Welcome to more than half of the fandom buddy :)
Isayama should win an award for a job well down. As much as the entirity of the manga and anime is an apocolyptic shounen, we can relate so much with everything because it's so realistic and it made me see that there's not exactly Good vs Bad as per se. It's more of people doing or acting in a certain way regardless of them being seen as bad all because the person who's acting on those actions believe that they're doing the right thing which we've seen through Eren, Karl Fritz, Zeke, Gabi and Reiner.
The politics in Attack on titan is not so different from real life politics, and the way the society has a sense of hegemony towards its members is not any different from the societies wwe as individuals live in today.
This is why i love anime so much. Even though the action and plot is thrilling to watch, there's always a hidden message that the authors and creators are trying to send to the audience.
@Cheng The Nerd. I feel similarly that even if the ending doesn't stick the landing I'm glad Isayama had the balls to evolve the story in such a complex manner. I would even go as far to say that the twist is straight up masterful in terms of how it interrogates the way that many felt during the beginning (including me) when we saw the titans as mindless monsters that needed be crushed (even moreso the Warriors Three) with the anime and manga really pumping up that feeling through pacing, music, tone, and visuals. Now though we see that the mindless titans are victims to be pitied and the Warriors aren't diabolical monsters but simply people. This is remarkably clever because of the way that it highlights how we dehumaninze our enemies and ultimately struggle in the face of realizing our enemies are not monsters which really pushed this series up a notch in my opinion. Not every evolution has been great (Ex, the vapourized stakes RTS onward where the Survey Corps feel weirdly unbeatable vs the early feeling of humanity being fragile and on the edge ) but the twist and the complexity it awoke in the series was definitely worth it. I still think that one of the series primary influences Watchmen is still the superior work with the novel being a unbeatable masterwork but in a sea of lame knockoffs that took all the wrong lessons from it (Ex. amp up the ultraviolence and sexual violence to achieve grit) or straight up copied the ending with no subtelty this is the closest I feel a fellow deconstructionist work has come to matching its depth (thematic & characters wise) and tight meaningful construction and I mean that as the highest praise possible (Side Note: Eva is usually considered Watchmen's Japanese counterpart but I feel AOT is far more relevant as Eva ultimately is a different beast). I guess now I'll elaborate on why I think the sociological ending is hard to achieve is that many of the other great endings are set on smaller conflicts (Ex. Breaking Bad) or have easier to identify ends (Ex. Gurren Lagann or FMA) while a sociological series (Ex. Watchmen and Game Of Thrones) has to solve a complex issue without belittling the audience or mishandling volatile thematic material (race, war, genocide etc.) that if done poorly reflects badly on the author. You can't have a totally optimistic ending where everyone lived happily ever after as these are problems that plague our reality and for all of recorded history have remained (Ex. you can't kill hatred like a heel villain in a classic JRPG). Their is a great GRRM quote highlighting this problem of easy resolutions and overtly optimistic endings by asking the question: "In LOTR we are told Aragorn was a good and wise king and ruled for a thousand years but what was Aragorn's tax policy?" as while LOTR is a different beast it is a cardinal sin commited by many sociological series to have a easy resolution where we assume everything worked out for the better (on my recent anime classics tour one particular fan favourite commited this sin tenfold). On the other hand the nihilistic ending sometimes just makes the writer look like a jackass who asserts something anybody can guess with little to no effort (MAN bad. Real deep analysis there) and is again better suited to horror (usually of the cosmic variety). The only good sociological endings I've seen usually end with a grand lie which is effectively an ambiguous ending where we never get a resolution (not a bad thing if done well) or a punt to be resolved latter. Alternatively the realist route is the other strong resolution where the societal problems are analyzed but not resolved (Fallout 1/2/NV and Planescape Torment are wonderful works in this regard) as you can't solve fundamental issues with humanity and reality. Ultimately AOT is not on the same wavelength as either of these endings with Eren/Zeke seeking to permantely end a near 2000 year old conflict and the series can only use FT magic to resolve Eldian conflicts (unless there is a way to bind all of humanity to the FT's will) which leaves a intensely messy conflict that shares a lot in common with conflicts found in places like the Middle East and Africa which are the kind that have endured for hundreds of years and have no end in sight so the question becomes how do you end a conflict like this permantely without oversimplifying it or failing to satisfy the audience and in that regard this ending is going to be one of the hardest this side of GOT.
now this bring up the issue (spoiler if possible) about the 'We are finally free' panel.
What could it mean?
@ Cheng The Nerd. I think it is a genuine declaration of freedom from one of three characters (Eren, Falco, or Gabi) that signifies the conflict has been resolved so the next generation can live in a brighter world. I really think that's what is going to happen based off that panel and the characterization of Eren/Zeke is that it's going to be a simple payoff that ends the series on a bright note showing a permanent resolution to the conflict with the only other option being the memory twist I mentioned in a previous post (the person is Grisha, baby is Eren). I think how we get to that panel is more interesting right now than that panel (it is a perfect tease though, not too much not too little) as I really want to know how Reiner (especially with this recent curveball), the Helos plan, and the Eldia vs the world conflict resolves and I would like to see some speculation from the people still hanging around this thread about how these threads are going to wrap up.
I hope so too. but the odds of it going that direction seem blurred. Isayama does a flawless job at catching us off guard with his plot twists. Hell, i was not prepared to see Gabi shoot Eren's head off like that. But from the audio that had been circulating recently (another possible spoiler), it appears that the rumbling will happen, and judging from what i was hearing, it appears both sides are doomed
The only part of the exhibit I saw was a video + audio of the Willy speech (wonder if that is Willy's actual VA because he sounded pretty good) where he's talking about Eldian history and the potential for the rumbling + him being squashed in that sick declaration of war panel. It was really cool though the way that it was depicted like a shadow puppet show which was pretty neat overall and really added to the atmosphere of the speech. I think the rumbling has to occur either way as it is too big of a chekov's gun to not fire at least once, the question is the context of the rumbling is it Zeke losing his shit because Eren actually died or Eren betrayed him as Zeke's already lacklustre faith in humanity would be absolutely destoyed if he found out Eren was using him or is it Eren who activates them as a hard counter to the worlds forces which is one of the other big setups that's been dormant since chapter 100. I don't think that the rumbling is going to wipe out everyone as the final panel seems unambiguously positive rather than pure nihilism which would represent Zeke's unconditional victory after all no one can suffer if everyone is dead (an idea called the death drive in philosophy, can be seen in Eva & Persona 3 and many other Japanese works for some reason). I feel like no matter what Zeke won't win as it just feels kinda antithetical to the series general tone (the world & the people that inhabit it can be violent & cruel but life & freedom are still beautiful and worth fighting for) and I doubt many would like it. Still fun to speculate though on how it's going to end and I'm definitely locked and loaded for whatever ending the series is going to go with.
I do hope that Eren plans to betray him in the end because i aint buying the fact that he's actually for the euthanasia plan. Even though Eren has been different after the scene at the sea, i doubt if he'd want have the entire eldian race not have children, that's genocide. And i dont believe Eren was even victimised the samewas Zeke was, in fact, Eren wasnt victimised or used as a tool to restore Eldia. It's like he said when he talked to Armin back in season 3 part 2, the moment he showed him his book about the world beyond the walls, he ended up developing that desire for freedom. And that being the case, Grisha would have had no problem passing the mission to Eren no problem or do anything to manipulate him. Eren would have accepted the mission if grisha hadnt rushed and given him both the attack and founding titan and given him answers. unless what i'm saying is far fetched
Yea no way in hell Eren is on Zeke's side as Eren always has been on the side of life & pretty much embodies the Attack Titan whereas Zeke is trying to drag a entire race down with him all because he can't see value in life and only sees suffering and has decided that all of Eldia should go back to the void with him whether they like it or not (a deeply arrogant and wrongheaded idea). Even his plan is incredibly cruel even moreso than Marley as If you've ever seen Children Of Men you know this is a nightmare scenario that amplfies despair & ruin rather than giving people a merciful end showing that Zeke doesn't really even understand other human beings (not even his own brother) as all he does is pity them rather than understanding why they fight to live. Eren is of course the polar opposite of Zeke and I think Kruger set that up intentionally with his advice to Grisha to start a new family and raise a child with love rather than hate considering he had at least some of Eren's memories.
This conversation does also make me wonder once again about that persistent theory about the nine titans that each Titan has a will of its own and represent a specific idea with Attack = Freedom, Jaw = Sacrifice, Founding = Apathy, Beast = Pity, Armour = Protect, Colossal = Remorse, WHT = Judgement, Cart = unknown (perhaps something to do with carrying?), Female Titan = unknown (this one has me stumped) is what I'm guessing right now. This theory further states that the Titan chooses people that are bound to its core idea (Eren, Grisha, and Zeke) or reshapes them to fit it (Porco, Armin). Interestingly enough with our dear departed Porky this theory has resurfaced as a viable one considering he sacrificed himself just like his brother and Ymir. I have been wondering for a long time too if they are all facets of the original Ymir Fritz's personality and how she was in life which I always thought would be neat as the Paths appear to be AOT's combination of the collective unconscious and the akashic records (recording of everything past, present, and future) so it might be possible.