Phantom Requiem for the Phantom Ending

THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS!!

The following WILL contain spoilers since I'm discussing the last five minutes of the last episode. I will talk about the whole anime later, but I just watched the ending and I really want to talk about that right now. I'll add the rest at a later date.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the ending. Did Reiji die? Did Eren die? If so, how? If now, then what happened?
I suppose, we will never know for sure. I've read several theories about it. I guess I will start with discussing a few of those.

Theory one-One theory is they both died. Eren dies by suicide and Reiji dies from being shot. Some people think the flower Eren was looking at, looked like a poisonous flower, and she used it to kill herself after Reiji was shot. The missing petal of the flower was shown to explain Erens death, and the shell casing to explain Reijis death.

Problem one, the flower looks like a pansy, aka, not poisonous. Two, no poisounous flower can kill that quickly with just one petal. Is it possible she killed herself some other way? There is no blood, so she couldn't have died that way. If she took something before that scene, she wouldn't have said what she did. Nor would she have said those things if she was planning on dying. Right before Reiji died, she said "These are my own. I can take them and live." This implies she believed she was planning on staying alive. It's true that she no longer has to try to find out about her past anymore because she knows. So that goal is completed. With out Reiji, there would be no reason to keep living. Even so, that doesn't explain how she could have killed herself. That pretty much rules out the suicide theory.

Theory two- Eren knew that Reiji would be shot. That's why she didn't freak out.

Problems- This would explain the clam reaction she had. After all, Reiji goes down, and she acts as if nothing happened. It seems to me that she would at least have a shocked expression. Still, I can't believe that she would know and not try to stop it. That just isn't her character.


Theory three- Eren didn't die. She was just day dreaming. She didn't get upset over Reiji's death because she had all she needed and she knew she had to live.

Problems- Somehow, I think this is more like wishful thinking. Even if she knew she was dying or if she knew he wouldn't want her to be upset, she isn't some emotionless shell of a girl, she is a thinking feeling human being. She had a strong connection with Reiji. If he died, she would not be okay. She would at least cry a tear. This theory does not explain her reaction. The day dreaming thing is possible, but the why is still unknown.



For the most part, people agree that Eren is dead. I don't think so.


My theory- Eren isn't dead. Eren and Reiji weren't near each other when he dies. It would explain why she didn't freak out and why she was laying, staring up at the sky as if lost in thought. At first, Reiji is standing behind Eren by their bags. After Eren says "Yes, we don't have to go any farther, this is the sky I always dreamed about. It's part of my memory. I know this is it." Reiji walks away. We never see the both of them in the same shot after that. After that, we see them in two different settings. Eren is in the grass near scattered flowers. It's probably the same place she was previously. On the other hand, Reiji is near a tree, no bags in sight, and no flowers either.

In other words, they weren't near each other. We don't know how far apart they were because we never saw them on the screen together after that but they probably weren't even in view of each other at that point. He probably was giving her some time alone to think and remember. So when he gets shot and falls down, she didn't see it, so she doesn't know he is dead. Unaware of his death, she finally is done with the flower and lays down to stare at the sky. Perhaps she looks up from the flower because she sees the wagon or she got a strange feeling. It could have been anything. She may have just been done with her thoughts. Either way, it's likely she didn't see it. As for why she stared at the flower for so long, she was probably thinking about all of this new information and processing it all. She lays down, but she doesn't look dead. She is probably thinking. She is staring at this sky that she dreamed of so many times, the only part of her past she had held on to.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the missing petal has no signifigance. I think it lost it's petal because Reiji was gone. I'm having a hard time finding the words to explain it, but I think the petal was kind of like his life. She didn't pick it off, it just fell.
This is the only way I can think of to explain everything that happens in the end. It explains her "reaction" or rather, lack of it, and it either avoids or explains problems with other theories.
The problem with theory one is that her words and supposed actions didn't match up and there was nothing to commit suicide with. My theory says she didn't die, so she wouldn't need something to kill herself and her words wouldn't contradict her options. The problems in theory one would be irrelevant.
The problem with theory two was that her character wouldn't just sit by and knowingly let Reiji die. She made it clear several episodes back that she didn't want Reiji to die before she did. She didn't want to live in a world without him. She wouldn't look so calm if she saw him dead. Since, according to my theory, they weren't actually in view of each other, these problems are irrelevant.
The problem with theory three is similar to that of the second theory. It doesn't explain her reaction to Reijis death. If she saw Reiji die, she wouldn't just lay down and start day dreaming peacefully. Therefore, she couldn't have known he was dead. If she didn't know he was dead, she wouldn't be upset.
Through observation and deductive reasoning, my theory explains her expression, the difference in scenery, the actions, and the words of the characters.
I'm not saying it's what actually happened, nor am I saying it's the only possibility. In fact I actually have a second, slightly different theory as well. The argument for this one is just stronger though.

What my theory doesn't explain is why someone would shoot Reiji in the first place. Who would have done it. As far as we knew, Inferno never worked in Asia. Who would want to kill Reiji now. The people in Inferno that had tried to kill him are dead. I highly doubt Shiga would try to go after him, not to mention, the way Reiji died wasn't his style. McGwire doesn't have a reason to go after him. Reiji isn't doing anything to trouble Inferno, he isn't even near Inferno, so McGwire shouldn't have a problem with him. Everyone else is dead.
Also, was it the driver, or someone hidden in the hay?

One thing I have a problem with is how long it took for Reiji to fall down. Talk about a delayed reaction. Maybe I'm just ignorant of some important fact that explains why he took so long to fall down, but it seems to me that it shouldn't have taken so long. Also, where did he get hit? It wasn't the head. Anyway, after all that guy has survived, I'm a little surprised a single bullet could kill him. He got shot three times, near the heart, fell into the water, and basically drowned before and was still alive. I guess it could have been a dart gun with poison but that just doesn't seem likely. There is nothing to suggest that to be the case. So why did he take so long to fall?! If it didn't kill him instantly, why didn't we hear a last thought or a last word or something. Why did his face look like he was fading out while he was still managing to stand.

Was this an appropriate ending? Was it a good ending?
I think so. It was the end. If he isn't alive, then his story is finished. He can't do anything else unless we follow him to life after death or he comes back as a ghost. Since he has been known to go back and forth between assassin and not assasin throughout the series due to various reasons, I think it was best to end with his death. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to know if he went on to live a normal life or if he want back to being an assassin or what. If he hadn't gone back and forth, we could probably have assumed he remained as he was in the ending. That wasn't the case though. By killing him off, we don't have to wonder what happened during the rest of his life or how he turned out because there was no "rest of his life."
It was a nice wrap up because we know what happened up to his death. We know who he became and how far his relationships ended up going. There isn't anything about him for us to guess. That isn't the only reason it was a good ending. Eren found out where she was from and who she was. She found a reason for her being. If she didn't die in the end, I think she had found what she needed to live and be happy, despite the fact that Reiji was gone. I'm not saying she wouldn't be upset for a while, but I think she now has the strength to move past it and find happiness.

I think Reiji was at peace when he died. He had hurt so many and killed so many, he felt like a destroyer. "I lived a life leaving nothing behind except shattered dreams and broken promises. There was one promise I could never break. I promised to make you smile. You'll be truely happy, I know you will." Are his last thoughts. Killing and hurting others never really sat well with him. Even though his memory was wiped, he wasn't a mindless killer. The pain he caused was a heavy burden for him. Even in the end, I still don't think he liked himself very much. He couldn't forget what he had done. He couldn't forget all that he had been through. However, he managed to do one thing. He kept Eren safe and he made her smile. He helped her find happiness. I think Eren has a chance at happiness now. I think she will find a way to move on and live. I'm not sure Reiji could have done that. I'm not sure he could just forget. He looked peaceful when he died, not like someone with regrets. I think keeping that last promise put him at peace with himself. I'm not doing a very good job of explaining this, but based on what he said, I think what happened was best.
I can't say the ending was sad. I don't think sad is the right way to describe it. I think it was peaceful sort of melancholy ending. Perhaps even bittersweet. Rarely does the audience want the main character to die, but that doesn't mean it's the worst thing ever every time. I think what is sad is that there are no more episodes.
As for the rest, I will put in another post later. I have a feeling I have a lot more to say about this anime.