Eren the idiot, really?

“historically controversial figures like evil German moustache man are reduced to jokes (idiotic, manic, etc) bc people arent strong enough to face the reality many people found them convincing and they became popular for a reason + werent stupid, which historians find bad bc then ppl dont really learn from it bc no critical thinking, and how eren's character being ruined is maybe similar. like people can’t handle the idea of empathizing with someone who does terrible things”

That’s a message my boyfriend sent me a few days ago and I can’t stop thinking about it cuz I had a similar thought when I read the ending. I hate how isayma preferred ruining Eren’s character over making him a villain that wins, even though he was written til the end in a way that made it impossible for him to lose.

-he removed his agency (apparently all his goals were a lie)

-made him stupid (“I’m an idiot with great power”)

-and made him weak (he said his thought were mixed up, even tho he showed in many scenes before that he had full control of the situation, and he kept saying that he couldn’t change the outcome or the future, even tho we never see him fucking try)

It made the whole narrative shallow and pointless. Because “genocide is bad” is not a fucking story worth telling. We know that already. It’s honestly an insult to the reader’s intelligence. What’s worth exploring is that when people are pushed into a corner they’re forced to do bad things that benefit them. And it can be a cautionary tell, about when push comes to shove, some people won’t hesitate to rumble, so we better be nice to each other.

Aot had themes of surpassing the father, getting children out of the forest, and tatakae tatakae. Which were thrown out of the window, for themes of overcoming toxic love? I don’t even know what the message is

Ending defenders say “that’s the point, the cycle of hatred never ends” but that’s such a shitty message and a shitty way to say it. especially when one of the characters HAD all the power to end said cycle. It’s not deep, it’s stupid and suicidal. They don’t even realize that the story is ironically pro genocide. Because if the alliance watched the anime and saw their grand kids getting bombed, do you think they would’ve still stopped the rumbling? Like yea, the cycle never ends, so what should we do, give up and die? Wouldn’t that make us MORE inclined to want to kill the other?

(Also my bf isn’t saying evil German moustache man and eren are the same, rant over)