Armin: The Hero of A Future Story
Eren has stated twice that Armin is the one who will save humanity.
However, the one who truly solves the conflict is not him, but Mikasa:
Not only that, but humanity is still not saved:
Has Armin then failed to live up to everyone’s hope just like Eren did? Was the role of hero too much for him to handle?
Armin is the hero, but not the hero of this story, but of a future one we are not being told.
Ironically, the final chapter is where he really steps in the role which has been foreshadowed for him since Erwin’s death and that Hange’s choice has cemented:
Armin is meant to guide others, but not just in the final battle (and his role is still key in it). He is meant to guide them towards a better future.
In other words, he is the new Helos the world needs:
Still, Helos embodies physical strength and war prowess, while Armin embodies its opposite:
It is not by chance that Armin starts the story and ends it by being the one defusing a conflict. Not only that, but both times he argues for the humanity of people seen by others as monsters.
Armin will be the hero who will settle the conflict between Paradis and the world specifically because he is able to see the beauty behind the monstrosity. This is the meaning of his last conversation with Eren.
Throughout it Armin keeps asking Eren if he did all of it really just for his loved ones’ sake. He keeps wondering if Eren really had to go this far and asks him to look for another way, if he really wants to live.
Eren’s answer is to show him the horrors of the Rumbling and to admit that a part of him really wanted to do it:
Eren wants to “turn all the earth in a brand new land”. This declaration is extremely tragic when compared to all the beautiful things Armin is admiring while he talks with Eren. And the Rumbling itself taking the place of the ocean the two friends were in just a few moments before is the cherry on top.
The ocean was their dream and a symbol of freedom. Still, in Eren’s mind this dream got wasted and turned into the desolation of the Rumbling. This is the scenery Eren ends up seeing and associating with freedom.
Still, even in the ruins of such a scenery, which are nothing, but the ruins of Eren’s mind… Armin is still able to find some glimps of humanity:
He finds the seashell, which is the symbol of their childhood dream. It is a glimpse of beauty in this hellish landscape. Armin listens to Eren’s desperation and sadness. He understands how broken he is and gives him back some of his humanity:
This is why Armin thanks Eren. He is not thanking him for the Rumbling… he is honestly not even thanking him for “his heart being in the right place”. He has just been told it was not.
Armin is thanking Eren because Eren needs it, He needs to be understood and to have his pain aknowledged.
Eren is calling himself a monster, while Armin answers that he is not. He is just a human:
So, Armin is the new Helos in a sense, but also his opposite and we see it in the finale as well:
Helos and the Tyburs lied for generations, while Armin wants to tell the truth immediately. The Alliance going to Paradis is a foil to the Tyburs going to Liberio.
The Tyburs made their announcement after the world has already spiralled too much for a tragedy to be avoided. Moreover, Tybur’s speech is meant to start a war. Armin wants to openly tell his story to try and build some stable peace and to unite the world once again.
Armin is the one who will go beyond the walls (aka human barriers) and will guide humanity towards a future Eren could not see:
That is because Armin has always been able to see something Eren could not:
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