 Because I was born into this world. One sentence, one line that Eren Yeager reiterates at different times in his life, throughout the different stages of his development. It is a line that is iterated by his late mother Karla when he was just a young child. That he was special because he was born into this world. For Eren, this line is like an anchor, a foundation that guides his every action, that brings him back and reminds him of his true goal, freedom. Because Eren was born into that world, he believes that freedom, something everyone is born with, is something that he has not been given. That freedom being ripped away from him, whether it be by the 60 meter walls of Paradis, by the Titans, or by everyone across the sea, it is a crime that Eren takes so personally. From the moment he was born, his father told him that he was free. And so that is his right, and he will do anything he must to retrieve that birthright. But what exactly is freedom? Frankly it doesn't matter what you or I define as freedom, the only thing that matters is what Eren believes freedom is. And Eren's idea of freedom changes and evolves over time, to become something almost unfamiliar. By the end, Eren's view of freedom could fall into what philosopher Isaiah Berlin would describe as negative freedom. In his essay, Two Concepts of Liberty, he says, If I am prevented by others from doing what I could otherwise do, I am to that degree unfree. And if this area is contracted by other men beyond a certain minimum, I can be described as being coerced, or it may be enslaved. Coercion implies the deliberate interference of other human beings within the area in which I could otherwise act. By that logic, which is in line with Eren's ideals, Eren is not only unfree, but he is enslaved. By the deliberate interference of the titans, of the walls, and of every human being across the sea, they are all preventing him from being truly free. So many moments in Eren's life, and there are so many of them, have infringed upon Eren's birthright, and the very first moment was the day he stared out at the clouds in the sky. The idea of freedom in action, the clouds float freely, they are boundless, constrained by absolutely nothing. The symbolic bird that appears time and time again in this series embodies his true goal, what he desires, and on that day, in comes his best friend, eyes full of hope and wonder, full of dreams that Eren could never even fathom. Eren associates that spark, that hope in Armin's eyes, with what is beyond these walls. Essentially, Eren asks himself for the very first time, why he is unable to dream. If everyone is born free, because they are born into this world, why could Eren not dream what Armin dreamt? And his conclusion was that he was not free. It's such a small moment, but so impactful. To think about being born in a city where life beyond its walls is unfathomable. People are born in the walls, and die with these walls surrounding them. Never having been past them, not even knowing what is outside them, or what is life without them. With that comes a feeling of hopelessness, powerlessness for Eren. There is no exploration, no adventure, no life past these grey walls. This is the plight that both he and Armin shared. After Mikasa was captured by bandits, Eren fights and kills them, specifically saying that this is what should happen to them, that it's only natural. Eren's nature is awakened here. When someone threatens his freedom, he will not hesitate to take theirs. One of Eren's core motives. In following this, the colossal and armored titan would break through the walls, and his mother would be eaten by a titan. Eren's birthright has just been infringed upon three times, before he turns fifteen years old. In this short amount of time, Eren has been radicalized. At this stage in his youth, Eren is who he will always be for the rest of his life. Someone who will inevitably destroy every last one of those animals on this earth. And no matter what, no matter the cost, he always understood that if you do not fight, you can't win, and if you don't win, you will never be free. And anyone, anyone who rejects this idea, does not matter. Those are Eren's words. So I stated again. Eren fundamentally has never changed from this child we see before us. Levi, from as early as the twenty-fifth chapter, said that Eren is a true monster, not because of his titan nature, but because no one can force him to submit to their will. No one. Eren's definition of freedom in the early stages of the story, still in line with negative freedom, is that freedom is life beyond the walls, and without titans. However, after discovering his father's memories in the basement and seeing fragments of his future and past, he was at a crossroads. Out of all of his father's memories he received, one that really shaped his future was the memory of Faye, Grisha's little sister being eaten by dogs. And it's a memory that he thinks about again during his story as crowning ceremony. And as he is thinking about freedom beyond the walls, this memory interrupts him. This time from Eren Kruger's gruesome perspective, as he looks at Faye's mangled face. It's a memory that affirms his ever-changing definition of freedom. Grisha and Faye had the freedom to leave the internment zone, to break the rules and so they did. In turn, Faye's freedom was taken away permanently. Eren understands that this is how the world still views Eldians to a degree. And what a grim perspective. Eren keeps living moment after moment, memory after memory, which radicalizes him more and more. That angers him to the point of no return. As he made contact with his story, Eren's idea of freedom changed for what would essentially be the final time, learning that freedom wasn't simply outside the walls or outside the titans, that freedom wasn't even past the sea. Eren came to the conclusion that he could not attach his morality to his desire for freedom any longer. At this point, he has not only accepted his past, but his nature, and he has accepted that freedom could only be achieved in one way, by killing everyone past the sea. Eren perverts the belief that freedom is a moral idea. Like Berlin writes, almost every moralist in history praises freedom. Freedom is nothing but a force, inherently it has no morality. But moralists praise it, we believe freedom to be an inherently good thing. But when the most powerful being in the world decides that he is not free and decides to destroy the world for it, is freedom still inherently a good thing? As Eren has accepted his future, he is still coming to terms with it all. He is still a 15 year old kid traumatized by it all. A kid who finally came to terms with the idea that maybe he wasn't special, and that maybe he could rely on his comrades to reach his goals. He is also a kid who just watched his best friend die and get brought back to life, and now he is a kid who has seen an unimaginable future. Eren from this point on begins an internal battle, a new duality in Eren's story. Now it's the human side of him versus the monster, versus his nature. Mikasa in chapters 6 and 7 highlighted the duality of the world, which is simultaneously cruel and yet beautiful. Eren's internal battle follows the same path. Inside of him, one side is fighting to see the beauty of the world, but the other side can't help but only see the cruelty in it. After three long years experiencing life across the sea, living with the very people that despised him, Eren seemed to finally make a decision. In Marley he talks to Reiner and he keeps on prodding the armored titan for a statement that he is looking for. For affirmation about who Reiner truly is at his core. For affirmation to enact the first part of his plan. And just three chapters earlier, Eren talks to Falco about the two kinds of people that would willingly go to war. The first type is either someone who has been forced to by others or by their environment. And the second type, chases something else. They see something beyond hell. After all these years, Eren believes that he and the armored titan are that second type. Others who go through hell seeking something else. Eren believes that it's because they are born this way. The reason Reiner and Eren are the same stems from a desire deeper than what was on the surface. Deeper than what was taught to them or their environment. Like Reiner says, more than history, more than nurturing, it was a desire. For Reiner, that desire was to become a hero. To gain the respect of all those around him. For Eren, it's freedom. They saw something beyond hell and kept moving forward for it. But it is in this very place where Eren and Reiner's paths diverge as well. To contrast, the armored titan is tormented by his actions. By the ghosts of Bertold, Annie and Marcel. By survivor's guilt. There is so much turmoil inside of him to the point where he almost took his own life. He was so close, but Falco inadvertently stopped him. Those kids gave him the will to live. Where Reiner moves forward for something other than himself, Eren does not. The attack titan then goes on to destroy Marley, reunite with Zeke, free and take over the founding titan Ymir and begin the rumbling. I think what makes Eren such an interesting character is that his change doesn't come drastically. He doesn't suddenly turn off his emotions when he realizes what his desire has become. His ability to empathize with others still exists. His humanity still exists, even up until his final days. And that tug of war is what makes Eren interesting. Eren puts on a facade because of that humanity. He pushes away the Survey Corps, Mikasa and Armin specifically, to try and save them from the pain they might feel if he doesn't. And even in those moments his facade breaks. As he finished killing innocents in the attack in Liberio, he broke down upon hearing about Sasha's death, Sasha was someone he truly cared for. And her death made him lose his way for a short while. We see that humanity with Falco, Reiner and Ymir. When Eren talks to Reiner and Marley, he tells him that he understands why Reiner did what he did. He understands the nature of propaganda, of being indoctrinated. He understands being fed lies, being told that their mission was to save the world. He even mentions how there are good people in Marley. Very genuine people, in the same way that there are good and bad people on Paradee. He says that they are all the same. And yet Eren still goes on to destroy the city and its citizens, innocent or not. With Ymir, we see the Eren who never grew up. As those words of encouragement, of hope, are words he is essentially telling himself. He and Ymir are so much alike for that matter. They are both still children who want to be free. He saw a girl brutally failed by the world around her. A girl whose story also began with freedom, as she freed the pigs that led to her punishment. It resulted in her being denied to have the ability to choose anything. Ymir is a girl who's been waiting 2000 years. One must feel like an eternity, just to be given a choice. To be treated not like a slave, but a human. Eren, the embodiment of her will and of her desires, gave her that choice. And that's the humanity inside of him. I think Eren telling her these words was also him wishing for himself to just be a person once more. He too was trying to break his own shackles of freedom and deep down he knew that he always couldn't. I think Eren in this moment was not only looking for the power to enact the rumbling, but him genuinely connecting with and saving a girl who has suffered for so long. With that, let's jump to the rumbling. Eren walking through this new city, he is trying so hard to appeal to his own emotion, to his own humanity. He's repeating to himself how he's going to kill these people. As he tries to think of what his mother would think of him, how he's about to kill a pregnant woman, her husband, and unborn child. He's trying so hard to deter himself from that end goal, again it's those two sides grappling with each other. He even considers Zeke's plan once more, and the king of the walls, and he agrees that Zeke's plan would solve their titan problem, what his goal should be. But immediately he's met with resistance from his other side. Eren cannot accept an end like that, as it's written in the chapter. He is so distressed trying so hard to fight his nature, but he physically cannot. He is even more repulsed at the idea of accepting an end like that, than he is about what he is about to do to humanity. And so, when he sees Ramsay, the guilt catches up to him, and he can't help but save the boy, to try and see if this inevitable future will somehow change. And when it doesn't, he apologizes profusely. Even though Eren at this moment wants to be human again, he desperately wants someone to absolve him of his sins. He will refer to his true self once again. The future will not change for a man who will not change either. Again, here Eren's true motives are revealed, spoken by him even. He's doing this to save Eldia, but it's more than that, he says. Eren was immeasurably disappointed with the world outside the walls, that it was nothing like Armin's book. And again, in one of the larger panels of the chapter, it's focused on his face, on his disappointment. While in tears, he says, he was so disappointed that humanity had survived beyond the walls. And this panel is juxtaposed with the utter brutality of the rumbling, with Ramsay's head being crushed by a colossal Titan's foot while Eren wished for it all to be wiped away. This world that he lives in, with humanity not only living, but thriving beyond the walls, meant nothing good for Eren's dream. Having access to his future sealed his fate. He truly believed that there was no other solution for his dream. There was no deal, no option, no plan that could bring him the freedom he sought. No matter where he went in this world, or what policy or pact was put into play, Eren wholeheartedly believed in the cruelty of the world, and that there would always be someone who saw Eren as a devil, as someone who does not deserve to be free. There would always be someone, or something, in his way. After lamenting his disappointment, he apologizes profusely, as the little boy is crushed before him. Eren's guilt reaches a breaking point, and he reverts back to his younger self. This version of Eren doesn't carry the immense guilt or the weight of what he had done. This is a way for Eren to shield himself from that guilt, from the pain that he's caused. His current self, physically, mentally, and emotionally, could not bear the weight of his sins, and so he becomes someone that can enjoy freedom. To me, this younger version of Eren represents his truest self, his nature at its purest. Eren is now above the clouds, the mist of the colossal titan is shielding his view. There is nothing to anchor him down. There is nothing but a blank canvas, and a blank world. This is freedom. Absolute freedom. Freedom to go wherever and to do whatever. Without any walls. Eren was able to wipe away the cruelty from the world, and can now finally embrace the beauty in it. And let's look at this site for a moment. This is what Eren envisions as true freedom. He is now the freest person in the world. But there isn't water on fire, no fields of sand, no land made of ice, nothing from Armin's book. Instead, it's nothingness. This is the world Eren imagined outside the walls, a world unsullied by mankind. In fact, it's a world without people, except for Armin. It is a world that can now be discovered. Its mysteries can be dissected now. It is a world completely and unequivocally free. It is the world of a child. It's a child's view and idea of freedom. It is not even bound by gravity. Eren has not fundamentally changed from who he was so many years ago. When freedom was laid before him, the form he took was that of the one who first desired it. He retreated back to his true self. Eren began the rumbling because he was born into this world. He has taken away the freedom from everyone who has tried to take his away. In the final chapter, chapter 139, Eren for the final time reverts to his younger self. Eren takes his best friend to see the sights inside Armin's book. But Eren isn't satisfied. You could see it in his face, his eyes. But the spark that Armin had so many years ago, it's still there. And again, Eren watches his friend experience a joy that he cannot. For Eren, this expression tells us that it was never about seeing those sights. It was always about being the freest person in the world. But I also think that a part of him believed that seeing these sights would grant him the ability to dream. Just like Armin was able to. But Eren never could. Armin once said that those who can bring about real change when forced to face down monsters, they can even leave behind their own humanity. This change that Eren brought about, it was never about saving Elvia. It was about two things, saving his friends and seeing that world, turning the world into a blank canvas where he and his friends could go anywhere and do anything, where they could be anyone. Eren has become a monster. He left his humanity behind for his birthright. Mikasa says that even her friends believe that Eren has changed, but she too quickly comes to the realization that maybe Eren might have always been the same person. Going back to 139, Eren says that even if he didn't know his friends would stop him, he still would have done it. And Armin asks him why. Armin asks his best friend why he is the way that he is. And the answer he gives is that he doesn't know. There isn't a complex set of reasons why Eren wants freedom. He is simply wired that way. It isn't because of memories passed down to him, or because of his environment, it isn't because his father molded him that way. He was simply born with the innate hunger, a primal desire for freedom. It has always been instinctual for him, it has always been his nature. When fighting for freedom against the Titans, when defending Mikasa from the bandits, when destroying the world, it's all the same. A French playwright Jean-Paul Sartre believed that existence precedes essence, that a person does not have an inbuilt set of values that they are inherently structured to pursue. Rather, the values that shape a person's behavior result from the choices they have made. For Eren, his essence, that desire for freedom was not created by anything or anyone. It came from his existence. Eren's idea of freedom and Armin's have always been fundamentally different. Eren resigning himself to the principles of negative freedom, and Armin towards what Berlin would describe as positive freedom. Where Eren's freedom was through eliminating all possible obstacles in his path, being unobstructed by anything or anyone. Positive freedom derives from the wish on the part of the individual to be his own master. It is the freedom to make choices. Armin, at every point in the story, makes the choice to put the desires of those around him before his own dreams. Berlin writes on the notion of positive freedom, I wish to be a subject, not an object, I wish to be moved by reasons, by conscious purposes which are my own, not by causes which affect me, as it were from outside. I wish to be somebody, not nobody, a doer deciding, not being decided for, self-directed and not acted upon by external nature, or by other men as if I were a thing, or an animal or a slave, incapable of playing a human role. Armin never desires the freedom that Eren searches for, and his very essence is never tied to the dream of the outside world. The thing that drives Armin has always been hope, for humanity's survival, for their success, and later for their harmony. Seeing what's in his book is a dream of his, but Armin is more than that dream. Freedom isn't something he actively searches for because he himself believes that he is already free. When faced with the reality of the world beyond the walls, the hatred, the cruelty of the world, Armin is able to accept reality, and look at it with hope, whereas Eren looks at it in despair. In chapter 137, Armin speaks to Zeke. Where Eren says that he is born free, born to be free, Armin's reasoning for his birth, he believes, is to simply enjoy life, to enjoy the trivial moments, whether it's giving a squirrel nuts or running around with his friends. He is able to enjoy it, while it might not have great meaning in the grander scheme of things, it is all incredibly precious. Armin being allowed to experience these precious moments is because he was born into this world, and for that he is grateful. Going back to chapter 131, Eren believes that he has become the freest person in the world, and in this chapter he looks to his best friend for validation that this is the scenery that they sought after. But Eren is quick to ignore the blood being shed around him, the naivete that has carried his ideals, he is quick to ignore that he has now become a monster. And when he looks at Armin, Armin has stayed the same age, his shirt is stained with the blood that Eren has shed, this isn't the world that he envisioned, not like this. It is at this moment that he realized that their dream wasn't the same, and yet at the end of this chapter, Armin's hope still remains as unshakable as ever, choosing to oppose his best friend's ideals once more. Where Eren has seen the world for all of its cruelty, this final panel reflecting that, as his eyes remained closed off to any other possibility, Armin, eyes open, still wants to believe that there was still a place in that world where it is truly like nothing they've ever seen before, that there is still beauty out there. Eren is the type of person who can die without seeing his dream, if it meant someone else could see theirs, and he did that for his best friend. For that, you might consider Armin to be free. Eren freed Ymir from a life of bondage, and in turn, Eren asked for one wish. The rumbling was Eren's will, a wish that Ymir granted. The possibility that Eren is unfree lies not because of another's will, but rather because he is a slave to his own desires, to his own nature. Eren is a slave to the idea of freedom. Back in chapter 69, Kenny suggested to Levi that they are all drunk off something, and whatever that thing is, keeps them going. This can be why Eren's definition of freedom keeps changing, keeps evolving. It moves to become something more and more unreasonable, more and more unattainable because he needs it to be. To survive in that world to keep going, he needs something to strive for. The walls, the sea, it isn't enough. Having the world become a childlike blank canvas, one without people, is a world so unrealistic, so unimaginable, but it's a world that Eren can fight for. It's a way for him to keep on living. Eren is so drunk off freedom that it has become his chains, tying him down. The possibility that Eren is not free is because he cannot go against his very nature. He cannot rise above his desire and be better than his desires. Eren tried everything he could to repress his nature, but he simply could not accept it. Ymir, the founder, lives with her eyes closed. Slaves have no need for two eyes, King Fritz once said. Ymir's eyes only open once she's been given the freedom to make a choice. In chapter 133, Eren and Ymir both appear to Armin and the rest fighting against Eren. The two children appear with their eyes closed. Is Eren truly free? Going back to Berlin's idea of positive freedom, he wrote, I wish to be a subject, not an object, to be moved by reasons, by conscious purposes which are my own. And later, when I say that I am rational, and that is my reason that distinguishes me as a human being from the rest of the world, I wish, above all, to conscious of myself as a thinking, willing, active being. That doesn't resonate with Eren Ymir's motives. Because Eren has a desire for freedom that he cannot truly rationalize. Eren is controlled by freedom. This is a man who was given the power of the founding titan. He was free to choose and make any decision that he pleased. And yet, he is a man, a boy, tied down by his own nature. One could say that he is an object, moved not by his own conscious reasons. Back when he saw Grisha's memory of fate, he saw that freedom in this world is not without consequences. For Eren, his consequence was guilt, guilt that he could not ignore. We saw this when he started the rumbling, the mess he became in front of Ramsay. In chapter 133, Reiner accurately points out Eren's desire to be taken down by his friends because of his overwhelming emotions. And in the final chapter, he is overcome by these feelings once more, brought to tears by the very thought of killing his own mother. Freedom is cruel, until he was put out of his misery by one Mikasa Ackerman, the one true beauty of his world. I think when it comes to Eren and Mikasa, for Eren, she, much like Armin, were constants. Constant that could remind Eren of his humanity. Around them, Eren could come back and just be a person, just be human again. Without the worries of being a hero or being humanity's savior, Eren could simply be Eren. Even after he destroyed 80% of the world, Armin was still there. And of course, Eren cared very, very much for Mikasa. Many times throughout this story, Eren has put her happiness and safety above his own. Many times he has displayed how much he means to him. Of course, in the third chapter, when he protects her from the bandits and wraps her in a scarf. In chapter 50, Scream, when death seems to be closing in on them, as she thanks him for teaching her how to live and for wrapping that scarf around her, Eren boldly claims that he will wrap that scarf around her forever. We know how much that scarf means to the young Ackerman. How that scarf represents warmth and beauty in a cold and cruel world, Eren is essentially saying that he will protect her forever. That there will forever be beauty in her world. In chapter 123, we see Eren at his lowest, at his most vulnerable, dejected and struggling. Eren had just cried into Ramsay's arms in the future. He is looking for a reason strong enough that will stop him from enacting the rumbling. His last chance, that maybe, just maybe, this can alter his future. And so, Eren asks her what he means to her, and she replies that Eren is family. It is a response that he was very much dissatisfied with. I believe that somewhere inside of Eren, he believed that Mikasa's love, right then and there, could have altered his path, his future. That this was his final chance. That this declaration of love, of romantic love which he yearned for, that love, a force even more powerful than freedom, could save him from his nature. But Mikasa's answer wasn't strong enough. It wasn't the declaration he was looking for. So not even Mikasa could save him from himself. The young Ackerman mentions it later, that maybe it could have changed Eren's future. And maybe it could have. She was the one beauty in his cruel world. Instead, it was the final nail in their coffin. In the final chapter, a tearful Eren yearns for Mikasa and her love. It's proof that he is still very much human at the end of it all. It's a moment that shows a teenager childishly in love. At this moment, after being pushed and pushed by Ackerman to understand his feelings below the surface, Eren selfishly wants to be with her. He wants her to never forget him, because he will never forget her. But ultimately he knows that he wants Mikasa to be happy with or without him. It's why in the chapter right before this one, Eren tells her to throw away the scarf, to forget about him, to go on and be free. Even though she will never let him go, we know that he would do anything for her and for Ackerman. This is the final proof of his love for her. Final proof of the one beauty in his cruel world. In this series, so many are faced with the choice to succumb to one's own nature, and their desires, their dreams, or relinquish them. Some of them are able to combat their nature for what is better for those around them. The parallels between Eren and Reiner show us this. That even a monster, a devil like Reiner, was able to find value and meaning in the kids around him, and he was strong enough to let go of that dream to be a hero. Armin was always willing to sacrifice his dream if it meant Eren was able to see his. Mikasa also had a dream that she held dear to her heart, and it's shown to us in the second to last chapter. That dream of being with Eren, sharing a life, a home, and loving the man who showed her how to live. But in her defining moments, Mikasa was able to honor that dream and was strong enough to let that dream die, strong enough to never forget it. Even Eren the demon, the devil himself, listened to Levi. And let his dream die for the greater good. Depending on how you look at it, maybe those who are not drunk off anything, those who can accept the nature of the world, abandon their dreams, and see life for its beauty, are those who are truly free. Or maybe Eren was the freest person in the world at that one moment. Freedom is endlessly debated. Sartre believes that man is condemned to be free, because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. We are all tied down, limited, blocked by something. Absolute freedom is something that we will never achieve. Our freedom is limited by so many things, by our society's rules, by the circumstances of our birth, by our own bodies. Based on the way you look at Eren, he stands as both monster and human, both victim of the world, and mass murderer. Free and yet unfree. I think it's hard to accept Eren's character as all of these. One for half of the story he was presented as one, and the other half presented as the other. Eren is such a polarizing character, because of the fact that we watched him grow into this. From his perspective, it's his story. It's also so hard to accept someone you thought you knew. Eren is a complex character. He is many things at once. He is all of these things. He is monster and human, victim of the world, and mass murderer. Free and yet unfree. He has changed so much, and yet not at all. But one thing is for certain is that Eren chose his path. He chose to destroy the world. When forced to face down monsters, he became a monster himself. And the one monster he couldn't face down was himself. His own nature. Because he was born this way. Because Eren Yeager, was born into this world.