Board Thread:Manga/@comment-27938131-20200308191509/@comment-45387321-20200609040503

Jumbernaut wrote: Part of me would also like to see Mikasa break free from her bloodbound only to be free to love Eren for real. Unfortunately, I feel we won't have time for that character development, as Eren will probably "end", one way or the other, and either way the manga itself will end shortly after. I have no doubt it will be agonizingly hard for her to kill Eren, and her love will be demonstrated by her mourning, but hopefully she will still move forward with her life.

Still, 10 years of this manga and this is all the character development she has. Yes, this should be the climax of her character, but this feels like George Lucas saying "Padme becomes madly in love with Anakin", and that's it... Sorry, but the opposit makes more sense to me, Mikasa has all the reasons to fall out of love for Eren, but can't because of her bound, like a fangirl chasing an Idol.

The best way I can see Mikasa's story is through the perspective of the civilians of Paradis Isle. "The Legend of Mikasa Ackerman" - "Beautiful, Strong, top of her division, Hero of this battle, Hero of that Battle, Fought against the Female titan, took down the female titan with Eren, fought to free our country from the fake leaders, defeated the armored titan, fought against the warhammer titan in the battle of Libero to rescue Eren, and defeated Eren, the betrayer, when he tried to destroy the world". We have already seen how she has inspired other people in the manga. So, even though personally she doesn't have much growth, her journey has changed the world around her, even if she doesn't realize how important she is to everyone else. Man, there is no slavebond. Eren was just lying to her. Her feelings are not a byproduct of her bloodline, they are just that, her own feelings. That's like, one of (if not the) most important parts of her development. Mikasa has time and again denied her own feelings, saying that she and Eren are just family (obviously lying) and then Eren claims that she never really cared for him. Realizing and accepting her feelings means coming along as her own person. And judging by how the story ends "See you later" etc, her relationship with Eren ends on good terms. She is even wearing the scarf, which means that Eren kept his promise.

As for her development, well, she keeps moving forward, even though she loses her family. It has been there since the battle of Trost. She will become the Shogun in Hizuru, like Historia became the Ruler of Paradis.