Why Did Annie Cry When Eren Was Rescued in Attack on Titan?

Attack on Titan is certainly the most popular animanga series. It has a lot of interesting and fierce characters and one of them is Annie Leonhart, aka the Female Titan. She was displayed as a strong and unshakable girl from the moment she was introduced. However, Annie Leonhart cried, and that too in her titan form.

It might not sound like Annie Leonhart, but yes it certainly happened during the 57th Expedition Arc of Attack on Titan Season 1. The Female Titan was the highlight of this arc where she captured Eren Yeager. However, Eren wasn’t held captive for very long as soon he was rescued by Mikasa and Levi Ackerman. In the aftermath of this rescue, the most unexpected thing happened, Annie Leonhart cried.

So, now the question is “Why did the female titan cry?” To know the answer to this question, let’s start by knowing why Annie came to Paradis Island and what her mission was.

Who is Annie Leonhart?

Annie Leonhart is an Eldian who was born in Marley. Mr. Leonhart adopted Annie with a purpose in his mind. He wanted Annie to become a part of the warrior team so that they could become the honorary Marleyans. He trained Annie rigorously, and then the fruits of their training were shown when Annie got selected as the Female Titan.

Annie used to hate her father for putting her through all this arduous training. Once, she even crippled him during the fight. However, it made Mr. Leonhart proud as he gets assurance that Annie is now strong enough to become a warrior.

However, when Annie received a mission as a warrior, Mr. Leonhart had a change of heart. He cried in front of Annie, acknowledged her as his daughter, and begged her to return home as he would be waiting for her.

After coming to Eldia, Annie decided to join the Survey Training Corps where she became friends with Armin, Eren, Mikasa, and more people. She felt happiness and joy with them which she hasn’t experienced in a really long time. The bond she shared with the other members of the Survey Corps made her mission even more difficult.

What Was Annie’s Mission?

Annie was sent to Paradis Island to capture the Founding Titan from the royal family of Eldia. She wasn’t alone as Reiner and Berthold also joined her during this mission. Everyone in the Marley knew it was a suicide mission, and that these warriors might never return. Despite that, these warriors agreed to complete the mission.

Reiner and Berthold breached the wall, and let several other titans create chaos in Eldia. This incident caused the death of a lot of people. Annie, Reiner, and Berthold managed to sneak in between all the chaos and began to act like the citizens of Eldia.

Why Did The Female Titan Cry?

Annie Leonhart also had a change of heart when her father told her that he would be waiting for her return from her mission. She was not angry or resentful anymore. She just wanted to complete the mission and go home as soon as possible to live a normal life with her father. Annie was desperate to go home, but she could not return without Eren. She knew if she returned empty-handed then she would have to face several consequences.

During the 57th Expedition Arc, Annie came very close to completing her mission. She took a lot of innocent lives, including some of her comrades. She got her hands on Eren and even started running South after putting him in her mouth. However, she was chased by Mikasa and Levi who cut her mouth wide open and rescued Eren.

When it happened, Annie began to cry because she realized that she would not be able to return home and meet her father. She would still have to stay in Eldia and work again from scratch to complete her mission. If it wasn’t for Levi and Mikasa, Annie would have returned home. Annie was furious over the fact that she failed the mission.

Not only that but she also realized that she took all those lives for nothing in the end. They even had to sacrifice one of their best friends Marco to reach their goal. However, all of these led to nothing and it made Annie cry in front of everyone.

Annie’s fight with Eren’s Attack Titan was proof of how desperate she was to go back home. She was attacking Eren with sheer rage instead of using the techniques taught by her father. Annie’s father and everyone in Eldia had a lot of expectations from Annie and other warriors. But, when Annie failed to fulfill their expectations she broke from inside and cried in her titan form.

Annie was an emotional person as she was seen crying in Attack on Titan Episode 86 as well. She broke down and cried in front of everyone including Mikasa. She learned about Magath’s death and realized that her father in Liberio is not safe anymore. As a result, she questioned her motivation to fight Eren and asked Mikasa if she had what it takes to kill Eren. This scene made everyone realize that Annie did feel bad when she had to fight any of her comrades or take the life of any civilian.