Throughout the multiple seasons and a decade long run, Attack on Titan was jam-packed with twists and turns. With the ending being the most appalling one. Long before he came to work on it, Isayama already had an idea of what the overarching plot of Attack on Titan was going to look like.
During the process, many aspects changed but the controversial ending remained intact. For a story so complex and well thought-out, one would argue about the endless possibilities for a better ending. Over the years, Isayama has discussed these possibilities and the ending numerous times and his answers delves into why there was only one way for the story to end.
The vision behind the Controversial Ending
A story with so many layers, symbolisms, and facets came to its end in a lackluster manner. While fans could understand the vision behind the ending, it was the execution that was problematic. The choice of words during Armin and Eren’s final conversation and the pace at which it all happened left fans in a daze.
Isayama shared (via the New York Times) how he had already thought of the ending when he began working on Attack on Titan. The basic idea of the story was the cycle of war and the process of a victim turning into the perpetrator. Up until the very end, this is what he worked towards while tweaking different parts of the story.
Along the way, certain aspects of the story didn’t go as expected, and I adapted and fleshed out certain aspects. But I would say the ending of the story didn’t change much
As a result of great world-building and impervious writing, a connection can be observed between the events of the initial seasons and the conclusion. His words contextualizes the binding force that drove Eren to initiate the rumbling. From the moment Greisha passed down the titan powers, all his actions were leading us to a bleak end.
Isayama found himself in the same situation as Eren
As Hajime Isayama goes on, he delves into the situation he found himself in once Attack on Titan started getting popular. The popularity of his series put the weight of expectations of millions on his shoulders. He shares that he didn’t feel comfortable with the power he had as the creator of the story.
And the story ended up being read and watched by an incredible number of people, and it led to me being given a huge power that I didn’t quite feel comfortable with.
Similar to Eren, he found himself unprepared for the power he had. Unlike before, he wasn’t free to do as he please rather restricted by the ending he initially had in his mind. Along with the need to accommodate the expectations of his readers. While Eren’s circumstances weren’t self-inflicted, with Isayama that was the case to an extent.
Endings that are reminiscent of doom weren’t all he had in mind but he pondered over the idea of a potential happy ending as well. But for a story like Attack on Titan that speaks of real world problems and war, a happy ending would’ve been a convenient choice. Perhaps an unbelievable one too, leaving him with no choice but to go with what he had always planned.
In the end, Isayama chose to remain true to himself. The ending in the anime was able to spell out his thoughts making the idea more coherent for interpretation as compared to the manga. It was not only in line with the stretched out narrative, but also consistent with the concept of ‘being tied down by a predestined phenomenon’.
Attack on Titan is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
