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“The world is cruel but also very beautiful." Unfortunately for Zeke, it was never beautiful.
[a short Zeke thread]
![“The world is cruel but also very beautiful." Unfortunately for Zeke, it was never beautiful.[a short Zeke thread]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Et75QlfVkAEQ8Bm.jpg "“The world is cruel but also very beautiful.\" Unfortunately for Zeke, it was never beautiful.[a short Zeke thread]")
[a short Zeke thread]
Zeke’s tragic childhood, or lack thereof, guided him down a path of anti-natalism and existential nihilism. He believes that there isn't any intrinsic purpose in life. But this does not make life meaningless—an idea reiterated by many characters in SnK, notably by Erwin.
Zeke contemplated his life in paths, where time is null. Him building a sandcastle represents his regression into a child-like state to live out the childhood he never had, and also emphasizes his renewed outlook, as he is now building, not destroying.
He retrospectively reached the conclusion that we are not born to achieve a certain specific goal (Zeke’s goal was preventing more Zekes from being born). Rather, we are born to appreciate the small joys that inhabit this "cruel world."
This duality is shown in this panel from chapter 113 where Zeke tells Ksaver about his “mission” (what he always THOUGHT his life purpose was), while smiling happily while playing baseball (what his ACTUAL life purpose was).
Unfortunately for Zeke, he realized this far too late. After all, from the moment he was born, he had simply been used as a pawn to navigate the landscape of the "cruel world," never having the chance to witness its “beautiful” side.
While I still would have preferred for Zeke to overcome his anti-natalism through the joys and pains of living, this was probably the best way for him to go out (independent of Levi being the one to do it).
Whether one likes him or not, his duality with Eren, his dynamic with Levi and the warriors, and his enigmatic and charming personality never failed to entertain us throughout the entire story whether it be through the plot or through memes.
From being introduced as a satanic figure to having our impressions subverted with the revelation that he was a self-loathing nihilist with a tragic upbringing, Zeke’s scope of influence to the story was undoubtedly pivotal.
[end of thread]
![From being introduced as a satanic figure to having our impressions subverted with the revelation that he was a self-loathing nihilist with a tragic upbringing, Zeke’s scope of influence to the story was undoubtedly pivotal.[end of thread]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Et79aU7VIAQogSH.jpg "From being introduced as a satanic figure to having our impressions subverted with the revelation that he was a self-loathing nihilist with a tragic upbringing, Zeke’s scope of influence to the story was undoubtedly pivotal.[end of thread]")
[end of thread]
