One of Attack on Titan‘s most famous scenes between Eren and Armin occurred in the recently released tragic final episode of the series. The finale aired in November 2023, showcasing this heartbreaking moment between main character Eren and his best friend, Armin. However, Hajime Isayama, the creator of the series, has recently discussed the scene in an interview, explaining how people often misinterpret it.
Isayama candidly discussed this intense, emotional scene between the two friends in a recent interview with The New York Times. Fans often believe that this scene showed Armin’s forgiveness of Eren’s actions. But actually, Isayama states, Armin did not approve of Eren’s choices at all.
As an advocate for peaceful conflict resolution, he was very angry with his friend’s decision to start The Rumbling and wished he had been able to stop him before the situation escalated to that point of no return. He also blamed himself and chose to shoulder some of the burden, telling Eren, “we’ll go to hell together.”
Armin Did Not Condone Eren’s Actions, But Accepted Some of the Blame
Produced by Wit Studio and MAPPA, based on the original manga by Hajime Isayama
As one of Eren’s best friends and closest confidants, it makes sense that Armin felt partially responsible for the way the situation turned out in the end. He likely blamed himself for not noticing sooner or preventing Eren’s murderous plans to wipe out humanity. Even until the last moment, he constantly looked for another less harmful solution to the problem, morallydisagreeing with Eren’s ways of achieving freedom for Eldians. Although Armin is characterized as extremely peaceful and calm, he becomes furious with his friend towards the end of the series, expressing how awful and inhumane he felt The Rumbling was.
In this scene, Armin’s rage and disappointment is on full display. The scene is different in the Attack on Titan anime compared to the manga. In the manga, Armin thanks Eren for trying to save his friends through murderous means, but in the anime his reaction is completely different. He angrily makes it clear he doesn’t agree with his friend’s idea and that destroying everyone outside the walls is wrong. However, he does offer to take on some of the blame and punishment, acknowledging that as Eren’s best friend, he was at least somewhat responsible for how the whole situation escalated severely.
This Infamous Scene Is Shockingly Different In the Anime
Armin’s anger and displeasure at Eren is more prominent in the anime
It’s unfortunate that this powerful scene is often misconstrued. Thankfully, Isayama made his intentions clear in the interview, showing that Armin did not approve of Eren’s mistakes but felt somewhat to blame for the outcome, so he chose to carry that burden of wrongdoing and walk by his best friend’s side, like always. This scene is incredibly sincere and profound, showing the bond between Eren and Armin in Attack on Titan, and revealing that even if Armin disagrees with his friend’s actions, he would still be willing to accept his portion of the blame and not let Eren face it alone.
Attack on Titan is available streaming on Crunchyroll.
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Attack On Titan
Based on the manga, Attack on Titan is a dark-action fantasy series set in a world where humanity has been corralled into walled cities from fear of monstrous human-eating Titans that exist outside of them. When protagonist Eren Yeager’s mother is killed in front of his eyes at a young age, his thirst for vengeance leads him to join an elite group of soldiers created to fight back against the Titan menace.
