u/Better-Winter553

So I finally got around to finishing Attack on Titan.

I had already watched most of the final season before, but for some reason I never finished the remaining episodes until now. And after finally seeing the ending, I honestly feel really conflicted. Not just conflicted in a “wow, that was deep” way, but more like… irritated, disappointed, and kind of empty.

This series was a long ride. I still remember when Attack on Titan felt like a story about humanity desperately fighting against Titans. That was the whole feeling of the early seasons: horror, survival, mystery, desperation. Humans trapped behind walls, Titans outside, and this constant question of what the world really was.

Then over time, the story became something completely different. Eldians, Marleyans, inherited hatred, war, propaganda, history repeating itself, and eventually Eren becoming the biggest threat in the entire story. I understand that the plot had to expand, and honestly, I don’t hate the fact that it became bigger and more political. In some ways, that was one of the strongest parts of the series.

But the ending itself? I don’t think it was handled well.

My biggest issue is Eren.

I understand the basic idea: Eren wanted his friends to stop him so they would be seen as heroes. He wanted to protect them. He wanted Paradis to have some kind of future. He had seen parts of the future. The Founding Titan’s power messed with his perception of past, present, and future. He was trapped by fate, trauma, rage, and his own childish idea of freedom.

Fine. I get the general direction.

But the execution felt so weak to me.

When Eren tells Armin something like he did it because he was an idiot, or because he doesn’t really know why, I honestly hated that. I know some people interpret it as Eren finally admitting that he was never some grand mastermind and that deep down he was still just a broken, angry, impulsive person. I understand that reading.

But even then, it felt unsatisfying.

This guy had the Founding Titan. He had future memories. He had people who would have listened to him if he had actually explained things. He had Armin, Mikasa, Historia, the Scouts, and others who could have at least tried to find another path. But instead he just kept everything to himself, pushed everyone away, committed mass genocide, got many people killed, indirectly hurt even his own allies, and then the explanation is basically, “I’m an idiot”?

That just doesn’t sit right with me.

There were so many possible directions the story could have taken. Eren could have tried to destroy Marley’s military leadership instead of wiping out most of the world. He could have used the Rumbling as a threat rather than actually going through with it on such a massive scale. He could have shared what he saw. He could have worked with the others. Maybe it still would have failed, but at least the story could have shown why every other option was truly impossible.

Instead, it felt like the story wanted to force Eren into the villain role, but didn’t fully convince me that this was the only possible outcome.

And I know some people will say, “That’s the point. Eren was always like this. He was never truly free. He was a slave to his idea of freedom.” I get that. I’m not saying the theme makes no sense. The idea itself is interesting.

But an idea being interesting doesn’t automatically mean the ending was satisfying.

Another thing that bothered me was Eren dying.

I don’t think Eren had to survive as some happy hero. Obviously, after what he did, there was no normal happy ending waiting for him. But killing him felt too rushed and too final in a way that didn’t really satisfy me emotionally. It felt like the story just needed him gone so it could close the book.

Personally, I think there were other ways to end his character. He could have lived with the consequences. He could have been imprisoned, exiled, broken, hated by the world, or forced to watch the aftermath of what he caused. That might have been more painful and more interesting than just killing him.

Because with his death, it felt like everything just ended too abruptly.

Then we get the grave scene with Mikasa, the passage of time, civilization advancing, war returning, bombs falling, and eventually everything being destroyed again. I understand the message: hatred doesn’t disappear forever, humans keep repeating cycles of violence, and Eren’s actions didn’t create eternal peace.

But honestly, that sequence made the entire journey feel even more bitter.

Not tragic in a powerful way. Just bitter.

It made me think, “So all of that happened, and in the end, humans still destroyed each other anyway?” I know that is probably the point, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. It made the whole emotional investment feel kind of ruined.

And maybe that was intentional. Maybe Isayama wanted the audience to feel uncomfortable. Maybe he didn’t want a clean heroic ending where Eren saves everyone and becomes the legend. Maybe the discomfort is part of the point.

But there is a difference between an uncomfortable ending and an ending that feels badly handled.

For me, this leaned more toward badly handled.

What also felt strange was seeing so many former enemies suddenly fighting together. Annie, Reiner, the Warriors, the Scouts — characters who once felt like monsters or traitors ended up standing together against Eren. In theory, I actually like that. It shows how the world became more complicated than “good guys versus bad guys.”

But emotionally, it was still weird. Reiner and Annie caused so much pain in the earlier seasons, and then by the end, Eren is the enemy everyone has to stop. I understand the narrative logic, but I don’t think the emotional transition fully worked for me.

Maybe deep down I just wasn’t ready to see Eren become that.

I’m not saying Eren should have stayed a simple hero. That would probably have been boring. If the story had ended with Eren just defeating Marley and everyone living happily ever after, that might have been too easy. I do respect that Attack on Titan tried to do something darker and more complicated.

But I still think the ending damaged the overall feeling of the series.

After finishing it, I don’t even feel like going back and watching old clips, openings, or scenes the same way. Even the music kind of irritates me now because I keep thinking about where the story eventually went. The early seasons had such a strong identity and atmosphere, and now when I look back at them, the ending hangs over everything.

It almost feels like the show changed into something else by the end.

Again, I’m not saying the whole series is bad. The show was still incredible in many ways. The mystery, the worldbuilding, the reveals, the action, the music, the tension — all of that was amazing. But the ending really hurt my overall feeling toward it.

I guess my main problem is this:

Eren seeing the future should have made him smarter, or at least more desperate to find a different path. Instead, he basically followed the worst possible path and then the story tried to frame it as tragic inevitability. But to me, it didn’t feel inevitable enough. It felt like he made stupid choices, refused to communicate, caused unbelievable destruction, and then gave an explanation that didn’t fully justify the scale of what happened.

So yeah, I finished Attack on Titan, and I’m honestly disappointed.

Not because I needed a perfect happy ending.

Not because I needed Eren to be a flawless hero.

But because the ending made me feel like the story lost something important near the finish line. It left me irritated more than satisfied. It didn’t feel like a powerful final statement to me. It felt rushed, messy, and emotionally unsatisfying.

Maybe that was the intention. Maybe the ending is supposed to feel ugly, uncomfortable, and unresolved.

But even if that was the intention, I still don’t think it fully worked.

What do you guys think? Did the ending work for you, or did it also leave a bad taste in your mouth?