Attack on Titan Question (AoT Spoilers)

[cojo965]

So I finished Attack on Titan just now and the ending was awsome. But I'm left wondering:
What were Annie's motivations?

I know she kills a lot of people but I don't know why, can anyone help me get closure on that front?

P.S I recommend the series, just don't go in on whatever expectations the internet gives you.

 

[madwarper]

What do you mean "ending"? It's on going.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure Annie was serving the same master that Bertoit and Reiner are, that we would have meet. Had it not been for the Survey Corps rescuing Eren and Historia.

Now we have to go through a coup attempt, having Historia ascend to the throne.

 

[Zhukov]

Yeah, I was left wondering that too.

She casually murders whoever gets in her way, but she goes out of her way to avoid killing her former classmates. She spares Armin and she lets the big blonde guy (Rhiner? Reiner? Rhineheart?) get away even after grabbing him out of the air. (Is there something going on between those two? She takes a lot of her cues from him early on and they're often seen together.)

She also doesn't kill Eren despite having multiple chances to do so. Once when she was carrying him in her mouth and once during the final punch-up when she smashes his titan's head into a building, knocking him senseless, then just runs away instead of chomping him.

So she was presumably acting with the intent to kidnap Eren, but not harm him.

There's apparently some kind of faction of titan-shifters who are intent on fucking up the human cities. However, Annie expresses remorse at the deaths incurred during the battle in Trost. So they're letting the titans in, but feel bad about killing people in the process? But are implied to have delayed the breaching of Trost upon discovering Eren's abilities and are willing to kill people like flies in order to capture him?

I guess they were trying to recruit Eren then? Titan-shifters are presumably pretty rare.

Eh, whatever. I just hope she comes back and explains herself at some point. I kinda liked her character. Quiet and driven and gets shit done. Although I'm inclined to like anyone who beats the shit out of Eren.

 

[cojo965]

What do you mean "ending"? It's on going.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure Annie was serving the same master that Bertoit and Reiner are, that we would have meet. Had it not been for the Survey Corps rescuing Eren and Historia.

Now we have to go through a coup attempt, having Historia ascend to the throne.

Not one to read the manga, as I feel uncommitted to reading 55+ chapters to make sense of the motivations in the anime.

 

[dyre]

What do you mean "ending"? It's on going.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure Annie was serving the same master that Bertoit and Reiner are, that we would have meet. Had it not been for the Survey Corps rescuing Eren and Historia.

Now we have to go through a coup attempt, having Historia ascend to the throne.

Not one to read the manga, as I feel uncommitted to reading 55+ chapters to make sense of the motivations in the anime.

I'm not usually one to read the manga either, but in AoT's case the manga's quite a bit better. Much better pacing, much less annoying melodrama. Still, even there, Annie's motivations are unclear. She's in the same faction as the other double-agent titans, but their motivations are unclear too. Though whatever it is, they seem to think it's a worthy cause.

 

[cojo965]

Yeah, I was left wondering that too.

She casually murders whoever gets in her way, but she goes out of her way to avoid killing her former classmates. She spares Armin and she lets the big blonde guy (Rhiner? Reiner? Rhineheart?) get away even after grabbing him out of the air. (Is there something going on between those two? She takes a lot of her cues from him early on and they're often seen together.)

She also doesn't kill Eren despite having multiple chances to do so. Once when she was carrying him in her mouth and once during the final punch-up when she smashes his titan's head into a building, knocking him senseless, then just runs away instead of chomping him.

So she was presumably acting with the intent to kidnap Eren, but not harm him.

There's apparently some kind of faction of titan-shifters who are intent on fucking up the human cities. However, Annie expresses remorse at the deaths incurred during the battle in Trost. So they're letting the titans in, but feel bad about killing people in the process? But are implied to have delayed the breaching of Trost upon discovering Eren's abilities and are willing to kill people like flies in order to capture him?

I guess they were trying to recruit Eren then? Titan-shifters are presumably pretty rare.

Eh, whatever. I just hope she comes back and explains herself at some point. I kinda liked her character. Quiet and driven and gets shit done. Although I'm inclined to like anyone who beats the shit out of Eren.

Exactly my point, the series goes to great lengths toward world-building, but seems to forget that character actions need to make some sort of sense. Otherwise I wouldn't have to ask this. Eren is a brat, but at least his motivations had reasonable roots. Annie just lost me because during the fights with Eren she seemed to only be attacking out sheer bewilderment as the first fight between them her eyes and posture at times screamed, "why are you attacking your own kind." Lady, you lost the right to ask that when you butchered several of his close friends. She only seems to snap out of it when the full scale of Eren's rage manifests itself.

 

[Elfgore]

It's still unknown the motivations of the titans and the transforming titans. The manga isn't really that far yet.

I'm just more surprised you liked the ending. I thought it was total crap... actually the entire second half was a downhill fall. The Battle of Trost was amazing, but after that... ew.

 

[cojo965]

It's still unknown the motivations of the titans and the transforming titans. The manga isn't really that far yet.

I'm just more surprised you liked the ending. I thought it was total crap... actually the entire second half was a downhill fall. The Battle of Trost was amazing, but after that... ew.

As a Godzilla fan, I'm a sucker for punch ups like the ending had. G '14 could use fights like that where initially the off-guard civilians are still evacuating and are often caught in the tall buildings when the punch up happens. I guess what I'm saying is it better shows the impact a clash of giants like this would actually have.

 

[Raku-Gosha]

So I finished Attack on Titan just now and the ending was awsome. But I'm left wondering:
What were Annie's motivations?

I know she kills a lot of people but I don't know why, can anyone help me get closure on that front?

P.S I recommend the series, just don't go in on whatever expectations the internet gives you.

You want closure on the driving plot point of the entire series? That answers not likely to get resolved until after the stakes of the show are realized.

It's a big deal. I'd recommend browsing the manga, even rethreading what has been covered in the anime. You're missing out on a lot of crucial details (for example in the episode where Annie tried to escape by climbing the wall do you remember how she dug her fingers in making marks? Well in the manga those holes have repurcussions that can mind fuck you or make you go "oh so they're really going there huh")

Get the tinfoil ready man, the show's just getting started with it's conspiracies.

 

[balladbird]

So I finished Attack on Titan just now and the ending was awsome. But I'm left wondering:
What were Annie's motivations?

I know she kills a lot of people but I don't know why, can anyone help me get closure on that front?

P.S I recommend the series, just don't go in on whatever expectations the internet gives you.

well, the official reason is half-known, but involves manga spoilers... so... manga spoiler warning. XD

Spoiler: do not open if you do not follow AoT manga, or want to remain unspoiled

Annie is part of a four-man team of humans who can become Titans, the other three being Reiner, Berthold, and a fourth member who was killed before the series starts. They were sent by their "village" to infiltrate the walls and compromise them so that the Titans could kill the humans living behind them. However, where they're from, and the actual REASON why, even in the manga it's not been revealed yet... as the manga decided to spend the last ten or so chapters acting like it's "Game of Thrones" XD

On a more personal level, I think that Annie suffers from a serious case of cognitive dissonance, caused by the values instilled by her by her father and her mission conflicting with the feelings that developed between her and her comrades during her time as a spy.

She was obviously haunted by her actions as the female titan (she was seen crying at the end of the failed trip beyond the wall) and was willing to follow Armin into what she knew was a trap simply because she didn't want him to think she was a terrible person.

 

[Zhukov]

... and was willing to follow Armin into what she knew was a trap simply because she didn't want him to think she was a terrible person.

Oh, is that what that was all about?

I swear, anime dialogue frequently verges on incoherent.

Also, who is...

Spoiler

... Berthold?

Is that someone who wasn't in the cartoon yet?

 

[balladbird]

... and was willing to follow Armin into what she knew was a trap simply because she didn't want him to think she was a terrible person.

Oh, is that what that was all about?

I swear, anime dialogue frequently verges on incoherent.

Also, who is...

Spoiler

... Berthold?

Is that someone who wasn't in the cartoon yet?

Yeah, I'm prone to agree. I love anime, but the purist translators who insist on "translating" while changing as little of the dialogue as possible aren't doing anyone any favors.

Nah, he's been introduced. Berthold is the tall, lanky, dark-haired guy who's always palling around with Reiner and has a crush on Annie. He first appeared during the trainee arc, he, Reiner, and Eren sat up late telling each other what their lives were like before the fall of maria.

 

[jhoroz]

It's still unknown the motivations of the titans and the transforming titans. The manga isn't really that far yet.

I'm just more surprised you liked the ending. I thought it was total crap... actually the entire second half was a downhill fall. The Battle of Trost was amazing, but after that... ew.

Trost was literally the worst arc of the anime. It was overdrawn, the animation was all over the place and killed the awesome pace of the first five episodes.

 

[Auron225]

What do you mean "ending"? It's on going.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure Annie was serving the same master that Bertoit and Reiner are, that we would have meet. Had it not been for the Survey Corps rescuing Eren and Historia.

Now we have to go through a coup attempt, having Historia ascend to the throne.

Not one to read the manga, as I feel uncommitted to reading 55+ chapters to make sense of the motivations in the anime.

So you thought you'd create a thread about it to get us to explain it you? Just look up the wiki or something. They didn't go further with explaining what's what for one very simple reason; the season is over. There will very likely be a 2nd season in which more ground will be covered and questions will be answered. This is far from unusual for a work of fiction let alone an anime.

If you're a fan of the series, why would you be against reading the manga? It's not 55 chapters of "Why Annie did this or that" - hell, you can skip the first 30 odd chapters since that's what the anime has covered to this point.

 

[cojo965]

What do you mean "ending"? It's on going.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure Annie was serving the same master that Bertoit and Reiner are, that we would have meet. Had it not been for the Survey Corps rescuing Eren and Historia.

Now we have to go through a coup attempt, having Historia ascend to the throne.

Not one to read the manga, as I feel uncommitted to reading 55+ chapters to make sense of the motivations in the anime.

So you thought you'd create a thread about it to get us to explain it you? Just look up the wiki or something. They didn't go further with explaining what's what for one very simple reason; the season is over. There will very likely be a 2nd season in which more ground will be covered and questions will be answered. This is far from unusual for a work of fiction let alone an anime.

If you're a fan of the series, why would you be against reading the manga? It's not 55 chapters of "Why Annie did this or that" - hell, you can skip the first 30 odd chapters since that's what the anime has covered to this point.

I thought I had missed something in the show that at least gave some explanation that I had somehow missed, but with several responses saying the same thing I missed nothing it seems. Oh, and thanks for telling me where I can start and miss nothing that wasn't covered in the anime, that actually makes it easier to swallow. I must say, though, if you care enough about the people around you that when you run into them as a Titan you don't kill them, maybe just, you know, don't. Perhaps that's why she cocooned herself at the end, to avoid the judgement of the people who once saw her as a friend while also keeping silent.

 

[Auron225]

I thought I had missed something in the show that at least gave some explanation that I had somehow missed, but with several responses saying the same thing I missed nothing it seems. Oh, and thanks for telling me where I can start and miss nothing that wasn't covered in the anime, that actually makes it easier to swallow. I must say, though, if you care enough about the people around you that when you run into them as a Titan you don't kill them, maybe just, you know, don't. Perhaps that's why she cocooned herself at the end, to avoid the judgement of the people who once saw her as a friend while also keeping silent.

No problem - as has been confirmed, you didn't really miss anything. The anime just didn't get that far yet. The manga has answered some questions in a round-about way but nothing conclusive yet. The answers it's given just lead to more questions.

I suspect that may have been partly the reason for her cocooning herself - but it may well also have been to just avoid the torture she'd most definitely endure from the military since she's been exposed as an enemy and captured. I think she was hoping whoever is on her side will recover her before the military have a chance to. And yes there are entities on her side - why they are and what their goals are remains to be answered.

 

[Moorish Vigor]

WHAT DO SHIFTERS WANT...?


Its only frustrating to this level because the build up is so good. but i can tell you what i think i read the manga and believe i have pretty good theories with evidence.

Annie is a part of one of four factions: civilians (humans), dummy titans, shifters (annie's people) and the ape titan faction. it seems annie kills the people inside the walls to prevent the ape titans people from adding to some army of dummy titans. we see this in the chapter where the ape turns connie's whole village into dummy titans makes em kill mike which im still kinda pissed about. i say the ape is building an army because ymir once said "inside the walls are going to become hell" which brings us back to the ape turning connie's village into pure hell.

I believe annie and her people could be trying to prevent this. i also heard that her people are the ones inside of the walls and they were sacrificed to build it, which could be what started this long stemming feud between shifters, government and the ape titan faction (which could damn well be a branch of the government) im not sure about annie's people being sacrificed at all but i read it somewhere and the person seemed confident in the bullshit they were spewing. i stopped reading cause i didnt wanna be spoiled and it sounded interesting like it actually made sense.

back to what the shifters want: annie and the other shifters started to believe that eren would be useful to them and they turn out to be right as he possess the coordinate the ability to control dummy titans similar to the ape but even more precise. so annie was not wrong in going through all that trouble although she failed because her conscience got in the way. the armored titan even promised eren he would not attack the walls again if eren went back home with them.

i hope this helps