How could the ending have been saved?

>>281179213 (OP)
The ending was as good as the manga ever was.
On pic related, I think the "he was born to me into this world" translation fits better.

>>281179407
>The ending was as good as the manga ever was.
Obviously not true.

>>281179459
It is, the reception to it might not be for everyone, but the ending reflects how the manga ever was.

>>281179213 (OP)
>the Rumbling is completed before Mikasa kills Eren
>Ymir is touched by a woman killing the man she loves when he becomes irredeemable
>the titan powers are removed from the world
>Only Eldia survives
>Eren's last words are his satisfaction at knowing his people will know peace after killing all their enemies
>within a few years Eldia splits into the Yeagerists and Anti-Yeagerists and goes to war with itself, devastating Eldia anew
It's essentially the same story, but the intended themes aren't undermined.

>>281179656
Yeah, this would’ve been fine. Eren completing the rumbling is a must though, since he literally becomes all powerful in the end. Anything else doesn’t even make sense.

I feel like it's a GOT situation where it's shit because of how rushed it was. If it was developed more, it would've been better.

>>281179213 (OP)
I used to be mad about the ending, but now years later, I agree with >>281179407 in the sense that it was an appropriate ending for the story. I dunno, I just think it fits the narrative.

Also this >>281179656 seems fine too, it'd also be appropriate for the narrative.

Now, something that I think COULD be done:
>make an alternative story where Erwin got to live, instead of Armin, and how that would change things, if it would change anything at all.

>>281179213 (OP)
Eren wins but in doing so also destroys the Island. Spends the last few hours of his life on a dead world finally "free"

>>281180776
Sounds like Evangelion.

>>281181056
I was thinking Devilman

>>281180776
Now this would’ve been kino.

>>281179213 (OP)
Not sure if I'm interpreting the series correctly but it seems like the bad guys won and it's intentional.

>>281179213 (OP)
>Eren's fully determined to go through with the Rumbling, no half assed Lelouch or determinism bullshit
>Alliance wins because Eren's ultimate weakness is that he doesn't have it in him to kill his friends contrasting how the Alliance is willing to kill someone close to them in order to save the world
>Rest of the world teams up to genocide Paradis (Alliance doesn't deserve to have their cake and eat it, they saved the world but they purposely chose to ignore what would happen to Paradis as a result)

>>281180044
The timeskip really messed it up, instead of seeing things develop organically we get info-dumps, flashbacks, and characters suddenly acting like completely different people, which is made worse by a whole new cast getting dumped into the mix and terrible worldbuilding.

>>281179213 (OP)
If Isayama had died after publishing chapter 123.

>>281179213 (OP)
Time Travel Incest

>>281179656
Hey hey! I also always wanted the rumbling to be completed only for Paradis island to descend into a self destructive civil war. It would have been better at showing the themes he was trying to go for of humanity and war never really changes, and showing that genocide is not the answer. I personally would have also gone for the catastrophic environmental damage angle being the basis of why the civil war came to take place but that's just me personally. I'm just glad that there's still at least some people who think similarly to me, since rn it feels like opinions on AoT are a unquestioning hivemind monolith of normies saying that they liked it and if you didn't like it you didn't understand the story and its themes. Not that normie opinions mean shit anyway, but yeah.

>>281180776
Maybe a bit overdone but I like that idea eitherway, kino still remains kino even if its been done before

>>281180776
Sounds good, maybe end it up with his Founder Titan breaking down alongside him into a new "life", so the cycle will continue.
also >>281179656 sounds good
Either way the Rumbling needs to be complete. Paradis needs to be shown as a place that will eventually devolve into split shithole.
My personal hope had been Ymir being reborn as Eren and Historias kid, finally free but it is quite the shitposting starter thing nowadays

>>281179213 (OP)
ereh kills off his friends, finishes the rumbling, hunts down every last human, returns to paradis, marries historia, ymir is reborn as their child, the curse is lifted, punished ereh destined to wallow in excruciating guilt for the rest of his life. just give me eternal champion ending man. to be fair literally anything’s better than what the fuck hacksayama wrote.

>>281179213 (OP)
snk sucked, get over it

>>281185176
I often think about that anon who said he stopped reading after 123 because he felt that the manga would turn for the worse.

>>281179213 (OP)
Honestly, if you just remove Eren crying about not getting that Mikaussy the ending wouldn't be that bad. It would still suck but it wouldn't be an irredeemable piece of shit. Him crying over Mikasa but not over killing his mom or wiping out 80% of the world always was the worst part of it to me. Makes him look like such a pathetic incel loser.

>>281188594
Hard agree.
If isayama just showed that the true Eren was Hoboren and showed him actually sad for all these poor people he was forced to rumble, that would’ve saved the ending a bit.
Not excusing all the bullshits like infinite gas-blades, shifter jobbing, the worm and the Stockholm sindrome , but at very least the reader would understand Eren’s reason, journey and even why he might accept getting stopped by his friends while also hoping his doing was good enough to ensure their survival.
Instead making everything about Mikasa, aka the most stagnant and undeveloped character by the end of the manga, alongside the humiliation ritual onscreen ensured the ending to be laughable at best

>>281179213 (OP)
By making the manga the "second timeline" and the anime the "third timeline" which might have possibly been the plan based on the specific changes Isayama requested while WIT was still working on it, but suddenly no longer implemented after MAPPA took over.

>>281179213 (OP)
By keeping Historia as an actual character.

>>281179213 (OP)
By going back in time and preventing Isayama from playing life is strange and watching capeshit.