Your Logo Here

PART 2: THE TRUTH ABOUT LOST IN A CRUEL WORLD

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone,


I am Chocolatephantasms, Isayama’s Unofficial Psychologist, and I am back with a quality hopium refill for all of you. It’s been a while since I made a theory, I wanted to make this post because of the recent research I did about Life is Strange and reading the novel version of the Lost Girls. I wanted to thank

u/CrAzy_ShR3y and u/Zestyclose-Honey2082 for supplying the pdf version of the novel, you are a God send! Anyways let’s move forward to the truth.


LOST IN A CRUEL WORLD

To summarize Lost in a cruel world, it’s a story of Mikasa’s journey of accepting Eren’s death and it’s also her journey in Paths. Yes, she was spirited away for a moment to Paths, where her wishes were granted, and I will prove it through this theory. I’ll use three media to illustrate my point, the novel, the anime, and the manga.


Let’s begin with Mikasa’s only wish, which is: To see Eren again. Let’s look at her psyche when Lost Girls began; Mikasa just received a report from Armin that Eren is dead. She’s mentally unstable, recklessly killing titans left and right until her gas is out. Then a butterfly came, she wished she could see Eren again, and she awoke in another place.

(Manga Chapter 6 p 1, Novel reference p 15-17).

So, the world she awoke from differs from the reality she experienced; this is a “what if” world. What if slave traders didn’t kill her parents, and they met under different circumstances? And as the manga said, Eren and Mikasa’s meeting will always be fated. Now, what is my evidence that this world is not an alternate or parallel universe but a Paths dream similar to what Armin experienced?

1. Mikasa’s wishes are always granted BUT there is an exchange

  • No slave traders. They were killed in the forest by a pack of dogs, and when the dogs threatened to attack them, they gave up and left them (pages 33-34)
  • On days that Eren doesn’t visit with his father, she wished that he comes often, and he does, but in exchange, her mother fell ill. (page 37) Seeing Eren was her only source of joy (p 38)
  • When she saw Eren injured because of fighting with the neighborhood kids, she wished to at least be with him, and she did when Grisha left his hat, and Mikasa was tasked to deliver it to him to Shiganshina (manga chapter 7 page 14)
  • When she visited Eren in Shiganshina and learned about the Survey Corp and what it meant to join them in exploring the Outside world (death), Mikasa wished that the Survey Corp get crushed, and her wish was also granted, as we will see later in the story (page 51).
  • When Eren got severely injured after gotten beaten up by men who insulted the Survey Corp, he stopped coming to see her, and she felt empty and earnestly wished to see him again so in exchange, her mom got symptoms of preeclampsia and they moved to Shiganshina where is near Dr. Jaeger’s clinic. (pages 72-73)
  • Those who hurt Eren the last time she visited were found dead, and “they got their just deserts”—they got what they deserved. She thought of the five men (the slave traders and the men who hurt Eren), thinking a “huge force killed them.” In the manga, there were panels of the slave traders who killed Mikasa’s parents, which is odd in the Lost Girls' reality because her parents didn’t die (chapter 8, page 24; page 74)
  • When Mikasa asked Eren why he didn’t come after he was injured, he said it was because the Survey Corp was abolished—her wish came true. Mikasa was relieved that the SC was disbanded, BUT she found out Eren was in even more danger because he and Armin were trying to build an airplane to go past the walls. There she realized she could not stop Eren because stopping him meant making him give up on the Outside World. (p 77-78)
  • She forgot his face when she stopped wishing to see Eren again when she let him go with Armin (p 82, 84-85). She decided to run towards the plaza to see Eren and not forget him. The people in the plaza served as obstacles for her to not seeing Eren again
  • A deal with the Mirror Man. Mikasa got caught by the Mirror Man and his scheme to make her "innocent" into a "murderer". The Mirror Man introduced himself as nobody and everybody. He told Mikasa that she got lost in this world (LG world) and she has remained long, if she stayed even longer, she could no longer remember Eren’s face and will be trapped in this world for good. Mirror man proposed a deal to her for her to get out of this world and return to her world, she must kill him; blood must be spilled—an exchange must happen. And when asked what she wanted to do of course true to her wish she wants to see Eren—if she can’t even do that in this world, she hopes someone will and if nobody does that, she will destroy this world. (p 91-94). After the affair with the Mirror Man, Mikasa understood that no matter what, she should not let Eren go, even if it took by force; even if it antagonizes the world, she should not give up on Eren. (p96)


  • The deal with the Mirror Man is fake—or is it? The mirror man didn’t die, but the words of the Mirror Man are true—for her to get out of this world, blood needs to be spilled. And whose blood was the exchange? It was Eren’s. As she returned to Eren’s house to see her baby brother, a voice told her that her time was up and it was time to go home. Then Armin delivers the news that Eren is dead, and she again awoke, this time back to reality (p 97-99).
  • Mikasa’s final wish. After returning to reality, she feels as if she’s awoken from a very long dream. She still wishes to see Eren again, and she does (because Eren is a Titan). (p99, 104)


2. What Mikasa experienced is a Paths dream.

  • Page 100 explicitly said that what she experienced was not a dream, illusion, or delusion, but what she experienced was a “nameless something.” During the time when Lost Girls was published (2014), the official name “Paths” doesn’t exist yet. Isayama was still writing the Royal Government Arc.
  • Through her Paths experience, she realizes that Eren is going to die because of “something” that is in Eren, and she accepts that fact. She was about to give up living because there was no point to because she thought Eren was dead, but that “something” also urged her to fight. She got up and apologized to “dead” Eren saying she won’t give up living because if she did, she wouldn’t be able to remember him anymore. (p101)

3. What is that “Nameless Something”?

  • It is Paths or more particularly it is the Power of the Titans that makes them all connected through Paths into the Coordinate/Founding Titan. If you remember Chapter 88, Eren told Armin and Mikasa about the Curse of Ymir and that if nobody inherited it within 13 years, that power would transfer to a baby, and bloodlines nor distance place doesn’t matter; that’s where Eren thought that every Subject of Ymir is connected by something invisible, like Paths invisible to the eye. The Paths is where the titan’s flesh and bones are created and contain the memories and the will to act. And all single paths, all Subjects of Ymir, are connected to the Coordinate through Paths. (Manga Chapter 88 p 24-25). If you now reread Lost Girls with this perspective and replace “Nameless Something” with “Paths” or “Coordinate”, it will make sense. That’s why Mikasa can hear that something in the world she has been whisked away to (p29). That same something is the one granting her wishes in that world. The same something also was the one who took her to that world and home to her original world (p 98). That’s why that same something also urged her to fight (p 101). It’s also the same “something” that is in Erenn that is part of him as a person and guides him towards death and makes Eren the Eren that we know of (p 100)


4. What is the “Huge Force”?

  • The Huge Force or Powerful Force is kind of like a “karmic force.” During the forest scene, the Slave Traders were killed by the wild dogs, and Mikasa thought that it was only natural “they got their just deserts” or they got what they deserved; it is the same as what happened to those men who hurt Eren when he defended the Survey Corps. (p 35; p76)
  • It is to be noted that there was no mention of any “Huge Force” in Lost Girls OVA. It was cut in the anime version. Eren told Mikasa that she would get killed by that “Huge Force” without ever knowing anything. When Grisha and Mikasa also talked in the ferry boat, Grisha mentioned an evil that cannot be seen, takes various forms and can afflict anyone. Are surrounded by it and perhaps currently ensnared by Eren, which Mikasa named the “Huge Force.” Grisha then said that perhaps she could only protect Eren from that force. (p 64-65). In the anime, the mirror man said that Eren has that specter of death with him; this could also be the “huge force” that ensnared Eren that only Mikasa can protect him.
  • Based on the story, this Huge Force is a great karmic catastrophe. As Mikasa said, “they got their just deserts” Mikasa will get her own too. I hypothesize that this Huge Force is the Rumbling and that Mikasa will die in the Rumbling while protecting himself from his own death. I will explain more once we go to Life is Strange.

5.The Blue Butterfly

  • The yellow butterfly is often associated with Mikasa. One of the changes in the anime is that Eren didn’t give Mikasa a butterfly before he left with Armin because, in the anime version, Mikasa wanted to come with him to the outside world. Eren said to meet them outside the inner walls in 3 days; it is very different in the novel and manga versions where she regrets letting him go. (Manga panels vs. Anime)
  • The blue butterfly is The Founder or Ymir. At the start of the novel/manga/anime, a butterfly appears before Mikasa that transports her into the Lost Girls world. One of the changes in the anime is that the butterfly has a voice. The VA is, of course, Mikasa’s VA, but this is Ymir talking to her. What Mikasa heard was the voice of something in the novel. Ymir was also the one granting her wishes in that world. That butterfly was also what took her home to her original world. (p 98-novel)
  • In both the novel and the anime version, the Mirror Man is also Ymir. Mirror Man described himself as no one and everyone. For me, Ymir was a slave and a nobody, but at the same time, she was the mother of all Eldians, so she is connected to everyone through Paths. Mikasa heard the voice of Mirror man and, at the same time, the voice deep in herself and, at the same time, the voice of something. (p92)


  • When 139 came out, many were shocked that Mikasa was the one she was waiting for, including me too; how did Ymir connect with Mikasa besides her being bound by her toxic love for King Fritz I think Lost in the Cruel World is that missing link.


6. My Thoughts on the Anime Changes of Lost Girls

  • One of the significant changes is in the manga/novel Eren giving the butterfly to Mikasa, she asked Eren not to die, but she regrets her letting him go, versus in the anime, Mikasa insisted on taking Eren with her; she wants to be at his side. It’s a change in attitude.
  • So here are my thoughts, Mikasa’s psyche in the Lost Girls manga is a product of her past life (cabin timeline) and current manga self (Chapter 7). Mikasa regrets letting Eren go in the past. She cannot accept Eren’s death in the Cabin timeline nor when she learns through Armin that he died (in Lost Girls). The Lost Girls Paths dream that she had is Ymir reminding her of Eren’s fate and that he will always die. She needs to accept this fact (and it is rooted in her wish “to see Eren again.”) That’s why in 138, she was able to kill Eren because she knows if she remembers him, they can see each other again. In her manga/novel
  • Meanwhile, her anime self, at the end of the Lost Girls episode, her psyche is more that she accepted the fact that no one can stop Eren, even if she cannot do it, but her wish now is not that she wants to see him again, but she wishes to be by his side wherever he goes. She’s clinging more to him in the anime than in the manga. She insists on coming with him in her Lost Girls Paths Dream in the anime instead of letting him go, like in her manga/novel version. Her character song: No Matter Where You Are is a peek through her psyche in the Anime. Bonus: Under the Tree, the ED for S4P3c1

CHAPTER 138 -139 AND MUV LUV ALTERNATIVE

  • So, if Lost Girls is a Paths Dream like what Armin experienced, where both of their wishes were granted, what is the Long Dream she experienced in Chapter 138? It is no doubt that Chapter 138 is a memory of the past timeline. I already have a lengthy explanation of the truth about memories from my Angriff Zur Wahrheit Theory Part 1. Still, I want to expand it a little more, particularly on Mikasa’s memories. What are the key differences between a Paths dream and a memory of the past timeline?

1. Waking Up Crying

  • Throughout the series, Isayama's writing pattern copies lines from Muv Luv. One of them is when someone wakes up from a long dream, he/she immediately cries, and then someone asks him/her why he/she is crying. Crying after waking up from a long dream means that that person remembered a memory—specifically, a previous timeline memory. (Manga Chapter 1, Chapter 87)

2. Mikasa’s Headaches

Mikasa’s headaches are memories of the previous/alternate timelines messing up with her actual memories of the present timeline. Mikasa’s headaches were prominent in Chapters 2, 5, 7, 45, 83, 109, 112, and 138 (Pictures are in order). We see that her headaches get worse and worse until 138, and in 139, her headaches are gone. What is expected in her headaches is that it is all Eren-related memories and are also a common occurrence, just like Eren’s headaches. In my previous theory, I have inferred that Eren’s headaches are caused when he is trying to remember a memory of his father; in Mikasa’s case, it is also the same—she’s also seeing memories of Eren in particular (as evidenced by Chapter 109) only that her Ackerman blood is messing with what timeline memories she is seeing.

  • Just like Eren, Mikasa also sees memories of the past timeline. We saw her get confused and question what part of Eren is she seeing (Chapter 123) and even asked herself if what she saw was a dream (Lost Girls).
  • It also to note that Mikasa keeps on saying, “it’s happening again” or “do I have to start all over again?” to the ordinary reading AOT for the first time; it seems like it is only referring to her headaches, but with the evidence, I have presented we now know it has a double meaning. I have another evidence about her headaches and her suspicious “lines,” and this is an anime-only line in episode 33:
  • Her Ackerman and Asian genes may also be the reason why she has headaches, as her blood is resisting memory manipulation/erasure of the previous timeline memories (Chapter 65). She comes from both minority bloodlines that resisted the 1st King’s philosophy.
  • Throughout the story, she has trouble knowing what causes her headaches; even Eren consulted Zeke about the Ackerman headaches, Zeke’s opinion, there was no such thing as a host, and there were no explanations about headaches until 139 where she said it was Ymir who was peeking in her memories (Chapter130). He even used that as a lie to hurt Mikasa (Chap 112).


  • In 138, her headaches peaked as she was about to kill Eren. In my theory, I mentioned that these headaches are her past and present timelines of Eren-related memories overlapping with each other. Compared to her Lost Girls Paths dream, she already thought Eren was dead and thus was transported to Paths, where her wish to see Eren again “came true.” In this instance, she said she wants to go “home”—an interesting choice of words from her. (Chapter 138)


  • In Muv Luv Alternative, Takeru gets headaches whenever a new memory from the past. He is also aware of the changes from his previous memory. (Muv Luv Alt Manga).


  • In my previous theory, I also mentioned that during the tuning of the 00 Unit, Sumika adopts memories of other Sumikas and confuses it as her own.

3. The Cabin "Home" World

  • Mikasa said this “Home” refers to the Cabin World/Timeline. In Muv Luv, Alternative Takeru refers to the Extra World (Extraverse) as the Original World. In the game, for Takeru to transfer from the Betaverse to the Original World, he must do the following 1. Shirogane strongly wishes that he “wants to go return” 2. The recognition of surroundings is adjusted to Zero (meaning he will turn into a “fog of probability”—meaning his previous state where he doesn’t exist. The device Yuuko made will make him into that) 3. The Original World has a stronger power to pull him. (Muv Luv Alternative Manga).
  • If we apply these conditions to AOT with Mikasa’s case, we can see that at least 2 out of 3 conditions were met: 1. Mikasa wishes to go home (Chapter 138), and 3 where the “Home World” aka the Cabin Timeline has a stronger pull. Now I have a hypothesis on #2 meaning how did Mikasa end up in the Cabin Timeline, is, of course, the founder’s power particularly Eren sent her consciousness momentarily to that timeline—through the bird, like how he spirited away Armin and second it could be that Eren recreated that memory in paths for her to remember. But in my humble opinion, I like my 1st hypothesis more than the second one. (Chapter 131, 139, 138 ).
  • So why I like my first hypothesis; Mikasa in the Cabin Timeline even remarked that she didn’t belong, and she seemed that she didn’t know the events prior. It may mean that the 138 Eren is talking to the manga version of Mikasa. In Muv Luv, when he materialized to the Extraverse, he temporarily borrows that world’s Takeru body, and his friends on that world notice a change in his personality because the current Takeru that inhabits that body is a soldier, not a schoolboy.

4. "See You Later, Eren"

So, to summarize and make it clear that 138 is indeed a timeline and not a paths dream here are the significant differences:

  • Lost Girls Paths Dream is based on her deepest wish to see Eren again, and Ymir grants that wish. Comparing it to Armin, which is to see the outside world, which Eren granted.
  • In Lost Girls, Mikasa seems to be in control of the world, like whatever hinders her from seeing Eren again; it was immediately granted (i.e., Survey Corp getting disbanded).
  • Another is that in 138, she specifically said, “She wants to go home,” compared to her wish in Lost Girls, “She wants to see him again.” The situation is also different; in Lost Girls, the context of her wish is that she thought Eren had already died, but in 138, Eren isn’t dead yet.
  • Regarding her Ackerman-Asian genes, she’s still able to be spirited away to Paths because she is still a Subject of Ymir. But what I found interesting is that in the novel, manga, and anime versions of Lost Girls, she can't remember them at that moment after she had her paths dream, which is weird because Ackermans can’t have their memories manipulated. But as I rewatched Lost Girls anime, at the beginning of the anime atop the walls, she noticed the blue butterfly flying by her and remembered her Paths dream. It is to be noted that the Lost Girls OVA of Mikasa was released on August 9, 2018. This is already after the reveal of Paths and the Ackerman powers, so maybe they must add this for consistency or to soft “retcon” the memory manipulation in Lost Girls.
  • Lastly is the “See you later” line, Mikasa. Her last words to Eren in 138 are the first thing Eren hears before waking up from his dream. If 138 is a Paths dream, how come Eren also has the same dream? Eren even commented in Chapter 1 why come her hair was longer. So, with what we know from lines (“Why am I crying?”, “It’s not a dream but a memory”) copied by Isayama from Muv Luv, we can infer that 138 is a past timeline. Also, in the anime, Eren had a different dream and asked Mikasa, “why is she here?”.
  • In Muv Luv Unlimited, Takeru said this line to Kasumi as he escorted her toward the ship bound for a new planet. At the end of Unlimited, Takeru’s daughter to Meiya said this as she greeted her dad light years away. The origin of this line is from Muv Luv Extra, where a young Takeru and Meiya promised to marry each other when they grow up so they can spend their birthdays together; as Meiya was taken to the Mitsurugi’s house, Takeru said that they should not say goodbye instead say “see you later” as Gorban (his favorite character) always said.

5. The 139 dream

  • In Muv Luv Alternative, Takeru told Yuuko that he constantly dreamed of the Original World (Extraverse). In their experiments, the result is that he was indeed dreaming of a timeline he experienced in the past. Yuuko’s explanation is that when he is asleep, his consciousness is weaker; thus, he is “spirited away” into remembering the previous timeline. During his sleep, his will is weaker; thus, it makes him drift to the Original World.
  • In 139, we see that Mikasa fell asleep under the tree while thinking about Eren and wishing to see him again. She then woke up crying, and a bird wrapped the scarf around her; from what we have learned so far, waking up crying means she subconsciously dreamt of the past timeline, and that made her realize that she can see Eren again, that’s why she held on to the scarf until her death. If she remembers him, she can see him again. Going back to Lost Girls, the moment she let Eren go was the moment she also forgot his face.

6. Ymir and Mikasa / Kasumi and Sumika

  • In Muv Luv, Kasumi has been Sumika’s companion (since Unlimited). From when Sumika was still a brain and spinal cord to her becoming 00 Unit, Kasumi was the first to read Sumika’s mind: "I want to see Takeru-chan again.” That desire of hers is what kept her alive; watching Takeru die before her eyes never stopped her from yearning for him.


  • Kasumi has ESP. She can read the images in a person’s mind and project them. She also served as the observer of the story as she was the one observing Takeru and Sumika get together. She also kept Takeru stable in the Extraverse, where she observes him/ draws him, so she won’t forget him in the Betaverse when he manifested in the Extraverse.
  • How does it connect to AOT? Remember that Isayama takes aspects of these characters and applies them to his own, so it’s not 1:1 (Like Kasumi is a product of human experimentation like Mikasa, but when it comes to their relationship, she seems to be the observer like the Founder Ymir). My hypothesis is that Ymir already connected with Mikasa through Lost Girls. She was already peeking into her mind during that time as the blue butterfly/mirror man. The question remains as to why Mikasa was chosen by Ymir (Only Ymir knows still, in my opinion, but there are other theories to explain it). Still, I have provided a hypothesis as to why Ymir was peeking through her mind. (Lost Girls Blue butterfly, Chapter 139 Ymir).
  • Bonus fact: Sumika has a yellow butterfly as her ponytail, just a small easter egg from Muv Luv that could connect Mikasa as the yellow butterfly.

7. The Vow

  • When is the possible connection with Ymir and Mikasa started? The popular theory is that it started in Chapter 50: Scream. To briefly explain how this vow works, go back to Chapter 64. Rod Reiss explained how the walls were created, and Isayama drew a particular panel of the founding titan screaming. This is how the founder power works—when it wants to make a wish/vow with Ymir, all it needs to do is scream. King Karl Fritz made a vow to renounce war and made it with the condition that it would be passed on to his descendants with royal blood.


  • So back to Chapter 50. Eren unintentionally made a vow (which transcends space and time) to Mikasa to wrap the scarf around her as much as she wants, forever, meaning she’ll always be able to be with Eren until she wishes not to. It means that if she fights if she lives her life continuing to remember him, she can see him again to be with his side again. If she wears the scarf she can go back to their “home”—her connection with Eren. (Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 50, Chapter 139)
  • What is the Muv Luv equivalent of this vow? At the end of the game, Kasumi explains that Sumika’s wish to see Takeru again (from her subconscious mind) plus the two G-bombs (which are bombs more powerful than nuclear bombs) cause a rift between spacetime and of the briefest of moments, it connected to a branch of a timeline. Her distorted and amplified feelings brought every version of Takeru to the Betaverse. The Takeru in Muv Luv Alternative is an amalgamation of several versions of Takeru from different timelines/worlds. In AOT, Chapter 89 confirmed how Eren could use the founding titan’s power by connecting with royal blood--Dina.
  • In Muv Luv, October 22 was chosen as the starting point date because it was the day with the most causality information when Meiya arrived, and things started to change between Sumika and Takeru. In AOT, the equivalent is the day Colossal Titan appeared when he woke up crying on the tree because that’s where the story started. Mikasa also may have chosen that day because going back to Lost Girls, the blue butterfly (Ymir) that she can do it all over again at any time that she chooses. In that paths dream, she chose the day she met Eren, but in the manga, her “home” point is Eren sleeping soundly on the tree, as seen in Chapters 138 and 139.


  • In conclusion, Mikasa is subconsciously aware of the time loop. There are many clues in the manga that, somehow, she’s aware that everything is repeating (her headaches are evidence of that). She doesn’t have the power to reset the timelines; it came from the founder through Eren’s vow in Chapter 50, but she does have control if she wants to end the time loop. How? Eren asks her multiple times to “throw away the scarf,” to forget about him, live long, and be free (Chap 126, 138), but at the end of the manga, she cannot do that. She still stubbornly clings to her connection with Eren even after he dies. For the loop to end, she must let Eren go, as she did in Lost Girls, to forget about him and finally be free from her attachment.

8. Negative Emotions, Jealousy, and the Agony of Love

  • Another parallel that I found regarding Mikasa/Ymir through Muv Luv is that because of Sumika’s possessiveness and jealousy, every time Takeru fails to reach her and falls in love with another girl, she makes sure that she erases his memory of the previous timeline when he dies and resets. Similarly, Eren said that when he touched Ymir and found out that she “loved King Fritz,” this doesn’t mean that it’s a healthy kind of love but a love that is out of spite and jealousy, as seen with Ymir’s expression in the panels. It’s a toxic kind of love and not meant to be seen as good. Maybe Ymir wants that attachment with King Fritz all to herself, who gave her at least a purpose to live when she came in contact with the source of living matter (even though he cut off her tongue and made her a human hunting prey). That’s the agony of her love that’s bound her for 2000 years. Mikasa also has an unhealthy attachment to Eren (that’s why maybe Ymir chose her because she identified with her; only Ymir knows, really). She selfishly chooses not to forget him and thus continues the time loop/ cycle, and the titan powers never really disappear.


LIFE IS STRANGE

Lastly, I wanted to discuss this game that influenced Isayama, especially with his School Caste fake previews—Life is Strange. To those unfamiliar with the game, Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game where the main character’s unique ability is being able to “rewind” time and travel to the past and alter the course of events. She uses this ability to save her best friend, Chloe, from dying. In this section, I will spoil the endings of Life is Strange, so it’s better if you have played the game.


At the end of the game, Max, the game’s main character, decides to sacrifice Chloe or Sacrifice Arcadia Bay. The scenario is that every time Max rewinds time to save Chloe, the effect is that different freak events happen, like—snowing when it’s not winter, an unscheduled eclipse, two moons, and finally, a tornado hurricane that will destroy their town, Arcadia Bay. Max believes she caused all of this, and Chloe suggests that the only way to reverse everything is for her to go back in time to where she took the photograph of the butterfly in the restroom, but that would mean letting Chloe die as that was the time Nathan shot her and Max’s rewind power first activated. Now let’s discuss the two endings and some parallels I found with the manga’s endings in 138 and 139. Again, it is not 1:1 Isayama may have found inspiration from this game and given a twist of his own.


1. Sacrifice Chloe aka Bay Ending.

  • So, some similarities that I found in 138 and this ending in Life is Strange is that Max and Chloe said their goodbyes—either you get a hug or a goodbye kiss, depending on your romance score. Chloe asks Max not to forget about her, and she says Never. Max goes back in time to when she took the photo and let her die. In the end, a funeral is held, a blue butterfly lands on Chloe’s coffin, and Max smiles.
  • So in 138, Mikasa and Eren said their goodbyes through the Cabin; they also hugged, and Mikasa also kissed goodbye to Eren. She kills Eren and has a graveyard under the tree, and she smiles and thanks (the bird) Eren for wrapping the scarf around her. A clear difference, however, is that Eren asked Mikasa to forget about him, and she said she couldn’t do that.

2. Sacrifice Arcadia Bay aka Bae Ending

  • So, this is how the bae ending happened; Max tears the photograph, symbolizing she’s not accepting the tragic fate of her and Chloe. Chloe said that she and Max would be together forever, and they held hands as they watched the storm destroy their town. Max and Chloe both saw the wreckage after the storm as they drove out of town. It is confirmed in the sequel game that all the people who lived in Arcadia Bay died.
  • This is like the ANR ending we will get in the anime. Everyone outside Paradis died from the Rumbling. The only difference is that unlike in Life is Strange, where Chloe and Max got together and have their happy ending, in the AOE, Mikasa will die instead of Eren—they will always be the tragic romance pairing. Going back to my point from the Lost Girls novel, a “huge force” will kill Mikasa, and I believe that that huge force is that karmic catastrophe coming for Mikasa because she keeps on holding on to Eren and making him repeat his life over and over again. I believe that the huge force could be the Rumbling killing her while protecting Eren from his fate—which is him dying. Mikasa will free him from that specter of death, but just like in Lost Girls, there is an exchange; she will be able to free him from his fate, but at the cost of her life.

3. Sekaikei Trope

  • Isayama’s editor mentioned Sekaikei or literally sekai “world” kei “type” is a story that is the existence of a close relationship between two people, which turns out to be the sole driving force of the events, up to and including having all other happenings in the world at large depending on said relationship's fate, whether metaphorically or literally (tv tropes) Or in my understanding, it’s the “us against the world” type of genre, where the protagonist and/or the main heroine chooses between settling their relationship or save the world. They are forced to choose between their lover or the world and usually end in a bittersweet ending or a star-crossed lover. Life is Strange is an example of this trope because Max is forced to choose between Chloe and Arcadia Bay.
  • Going back to the interview, the editor said that Eren and Mikasa’s story is indeed a Sekaikei, according to Isayama. Isayama made it clear of that. At the end of the manga, Mikasa chooses to kill him and save the world, BUT he also chooses not to forget about him even if Eren says so. So, for me, even in the ANR ending, Eren and Mikasa will always be a star-crossed relationship, and Mikasa will be the one forced to choose between saving Eren from his fate (death) or saving the world.

HOW MIKASA’S CHARACTER ARC WILL END?

1.Muv Luv Alt Meiya Ending

a. So, at the end of Muv Luv Alternative, Takeru needs to sacrifice Meiya for them to succeed in their mission. In her last moments, Meiya said that her most selfish wish is for her to die at the hands of the man that she loves, even if her life was more than that of a shadow; as long as Takeru lives on, she wants him to promise to her that she exists in this world then she can die happy.

In this section, I will give my personal speculations as to how her arc will end. I will try to infer using the ending of Muv Luv Alternative.

  • One of my speculations is that a similar scene may happen where Eren kills Mikasa, but before he does, instead of Eren asking Mikasa to forget about him, Mikasa asks Eren to promise not to forget about her; thus, after killing her, he visits her grave. It is already theorized that the extra eight pages are the reverse of the Akatsuki no Requiem video, so a similar scenery will likely happen.

2. Muv Luv Alt Sumika Ending

  • So, after Takeru accomplished his mission, the only survivors were Kasumi and Takeru. Kasumi revealed to Takeru that Sumika intends not to survive the mission in the first place. She also revealed that Sumika once she realized that she’s been looping Takeru, the truth was too much for her to bear. She wanted to atone for him because of her spite, jealousy, and selfishness to want Takeru all to herself; she caused Takeru to suffer repeatedly and put others too much grief. This is the only way that she could release Takeru from being the Causality Conductor.


  • For me, another speculation is that Mikasa will realize she’s holding Eren back from his freedom. She will learn the truth, maybe through another long dream (or maybe waking up in a dream within a dream similar to lost girls), where she sees herself killing Eren and finally wakes up. But the truth is too much to bear for her. She will realize that her wish loops Eren and causes this repeated cruelty. So maybe she will kill herself while protecting Eren from his inevitable fate, which is his repeated death.
  • Another thing is that maybe they will have a last conversation “under the tree” as a paths dream, with Mikasa thanking Eren for wrapping the scarf before she dies. A similar scene happened with Sumika when he thanked Takeru for giving her the Santa rabbit (this is manga only).

Those are my two significant speculations. Maybe Isayama will try to mix both, where Mikasa will say those last words to Eren to remember her in exchange for her forgetting/ letting him go, and she gets killed or kill herself out of her guilt.


Anyways to end this theory by quoting Isayama from his interview:


“ Isayama: Mikasa’s growth probably involves separation from Eren. By separation, I mean she might be able to return to that ordinary girl that she used to be in childhood…… I read some interesting thoughts from readers on the internet. People would say male mangaka have a tendency to reject the notion of “fate.“ On the contrary, female mangaka draw works that approve of “fate.” You meet your Mr./Ms. Right, you say, “This is fate!” and accept that your life trajectory is already predestined. People who interfere with that and seem to affect your serene life are portrayed as villains. Of course, I am not speaking of all mangaka, but with my mentality as a male mangaka, I think it is pitiful if Mikasa’s life is only about staying together with Eren. However, to Mikasa, it is a wonderful thing to be with Eren forever. Combining what I’ve said, if I were to draw the separation between Eren and Mikasa, I feel like my portrayal likely won’t be satisfactory for readers because Mikasa would have to endure the strain of being stuck between Eren and Armin. Even though she can sympathize with Armin, who considers things from a “globalism” perspective, it’s possible that she can’t just let the more self-focused Eren go. [Note: Isayama uses the katakana of “Globalism” in Japanese to describe Armin. He probably means Armin embraces the world and is curious about everything in the universe, while Eren is rather “self-focused” compared to him.]”


Here is Isayama’s quote about Life Is Strange from his blog:

“Life is Strange" is really a masterpiece. Every time the protagonist turns back time. Life is a series of irrevocable choices. Life is about unbearable losses and partings. It's about whether you can accept it or not. In fact, the content of this month's issue (Chapter 84) is explicitly influenced by it!”

I want everyone to ponder this: Has Mikasa’s character grown after she killed Eren? Yes, they were separated physically, but her agony of loving Eren still binds her. I wish the anime's original ending would portray Mikasa’s growth and separation from Eren satisfactorily—where everything makes sense and respects her character.


Anyways, I have one more part of writing, which is the hardest and most brain-draining because of how complex it is—about Paths, the Founder Powers, and Attack Titan powers. I hope to see you still reading the next part of my theory!


ANGRIFF ZUR WAHRHEIT

Onwards Toward the Truth


Isayama's Unofficial Psychologist

TLDR

1. Lost Girls Mikasa is a Paths Dream. 138 is a memory of the past timeline.

2. Ymir is the blue butterfly and the Mirror Man.

3. Eren (unintentionally) made a vow to Mikasa in Chapter 50, and that caused him to loop.

4. Mikasa is subconsciously aware of the loop throughout the story, but only in Chapters 138-139 does she genuinely understand that she can see him again as long as she remembers him.

5. In Life is Strange, Sacrifice Chloe or Bay ending is reminiscent of the manga ending, while the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay or Bae ending will be the ANR ending but with the tragic twist of Mikasa dying.

6. Mikasa’s arc will end with her separation from Eren, not just physical separation but her agony of being with Eren.