Attack on Titan follows a group of three friends as they fight for their freedom. Armin, one of the friends, quite often uses the ocean as a tool to reignite the spark of hope in the hearts of his comrades Mikasa and Eren. The ocean plays a significant role in the show because it represents something so much more than just a large body of salt water as Grisha had described it to be. The ocean, like the sky, seems endless and free. Armin constantly refers to the ocean when motivating his friends because as children they promised each other that they will visit it. Armin believes that beyond the wall is the sea and that beyond the sea is freedom because they would be free from their walls. Watchers of the anime remain under this pretense until an unexpected answer ends season three. Eren argues that, after concluding that the world is their enemy due to their Eldian heritage, beyond the sea is not freedom as they had once been fooled to believe, but that rather, beyond the sea lurk their enemies. The sea is now understood to be something like a barrier, something that separates two enemies from each other’s throats. After watching the episode, I had to ask myself what the sea meant for them (Eren, Mikasa, and Armin), whether Eren’s reaction to the sea would effect the events, and how little the world of Attack on Titan is itself.
Armin can be understood as an idealistic and optimistic character. His wish to visit the sea keeps him and his friends alive. He is obviously motivated to see it but more than that excitement, he yearns for a world beyond the walls he is trapped inside of. Armin remains innocent of his heritage and doesn’t confront the violence of his ancestor’s history previous to the ocean scene (I remain unaware of whether or not he speaks about it later on) and therefore does not consider that beyond the walls lurk his enemies. Here we are presented with the theme of mercy that the ocean provides the characters, at least Armin.
Unlike Armin, Eren understands sooner than his friends what the ocean means. Having once viewed the ocean as a place with no walls to cage him, Eren soon realizes his mission to save the Eldian people. The Eldians are viewed as monsters by virtually the entire world outside the walls and beyond the sea. Eren, rightfully so, no longer associates the ocean with freedom. For him, the ocean is another barrier, or wall, that shields him from his enemies. Eren must have felt quite resentful seeing this “new” wall after being fooled into believing that it was his gateway to freedom. After all, how can a young man believe in something that’s supposed to represent his freedom when on the other side of it there are people who want him and his loved ones killed?
Eren’s shift of perspective regarding the sea is deeper than is presented at surface level. Eren is now more determined than ever to protect his people from a possible mass genocide. In the ocean scene, Eren points and stares directly into the eyes of his enemy. His enemies aren’t exactly “made out” and remain invisible because he doesn’t literally face them, he faces the idea of them, one which he cannot see but can feel. The fact that he faces his enemies (although not literally) when staring into the ocean foreshadows the coming events. In that specific scene, the lack of defined enemies presents the auidence a vague understanding of the “enemy.” Is the enemy unknown and invisible to the eye? Or does the sight of the clear ocean’s reflection remain it’s own enemy? (Alluding to Eren).
I was really excited for this episode and certainly didn’t expect Eren to say what he did. However, I am glad that he was honest enough to state his intentions out loud in the company of those he trusts most. My ideas of an “enemy” and of the sea both changed after having watched this episode - not just in terms relating directly to the show, but in a way that I can extract and analyze from my own life. The enemy isn’t always stated in the beginning. That itself is found only through living life. Once you know yourself, you know your enemy. Having considered that, I can assume at that at this point of the series, Eren finally realizes who he is and the power he holds. This is both a dangerous and admirable thing. Will his emotions fog his decision making? How will he even make those decisions? Does he care for his opportunity cost? What value does a single life hold in the name of attaining freedom? So many questions.
I’m nervous for how the events will play out. I must admit that I am not entirely confident in Eren’s decision-making skills for many reasons, some being that he is at times quite impulsive and even “bratty.” But can I blame him? He didn’t ask for any of this and was born into a world of misery where he has to fight for his life and protect that of others. Can one blame a person raised in a cage of ignorance fooled by the idea of a world beyond their cage, one where they may be free and out of boundaries, only to discover in a horrifying manner that the whole world wants them killed?
Who is the real enemy, and who gets to decide that?
Apr 20 2022
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