Hange is right to ask, why did you just say fight twice Eren? 

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Eren stares at his mirror and says fight twice. But what exactly is he trying to fight? What are his goals? This is not the Eren Jaeger that we know. In olden days Eren would have been the first one to brainlessly attack titans screaming at the top of his lungs for revenge. But time changes people and so do Titan powers. 

Knowing you are on the clock for the time spent with incredible Titan powers must affect the mental state of the bearer. It’s natural that people want to avoid their death. Factoring that in with the balancing act that your entire race appears to be hated by the rest of the world and doomed to be destroyed by it, Eren seems to be keeping something from the rest of us. Is it a memory? Or a secret plan to save everyone? I for one would like to know what it is. 

What is Eren really thinking? Why is Eren isolating himself from the friends he has made along his path? We don’t know Eren anymore. We don’t know his thoughts, he is like a teenage boy growing up that instead of communicating with people he lashes out with rage at being questioned (as if people should be able to understand his motives). He assumes people should follow his lead, and to a degree he is right because he possesses the founding titan. But he isn’t telling others what he is thinking, only what he is doing. 

He forces the Scout Regiment to come to Marley to keep the founding Titan out of enemy hands. He just doesn’t explain the reasoning why. He laughs at Sasha’s death. He keeps a tight lip as to why he acted the way he did. 

Eren is in his rebellious phase. 

The worst part of Eren’s rebellious, non-communication phase, is that he is putting people at risk. The fate of the Eldians rests on his shoulders. It’s a nightmare scenario to have someone with that much power act like they can do anything they want. 

Hange rightly is trying to assess the situation although she isn’t able to communicate with Eren. No one is. It feels bad to watch Hange blame herself, and be down on the fact that Erwin shouldn’t have made her commander of the Scouting Corps. But it’s not only Hange who is second-guessing herself. 

The friends Eren has made don’t know what to think or do with him. Armin and Mikasa of course try to find plausible reasons as to why Eren is acting the way he is. Jean and Conny make the point that Eren can’t be trusted and that there is something very wrong with him. How could a sane person laugh after learning their friend has been killed? I understand that a range of emotions could be at play for Eren, but laughing seems either sick, twisted, or sinister. Take your pick.  

The people who think they understand you the most are the ones who will suffer the most when they no longer can understand you. We are watching that suffering take place right now. Mikasa, Eren’s most die-hard friend, is the one who seems to comprehend him the least. Everyone else is able to look at the situation objectively. But Mikasa is the one who feels the most lost as she is the one who has put the most trust into Eren. 

With a range of complex emotions at play there are no easy answers as to why Eren is acting rebellious, or whom he intends to fight. We are left scratching our heads. 

Do you agree? What are your thoughts? I want to know!

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