Eren Yeager died in the final chapter of the Attack on Titan manga as well as the final episodes of the anime series. His death brought a fitting conclusion to a character that finely straddled both the villain and hero line in the story. What’s more, the love of his life, Mikasa, can be said to have had a hand in his death. So, how did Eren really die? Let’s find out 

Is Eren Dead?

Eren Yeager is not yet dead in the Attack on Titan anime, as the final episode is yet to air, but he is dead in the manga, which published its final chapter (chapter 139 – Towards The Tree On that hill) in April 2021. His death is a result of a sincere but nevertheless bloody quest to bring everlasting peace to his home country of Paradis.

Yeager determines that the only way to achieve that was to kill off the rest of the world, including people of the troublesome Marley country, and launches a rumbling; activating Wall Titans to kill off everything in sight. His pals and former members of the Survey Corps, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert, join the battle to halt him and eventually succeed, and he is killed in the process.

Eren Yeager Through The Years pic.twitter.com/ubZbKmUN4E

— Attack on Titan Wiki (@AoTWiki) March 12, 2023

How Does Eren Die?

Eren was killed in a battle with the likes of Mikasa and Armin as they sought to put a stop to his plan to exterminate much of the world. During this fierce battle which takes place in the final chapters of Attack on Titan manga, Armin and Eren transform into colossal titans and fight each other in a brutal manner.

At the end of the battle, they are both left quite injured and weakened, but Armin gains the upper hand because he has backup. He holds up Eren’s head in its titan form, and a co-fighter named Levi fires a missile directly into the mouth of Eren’s titan form. The titan drops to the ground, and a weakened and fatally-injured Eren is left hanging from the roof of the mouth.

It is obvious that he cannot survive his injuries and is going to writhe in pain for some time before eventually dying. Seeing this, Mikasa decides to put Eren out of his mystery by finishing him off with her sword.

Did Mikasa kill Eren?

Mikasa Ackerman had a hand in Eren’s death as she was the one that struck the final blow that ended his life. However, as already pointed out above, after his battle with Armin, Eren was barely hanging on to his life. He sustained grievous injuries that he couldn’t survive. He was only going to die sooner rather than later, and Mikasa decided to quicken the process so as to provide him with relief.

Mikasa never deliberately set out to kill Eren and this is reflected in her actions afterwards. She takes Eren’s head and buries it under a tree that he liked as a child. She continues to occasionally visit his grave as times pass by. She doesn’t stop visiting even as she grows old, marries, and starts her own family.

Why Did Mikasa Kill Eren?

Mikasa killed Eren to put him out of the pain that he was experiencing after being fatally wounded in his battle with Armin. Though Eren embarked on this battle in his titan form, the missile fired at him was so devastating that it not only downed his massive and gigantic titan form but also left his human body, ensconced in the titan form, quite bloodied and injured.

A single look at him shows that there is no chance of survival and that the best thing is to hasten his death so that he can be free of the pain. Mikasa bravely made the decision to kill Eren so as to put him out of the pain that he was experiencing.

She also did so to stop his crazed ambition to kill off what remains of the whole world in order to protect their home country, Paradis. She was part of the mission to stop him and would have done whatever was necessary to achieve that, seeing as he would not change his mind or plans.