Attack on Titan fans question how Mikasa knew Eren was in the Titan’s mouth and reincarnation theory
How did Mikasa know that Eren was in the Founding Titan’s mouth and did Eren turn into a white bird for Attack on Titan’s final scene?
The iconic Attack on Titan TV series has finally come to an end and despite ending on a tragically somber note, it was the fantastic send-off that the legendary anime truly deserved. However, there are still a few lingering questions that need to be answered, including a possible reincarnation of Eren and Mikasa’s most important revelation.
Spoiler warning: This article will contain spoilers for the Attack on Titan finale.
How did Mikasa know Eren was in the Titan’s mouth?
Mikasa knew that Eren was located in the Founding Titan’s head because of three factors: The centipede’s trajectory after being exposed, the Founding Titan continuing to move after the nape was destroyed, and their connection in The Paths.
After Jean was able to destroy the Founding Titan’s nape, not only did the enormous Titan continue to move towards the remaining Marley survivors, but Ymir’s mysterious centipede also emerged from its skeleton.
The Founding Titan moving without its nape confirmed that Eren was somewhere else in its massive body, and it was the centipede that revealed his general location – its first instinct was to reconnect with Eren’s head, immediately making a B-line towards the mouth of the Founding Titan.
In their shared moment in The Paths, dreaming of the life together that they could have had, Mikasa also felt Eren’s presence nearby – think of this as a type of intuition/premonition in the same way that Eldians found themselves standing near each other in The Paths, despite this dimension being seemingly endlessly vast and empty.
As soon as she re-enters reality, Mikasa screams out to her friends that Eren is in the Founding Titan’s mouth: the result of a personal connection to Eren as seen in The Paths, and some quick thinking regarding the centipede’s target.
Did Eren turn into a bird in the final scene?
In the final scene of Attack on Titan, a white bird arrives in front of Mikasa as she mourns Eren next to his headstone, pulling the red scarf from around her neck – but is this bird actually Eren? Probably not.
The passing down of Titan powers and memories between generations has never made any mention of ‘reincarnation’ and it would be the first time in the series that a character had become an animal after their death.
There is a theory that this was the same bird that dropped its feather to Armin in the previous scene as well as the bird that Falco watched fly above the battlefield at the start of season 4.
If this is the case, then this would confirm that Eren did not reincarnate himself into a bird since he was very much alive when Falco gazed up into the sky in season 4’s first episode.
The more likely scenario is that this is just a representation of Eren staying with Mikasa even after his death, with fans pointing to a theory that this specific species of bird is the ‘Parasitic Jaeger’, a type of seabird that can be found across northern Europe, Canada, and Siberia.
Attack on Titan: The Final Season is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Related Topics
