Does Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 opening confirm anime-original ending?

WARNING: HEAVY ATTACK ON TITAN FINAL SEASON PART 2 SPOILERS BELOW.

The second half of Attack on Titan’s final season released yesterday, and with it comes a new opening and ending theme and visuals. Fans are so far praising both the ending and opening for their songs and accompanying visuals.

Yet some followers who felt displeased with the manga ending of Attack on Titan are hoping for an anime-original ending. They also seem to think that the opening and ending visuals confirm this direction for the series.

‘Attack on Titan’ Final Season Part 2 debuts; reinstills fans’ hopes of anime-original ending, which may not be as likely as they make it out to be

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Opening

As aforementioned, the new Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 opening brings a new song and accompanying visuals. While fans are hoping some details in these visuals imply an anime-original ending, it doesn’t seem entirely likely.

The final shot of the new opening seems to be an integral piece of evidence for the theory. It relates to the older Akatsuki no Requiem (AnR) theory. The opening theme visuals end on a butterfly crushed underneath the foot of a Colossal Titan.

In the older AnR theory, there’s a section where butterflies seem to symbolize Eren’s friends trying to stop the Rumbling. These butterflies are killed after touching giant arrows, symbolic of Colossal Titans. So the scene represents Eren’s friend’s attempts to halt the Rumbling.

If anything, the opening seems to foreshadow the original ending heavily. There’s a scene where Eren walks through a courtyard as white birds fly around him. This is obviously symbolic of his reincarnation into a bird at the end of the series.

Another scene shows what seems to be Mikasa, Jean, Reiner, and Connie visiting Eren’s grave. This would seem to reference the extra ending pages when Mikasa, Jean, and presumably Connie and Reiner go to visit Eren’s grave when they are much older.

Finally, a scene in the opening highlights Mikasa wrapping her scarf around herself. This seems to foreshadow her wrapping her scarf around herself before eventually resolving to kill Eren inside his new Founding Titan form.

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Ending

Unlike the opening, the ending seems to wholly foreshadow the anime sticking with the original Attack on Titan ending.

For starters, the ending opens with childhood Eren having his red scarf wrapped around his neck. This scarf is then carried by the wind and becomes a bird, symbolic of Eren’s eventual reincarnation and desire for freedom. The latter is incredibly important to the story’s final chapters.

Another scene in the trailer shows decrepit areas of Paradis, including the recognizable Utgard Castle and Paradis throne room. The country’s ruin is symbolic of its eventual fate, as seen in the extra pages, where Paradis is eventually bombed for its resources anyway.

Finally, an adult Eren is enveloped by an aura with colors reminiscent of the bird from earlier in the ending. The wind blows him and the aura away, likely further foreshadowing his reincarnation into a bird and desire for freedom overall.

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In summation

While there is one piece of evidence for an anime-original ending in the opening, it seems Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 will be sticking with the series’ original conclusion. The finish wholly consisted of foreshadowing for the original ending, and a majority of the opening indicates this as well.

While this may upset some fans, an anime-original ending for Attack on Titan was always a stretch. The fanbase indeed was divided in its enjoyment of the finish, and as a result, it makes sense for the adaptation team to stick to the script, so to speak.

Be sure to keep up with Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 news and more for the series as 2022 progresses.