After years of being deceived, exploited, and weaponized, Eren decides to lead an army of Titans to exterminate humanity as any semblance of the heroic young warrior he once was dissipates from the prolonged trauma. Eren and his Titans launch a cataclysmic event known as the Rumbling, an extinction-level incident that is only stopped when Eren’s lifelong best friend Mikasa Ackerman personally beheads Eren. With Eren dead, the Rumbling stops, the Titans permanently revert to their human forms, and humanity is saved as peace is finally restored.
What Do the End Credits Reveal About Mikasa?
Even after everything Eren caused, including a near-apocalypse that would’ve cost her her life, Mikasa continues to see Eren as her best friend long after she killed him. After burying Eren’s head under a tree where he rested when they were children, Mikasa visits this quiet grave for the rest of her life. As the end credits progress, Mikasa gradually grows older and passes away, presumably from natural causes, with her own grave seen as the end credits sequence continues.
Over the years, Mikasa is accompanied by an unnamed man in her regular visits to Eren’s grave. It is never specified if this man is a spouse or someone else close to Mikasa, but it does suggest she finds life outside of Eren’s legacy over time. Given this dedication to visiting Eren, it is clear that Mikasa always felt close to him after death, with their deep friendship enduring armageddon itself.
What Happens After Mikasa’s Death?
After Mikasa dies, the Eldian city of Paradis develops around Eren’s grave, seemingly ignoring the historical figure laid to rest under the tree. It is unclear how much time passes since Mikasa dies, but the buildings around the tree grow taller and take on a futuristic aesthetic. All of this advancement quickly becomes moot, as a new war apparently breaks out and Paradis is bombed into total rubble.
As more time passes, the ruins of Paradis are gradually overgrown with plants, with the fallen civilization reclaimed by the forces of nature. In this verdant wasteland, a boy and his dog are seen exploring the ruins of Paradis where they find the tree on top of Eren’s long-forgotten grave. The tree itself sports an opening at its base and resembles the tree that served as the original source for the Titans’ powers, with the boy and his dog investigating what’s inside.
What Happens to Paradis and the World at Large?
Before the end credits sequence, Attack on Titan finishes on a more hopeful note, with peace finally achieved and the surviving characters celebrated for saving humanity from total annihilation. The end credits give this conclusion a dark and bittersweet coda, not only is Mikasa haunted by the loss of Eren for the rest of her life to a certain degree, but humanity can’t seem to resist its more violent impulses. The destruction of Paradis presents war as something of an inevitability, leveled more definitively and with more advanced weaponry than the Titans or Scout Regiment ever unleashed.
