The Rumbling is unleashed as tens of millions of wall Titans march across the ocean toward Marley, obliterating cities and nations in their path. An unlikely alliance forms between surviving Survey Corps members and former Marleyan warriors, all united by the goal of stopping Eren before he destroys the world. The final battle takes place on the back of Eren's Founding Titan form, a colossal creature that towers over all previous Titan forms combined. Past Titan shifters are summoned by Yimir Fritz to defend Eren, forcing the alliance to fight through an army of legendary enemies resurrected from history. Mikasa makes the ultimate choice to kill Eren, severing his head from his Titan body with a kiss that echoes their entire relationship. The Titan curse ends, all Eldians lose their ability to transform, and the Rumbling stops after destroying approximately eighty percent of the world's population.
The wall Titans annihilate Marley's mainland cities, killing millions in their advance while the alliance struggles to cross the ocean and intercept Eren before it is too late. The alliance members are forced to fight against transformed past inheritors of the Armored, Female, Jaw, Beast, Cart, and Colossal Titans, each fighting with their own consciousness restored. Armin uses his Colossal Titan form to incinerate large portions of Eren's Founding Titan skeleton, buying the others an opening to reach Eren's nape. Zeke is killed by Levi in a final confrontation, ending the Beast Titan's bloodline and Zeke's complicated role in the story. Mikasa approaches Eren's severed head and kisses him, an act of love and goodbye that breaks Yimir Fritz's two-thousand-year attachment to the world. The epilogue shows Paradis years later, revealing that the island eventually falls to conflict despite the alliance's sacrifice, but Mikasa is shown visiting Eren's grave under a tree for the rest of her life.
The Rumbling arc delivers the culmination of every theme Attack on Titan has built: the cycle of hatred, the nature of freedom, and the cost of violence as a solution to conflict. Eren's choice to become a global destroyer is presented as both a monstrous act and a tragic burden he takes on to protect his friends and his home. The alliance between former enemies, including Reiner, Annie, and the Survey Corps, represents the slim hope that understanding can transcend historical hatred. The ending's ambiguity about whether violence can ever truly solve conflict has generated extensive debate among readers and critics. The final image of Mikasa visiting Eren's grave serves as a quiet, devastating reminder that the characters' personal connections, not the grand ideological battles, are the heart of the story.