Just saw the most HORRIBLY inaccurate dissection of Zeke’s character and absolutely had to weigh in to defend my favorite monstrosity monkey. AoT SPOILERS AHEAD.
(Pictured above: me coming to explain my favorite fictional character.)
SO, let’s start with Zeke’s backstory, which seems to be a point of some contention. The post in question accused Zeke of fabricating the narrative of being a victim and callously killing his parents. There are many reasons this ISN’T the case.
For one, Zeke was a child, both a member of a marginalized group in an oppressed society and the victim of an abusive household. Perhaps not traditionally, physically, abusive. But Grisha and Dina forced this child to join the MILITARY. Not only that, they hoped he would become a Warrior (which means becoming a Titan and REDUCING HIS LIFESPAN TO A MEASLY THIRTEEN YEARS) all in the hopes of reclaiming the Founding Titan.
They attempted to quite literally sacrifice the life of their only child for a mission, forcing him into a role he didn’t ask for, pressuring him with the FATE OF THE WORLD. OF ALL ELDIANS. You cannot tell me this wouldn’t affect a child.
This person also claimed Zeke never asked Grisha to play catch, but got mad when he didn’t. The only reason this is even technically “correct” is because the one time he tried to ask, Grisha interrupted him so he could spend more time devoting himself to his righteous mission.
What’s more, it wasn’t even Zeke’s idea to give up his restorationist parents to Marley. By the time Zeke tells on them, they had ALREADY been found out — he overheard a Marleyan confirm as much during his warrior training. He went to Mr. Ksaver, the closest thing he had to a parent, to say goodbye — to meet his fate and become a Titan with the rest of his family as punishment. He was going to die.
The ONLY way he could’ve saved himself and his grandparents was to give up his mom and dad. He never wanted to do it. And even if you wouldn’t do the same in this situation, you have to understand the monumental weight of the choices thrust upon him. The lives of his family and people he cared about, even those that mistreated him. A mere child was expected to make such a gut-wrenchingly horrible choice.
Now, for his motivations. Zeke, who has persecuted and abused his entire life for being Eldian, chooses to outwit the Marleyan government, befriend the Founding Titan and, with his royal blood, prevent Eldians from reproducing.
It sounds horrible. It is. And though it sounds contrarian, I think it’s purely the most empathetic course of action from his point of view. He knows better than anyone the persecution the Eldians face, the hate and superstition the rest of the world feels that would simply be impossible to overcome. He cannot change the world’s hateful perception of his people. So he chooses the greatest mercy he can think of. He will peacefully eradicate the Eldians and the power of the Titans, not through bloodshed, but by allowing the final generations to live out their lives in peace. It would also spare them persecution and the world the threat of the Titans.
Now, obviously, his plan is still pretty despicable. His worldview is twisted, to the point where he considers killing to be a mercy — that it would be better for no one to have ever been born. And though he tries to resolve the Eldian problem as peacefully as possible, he still kills thousands of people, if not dozens of thousands. There’s no arguing that he’s a just and moral person — it’s part of the reason he’s the antagonist — but consider the alternatives.
Eren’s plan is genocide. Instead of allowing the persecuted minority to die out, Eren chose to kill billions of people — to try to kill the VAST majority of the world’s population. And though the Marleyan government is pure evil, most of these victims are innocent. Completely undeserving of the cruel fate they would face. As horrible as Zeke’s plan and methods are, it’s hard to say that Eren’s is any better. If anything, the sheer number of people killed makes it even more appalling to me. After all, Eren becomes an antagonist, too. They are both flawed, traumatized men with the weight of the world on their shoulders and unimaginable power in their hands.
The most reasonable plan, of course, is Armin’s. To unleash a small-scale version of the rumbling and destroy Marley’s fleets in order to buy Paradis the time needed to negotiate. But his plan, too, has one huge flaw.
The Founding Titan needs royal blood to be unlocked — something only Zeke and Historia possess. And by Season 4, Zeke has less than a year left to live, and Eren only has about four. It’s not enough time to negotiate, to change the world’s hateful perception of the Eldians. And this time pressure is exactly what pushes Zeke and Eren to take such drastic measures.
Eren would never allow Historia to become a Titan. He wouldn’t stand to see her used and controlled the way her father manipulated her, nor would he allow his friends to live their lives struggling to survive against an ignorant world. His obsession with freedom was too much. It practically controlled him — it, or the will of the Attack Titan. He had to ally himself with Zeke. To him, there was no other choice.
As I said, Zeke knows better than anyone the pain and persecution that comes with being Eldian in this world. He could have passed his blood and Titan to another, but that would bring its own kind of pain, one he knew intimately. He knew what it was like to have a role forced upon him as a child, to be controlled and used and sacrificed for his father’s ambitions. Why would he ever inflict that pain upon someone else? To him, there was no other choice.
We may never know who was right — or if anyone was — and I can’t blame anyone for despising Zeke after all the killing he’s done. But it’s also why he realizes he’s wrong and sacrifices himself to stop the rumbling. He realizes life is beautiful even in the small moments, and that despite the pain, whether someone dies is not his choice to make. Once again, he gives his life for a goal. But this time, it’s not the lesser of two evils or even a misguided man’s vision of mercy. It’s pure selflessness. After a long, miserable life, he has finally realized the beauty in the world — and willingly, he gives it all away.
Zeke Yeager. The wonderboy.
