Last thought, lately I googled around, and found it is so funny that especially how western media used Attack on Titans to portray a political agenda. The Eldians are substitute for Jews, for Nazis, for Japanese nationalists, to Hong Kong protestors. But usually because these articles are American centric and only able to think in term of America, they somehow mostly concluded blah blah blah white nationalism (doesn't matter what their original premises were).
Hajime Isayama build up stakes so quickly every subsequence story arcs, to the point, that I thought he wrote himself into a corner multiple times. But he didn't, however, doing so he just move that corner a bit further further away. And it accumulate to this. The central problem of story is semi solved but not really. And I doubt anyone including the author would have an answer for something like world peace. For a bit, I thought is this going the route of Code Geass and Watchmen. But I think we sort of know his opinion about that conclusion. A common enemy (the Eldians) to unite the world. And the author kinda saying it won't work, and it is afterall the driving narrative.
Eren went through a bit of a depression before the timeskipped/basement. He was temporarily cured through his mother's words that existence, by itself, is special (kinda remind me of the Robin/Franky arc in One Piece). Ymir, the titans, Eren, the Eldians had a right to exist even if it brought conflict to the majority. Though, he took it to the extreme and denied others of that same right to exist. But as long as there are differences (even among just the normal humans, or just among the Eldians) breeds individualism/tribalism. And with it brought conflict. I think the manga did a thought experiment that Sam Harris did. Though since he use real life examples and that can bring consequences, people chastised him for it. And that revolved about nuclear first strike if nuclear weapons fell to the enemies. Or even Bush's preemptive war. And not just any enemies, enemies that are so different than us. Enemies that we think (rightly or wrongly) don't share the same values about life. The mainlanders didn't try to understand/empathize with the Eldians, or the people living on Paradis island. (Though the author sort of made a commentary on this through the last moment of Marco). And so they and also Eren justified the nuclear first strike to their enemies. And funny enough, both sides mutter blah blah blah about world peace. Is world peace accomplish when everyone are the same, of the same mind, with no differences. Hive mind, no freedom, just the collective. Because you have to keep killing and killing and killing in the name of peace.
I wrote on another site about Eren's freedom. My point was that Eren, of all the characters, are the least free. I, myself, some of the time think that we are bounded by one thing or another to prevent true freedom. Whether they are laws, society, culture (norms), religions. To love, friendship, and relationship. Even if you are able to denied all of that. You still bounded by biological factors and environmental factors that you had no control over . You still subject to thirst, hunger, pain, survival, and sometimes breeding instinct. Chemicals in your brain. You don't chose your parents, or where you were born, the era in which you are born in, or even how you look. You don't chose how others treat you. But that in turned shaped your personality, belief, values. None of which you really have true freedom to choose. Since all of that influenced by biological factors or environmental factors in which you had no control over. So freewill is but an illusion. But even without true freewill, there are meaning in existence, in memories, in experiences of the past, of the moment (Armin and Zeke discussion).
Fate/Determinism. I do think once upon a time, the world may just had one linear path. When there are no life. Every non living things are ruled by mathematic and physics. But since life began, I think even with or without freewill. Randomness is introduced into the equation. Thus if there are such thing as other reality. This is where it should stemmed from.
Ironically, like I said Eren is the least free. He is the most subjected to his nature, and to relationships, and to identities. Even if the author used the Game of Thrones's greensight, to me I don't think the ink was dried. (Sidenote, do anybody know what Isayama's opinion of season 8). If Grisha can see some immediate future, then he doesn't really need to make the choices that he make. At least, he could moved his family to a safer area. Or he doesn't even need to fed himself to Eren. It felt to me that most of Eren's friends are way more flexible in their choices through out the story. At least way more than Eren. Eren saw the future, and then basically made all of the choices to get to that same future. Did he even see the end of it, I wonder? But he can't because when he died there are no Attack Titan. And I don't even know what reasons Ymir had to go with Eren's plans. And at the end of the day, she isn't even wise, especially since she subjected to stockholm syndrome and never able to break free of for 2000 years.
I wish, if there no backlash. If people are not cringe to thought experiment. Or think of something as taboo or unspeakable. I do want to know Isayama's true ending then. How he answer the questions that he set up when he isn't constraint by society, morals, readership, publishers, so on and so forth. I guess some of his answers are there. Isayama sort of write himself into the corner. But that corner is reality, human's nature, and I guess the lack of imagination (for now) of humanity.
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