The False Mask of Eren Yeager

One of my favourite things about  highly intense and dramatic stories   is seeing how the characters start to act when  the die is cast and the situation has never been   more dire. The prospect of world ending stakes  show things about people as they begin to act   in ways that reveal more about who they are  than ever before, and that sort of intimacy   in character writing is something I’ve always  found so enticing. And with regards to this,   the final season of Attack on Titan has brought  with it an immense amount of insane drama,   emotional climaxes, monumental plot twists  and many of these character moments that I’ve   talked about, and the common denominator between  all of them, the eye of the storm as it were,   is Eren Yeager. This new post timeskip, seemingly  ruthless Eren Yeager who takes the ideals he’s   always held and carries them to their furthest  cutthroat extremes. And something I love about   this section of the story is that through working  through some very subtle subtext, we can see that   Eren is not immune to this either - his actions  and behaviours tell us so much about who he is   at this point and where his motivations and heart  lies, and most importantly for this video - how he   feels about himself, and how he tries to contrast  that through the mask he shows to the world. In the middle of a walk through Eren’s childhood  memories, Zeke, partly to quell his own   loneliness, tries to convince his brother that the  two of them are kindred, indoctrinated spirits.   But as the truth of the matter becomes  clear and Zeke begins to learn that Eren   simply did not have the same upbringing as  him, Eren says something very indicative   that echoes backwards and helps us key  into very telling facets of his psychology.   He tells Zeke, the man attempting to make  it so that Eldians will never be born again,   that he is nothing like him. And his reasoning  is clear - he says that Zeke is so defined from   the outside in, so much of a reaction to his  environment that he has no true sense of self,   no individuality in his ideals. And Eren says that  that could not be further from his own mentality. It’s a totally vehement opposition -  from Eren’s perspective, Zeke is nurture,   with his entire life’s journey being the result  of his experiences. Whereas Eren is nature,   having been defined by the monstrous yearning  for freedom from birth. Eren is Eren. He   always has been. However, the force with  which he tried to get this point across   and the minor blind spots he seems to have  remind me of another vital sequence in the   final season - the table scene with  the two people that he loves most. I am free. Everything I do is because of  my freedom, and I hate everything that   isn’t free. I am nothing like  the pathetic kindred spirit   you think I am, we have nothing in common. In  both cases, this is very forceful from Eren,   front loading these proclamations to try  to prove something. But the thing is,   we now know that he has seen future events through  kissing Historia’s hand and has been unable to   stop at least some of what he wanted to stop. The  prime example being Sasha’s death, highlighted by   his laugh in response and drawing reference  to a very similar instance from long ago. The commonality here is clear - it’s  a characteristic response of Eren’s   to what he perceives as his own failures,  powerlessness and ability to enact change.   It’s a self-critical laugh of futility in both  cases that he can’t alter the tragic events. And   what this means is that during the table scene, he  knows he doesn’t have total freedom at all - to at   least some extent, he is a victim to the whims  of the fate he’s seen. So then, why does he say   something that isn’t true? Why does he flaunt  his freedom? Because he’s insecure about it, he   isn’t confident. He has seen that certain events  are fixed and unchangeable, and so what he says   here is done to convince those around him and most  importantly, HIMSELF, that regardless, he is truly   free. Because the alternative is too horrifying  to bear, because he needs to believe this. So with this in mind, when he says that he  hates anyone who isn’t free, is he REALLY   talking to Armin and particularly Mikasa?  Not really. I think he’s speaking of himself,   going back to that immense self-hatred he feels  and has felt for so long about his inability to   have true agency. In what world would Eren just  spontaneously begin to hate his beloved friends,   the ones who he states a mere couple of  years prior to this that he wants to live   long and happy lives? No, here he is hating  the one person he has always been hardest on,   and portraying a juxtaposing front to the  world to try to convince himself of something   he doesn’t believe is the full truth. He needs  to, or he’s liable to come apart at the seams. Likewise, to link back, his words to Zeke here are  a similar sort of mask. I do agree with him that   he’s had this core, pure and at times frightening  yearning for freedom and has had it from birth   til now. But he has also experienced key moments  that shaped him. Armin showing him the wonders   of the outside world, his mom’s death, Reiner’s  betrayal, what he saw when kissing Historia’s   hand, and much more. These are shown to be core,  defining moments for his character and these have   shaped his actions and experiences too. He is,  on some level, also formed by his environment,   so he has some common ground with Zeke there,  as faint as it may be. Yet he utterly dismisses   the possibility outright. There is absolutely  nothing we have in common, I am nothing like you.   I view his defiance and unwillingness to relate  to Zeke to be due at least in part to the fact   that Zeke’s motives and ideals are so violently  opposite to his and as such, he doesn’t want to   acknowledge any common ground with someone like  that. It’s abhorrent to Eren. Nevertheless, due to   all of this and quite a lot more, Eren is wearing  a mask post-timeskip. A mask to show to the world   that backs his loved ones away from him, one  that lies to others and particularly himself   about his freedom and experiences in an attempt  to convince. The things he does are heinous but   while absolutely convinced they need to be done,  there is inner turmoil here on multiple levels. This dualism and inner conflict between  how the exterior contrasts the interior   is displayed in numerous ways throughout  the presentation of the anime and manga,   but one of the scenes that sticks with me most is  the pure, soft sadness and sensitivity on Eren’s   face right after manipulating Grisha to kill  the Reiss family. He is just so saddened and   totally exhausted by the role he has to play  and the pain he feels in playing that role,   and you can feel that emanating off of him. What  he is doing is heinous, and he knows it. But..   his task isn’t finished yet, as he follows through  with his endeavor and begins a cataclysm unlike   anything we have ever seen. It is clear that Eren  is wearing this false mask to carry out his goals.   But to what end? Why does he have such conviction  and why is he doing this? What does he see that we   cannot, and is it finally the true horizon that  he has been seeking for what seems like forever?   We simply don’t know the answers at this point,  nor do we know if any of these questions have   a true answer. But what is clear is that this  version of Eren is a fabrication on some level   born out of his nature and experiences. And if the  final image of the ending is anything to go by,   he will be set ablaze before he ever relents  from this crusade. Many thanks for watching.

Channel: Aleczandxr

Views: 166,512

Keywords: helos, attack on titan, aot, season, mappa, wit, shingeki, kyojin, erwin, eren, jaeger, yeager, episode, chapter, reaction, grisha, mikasa, armin, floch, levi, hange, yelena, anime, animation, analysis, story, character, characters, review, part 2, final, opening, ending, death, sasha, connie, jean, declaration, willy, tybur, magath, porco, galliard, falco, gabi, pieck, battle, scene, marley, eldia, fritz, arc, paradis, titan, transformation, fight, zeke, historia, ymir, annie, bertholdt, colossal, armored, jaw, war hammer, devil, paths, rumbling

Id: 4l6rl61fPV4

Length: 9min 38sec (578 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 11 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/TheInfiniteVoid01100]

Is it another “eren was putting on a facade and is actually a manchild” kinda video? Not interested in a repeat of invaderzzz’s video

[u/unholy_penguin2]

If AOE does happen, I wonder how these YouTube essayists will react?

[u/BeegYusha]

I feel at a certain point in time, we know that Eren's been putting on a façade for some of the post time-skip. But hiding certain truths from people isn't the same as revealing that deep down, you never grew from your past experiences. Eren's obviously lied to a lot of people, but I don't think he could full on act as a different person even during near death moments.

We already saw a glimpse of who he was gonna change into during S3P2, and denying all that genuine development to pull a fast one for the readers is cheap as hell and undermines every moment before then as he was just acting the whole time, not really being his true self

[u/HisusCrown]

The only reason these types of videos exist, that speculate Eren was "acting", is because of the ending. Theoretically, if the AOT manga didn't end in April 2021, nobody would've ever thought that Eren was putting on a facade, much less make a 9 minutes video on it. Nobody would've ever thought of a theory to this depth because it was very clear he wasn't acting. His true self was foreshadowed throughout the entirety of AOT. Yet people had, and still have, this low budget Lelouch outlook on Eren. Very few people understand him. People would disregard him as simply being "evil", a murderer, a psychopath or a sociopath, simply due to the fact that they lack the mental capabilities to recognize him. It's the individual's view of the real world that makes them unable to comprehend him, believe it or not. A complete 180 of Eren's character, and now people think they understand him to his core. The lack of awareness of common knowledge for AOT fans, when it comes to a 4 dimensional character like Eren is ridiculous. To think such a great series like AOT, that relies heavily on symbolism and foreshadowing, to practically scream the answers to the viewer, has such a simpleminded fan base is embarrassing.

[u/lackingakeyblade]

i hate when people claim eren was "just acting." eren's logic post-time skip always made logical sense to me.

[u/zitcha]

comments had me 💀