‘let’s tell them all of it’
thread exploring armin’s role as the narrator of attack on titan and why eren is the main character
thread exploring armin’s role as the narrator of attack on titan and why eren is the main character
armin’s closing line is the culmination of the theme set up by marco and emphasised through the repeated callbacks to his death. the idea that we can overcome generational hatred and fear of the ‘other’ through mutual understanding and empathy
this capacity and desire for understanding is what makes armin the commander of the scouts, and it’s why eren thought armin would be the one to both save humanity and go beyond the symbolic ‘wall’ that he had never been able to surpass
this is why it’s armin’s role to be the ambassador for peace, and why he chooses to tell the full story of their lives in order to abolish the idea and fear of the ‘other’ that led the previous generations to violence. the story he tells is… attack on titan itself
attack on titan to us is a manga about cycles of hatred, a cautionary tale to the reader about how violence persists within humanity, and it is a story quite literally told by armin in order to overcome those very issues in his own world. his narration ties together aot’s purpose
this is where eren comes in. a main character is a vehicle for the themes of a story and, in a cautionary tale about cycles of hatred, what better vehicle than the person who narratively and thematically represents the cycle itself
‘shingeki no kyojin’ actually translates to ‘the attack titan’ - ie, EREN.
upon ascension to the Founder he’s connected to every eldian throughout time, in a story that’s only ever told from the point of view OF eldians. eren symbolically is the story, and literally it’s message
upon ascension to the Founder he’s connected to every eldian throughout time, in a story that’s only ever told from the point of view OF eldians. eren symbolically is the story, and literally it’s message
eren himself is the cautionary tale, and it’s due to the fact that his ideology is not condoned by the very person telling the story, armin, as explicitly laid out in the anime ending. eren’s way isn’t the solution he wants to share with humanity
eren was goal oriented, but when those goals proved themselves to be chimeras devoid of true form he simply reached further. he, unlike armin or mikasa, could never appreciate the little things that make up a life. armin is teaching us his mindset is self defeating, so that we don’t fall into the same traps
just like eren showed armin the sights he could never appreciate in the same way, armin uses him to show us the dangers of an ideology where violence is the only solution. violence that only begets more violence
armin’s solution is to understand, and his role to get others to do the same. hence it’s important that he did achieve ‘peace’ in his lifetime. paradis prospered and it’s only once his narration ends, once the world again lacks that understanding, that violence sprouts anew
armin’s role contextualises aot, and it’s intentional that this theme of understanding plays a vital role in ending the titan curse. ymir, through mikasa’s experiences, gains an understanding that frees her.
armin tries to do the same with the story itself
armin tries to do the same with the story itself
the titan curse is conclusively finished. titans and paths were a creation of ymir due to her SPECIFIC trauma/wishes and they end when she frees herself from said trauma. the ambiguity in the final sequence is what the child will create, and what they will do with it
ngl that last part not rlly part of the thread but i cba for ppl to go ‘erm acshually the titan curse didn’t end 🤓☝🏼’ cus that’s a popular assumption with literally zero contextual evidence going for it
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