In the finale of Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2, there was an iconic scene where Eren was seen crying and then he said “nothing yet.” Why? What did that scene mean? Here are the top theories from Season 4 Episode 28 (aka Episode 87.)
This article has spoilers for Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 28, aka Episode 87. There are no manga spoilers in this article.
Why Was Eren Crying?
While they were undercover in Liberio, just before they went to see a meeting of people who wanted greater rights for Eldians, Eren stood on a hilltop overlooking a refugee camp for people who had lost their homes. These immigrants were not treated well in Marley. In fact, Levi had just barely saved the life of a little boy who was a pickpocket a few hours earlier.
This camp is where that boy, his family, and many others live.
Eren was standing on that hilltop at night, looking down, and he was crying.
He wipes away his tears as Mikasa approaches and asks him if something happened.
“The boy from the market? What happened?” she asks, noticing that he wiped away tears.
He ominously replies, “Nothing yet.”
Eren gives Mikasa a glimpse into why he’s crying.
He says that he’s looking at “a place for people who lost their homes to war. Just like us. One day, our lives changed and everything was taken from us. All our freedoms, stolen.”
So we can presume that he’s crying over the fact that they are just like him, and how much they’ve suffered while losing all their freedoms.
It’s also clear that he’s crying over how much more is going to happen to them. When he says “Nothing yet,” he’s likely referring to the Rumbling that he knows is going to eventually come their way, driven by him. He feels like he doesn’t have any choice but to take this drastic, horrific step. But in doing so, he’s going to end up killing this young boy and all his family and friends. Eren knows this, and is likely also crying over the terrible deaths they are going to suffer.
It’s a really heartbreaking scene, knowing what is going on in his head as he looks at these people who were nothing but kind to him.
People in Reddit discussions picked up on this too. Redditor Erasculio wrote: “I think Eren was crying when watching the refugee camp because he knew he would lead the titans to stomp on all of it.”
And u/TodorokiShoto17 wrote, “That scene was so sad. He felt bad, but knew they had to die for the people he cared for. Tragic looking at children knowing they will meet their demise in the near future.”
Redditor u/Lemon1412 suggested that Eren also felt he had no choice since he saw the future. They wrote, “I really don’t think he wants to do it. He just saw his own future and feels like he has to do it because that’s just what his destiny is. He must be really conflicted about this whole thing.”
Eren no doubt has a lot of mixed feelings about the Rumbling, which he didn’t enter into lightly. Could Mikasa have changed his mind? It’s possible he never told her his plan (like he did Floch and Historia) because of the distinct possibility that she and Armin might have been able to talk him out of it. It’s also clear that he never truly hated her, but was simply pushing her and Armin away, trying to bear the burden of his decision by himself.
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