The 'Attack on Titan' Anime Has Officially Come to an End — Let's Break Down the Ending

The Gist:

• The Attack on Titan anime ended with one final special on Nov. 4, 2023.
• The conclusion features some small but meaningful differences from the original manga.
• The anime includes mid-credits and post-credits scenes.

Spoiler alert! This article contains massive plot details for the ending to Attack on Titan.

After a decade of pop culture icon status and a final season that lasted multiple seasons in and of itself, the Attack on Titan anime has officially come to an end. Based on the best-selling manga by Hajime Isayama, the influential series follows Eren Yeager and the citizens of a walled-off society who live in fear of man-eating giants known as Titans. As the series progresses, they manage to fight back against the Titans only to discover a horrifying truth about their origins.

Since the anime premiered in 2013, it has received widespread critical acclaim in both Japan and internationally for its animation, storytelling, and ambitious themes. Because of its global popularity and appeal, Attack on Titan has been largely credited for bringing Japanese animation into mainstream culture.

The epic conclusion officially began streaming on Crunchyroll on Nov. 4, 2023. Let's break down the ending to Attack on Titan.

As of The Final Season, Eren and the rest of the members of the Survey Corps come to learn that their home is known as Paradis Island, a prison for Eldians; humans with the ability to become Titans. They also discover that the outside world has developed with modern technology, having originally believed that humanity was wiped out by the Titans over the course of centuries. Not only that, but Eldians in the outside world are severely discriminated against by the oppressive nation of Marley.

After being traumatized by the reality of the world, Eren eventually gains the power of the Founding Titan, the source of all Titan power. He uses this ability to initiate the Rumbling, a cataclysmic event in which an army of massive Colossal Titans walk along the earth and destroy everything in their path.

Horrified by his actions, the remaining forces of Eldia and Marley put aside their differences in order to stop Eren, who leads the Rumbling as an impossibly large Titan.

As the Rumbling tramples all over modern civilization on the outside world, Eren's childhood friends Mikasa and Armin lead the charge against Eren as they attempt to save whomever and whatever is left. After an epic battle in which Eldians put their trust in Marleyans and vice-versa, the group manages to separate Eren from the Founding Titan. As a small group of survivors watch, the weakened Founding Titan forcibly turns the remaining Eldian populations into Titans as it attempts to reunite with Eren.

As Armin uses his own Titan powers to fend off Eren, Mikasa tragically deals the final blow and separates Eren's head from his Titan form while the Founding Titan is also defeated. Not only does this turn all of the Titans back to normal, but this action also erases Titans from the world entirely. Eren then uses his final moments to reveal that his plan all along was to sacrifice himself as a world-ending villain so that his friends would be hailed as heroes for defeating him.

Unfortunately, racial tensions remain high between humanity and Eldians as they struggle to maintain an understanding after the Rumbling wipes out 80 percent of human life.

Three years after the conflict, the remaining 20 percent of humanity still struggles to rebuild. A zealous militia on Paradis Island prepares for eventual retaliation from the outside world. Meanwhile, Armin bears some of the responsibility for Eren's actions as he and his companions in the battle against Eren assume the role of global peacekeeping ambassadors between Paradis Island and outside nations.

As for Mikasa, she buries Eren's remains under a tree that he used to rest under as a child.

A series of mid-credits sequences depict future events. Mikasa makes frequent visits to Eren's grave throughout the rest of her life. Eventually, she and Armin individually die of old age. Civilization on Paradis Island continues advancing over the course of several thousand years. At one point, the island is bombed and destroyed by military forces from the outside world. Over time, nature reclaims the island.

In a post-credits sequence, a lone traveler wanders the overgrown wreckage of the island with his dog. They eventually arrive at the tree under which Eren was buried, which has massively grown to resemble the tree where the Founding Titan was originally discovered, indicating that Titans may yet return.

The entirety of Attack on Titan is streaming on Crunchyroll.