To The Boy Who Sought Freedom...

(Originally written on the 29th of August, 2021)

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ALL OF SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN

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The boy who sought freedom, born and raised within a cage, laid his eyes upon the boundless ocean. The boy died that day, realising that his dream was nothing more than a fantasy. In his place, stood a broken shell of a man. A man who saw that the boundless ocean was simply a larger cage, one that they could never escape from no matter how many enemies they killed. That boy, that man, was Eren Yeager: the Attack Titan.

Part 1: Who Do You Think the Enemy Is?

Eren's naive view of the world was formed two years before his life was thrown into chaos. One day in the year 843, he was gazing up at the walls of Shinganshina hoping for "something interesting to happen." This discontent with life was met with a finding by his friend Armin. It was a book on the outside world, one that spoke of landscapes and sights that the two could simply not imagine existing in their own world. From this moment onwards, Eren's preconceptions of freedom was built upon childish imagination spurned from ideas that, to him, may as well have been fiction.

Discontentment and dreams of the outside world festered in the young boy's soul, consuming him with hatred for those who would attempt to take away his freedom. He let out his frustrations on the men who murdered Mikasa's parents and attempted to sell her into the sex trade. He justified his actions with the mentality that these three men were nothing more than animals, a moral binary only bolstered during the fall of Shiganshina when he witnessed literal monsters destroy his home and devour his mother.

However, this worldview was tested during his battle with the Female Titan in the Stohess District. While Eren knew that there was a traitor within the military, he could continue to uphold his naive worldview so long as the traitor remained faceless. However, once it was revealed to be Annie Leonhart: his comrade of three years, he found himself unable to transform until he accepted Mikasa's words that "the world is a cruel place." And yet, once Eren had defeated her, she enclosed herself in crystal, tears streaming down her face. The anime adaptation built upon this scene with Annie only being given the chance to enclose herself because Eren had hesitated once he saw her human tears.

The very next day brought yet another betrayal not simply from a comrade, but by those whom he believed to be his brothers: Reiner and Bertolt. Mikasa shutting down Jean and Connie's conflicted emotions by calling the two traitors "a threat to mankind" was reminiscent of Eren's worldview. Bertolt's response to Mikasa caught Eren's attention, however, despite Eren swearing to make Reiner and Bertolt die as painful a death as possible only a few hours earlier.

When Eren and Historia discussed Reiner and Bertolt in chapter 70, he told her that he must kill them. When she asked if that is what he truly wanted, all he could do was hesitantly respond with

I... have to.

Two side characters had similar conversations with Eren: Erwin Smith in chapter 20 and Ymir in chapter 46. Both occured after an act of betrayal and centred around the idea of an "enemy." Erwin had asked Eren whom Eren believed to be the enemy as they watched the decomposing remains of the titan specimens that were killed by Reiner and Annie. While Erwin had only intended to uncover the spy, he had unwittingly implanted the morally grey idea into Eren's mind.

When Ymir and Eren were being kidnapped by Reiner and Bertolt, she deconstructed Reiner's inner turmoil almost immediately, juxtaposing Eren' slander and threats. Being the voice of reason in the conversation (with Eren acknowledging that she knew far more than he did), Ymir refused to work with Eren so long as he remained, in her own words, "worried about petty little things." She told him nothing would be settled by killing these two "enemies." While she was interrupted by Reiner before being able to answer Eren's question as to who their enemy was, it is fairly simple to ascertain her possible answer given the hindsight of her origin. Ymir had experienced poverty and discrimination from an unjust system before being used as a pawn and scapegoat for the very people who gave her food and shelter. After finally making her way inside of the walls, she learnt that those in power there were just as corrupt as those in the outside world. When finally being freed from her pure titan, Ymir broke down as she recognised this feeling to be "freedom," the very same freedom that Eren seeks. Given Ymir's unwillingness to fight for any specific side and the hindsight of what the titan curse truly is, the shackles of the cycle of violence were loosened ever so slightly for Ymir that day, the day that one of the violent acts committed against her was undone. There was no true enemy, humanity was just too blind to see it. In a way, that made them an enemy unto themselves.

Every enemy of Eren's was a victim of humanity. Reiner, Bertolt and Annie were forced into being child soldiers. Even three men who murdered Mikasa's parents, while indeed feeding into the horrific cycle of violence, were themselves trapped within the same birdcage as Eren. Whether or not they were worthy of sympathy is irrelevant, they were simply evident of a horrific reality much greater than themselves. Eren came to this realisation once he had finally reached the other side of the ocean. Before leaving Paradis, he told Floch, with a determined expression, that he would annihilate them all. Once arriving on the mainland, he saw the very people whom he deemed as "the enemy" facing discrimination. He slept under the same roof as his "enemies" and learned that they too were fed the same naive world view that he had when he was but a mere child. He told Reiner that the two of them were the same, a statement validated in the very same chapter by Willy Tyber who uttered the very words that kept Eren moving forward for so long.

Part 2: Because You're Important to Me (Lend me Your Strength)

Eren had been forced to make an impossible choice: allow those close to him to die in a war that they could not possibly win against the outside world, or commit an atrocity greater than anything that the human race had ever seen before. The memories from past titan shifters (specifically those of Grisha Yeager and Eren Kruger) gave him a greater understanding of the suffering that permeated throughout all nations. He empathised with them, living through his predecessors' suffering through past memories. This understanding of the cycle of violence's inevitability made it impossible for him to choose one sect of humanity over the other. His motivation to kill Reiner had been extinguished, leaving only the bond they shared; Reiner was just as much family to Eren as Jean and Connie were (arguably more so given the older brother role he served in Eren's teenage years).

He resonated with Falco's frustration over being unable to save Gabi from inheriting the Armoured Titan, hearing the boy say that it would all end without him accomplishing anything. This directly mirrored Eren's frustration of which he shared with Reiner when they were recruits. He consoled Falco by telling him that those around them in the military hospital had lost everything in battle (including their freedom) and that no sane human would wage war with the knowledge of the horrors that were in store. Those that do were driven by something, what that driving force was differed from person to person. This was the very conversation where Falco wished to save Gabi. The immediate panel following Eren's speech regarding "those that keep moving forward" showed Reiner front and centre. Reiner pushed for the warriors to attack Shiganshina so that he could be seen as a hero so his parents could be reunited. In other words, he kept moving forward for love. The same love that Falco felt for Gabi and that Eren felt for his comrades. It was fitting for Eren to use his namesake as an alias, for Eren Kruger was a man who understood one of the greatest motivators for mankind.

This love that Eren had for his friends as well as his self-sacrificing nature had always existed. He was extremely frustrated at his friends choosing to join the military and Survey Corps, directly contradicting his desire for humanity rise against the titans. He told Mikasa to stay with the rearguard in Trost and threw himself into the mouth of a titan to save Armin. What made his titan powers so alluring to him was not only his new ability to literally carry the burden of plugging Trost (one that he firmly took responsibility for), but he also had the power to slaughter the titans and protect his friends. However, when the Female Titan appeared during the 57th expedition, Eren's choice to trust in the Special Operations Squad led to their deaths, reaffirming his choice to take responsibility for the well-being of those around him.

When he and his friends were hopelessly surrounded by titans, he failed to prevent Hannes from being devoured by the same titan that devoured his mother. The feeling of hopelessness had consumed him once again. Yet, after Mikasa thanked him for everything he had done for her, he took a final defiant stand in refusal to allow those he held dear to die. He did not expect anything to happen, but this emotional outburst showed that he could not bear to see himself and his friends die. His words during this moment said it all.

I'll wrap that scarf around you as many times as you want.

He was overcome with hopelessness and guilt in the underground chapel until Historia and Squad Levi came to his aid. Despite wishing for death, those whom he held dear chose to save him, and he overcame his depressive state in order to protect them, filled with a new sense of determination. This is what made the events of the Return to Shiganshina arc so impactful.

Eren had accepted that he could not defeat Bertolt without Armin's sacrifice and allowed his friend to give his own life. However, when faced with the choice to save Armin or Erwin, he regressed into his childish and selfish mindset rather than prioritising humanity's interests and remaining "objective." This hypocrisy was what made him human and was something that he had never lost.

However, while he empathised with Falco's desire to save the one he cared for, his speech about moving forward into hell also carried a far darker truth...

Part 3: A Half-Hearted Piece of Shit

Eren believed that each human being had the infallible rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This was a sentiment shared by his mother who claimed that he was already special merely for being born into the world. This core belief being met with the cruel reality of the very world that he was born into had consumed him. He could not control his innate desire to protect others when he saved Ramzi from the men that the boy was pickpocketing from. To him, all human life was worth protecting. His life experiences and memories from past shifters helped him understand that eliminating the outside world would not bring him freedom, he would only be making the cage smaller.

His knowledge that the future was set in stone did not mean that his choices did not matter. He may have been a slave to the Paths (and thus, a slave to the narrative) but his decisions were what led the story to that point. You cannot change the future because the future does not yet exist; events cannot transpire without someone making a choice (the powers of the Attack Titan can only function within a determinist reality). No matter the determinist reality of the closed time loop, free will still existed; Eren's choice to continue moving forward made him free. Eren chose to break free of his metaphorical and literal chains within Paths (mirroring his lowest point when he was chained in the underground chapel) just as he chose to continue fighting when faced with certain death at the hands of Dina's titan. Despite his empathy, he chose to begin the Rumbling, to go down the path of violence, because he refused to accept a reality where he and his friends would remain trapped within the birdcage.

His admission of guilt revealed his true feelings of disappointment with the outside world and the fact that his original worldview truly was wrong. The despair had tormented him to the point where he "wanted to wipe it all away," telling Ramzi that it was more than just wanting to protect the Eldians; the world beyond the walls was nothing like the world he had dreamed of. His confession to Ramzi showed his inability to change; he exposed his inner turmoil not to those who knew and cared for him, but to a child stranger who could not even understand his language. This mirrored Hannes's apology to Eren in chapter 2, both men failing to protect the respective boys from the dangers of the forest because of their own flaws. At this moment, Eren completed his progression from victim to perpetrator, mirroring the very moment that pushed his child self down this inevitable path.

He understood Hannes all of those years ago just as Ramzi understood Eren. While Ramzi could not translate the meaning behind Eren's words, both boys saw the men in front of them overcome with guilt and sorrow. Ramzi could see that, despite everything, Eren was still human. It was Eren's self-loathing that led him directly after this interaction to ask Mikasa what he meant to her. While there was an abundance of romantic subtext in the question, it more so served as a way to confirm if the one closest to him (the person who saw him as the beauty in the cruel world) still saw him as anyone other than the monster he knew he was. Despite knowing the future, he still hoped that she would provide him with an answer that allowed the two of them to escape the despair that he knew lay ahead.

No human is capable of experiencing such despair while also holding on to their sanity. The freedom he sought lay at the end of a trail of corpses. It is why we saw a flashback of a young Eren swearing to "kill them all" once he reached the coast of Marley; he had not only regressed into his childish mentality as a way to cope, but also revealed his true self. The young boy, surrounded by a wall of colossal titans, was not above the clouds but below them, the free feeling of soaring above the clouds was in reality him trampling over millions of innocents. The false clouds were merely steam emanating from the colossal titans that formed a wall around him. Eren resorted to averting his eyes to the horrors that he perpetrated, the child unable to see what was below finally laid his eyes upon what he believed to be boundless, unobtainable...

When Armin came across this child in the Paths, he also came across the young man hiding behind the boy (as chapters 131 and 139 were chronologically simultaneous). Eren had to accept the reality that he had finally become the perpetrator: a victim of the cycle of violence (bringing it full circle when he led Dina to kill Carla). That was what Armin had realised in their final conversation. Eren's emotional outburst to Armin was so jarring because he had contained his suffering for so long. He resolved to take on as great of a burden as he possibly could. He was self-sacrificing to a fault.

However, Eren was no messiah. While he and Reiner both fought for those that they loved, they were still slaves to the innate desires that kept them going into their respective hells. It was those selfish drive that stood above any affection they had. Eren needed no true justification for wanting to continue moving forward; this was how he had been since he was born, it was his human nature. The same was true for the origin of life which only existed to live. In its final moments, it fought against Reiner to restart the Rumbling (making it appropriate for it to regenerate after a century within Eren's head under the tree, still fighting to multiply).

This deeply rooted human nature existed within Erwin Smith who fought not for altruistic intentions, but for his own selfish desire to know about the outside world no matter how many comrades he would lead to their deaths. When Levi asked about his plan for after they retake Wall Maria, Erwin gave a vague response about dealing with their enemies before quickly changing the conversation to how the basement would reveal the secrets of the outside world (the focus of the panelling and his later monologue about fooling his comrades also revealing his true intentions). When they discovered that titans were humans, he could only smile with excitement as his dream of learning the truth became closer to reality. It was only in his last stand that he, like Eren, let go of his selfish desire for the chance of humanity emerging victorious against the titans. Regardless, his final words came as he remembered asking his father about the outside world, forever a slave to what kept him moving forward.

Eren wanted to see Reiner come to the realisation that the two of them were the same when he asked why Carla had to die. The reason why the titans invaded Shiganshina was because Reiner pushed his comrades forward to continue their mission.

I think... we were born this way. I just keep moving forward.

Of course, this does not mean that Eren had no philosophy. As stated previously, he believed that every human was born with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This mirrored the conclusion that Armin came to in Paths, that the seemingly trivial moments in one's life are what make it worth living. These moments create the person that one becomes: a person that deserves freedom. Zeke resonated with this, reminiscing on the only joy in his life being the time spent with Ksaver. In the end, they were all children thrust into a cruel and unforgiving forest. By choosing Paradis over the outside world, Eren would be going against himself and taking away the infallible rights of every human being.

While Eren's upbringing did indeed have a hand in shaping this philosophy, it is important to note that the rest of Paradis had become content living within the walls. He and the Survey Corps were outliers; some people are simply "born this way." It is why Eren remembered his first memory of Grisha naming him when Armin asked why Eren wanted to "leave every surface a blank plain." His lack of a clear reason had nothing to do with why he did what he did (his reasons for carrying out the Rumbling were clearly explored prior), it was his inability to explain to Armin the insatiable drive that he was born with. He wanted to be free because... he was born into this world.

This is the dual nature of Eren Yeager's slavery. He could not help but be driven by his human nature. It was this human nature that led to the future that he saw when he kissed Historia's hand. However, it was still his decision to lead humanity down that path and continue fighting. This drive would never lead to the impossible freedom he wanted. Keith Shadis, a man who viewed himself as "not special," saw that drive within Eren as well as the inevitable end that it would lead him to.

And you, just like your father wanted, chose to set ablaze your life which will burn to ashes outside the walls.

Part 4: A Long Nightmare

The titan curse had become synonymous with the cycle of violence in both a metaphorical and literal sense. It began with Ymir Fritz who was forced to become her new king's sex slave and super weapon after being sentenced to death for opening the gate to a pig pen. Whether it was her life as a slave making her despise the idea of being caged behind walls or simply her nature did not matter.

As a coping mechanism for her life of trauma, she grew attached to King Fritz. She found herself a slave to her longing to connect with other people (seeing a newly-wedded couple kiss from afar). Much like Mikasa, Ymir Fritz was a victim of human nature and the cycle of violence. Eren empathised with Ymir as he too was a victim. He saw the Paths, the cage that she was trapped in for 2000 years, as a reflection of the titan-filled world that he was trapped in. It was a world that King Fritz had wanted, one that he wanted to free the two of them and humanity from.

I'll put an end to this world. Lend me your strength.

He understood what needed to be done. Eren was never special in that he was the one to free Ymir, (he had come to a humbling realisation in the underground chapel), but he was instrumental in her gaining freedom from Mikasa. In fact, it was the trio of Eren, Armin, and Mikasa who, one by one, freed Ymir.

Ymir had found through Eren's memories after he comforted her in chapter 122. Mikasa's headaches occurring during moments of trauma (her parent's murder, the death of Carla, losing Eren etc.) were her Ackerman genes attempting to reject Ymir experiencing the loss and grief through her eyes (the eyes opened by Eren), bringing the two closer together. Ymir longed for the devotion Mikasa had for Eren just as she had longed for the same love she saw in a nearby wedding. The cruel "love" that Fritz gave her turned her life into a nightmare.

It was Eren's empathy that first opened her eyes to the nightmare that she was living in, tears streaming down her face as she longed to escape it. The tears were a sign of her humanity, the same way Annie had cried for her father and Eren had cried for Mikasa.

In her anger, Ymir chose to give her powers to Eren, allowing him to lash out against the cruel world that led her to this eternal torment. It was never to save "their people" as Ymir's descendants were among the billions trampled in her and Eren's rumbling. However, when seeing the carnage firsthand (with the death of Ramzi) as well as how those who cared for Eren (including Mikasa) would choose to fight against him despite him acting in what he believed to be their best interests, she allowed Zeke to bring the past allies of the alliance to help stop Eren. Armin's dialogue with Zeke showed her that there was more to life than suffering, that life was worth protecting, and seeing Mikasa overcome her own trauma helped Ymir accepting and overcome her own.

Many of the characters (Eren, Mikasa, Zeke, Reiner, Historia, both Ymirs, Gabi etc.), suffered at the hands of the cruel world when they were children. Ymir Fritz was much the same, the titan curse was an extension of her trauma and a twisted way to be granted her innate desire to connect. Sasha's father, Artur, understood what needed to be done when he forgave Gabi for killing his daughter. The children needed protection from the dangers of the forest, shown literally with Ymir running from soldiers in the forest before coming across the tree where the origin of life lay. Her devotion to Fritz being a twisted reflection of Mikasa's genuine love for Eren.

While walking away with Eren, Mikasa came across the ghost of an adult Ymir, now free from her childhood trauma and imagining another life where she would have let Fritz die, saving her daughters from the dangerous forest that she left them in after her death. Mikasa speaking of Ymir's bloodline invoking the very reason as to why the children must be protected from the forest: they are the key to ending the cycle. The day that Eren had died was the same day that Historia's child was born, the first Eldian free of the titan curse as the panel of him with closed eyes being cradled by Mikasa transitioned into the girl's eyes opening while in the arms of Historia.

Part 5: Escape the Forest

Eren Yeager was born with the insatiable desire for freedom, one that he believed was the right of all humans. As he grew, he recognised the true unfairness and grey morality of the world. Unable to change who he was and wanting to protect those closest to him, he attempted to carry the burden of guilt and put his faith in those whom he loved. Despite not being the one to save humanity, he understood the role that he had to play and the sacrifices that he needed to make in order for the best possible outcome.

He had accepted that he could not save everyone like with Sasha and Hange but still broke down when the inevitable death of his dear friend came to pass (feeling as useless as when he watched Hannes be devoured). It was a death that came as a result of his insatiable desire to attain that idea of freedom. He had grown into someone who could accept the sacrifices of his comrades, putting his faith in them. Not foregoing responsibility like with the Special Operations Squad, but by working with them like in his fight with Bertolt. While the anime adaptation had Eren defeat the Female Titan through pure rage and determination, the original manga had him working with the Survey Corps to achieve victory. He understood his place in freeing the Eldians and shared the burden with Armin and Mikasa. Mikasa would bring an end to Eren and the Rumbling (unlike Ymir who gave her life for her abuser), and Armin would use the alliance's victory to end humanity's oppression of Eldians.

In his final moments, he told the person he loved the most to live a long life, one where she could be free. Despite his feelings for her and selfish desire for her to love only him, he truly did want her to be happy even after her was gone. His love for her spawned from the bond that had grown strong after years of fighting together. In a cruel world, they were each other's only reliable sense of familiarity and warmth. They were each other's home, a home that he would not stop fighting to protect. It is why his final moments with her are at a cabin, a home where only they can exist.

Though he had rejected Mikasa's kiss before as it would have been an admission of defeat, he finally accepted it at his death as he knew that he had indeed helped end the horrific world that King Fritz created. His self-sacrificing nature and his drive for freedom came full circle when being held by Mikasa: another character that had to let go of her selfish desires and what little beauty she saw for the greater good.

Both Eren and Hannes died unable to achieve their desires: gaining freedom and killing the smiling titan respectively. However, the two managed to overcome their flaws in order to protect those who, they wished to continue living. Eren had sacrificed his own freedom so that his friends would have the chance to live in a world where they could be free.

Historia's letter to the alliance showed that, despite choosing to be complicit in the Rumbling and having a child only to save her life, she was still willing to continue fighting to create a better world against the wishes of the Yeagerist state. Much like Ymir Fritz, becoming a mother was not something she wished (although it was a decision she made selfishly to go along with Eren's full-scale Rumbling). However, she understood that it was her duty to create a better life for her people including those in the Mitras underground and the orphans under her care, breaking the cycle and living a life that she could be proud of. Most importantly, it was her duty as a mother to protect her daughter from the forest. While it took 2000 years for Ymir Fritz's foil to free her, Historia had already grown after her foil (also named Ymir) taught her the value of self-worth. It was Historia's decision to forgo her selfish desires, to not let the child of evil fester, that led the way to peace.

Despite there being no love between her and the farmer, their relationship was emblematic of the broader themes of the narrative. He crossed the walls that once separated them (the fence that Frieda warned Historia not to cross) and atoned for his sins, defying the isolationist ideology of the 145th king and working together for a better future. In a way, they reflect Theo Magath's place in the alliance. (For a more in-depth analysis, read Historia's Child of Evil)

Like Historia, the alliance would not stop fighting to create a better world, acting as Eldian ambassadors for Marley. Eren had succeeded in allowing all of them to long lives as well as freeing the Eldians from their curse and persecution. Of course, we have no control over how future generations will act according to human nature. While it is impossible to prevent violence in the future, we can still do our best to pick up the pieces of a broken world. As Kruger told Grisha, a world built on bloodshed will inevitably repeat the same cycle of violence.

This idea is further explored in the campfire scene where Jean understands Marco's wish to talk out their differences, punishing Reiner for choosing to wallow in his misery rather than work to make the world better. By having families both outside and inside the walls, Grisha grew empathy for both sides. The same was true for Falco who, much the alliance at the campfire, spoke openly to Nile.

No human can assure the fate of humanity beyond their own life. Eren was always human, even with the Founder's power. His fourth-dimensional powers brought his drive full circle to his newborn self, continuing the endless cycle of fighting for freedom despite never being able to reach it, forever shackled by his human nature that had no true origin. His very existence may have been merely a physical manifestation of Ymir's own desire for freedom (becoming one trans-dimensional force as seen by his memories of the pigs being freed).

Rod Reiss wanted to bring about the return of God. However, such a being did not exist. He believed the goddess Ymir had saved him from Grisha, when, in reality, it was the human Eren Yeager using the powers of Ymir Fritz:

You're no slave. You're no god. You're just a person.

A person that did not need to serve anyone. A person that could be the one to choose. A person that was born into this world. A person that deserved to be free.

Even during the Rumbling, Armin had hoped that "the world beyond the wall" still existed. In his final conversation with his childhood best friend, Armin is told by Eren to "make it to the other side of the walls." A broken boy who understood the infeasibility of reaching that true scenery, not deserving the right to see it after all of the lives he took. While the outside world was not what the two had dreamed of, Armin carried with him the hope to bring down the walls, the hope to recreate the miracle of compassion between Uri Reiss and Kenny Ackerman. While Eren could never be satisfied, even at the ocean when all of his friends rejoiced, the two people closest to him could still find true purpose.

Armin's philosophy during The Female Titan arc of the need to "become a monster" was flawed. One that he himself would grow to reject. This sentiment rang true during an anime-original conversation between he and Jean where Armin was asked if Eren annihilating the titans would truly be a victory for mankind. Erwin and Eren did not let the selfish devils within them turn them into monsters, for if they were to give up on their humanity, there would be nothing left for them in the end.

We see in the final pages a boy coming across the tree where Eren was buried, a tree that held a new titan curse spawned from the smallest cell of the origin of life that remained within him, still refusing the give up. It makes for a perfect bookend to the cyclic narrative; the story began with humans fighting titans in the forest and ends with the boy exploring the forest.

However, this boy is not Ymir Fritz. He is followed by his canine companion rather than being chased by a pack of dogs led by soldiers. He has the autonomy to decide to enter the forest and attempt to fix the world, no matter how difficult it may be. The characters we had followed had long since passed away, leaving only the impact of their choices. An impact that the boy's generation is responsible for giving meaning to. The peaceful times may be fleeting in the grand scheme of the universe, however, for the sake of humanity, they are worth fighting for. True freedom outside of humanity's self-imposed birdcage may be impossible, but there is still beauty in the cruel world worth protecting, beauty worth living for.

While Eren's impossible idea of true freedom is represented through soaring birds, Mikasa's is represented through the scarf given to her by Eren (what ignorant people would dismiss as a leash). Mikasa stated how cold she felt when her parents (her only family) had been murdered, leaving her alone in the cabin. The scarf provided her with warmth, warmth that she could only receive from family: her metaphorical roots. When summoning the resolve to face Eren, the one most dear to her, she remembered him sleeping under the very tree that she spent her childhood racing Eren and Armin to. Mikasa's freedom is that tree, its roots, her scarf tied tightly around her.

These juxtaposed motifs collide in the final panel with birds circling the tree that had grown from the grave Mikasa made for Eren, the tree reaching as high as the birds despite being rooted. Her roots, her family, those that matter to her, is the beauty that helps her brave the cruel world. It is the same beauty that Zeke found playing catch. The same beauty that Armin found in mundane moments, including running up to that very tree.

Perhaps that beauty is freedom in and of itself.