I know a lot of people do not like how the AoT manga ended but I think it is one of the most well written pieces of work I have ever read. In earlier seasons we were lead to like the characters of Reiner, Bertold, and Annie only to discover their seemingly unreasonable destruction as Titian shifters. And throughout season two and three we saw them as the new “enemy”. However with the revelations of season four and the treatment of Eldians in Marley we can come to sympathize with these characters. We can understand why they did what they did without necessarily agreeing with it. In the scene before the attack on Liberio when Eren confronts Reiner about what he did in Paradise we can see how Eren has effectively become Reiner, Bertold, and Annie. He believes he needs to carry through his attack even though he knows the people he is going to attack are innocent and he should not do it. He is conflicted between doing what is right and doing what he “needs” to do. After seeing the attack on Liberio and Eren becoming the same as Reiner in his horrific attacks, we see Eren take it a step forward with the rumbling. Eren is now fully and completely morally corrupt after doing this. Eren and Reiner are two sides of the same coin- accept Eren will do whatever it takes to reach his supposed “freedom”. During the time of conflict in Paradise where the remaining military and Jeagerists were fighting the (for lack of better words) Marleyan gang could have used this opportunity to crush all the island devils and complete their mission. However, for the sake of humanity the Survey Corps and Marleyans come together to stop Eren. So back to the original photo that started this whole ramble. By the end of the manga the Survey Corps was able to understand Reiner and Annie and sympathize with them. They realized that they were willing to do anything for freedom and the sake of their families and humanity, just like the Marleyan warriors. They would kill their own comrades in order to give humanity a chance. So it was so rewarding to see this olive branch from Jean, saying that they were on the same team, they were all Eldians, they were all humans. (Especially from Jean bc Marco) After so much death and loss it was nice to see the remaining original Survey Corps come together and fight. I don’t know that’s my take at least.
I made this when I first finished the manga and boy dis this scene hit hard in the anime.
