chibifuyuu

[chibifuyuu]

Attack on titan theory about its history

So this theory will explain Ymir's past and give a twist to the whole story (at least that's what it did to me) and explain the origin of the titan shifters power. I didnt read many theories about attack on titan so If this theory already existed plz let me know maybe someone else thought about it too.

Disclaimer: pls read only if you read the latest chapters.

Ok so after reading the latest chapters where ymir released the pigs. I thought about something that would change many things about the plot. what if ymir is the original "attack titan". Hear me out. Ymir is similar to eren than you might think. She wants freedom, she was a slave and she released the pigs to give them freedom because she couldn't have it for herself. That's her whole purpose, when fritz knew she released the pigs, he told her "you are free" of course that's not what he meant but I think because of that ymir whole concept of freedom got twisted. That's something she wanted all her life and she first heard it from fritz that's why she had a toxic attachment to him.

Ok to explain my next point I need to talk about titans and another theory about their origin story. the worm thing (I would call it parasite from now on I know it has a name but it's a hard name) the parasite existed before humans and it attached itself to big creatures like dinosaurs to survive and multiply. Hence after the extinction of dinosaurs, 9 parasites survived. (Which would explain the appearance of dinosaurs and animals in one of the anime openings.) The 9 parasites had to adapt to smaller creatures like animals and trees and eventually humans to survive and multiply. But i think a human small body size could only sustain the parasite for 13 years hence the ymir curse. Not because ymir died after 13 years. Anyways I think the parasite purpose is to multiply but it adopts its owners survival instincts as well to survive. Hence hardening and jaws abilities came from animal survival instincts that got adopted to future titan shifters that's why so many titan shifters have animal features and abilities. I believe ymir survival instinct was her seeking for freedom. Hence future attack titans got that survival instincts from her. Ymir path ability I believe came from the tree: to sit in a fixed position and observe through time because a tree perception of time I would assume is different than humans, Which would also explain the sand and her ability to create titans like a tree ability to create fruits. So for this theory, 9 parasites already existed in Ymir's time.

Ok then you might think then who is the founding titan? I think it's the original king fritz. My image of a founding titan throughout the story is someone from a royal family that controls eldians and stop their freedom whether they have good or bad intentions. That's why I feel king fritz fits perfectly with that. he must have wanted to know where the titans came from or how ymir got its power hence I believe either he heard legends about titans existence or he knew from ymir but eventually he got the founding titan maybe from an animal or a tree, who knows. Anyways that's why I believe because he was the ruler of eldia the founding titan can only control eldians. He is obsessed with control that's why the future founding titans possesses the ability to control through memory. I believe he either hid the fact that he has the founding titan to protect himself or/and to control everyone to think ymir has it so all hate will go towards her not the royal families. And that's why only royal families can use the founding titan becuase it started from the original king fritz.

I don't know how the founding titan along with attack titan could been passed down to their daughters though that could be one of the plotholes but maybe he knew that you need to eat the titan body parts by hearing that from the legends through history about titans because how did he know??? Or maybe he passed down his titan to another family member after Ymir's death and i think he didnt know that u need to consume the spinal fluid specifically, so one daughter got the titan power while the other daughters ate other insignificant body parts from ymir but after that experience he knew what needs to be consumed. I also think that because ymir and fritz had this twisted relationship especially because she conceived from him, ymir was unable to unleash the true power of the attack titan because he was able to control her through the founding titan. So someone like eren who wasn't related to a royal blood and have both founding and attack titan was able to unleash the attack titan true power or survival instinct to seek freedom but I'm not sure about this point.

If ymir is the original attack titan this would add more nuance to the title "attack titan". Of course this theory could be wrong and maybe has many plotholes but it was fun to think about. Please let me know your thoughts about this.

I also have a theory about Ackermans if anyone is interested but it might be stretching it a bit but it's a theory after all.

[chibifuyuu]

Attack on titan theory: 139 isnt actually the ending

Eren sees the future completely in the paths. Everything we saw from rumbling to 139 is just in Eren's head. He then wakes up just before the rumbling initiates, and the rest is probably AnR or he holds all of his friends hostage. The attack titan's power then lets Eren defy Ymir's dogshit.

Basically, Eren is playing Detroit: Become Human and he can choose his fate

Eren uses the warhammer titan to freeze his friends in time probably until the rumbling is over.

Reiner dies.

Idk I just thought of this shit after drinking 3 cups of coffee.

What im trying to say is, 139 isnt the final chapter

[chibifuyuu]

Theory Regarding The origin of the Nine Titans

the origin of the Nine Titans.

So we know that before Ymir Fritz died, her daughters Maria, Rose and Sina ate her, splitting the Power of the Titans into 3. At some point down the line, these powers were split into 9.

sidenote: Given that Marley/Eldia were never able to get more than 9 titans, I believe that 9 is the most amount of times that the Power of the Titans can be split.

Continuing on, this means that Maria, Rose and Sina each had combined elements of what would eventually become the 9 Titans, and by analysing shared qualities between the 9, we can figure out what each one had.

The Beast, Jaw and Cart Titans all have animalistic qualities.

Beast is obvious

Falco's Jaw Titan appeared as a bird. Now this could be because he had Zeke's spinal fluid, and somehow retained Zeke's Beast Titan traits when he transformed. I think that it could further than this, that somehow, Zeke's royal spinal fluid connected Falco to the original 'Animal' Titan. In addition to this, the Jaw Titan runs around much more animalistic than any other titan.

The Cart Titan runs on all fours and looks like an alligator-type thing. The ancient Cart Titans looked much more animal-like, with wolf-heads, alligator-heads, etc...

The Founding, Attack, Female, and Colossal Titans all have abilities pertaining to 'control' or 'omniscient' abilities.

Founding is obvious

Attack Titan can see the future, an ability which is fully exploited when use by someone with royal blood, or touching someone with royal blood. This royal blood aspect would only be a thing if it were originally held by someone who also had the Founding Titan

Female Titan can control titans. Zeke can also do this, but this appears to be an ability exclusive to his Beast Titan, given his royal blood

The Colossal Titan is more abstract and metaphorical, but it appears to be a 'herald' for Titans. It is referred to as a 'God of Destruction' by Marley, indicating that it is held in such a high regard

The Armoured and Warhammer Titans both have armour-related abilities. Not much else to say here

Now that we've established which of the specific 9 Titan abilities each of the Fritz children held, which child had which ability? I believe that the specific girl each wall was named after may be the answer here:

The Founding Titan, holding the abilities of 4 titans, was held by Sina. Wall Sina is the centre of Eldia, where most of its controlling interests are, the capital is located here.

The 'Armour/Hardening' Titan, holding the abilities of 2 titans, was held by Maria. Wall Maria is the outer 'armour' of Eldia, the first wall of which invaders must destroy before entering.

The 'Animal' Titan, holding the abilities of 3 titans, was held by Rose. This is only going to Rose by process of elimination.

[chibifuyuu]

Levi vs. Zeke & Why Isayama Focused on that Conflict Analysis

Wanted to talk about "The Promise" (aka Levi's vow to take down Zeke) because a) I see it critiqued a lot as a narrative choice for Levi post-time skip, b) I don't think it's well understood as a narrative choice or even what it means in canon by the fandom, and c) I haven't seen people analyze it and thought why not me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So why did Isayama have Levi focus so much on the promise, and by extension Zeke, post-time skip?

1. Levi and Zeke are set up as narrative foils

This is established super early and is pretty evident even before we know much of anything about Zeke. In his introduction in the "Captain Levi" side chapter, Levi's character basics are quickly established, and one of the very first things we learn about him is how much he values the lives of his comrades and wants to make their sacrifices/deaths meaningful, regardless of any personal connection he has or doesn't have with them. We also see Levi very concerned about the Trost citizens starving in the Uprising arc, which leads Dimo Reeves to say in a pretty on-the-nose dialogue that Levi is "awkward yet kind" and trying to save Trost even though he "doesn't really have to".

By contrast, something hammered home to us very quickly is that Zeke is relatively indifferent to lives lost in his quest to achieve his goal, the euthanasia plan. That isn't to say that he's completely devoid of empathy so much as he views the lives lost as inconsequential or necessary and doesn't dwell on them because he doesn't even really understand the value of life- "I saved them, the lives of those children from this cruel world" is what he says to Levi about turning his squad into titans. There's also moments like when Colt begs Zeke to hold off on screaming so that Falco could be spared, Zeke acknowledges that pain, understands it, and then screams anyway.

We get a panel post-time skip to quickly establish that contrast right away:

This indifference is actually what drives a lot of conflict between Levi and Zeke- Levi makes it clear he doesn't trust Zeke partially because as he says to him, even if he is unsure if Zeke wants to help Paradis, he can tell that Zeke doesn't really care about Ragnako village (and keeps bringing it up because he can tell "[Zeke] doesn't have a speck of guilt... those people's lives meant nothing to [Zeke]"), that he doesn't respond to the idea that his grandparents may die, etc. Levi also responds violently to the idea that Zeke "saved" his squad by killing them. The euthanasia plan is something that is so opposed to Levi's values that these two were always going to be in conflict- it's almost like Zeke's goal is the exact opposite of what Levi fights for.

This is kind of important for the overall themes and story for a couple reasons like:

Zeke's character arc is partially developing an appreciation for life's purpose beyond procreating and the small moments of connection and joy that make up the human experience, as evident by his conversation with Armin and actions in 137; the contrast and callouts by Levi help establish early on this inability to appreciate the inherent value of life before we even know Zeke's end goal

Indifference towards loss of life as long as it fits your personal goals is kinda contrary to what the story wants to tell you via the Rumbling and protecting lives that have no value to you is treated as a narratively good thing

There's also the fact that both of them have parental/fraternal relationships with Eren. They're both protective of Eren and give him advice; Eren also in turn has sought their knowledge as they are more experienced than him in certain areas (Levi as the Survey Corps vet, Zeke as the one most knowledgeable about titan/Ackerman history), so it's a mentorship relationship, too. Eren also takes their advice and knowledge in ways that I'm pretty sure neither intended (like I doubt Levi was thrilled that him encouraging Eren to make his own decisions turned out this way...)

There's also a contrast there- Levi calls Eren a "monster" who won't let anyone stop him from doing what he wants to do early into their relationship (correctly identifying who Eren is at his core) whereas Zeke sees Eren as a victim that Zeke needs to save for a really long time (which is how Zeke ends up so easily manipulated by Eren despite being so intelligent).

2. Levi / Zeke parallel Mikasa / Eren

While the relationships are very different, Levi/Zeke and Mikasa/Eren actually do parallel each other- there's a kind of Ackerman vs. Yaeger contrast set up. Despite the different relationships, they both end very similarly: Mikasa and Levi behead Eren and Zeke respectively in something of a partially wanted mercy kill that is necessary to better the world (stop the Rumbling, end the titan curse). There are even more parallels there, like how both Ackermans experience a moment of understanding of the respective Yeager before killing them, how both of them had recently had a moment where they were thinking- for different reasons- that they couldn't kill the Yeager brother and then ended up doing so, etc., but the point is the moments appear back-to-back (137 and 138) and are treated as pretty narratively similar.

There's a lot of reasons we could speculate as to why Isayama did this- I don't think it's an Ackermans are amazing, Yeagers suck message for the record- one of them could be as simple as illustrating the similarities of the Ackermans vs. Yeagers by generation 

Or it could even be because Mikasa as a character reflects Levi in many ways and her character arc is partially illustrated by her evolving opinion of Levi. She begins as someone with no appreciation for authority and prioritizing her own people/interests (usually Eren) over the greater good/mission, which is illustrated by her respect, or lack thereof, of Levi. She lashes out at him, ignores his orders and then gets saved by Levi in the Female Titan arc, then in Uprising she doesn't want to at first and can't help but be snarky about it but she shows how she's able to see a bigger picture and respect Levi's leadership by defending it to Jean, Connie, and Sasha and allowing Levi to gamble Eren to make his deal with Reeves, and by the time of the Rumbling, when Levi tells her they can't be concerned about Eren's safety, she doesn't lash out and while upset, doesn't even argue.

It's not really a surprise that Mikasa is the one shown comforting/checking in on Levi right after he kills Zeke and Levi is the one spurring Mikasa on, saying "there the only ones left who can kill Eren" before she finds her resolve to do so (and also literally clears the way via thunderspear so Mikasa can kill Eren).

3. Levi's narrative purpose- or what even is the point of Levi post-explosion?

I've seen like ten thousand posts or comments saying something to the extent of "Levi should've died in the explosion, he has no point afterwards". I completely disagree, but beyond how dumb of a death that'd be for a character that's the most featured (most "screen time"/panel time) after EMA pre-time skip and EMA+Reiner post-time skip and story contributions that Levi brings (like leadership and direction for the Alliance with Hange dead after Armin is taken), Levi as a character embodies certain important themes/narrative messages for the story. Several of them are illustrated through his conflict with and contrast to Zeke.

His desire to protect people and preserve life even if they are strangers, or even in conflict with him, is highlighted through his juxtaposition to Zeke as discussed above

"Your deaths had meaning, at last I can prove it."

The big thing about the promise is that Levi wants to make the deaths, all of the sacrifices (Erwin but also all of the recruits that charged to their deaths), mean something. All of them sacrificed themselves to give Levi the chance to take down Zeke and Levi is tortured with guilt that he didn't finish the job because he views it as making their sacrifices meaningless. The promise serves to remind the reader that Levi cares so much about giving meaning to the fallen Survey Corps members' lives.

In his intro, Levi says to the Survey Corps rando that his death isn't worthless and it's not the end of his contributions to humanity because Levi will take up his resolve, that his death will inspire Levi, and Levi promises to end the titan threat with that resolve. One could argue that the promise is to remind us why Levi does what he does, what's driving him, the pressure of living with the need to make every sacrifice worth it- and in turn how Levi views/viewed ending the titan threat, a "world without titans", as the ultimate way to prove the sacrifices of the Survey Corps had meaning and his fallen comrades' lives weren't wasted. That's important because of Levi's ending, after the titans leave the world partially because of his efforts and him having seen through that mission until the end and getting a sendoff to the fallen Survey Corps members.

His focus on the next generation

A big theme of AoT is about protecting the next generation, and all of the OG Survey Corps believed this- we see many vets die to ensure recruits survive- but we see it articulated through Levi a lot. He seems to have a soft spot for children in general (getting concerned over the starving mother and baby in Trost, supporting Historia's orphanage plan, saving Ramzi after he pickpockets him, etc.), but he is also shown thinking about "getting the brats to the sea" as the purpose of the OG Survey Corps in 136, aka serving the dreams of the future/next generation- that's part of an internal monologue that begins with Levi focusing on Zeke and the promise.

The euthanasia plan is sharply at odds with Levi's "get the brats to the sea"/next gen protection mentality given it prevents a next generation of Elidians.

The contrast of Falbi and Zeke vs. Falbi and Levi. Zeke callously calls Falbi "miscalculations" in front of them- and Levi- not long after Levi meets Falbi for the first time, Levi spends the end of the Rumbling arc with Falbi after they arrive and they're the only two with him when Zeke calls out to Levi to end his life, Levi and Zeke actually discuss Falbi in the forest, etc. There's a weird sort of arc here since Falbi admired Zeke and felt betrayed by him (and he was indifferent to them when he screamed and knowingly turned Falco into a titan, killing Colt in the process, while Gabi desperately screams for Falco) while Falbi see Levi for the first time in the terrifying staged takedown of the Beast Titan and then end up spending more time in the end of the Rumbling arc fight with Levi than anyone else and Levi's last panel has him depicted as being with them, kind of like a reversal.