Does Eren Yeager Die? Who kills Him And Why?

Eren Yeager has always been the person who goes out risking his life to fight for what he holds dear to no matter the choices he makes.

The first part of season four showed the choices he made to protect his goals. Eren chose to trust Pieck who later betrays him by luring him to the exact location where the Liberio wanted.

It is here, where the persisting military forces of Marley plunge out of the sky on The Shiganshina district to capture or kill Eren.

Eren did decimate most of Marley’s military in the series so now it prevails to reason that they’d not let that stand.

Below contains massive spoilers from the manga, so read at your own risk if you’re an anime-only fan.

Eren is on his own to defend against Marley’s military who is led by Magath. With enemies inside and outside, a multi-front war begins to decide the future of Paradis.

The battle gets intense as time passes with lots of memories revealing what the truth holds. Eren gets to learn everything after all those memories flashbacks.

Now, he has the choice to either repeat the same fate that’s been going for generations or to change the future by becoming the necessary evil. Eren opted for the latter to get true freedom by sacrificing himself.

Eren Yeager, the anti-hero unfortunately dies at the end of the Attack on Titan manga. In chapter 138, he dies an ironic death after getting beheaded by Mikasa Ackerman at the climax of the Paradis War arc.

He decides to become the villain to achieve the greater goal (freedom and a world free from Titans). His existence became a threat to humanity to the point where he killed 80% of humanity by starting the Rumbling.

With everyone from the Alliance trying to stop Eren from destroying humanity in chapter 138 his death became inevitable.

Why Did Eren Start The Rumbling?

Eren decided to carry out the Rumbling, to make sure the conflict ends with him. To protect his allies and to eliminate the enemies he made such a move. It also bolsters his stance of protecting Paradis.

In Attack on Titan, Rumbling is a cataclysmic event where Karl Fritz’s Wall Titans march across the earth, flattening and eradicating all life on it.

The thought of the current era of Paradis Eldians shouldering the blame of ancestors along with being the face of anti-Eldian propaganda never sat right with Eren.

He had constantly felt an obligation of protecting those of his own home. Especially from the atrocities of the world, which he saw firsthand when he steps foot in Marley.

Eren’s longing for freedom and his genuine wish to save his home resulted in him carrying out a massacre against the rest of humanity.

This turning point of him becoming the enemy of the world set the stage for his inevitable death.

How Does Eren Die?

Eren dies at the hands of Mikasa. Mikasa enters the mouth of Eren’s Titan form where his actual body is visible and she decapitates him and kissed him goodbye.

The penultimate chapter of the series saw Eren pushed to his final moments as he unleashed the full scope of his final Attack Titan transformation.

Mikasa, Armin, and Levi, as well as other fellow soldiers, are facing off against Eren and the source of all matter in battle.

After some time, Mikasa got to enter into the mouth of Eren’s Titan form where his actual body is visible. With one final blow, Mikasa separates Eren’s head from his spine.

Eren has escaped death before and it’s possible for members of the Titan race to rapidly heal themselves and even regrow entire limbs, but it doesn’t work this time as the final chapter of the manga confirms his death.

Mikasa sliced Eren’s head off, kissed his severed head, and bid farewell.

Why Did Mikasa Kill Eren?

Mikasa killed Eren to set Eren free from his sufferings and herself from being a slave to love. In the process, she also sets Ymir free after 2000 years of being a slave to King Fritz.

Mikasa loved Eren so much that she became a slave to her love just like Ymir. No matter what Eren does or how badly Eren treats her, she will always protect him.

She understood that love shouldn’t make her weak and miserable. It should make her powerful so that she can even fight. Even if that means fighting against the person she loves the most to stop Eren from doing wrong things.

When Mikasa took a stand to kill Eren, it portrays the love that gave her courage strong enough to stop Eren.

Seeing her kill Eren, also set Ymir free from the slavery of her love for the king. Mikasa gave  Ymir the strength needed to fight against the king and her love for him.

That’s why she goes against King Fritz’s order and eliminates Titan’s power from this world.

Mikasa killing Eren holds great prominence. Her choice of doing the right thing even if it means killing Eren which will set Ymir free and bring demise to the power of Titans.

She makes her resolve of putting down Eren after he tells her that there is no other way in the path.

Eren knew he has to die in the end no matter what. If he didn’t set Mikasa free, she would lose her mind as she did in the first season when she heard about Eren’s death and went on a rampage.

Eren didn’t want the same thing to occur again because then Mikasa would have to live her life wailing in pain.

So to avoid this she had to kill Eren by herself. It was only feasible when she set herself free from her miserable love. Eren knew Mikasa is strong and she will set herself and Ymir free.

What Happens After Eren Dies?

After Eren dies, all the sources of matter die, and every member of the Titan race returns to their human form. The body of Eren is buried under a tree on Paradise Island, the same place where Eren used to sleep when he was a child.

This means that the Titan race no longer exists and the world is free and peaceful again. The people are finally independent of living behind the walls in a restricted area.

Mikasa brings Eren’s head to Armin and they mourn their friend together. Three years later after the incidents, it is shown Eren is buried underneath the tree on Paradis Island where he’d often napped as a child.

Mikasa tells him that their friends, Armin, Jean, Connie, Annie, and Pieck, will soon arrive to visit him, along with Levi, Gabi, Falco, and Onyankopon, presumably. She mumbles if he’s happy before conceding she wants to meet him again.

As the words leave her mouth, the scarf Eren gave her when they first met slips from around her neck. To her surprise, a bird appears in front of her and wraps it around her again.

As the bird continues its flight, Mikasa says, “Thank you for wrapping this scarf around me, Eren.”

The Scout unit used wings as its emblem and birds normally have been continually used throughout the series as apparent symbols of what Eren yearned for so desperately, “freedom.”

About Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. Kodansha publishes it in the Bessatsu Shonen Magazine.

The manga began serialization on September 9th, 2009, and ended on April 9, 2021. It has been compiled into 34 volumes.

Attack on Titan follows humanity settled within three concentric walls to protect themselves from the terrifying titans that prey on them. Eren Yeager is a young boy that believes that a caged life is similar to that of cattle and aspires to go beyond the walls one day, just like his heroes, the Survey Corps. The emergence of a deadly Titan unleashes chaos.