So I think we can all agree that Eren has lost it, his actions ever since the four year time skip have been pretty radical , but the unfortunate thing is perhaps he lost it way before that and we just began to notice it.

The world of attack on titan is a pretty messed up one, but I have always enjoyed how it explored certain concepts, today we are going to be discussing the morality of Eren and why he is still the same kid who promised to kill every single titan and how he is doing exactly that!

So when we first meet Eren he’s this rash and idealistic youth obsessed with freedom and stomping out injustice, I think what really struck me, in the beginning, was just how gutsy he was.

You see from the very beginning despite how naive he seemed Eren had always been an independent thinker. An individual who made his own choices regardless what the rest of the world thought.

This has always been his defining trait, his willingness to give everything for what he believes to be right, and his inability to tolerate anything other than that. We first see this when he saves Mikasa, urging her to fight for her life as he mercilessly murdered her abductors.

Now at the time, many were fine with it ….as fine as they could be….but what they didn’t notice was that it was a direct foreshadowing of what was to come! More than anything Eren values freedom and hates injustice, his hatred for titans ran deeper than the mere fact that they killed his mum, what he hated was the fact that they embodied injustice itself!

He hated the fact they were big, powerful, and preyed on innocents without any regard for them, he hated the fact he was forced to live behind walls, and more than anything he hated the fact they stole not just his freedom, but the freedom of all those he loved.

Now people feel it’s the trauma of the events since season one that have caused Eren to change, I could not disagree more. Yes, the events of the story so far have traumatized him to a certain extent, but Eren has always been the murderer we see today!

The only difference was that initially his hatred was directed at the titans, the beings he initially perceived to be unjust but now his hatred is directed at the world, which he has now deemed to be unjust! Eren was always destined to destroy the world and in Chapter 122 of the manga he just succeeded in doing it.

In order for you to understand why this was the case you really need to understand his fundamental psychology and what has driven him from day one. The people of the world, from Zeke to the Marleyans have all been very unjust to the people of Eldia, blaming them for the crimes of their ancestors and punishing them accordingly.

Now what you should understand is that to Eren that is the greatest injustice, stealing the freedom of innocent people and leaving them to be murdered in such a gruesome way is something he just cannot forgive.

You should note that in his eyes the People of Marley and the world are just as bad as the titans, in fact, to be more accurate ….THEY ARE THE TITANS….his attack on titans never ceased, he just directed it towards bigger titans!

The unfortunate thing is that by the end of the events before the time skip, he’s already come to this conclusion and resolved to do what he must, he makes it clear when he asks “if we kill the enemy on the other side of the ocean, will we finally be free?” 

The fact of the matter is , as of now,  he believes the answer is yes! Eren never changed, in fact he hasn’t even grown, he’s still the same as ever with the same simplistic view of life.

His idealism, if it ever existed, remains unchanged. After everything is said and done he is still the true hero of the story. He promised to kill every single titan, and he’s going to make sure he does just that!

Attack on Titan is created by Hajime Isayama, the manga is published by Kondosha and the anime is developed by Wit Studio.