s imminent globalization, which had become a huge focus of everyone including his close friends like Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, would quickly lead to their demise. It would lead them to being walled yet again, away from the destructive hands of the rest of the world who sought to kill them as the ‘Beasts of Paradis Island’. 

Simply put, the world would not forgive them for the sins committed by an ancient empire and Eren refused to let their freedom be stifled by that. After all, it wasn’t their fault that Titans were initially used to torment the world, and isolating a whole population because of the sins of a previous state was cruel. And the fact that Paradis wants to become more open to the very communities that once endangered them? That is unfathomable to Eren. And he isn’t thinking rationally.

This is where Eren sows the seeds of nationalism amongst the common folk, asking them to rebel against Paradis opening its borders and sending his friends out as ‘peace ambassadors’. The Jaegerists are doing the grunt work of distraction, while Eren prepares for the ‘Rumbling’. Eren sees only one way out of this conundrum and that is to destroy the rest of the world so that the people of Paradis can live freely again. 

But more importantly, it’s so that he can create a new world where his friends won’t have to worry about anything anymore, where they won’t have to feel oppressed or fear for their lives. And to Eren, that is worth the genocide he’d be enacting towards everyone else. After all, behind every war is a man who believed they knew what was best for everyone else. 

Is it a selfish goal? Of course. Eren’s goal of freedom for his people and keeping his friends close, even against their wishes, is inherently greedy and maniacal. But it isn’t hard to see how he landed in this position, given the events that led him to becoming the villain of his own story.

And given how Attack On Titan ended, it is painful to imagine that the cycle of violence against Paradis and its people leading to retaliation and retribution, will never truly break.