People nitpicking at straws are pretty funny to me.
This is going to be a long read, so bear with me, guys.
With the official translation, re-reading the ending, it's even better than previously thought, I'd give it a 9/10, because it is as AOT as one can get.
Historia's baby subplot and what actually happened to the titan powers are the only flawish point of the story, but everything else, was beutiful and poetic.
Especially the Levi's story comming to an end, Eren's paradoxal character and Mikasa doing what must be done, just like Eren did.
1. As Erwin said, the living are the ones who give the meaning to your death in the battlefield, the freedom of Paradis and humanity in general, one way or another, that was the meaning behind the death of the scouts.
Having done that, Levi now rests at peace, being content with what he and his comrades have done.
2. Eren being a boy with a childish dream at the first glance of freedom, striping his freedom away, choosing to either live in indifference to the world with his love, or doing what must be done in order to give his friends, comrades, his people a chance at life.
A man paying the price for the greater good for his close ones, that being his very soul, dreams and desires.
A man who values freedom as much as he did, a man who wanted to dream, a man who wanted to love, throwing it away for the sake of his friends.
That and being an omnipresent God sure did break him in half, a man with all the power in the world, being shackled by it, the only man with truly no freedom whatsoever.
The price for desire is so much greater than one can imagine.
3. Eren confessed everything to Mikasa, one way or another, Mikasa understanding the true intentions of Eren's actions and thoughts, giving her love the only gift which will give him rest - death. A man who has done such an horrific act, can not be forgiven, not by the others, but by himself.
There's one point most have missed, and that is that EREN WAS DEAD AS SOON AS HE KISSED HISTORIA'S HAND. He died from inside, knowing of the burden on his shoulders, not knowing what to truly do.
Right after the dream, she understood and gave him the blade, doing what must be done in the name of what is right, not what one wants, just as Ymir hadn't managed to do.
Ymir was bound by Fritz's will, she did it all for the love, even though she may knew he was wrong, she couldn't move on.
Eren and Mikasa were the ones who truly paid the most, as they paid with their souls..
Even now, behind a certain hapiness, just like with Eren, you can see she is dead inside.
MIKASA'S DREAMS
Eren, just like with Armin, used the Founder to transcend time in those dreams, and he lived his day's with Mikasa there, the only constilation he could have in that time.
Only that she is an Ackerman, she could have the glimpses of those dreams, unlike the others.
To be fair, that begs the question - were the Ackerman's truly out of the Founders reach..? I doubt it.
THE PATHS.
This is by far the most interesting topic for me, as it mimics the theory of quantum consciousness, body-mind dualism and the theory that the reality we live in being a wisp of the God's dream.
1. Every single "eldian" is a part of a bigger, hive mind consciousness, having the free will as long as the founder, the predecessor, one can say "allows" it.
Free will, for as long as the "founder" lives, is an illusion or a "gift", for as long as the Founder allows it.
The founder, almost as if, due to it lives and experiences everything they do.
2. Consciousness, as far the eldians, or should I say the Founder, go, is in a realm higher than this one, being connected by some unknown forces to this realm.
A life form which transcended time, where everything "is", which is truly unfathomable. Nothing happens, nothing happened, it always were, is and will be.
3. Consciousness existing outside of this "world". I don't think I need to explain anything further.
The reason why all of this is significant, because it mimics some of the religiousness in this world, as "God" is an entity experiencing "life" in every way imaginable, and consciousness being somewhere else outside of ones brain, brain being just an "antena" for it.
Everything is a part if this entity, just like everything, regarding eldians, is a part of the Founder in AOT
Just as the Bible said, God is in all men, not one nor a group of men.
THE EARTHLY SHACKLES IN THE PATH
Shackles, holding one down from acting, being made from the earth..
Another concept I really like in AOT due to how it symbolises our life, how people are being held by their earthly desires, thoughts, or dare I say...shackles?
Shingeki no Kyojin, for me, symbolises the cruelty of life, the complexity of human emotion, the price of everything, even nothingness, karma, the Order and Chaos dynamic, like no other.
To think that Isayama knew all of this ever since he began the story...?
Genius.
, I’m glad her & Falco are in the story. They along with Reiner, Zeke, & the whole 2nd half add so much dimension to this series. The series as a whole is a breath of fresh air
