Mirza Aaqib Beg
In ‘Attack on Titan‘ season 4, episode 30 titled ‘The Final Chapters (Part 2)’ Armin, Mikasa, and their comrades finally manage to safely land on the Founding Titan’s back hoping to either convince Eren to change his mind or in the worst case scenario kill him. But before the negotiation is even attempted or Eren is found, Armin is kidnapped by Ymir with the help of a Titan. Meanwhile, Mikasa and others are overwhelmed by the countless titans they have to fight and are rescued by Falco and Annie. Armin ends up in the Paths where he meets Zeke, who has given up all hopes about humanity’s survival and has no wish to continue fighting for anything. However, the conversation he has with Armin not only changes his mind but also the direction of the battle.
Armin Gets Kidnapped in His Bid to Negotiate
Determined to either negotiate with Eren or kill him, Armin and his comrades finally manage to land on the Founding Titan. Onyankopon tries his best to safely land the plan elsewhere but gets heavily injured in the process. The brave fighters manage to put down the zombie-like Beast Titan and realize that it is just an empty husk. Now, the Founding Titan is too large and it is unclear where Eren is at the moment. Therefore, Armin decides to use his titan powers for an explosion to blow away all the bones into pieces with the hope that they can then find Eren and Zeke.
Armin feels that Eren is aware of his powers and should be safe from the explosion as he would have taken it into account. As others are leaving to allow him enough space to use his powers, he is suddenly kidnapped by a mysterious titan. In a strange turn of events, Mikasa and others suddenly find themselves facing countless titans. Pieck soon realizes that they are actually the battle-hardened Nine Titans from throughout the ages and they stand no chance against them. Meanwhile, the titan that took Armin, suffocates him and he loses consciousness after struggling for his life.
Falco and Annie Rescue Their Friends
Instead of buckling down under the fear of death or the powers of the enemies, Pieck decides to fight back. She leaps for the nape of the Founding Titan hoping to use a blast to decapitate the head but before she can do that, the Cart Titan is stabbed by the War Hammer Titan. Mikasa, Connie, Jean, Reiner, and others fight hard but they are easily overwhelmed. Just when it seems that they won’t last long and are about to lose their lives, Falco’s Jaw Titan rescues everyone using its wings and flying away.
It turns out that Kiyomi Azumabito’s ship has sunk because of his transformation, so Annie also came with him. After they escape death by the bearest of margins, Levi and others tell Mikasa that they cannot afford to go soft on the Founding Titan. They decide to divide into two teams, one heading for the nape of the Founding Titan, not hesitating to kill Eren if they find him, while the other group looks for Armin and rescues him.
Armin Meets Zeke in the Path
After Armin gets back to his senses, he finds himself next to his unconscious body. Soon he realizes that he is actually in the Path, the channel that connects all the subjects of Ymir and the Titans together. There he meets Zeke, who has given up all hope of a good future and feels that there is no point in resisting Eren’s genocidal plan. However, Armin changes his opinion by expressing how some trivial moments in all are so beautiful and fulfilling that one can just live for them- without worrying about looking for a deeper source of meaning. Zeke is reminded of an emotional childhood memory and he feels that he could have lived happily forever just playing catch with Mister Ksaver.
Then suddenly all the people from the past appear right behind him. He confesses to Ksaver that he wouldn’t mind living again just for that precious moment of playing catch as a young boy- despite believing that the euthanization plan is the right one. Around the same time, Mikasa and others manage to take down the titan that has ingested Armin. When he is freed, he finally comes back to his senses and reveals that Zeke has awakened everyone in the Path, where there is no concept of life and death. In the moments afterward, dead people like Betold, Porco, Marcel, and others use their zombie-like titans to help Mikasa and her comrades.
Zeke finally leaves the Path and appears outside the Founding Titan’s body. He looks at the surroundings and is mesmerized by all the beauty that the world has to offer but he has ignored it all his life. Zeke regrets a lot of his actions but knows it’s too late. He deliberately calls out Levi, who immediately decapitates him as soon as he sees him. At the same moment, Jean detonates the bomb on the nape of the Founding Titan. As the head gets decapitated, his comrades immediately clear the area for Armin to finally use his powers. After thanking them for their help, Armin stands alone on the Founding Titan and sets a massive explosion by transforming into the Clossoal Titan following which the rumbling stops.
Is Eren Dead? How Did Ymir Relinquish the Power of the Titans?
A few moments after the rumbling stops, everyone is celebrating. Families reunite and they feel that the war is finally over. But this is a grave mistake. It turns out that Eren is still alive and the fight is not going to end. To make matters worse, the gas like the one made from Zeke’s spinal fluid is released into the air at the same time. Levi and others quickly realize that this is a repeat of the horrific incident in Ragako where the Subjects of Ymir transformed into pure titans. Levi orders Pieck and Falco to go away while he and Mikasa prepare to fight back. Armin is already rushing toward Eren’s titan for a final showdown.
Eren meets Mikasa in the Path where they appear to live a peaceful life. He lies to her about running away and living together just so that they can spend some time together. Eren requests her to forget him after his death and live a purposeful life. As she opens her eyes again, Mikasa is still on the battlefield. Armin and others fighting hard to ensure that the rumbling does not start again. She takes matters into her own hands and with the help of her friends manages to get inside the mouth of the enemy titan. Mikasa finds Eren there and immediately decapitates him.
In that instance, Armin finds himself in the Path with his childhood friend. Eren explains everything he knows and whatever crimes he has committed because of the cursed powers bestowed on him. Although Armin has guessed some of the things he has learned already, he is shocked when Eren reveals that it was actually Ymir who chose Mikasa and thought that she could free her. Eren then explains that despite having godlike powers, Ymir was so much love with Fritz, that she could not disobey his powers even after thousands of years.
The powers of the Titans continued to exist in the world because of Fritz’s exploitative orders and Ymir’s inability to reject them. Even Eren is unclear in his honest confession as to why she thought that Mikasa could help her. But after Eren is killed by Mikasa, things finally make sense. Ymir stands right behind when Mikasa kisses Eren after decapitating him. Watching her take the life of the person she loved more than anyone, gives Ymir the strength to also release herself from the exploitative love that she has for Fritz. She finally manages to reliquish the power of the Titans freeing the world from its curse.
Read More: Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 3 Cour 1 Recap and Ending, Explained
