Did Hange Zoe die in ‘Attack on Titan?’

Warning: the following article contains major spoilers for part three of Attack on Titan: The Final Season.

Attack on Titan fans have been waiting for far too long to watch the conclusion to their favorite series, and at last, the beginning of the end has started. Eren Yeager has put in motion his plan to destroy all civilization outside the Walls of Eldia, setting free 600,000 titans in what is considered the biggest event in the series — the Rumbling. Now, our favorite members of the Survey Corps Regiment, in allegiance with the Marley Warriors, take on the challenge of stopping this disastrous event, in the hopes of avoiding genocide.

After almost a year of waiting, part three of the anime’s final season has finally been released. Granted, the international release of this installment has sparked serious outrage online, which initially seemed to overshadow the events portrayed in the episode. However, as fans slowly got to watching, hearts started breaking. It was to be expected that some lives would be lost in a battle as huge as this, but not everyone was ready to say goodbye to fan-favorite characters.

Warning: spoilers to follow.

Attack on Titan has killed off many characters over the course of its four seasons and while some deaths pulled on our heartstrings more than others, each character had their role to play. The latest victim in the story, and indirectly, of Eren, was Hange Zoe, the 14th commander of the Survey Corps.

How did Hange Zoe die?

While Hange has always been better known for their brain, there’s no denying that they were a skilled fighter. We had seen them hold their own against titans before, but never quite like this. Even when faced with impending doom, the commander refused to give up, charging ahead into battle to put down as many colossal titans as they could.

Unfortunately, it was impossible for Hange to survive the titans’ defensive mechanism — the constant wave of steam coming out of their bodies. As previously established in the series, this steam is incredibly hot, and we’ve seen what happens when one stays within its reach for too long. Unlike Armin, who lived to tell the tale in season three only thanks to being injected with titan serum, Hange perished. Human bodies are simply incapable of handling extremely high temperatures, thus, Hange was burned alive, to the despair of their comrades who witnessed the scene in tears.

The sole consolation for fans of the character was seeing Hange reunite with former friends in the afterlife. But at the end of the day, a loss is a loss, and this one will be hard to get over.

Attack on Titan: The Final Season will continue later this year.