The female Titan crying in Attack on Titan shows how twisted the series' world is

There is an argument for Attack on Titan being one of the saddest manga to ever exist. The story starts off in a unique fashion, as it features a much older world, but there is a twist the story takes. The world is on the brink of extinction, and humanity’s last frontier is inside the walls.

When the wall is breached by the Colossal and Armored Titans, viewers are stricken with fear. They see humans who have lived a prison-like existence struggle to cope as they’re swarmed by titans. This is where viewers see their first sad moment. That moment comes with Eren seeing his mother being eaten alive. The hate that wells up in Eren’s heart is one viewers feel, and the sadness that comes from loss is also felt.

From that point onwards, the entirety of Attack on Titan can be described as a domino of sad events. The saddest moment has to be the discovery of an entire world that hates Paradis outside the Islands; that moment shows how cruel the world really is.

However, there is a moment in Attack on Titan that comes really close; it is when Annie breaks down in tears. Viewers do not care about this when it happens, but when the truth about the Eldian warriors is revealed, it becomes glaringly clear that the Attack on Titan world is twisted.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s views and may contain spoilers.

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Why the female Titan crying in Attack on Titan is one of the saddest moments

Annie being needlessly cruel to the scouts (Image via Wit Studio)

The female Titan crying in Attack on Titan at first does not look like much. Then, viewers interpreted the story of Attack on Titan through a binary lens. This left little to no room for any nuance. However, this changed once viewers learned about the world beyond the walls.

The realization that the people of Paradis Island were related to the people who destroyed the walls was mind-blowing. However, this was not the biggest shock. The biggest shock came much later in the story when the lives of Eldians were explored in full detail. These people didn’t attack Paradis out of their own free will; they were brainwashed.

The Eldians who attacked, being brainwashed, might not seem like a strong excuse, but it should be. These titans attacked Paradis Island when they were just children; at that age, they were no different from child soldiers. This means they basically had little to no will in their actions, and while they somewhat enjoyed their acts of cruelty, they suffered for it mostly.

Annie, who was the female Titan, breaks down at the realization that she is a monster. She had killed so many scouts needlessly, and at that point, she was no closer to accomplishing her mission. At that point, Annie was the first person who realized the pursuit was useless, but she couldn’t stop.

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Final thoughts

This was the first time in Attack on Titan that Titans looked human. For the longest time, viewers thought of them as separate creatures; it allowed for binary thinking. When AOT viewers discover they are humans, various questions come to their minds, with the most important being: Why?

These questions are later answered in Isayama's fashion, as he shows the lives of the Eldian warriors who brought catastrophe to Paradis. The ones who survived couldn't handle the trauma, the clearest example being Reiner. Due to the guilt, he has split identities.

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