How Attack on Titan Wrote the Perfect Plot Twist
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- čas přidán 20. 05. 2024
- The final season of Attack on Titan brought the show's BIGGEST PLOT TWIST YET: Eren manipulated EVERYTHING. The reveal of the Attack Titan's true ability- that lets its users see its future memories- allowed Eren to write the past itself and shows us that he was behind one of the series' biggest moments EVER. And today I'm breaking down what makes this scene so incredibly intense, emotional, and utterly surprising. Check it out!
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:38 - The Art of Distraction
7:00 The Monumental Scene
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Season 1-3: Eren keep being kidnapped
Season 4: Just as planned
Season 4: Eren uno reverses and kidnaps everybody's freedom
"It's all according to kekaku"
(Now, I got this mental image of Eren forcing Aizen to do the Shiro experiment 😂)
@@jsull81 huh? All according to my plan g
@@jsull81 Aizen made Eren. So Aizen plan
@@jsull81 exactly my thought! Just imagined Aizen sitting while Eren manipulates him :D
There's Abusing your child, which is unforgivable, and then there's going back through time and space to abuse your own parent. Damn, eren.
He abused younger himself lmao, he is directly responsible for his parents death, and all his friends. Imagine you get through hard physical trauma in childhood and find out when you grow old you will travel back in time to abuse yourself...
@@krejziks3398
So how did Eren create this paradox?
@@DemonicRemption It's not a paradox in the context of the paths. The founder could always communicate within the paths this way as the paths are static and as they're depicted, they are independent of the flow of time. The ability was specialized to Eren's titan, which is why the former founding titans couldn't do the same. The attack's ability also relied on royal blood to trigger. This is probably how Eren was able to influence the former attack titans. He never accessed the paths prior to his contact with Zeke, but he did have memory flashes when he kissed Historia. And it's possible the Owl was able to see some of Eren's memories, when we saw the flashback with Grisha on the Paradis wall, solely because Eren had become aware of the his memories as well. Like a reciprocal path access effect. Grisha could see Eren and Zeke when they witnessed specific moments through the paths, so I don't think it's far fetched
@@robocu4 that doesn't actually explain how this all started, since in the first place eren's entire childhood is one of the many results of older eren's meddling in the memories of the former attack bearers. Its a very common plothole in stories that involve time, the thing with memories instead of time travel plays just the same and the paths outside the timestream is not good enough of an explanation since the ones that travel them are very much part of it.
@@krejziks3398 I could do that with 0 remorse lol.
I can just imagine Isayama chuckling in his corner as he sees the entire fandom thinking this anime is so cool in season 1. He must have been like "they can not possibly imagine what's next" Im guessing he must've felt so proud of himself
And then he fucked up the ending only to get death threats by manga readers. Ps : i didn't read the manga yet so dk
@@ekambitt2788 There's circumstantial evidence the author is going to change the manga's ending in the anime, there's hints like Mikasa's scarf being red in the anime instead of black in the manga, and Eren having the dream in the beginning of the anime unlike the manga, I'm going to bed the anime ending will be different than the manga, probably because of how horribly received it was, or perhaps it's part of a master plan seperate time loop plot, I'm guessing that's the case since Isayama is incredible at foreshadowing
The manga ending is horrible. Basically TO BE CONTINUED
@@jecal2855 How is it horrible, though? Personally, I rather it ended the way it did than Eren achieving world peace using talk-no-jutsu like what Naruto usually do. Because that's not how it works in real life. If talking can really stop wars then the conflict between Russia and Ukraine should've been over by now.
@@samjuan4899 eren destroyed the world to save his friends..... nothing else was accomplished. After they had access to airships they could of left the island there was no reason to stay
Eren destroyed the world cause he didnt wanna leave paradis. Trash tier ending
It only makes you realize even more why he was so depressed. Imagine finding out the thing you really hated the most was yourself all along.
I don’t have to imagine…
@@liljimmy8248 I relate
I will always love how Eren takes the typical generic "Never give up/Power of friendship" tropes and subverts them by literally ending the fucking world for his friends.
@R D lmao not even close to the greatest. Cut it out.
@@Repsolthefirst I go code Geass and fullmetal but AoT really has me questioning that. Must try demon Slayer . Finding it hard to find something to replace this. Anime has something for everyone tho. Death parade was cool. 👍
@R D final arc will have a word with you
@@Repsolthefirst ur opinion... 😋
@R D One single panel destroyed the dignity of Eren and you want me to believe that there is a greater message in this manga.
If a mangaka can't even maintain the dignity of a character then how am I suppose to believe the message(garbage) he is spewing out has any dignity either
It’s hilarious how as a teenager in 2013 I thought this show was just about fighting tall monsters…..I couldn’t have been more wrong LOL
Turns out the monsters we were fighting were ourselves
I only just got here in June 2021. Makes me feel like I didn’t get to be a part of the full experience.
@@shimaku2252
Dude! You’re sharing the one of the themes of Kentaro Muira’s Berserk, the Nietzschean morality. Especially through this quote: “If you stare at the abyss, the abyss stares back at you”.
Same , i use to predict what will happen next , and as usual , was always wrong . But after season3 part 1 , i just stopped predicting 😂😂
@@WIZARD-zg4yl that’s why I love this show nothing was predictable
"To you, 2,000 years from now" is Ymir sending her message to Eren. "From you, 2,000 years ago" is Eren receiving that message. I loved how the meaning became understood once the latter episode came along. The "you" can even be understood as Eren talking to himself, since he gained the ability to travel through the memories of time.
This comment puts it very well, I think. Unless I am mistaken, we can assume that S1E1 is the "message" to Eren (and potentially from Eren) because it is the first occurrence of Eren influencing his own life and path directly (redacting specifics for anime watchers). Without the events from the first episode (amongst other things Eren sets in place later on) the progression of Erens story is completely altered. of the countless connections and revelations in this series the name of these two episodes and what they mean for/to each other has always been my favorite.
how do i favorite a comment
Bro attack titan only can see memories of its Future Inheritors, come on.. there is no "Eren can see the future" , or i just wasting time for misunderstanble subtitle?
But in the first episode, eren hadnt yet received the power of the titan!
@@ThePaulineuKid Eren, but adult Eren was already there. He let his mom die
I was taught "not every antagonist is the villain" after I witnessed the twist- I realize "not every protagonist is a hero" holds up just as well
I take that you've never watched death note
now read dune
It's not just Eren manipulating everyone else, he is also literally manipulating himself to become the person he needs to be. His motivation throughout season 4 has come from him viewing his own future memories through Grisha
Its a fuking loop , and everything is manipulated yet decided and cant be changed .
@@WIZARD-zg4yl I agree
The first scenes of season 1 were eren showing himself his visions. See, it doesn’t matter when you have the attack titan, because it deals with the future memories going to the past, the attack titans path is absolute. Even when you don’t have the titan you can be shown the memories of the future. Everything until the very end is known to eren. He knew gabi would shoot his head. He knew zeke would catch it. He knew zeke would try to command ymir to euthanize the eldians, and he knew he would win. That’s why the attack titan is the most powerful titan. If the holder of the attack titan wills it, he could tell his past self how to win the current fight, ergo, if he wins he can show the past how. Likewise, if the attack titan loses, gets devoured, the next user could have essentially lied to the past user to ensure the past follows the future. The attack titan has the power of self fulfilling prophecy
@@brandonmiller9155 I don't actually think that's true. The attack titan allows you to send memories to previous users, but I don't think it works with yourself. Why would Eren have an epiphany when he kissed Historia's hand if he already knew everything.That being said I do agree that the power of the attack titan allows for self fulfilling prophecies
@@novakaizr you can view your own future with the Attack Titan. Basically future you sends their memories to a past wielder, and present you gets those memories from the past wielder.
The biggest thing for me about Reiner and Bertolt's reveal is how they had it done so nonchalantly. Reiner confesses so calmly that it almost catches you off guard (if you were a sub-watcher, you'd almost think you misread something). The fact that it immediately goes to a wide shot of the group walking away to the left while Eren and company are standing to the right and the next shot is Hange talking about theories is so hilariously well done. It definitely left a mark.
There is one massive detail that somewhat revealed the truth but no one really took notice at first, herrings live in oceans
@@logancox3308 can you explain it to me?
the hint of herrings living in oceans
@@vioxydew ok so basically herrings are a type of fish, they live in the ocean which is salt water, the walls are nowhere near the coasts so the only fish they know of should be freshwater fish, however both ymir and reiner talked about it like it was nothing, the scene points at the fact the can isn't of the language from the wall as reiner points out by saying that he doesn't recognise the writing and yet ymir could read it putting blame on ymir, however before he was handed the tin of fish he acknowledges herrings which they shouldn't know about if they were born in the walls which they weren't, there is also a term called a red herring that is when the story presents a detail that is meant to distract the audience into thinking that detail is important or to distract from important details. With what I describe it somewhat matches the meaning as despite the fact it points at ymir being suspicious for being able to read what is most likely Marley's written language, they are both suspicious for knowing about a fish that they shouldn't know exist
@@logancox3308 Thank you so much, i knew red herring was a saltwater fish and the walls had no bodies of saltwater near, but couldnt remember the scene and what it hinted. Again, thank you!
i just finished attack on titan subbed and i had to rewatch that like 5 different times because i couldn't believe he dropped it so casually LOL
one of my top 5 moments in AOT
Eren wasn't manipulating things, it was Yimr. Eren is the manifestation of her suppressed rage, a byproduct of the abuse, neglect and trauma she endured. This is why Eren told Ymir that he knows that she's been waiting for him, and the name of the episode is "From you, 2000 years ago". This would explain the Attack Titans' ability and the reason it can rebel against the commands of those of royal descent, something Yimr didn't have the courage to do when she was alive. The purpose of the Attack titan was to finally free her from servitude.
watch ep1s1, the star of episode, Eren wakes up, he already has attack titan powers, he could see in future, thats so sick
@@ANIMshit More proof that it's actually ymir's plan to free herself rather than eren.
@@marvertjaysonneyra457 could be
Omg that's crazyyyy, bruh readin this high was def a mindfuck but that makes so much sense
this was my take as well when i saw their conversation.
Eren said, “ isn’t this the story you started?”
No Eren. You started it. You started the story and made Grisha a pawn in your story.
gaslighting 101
I assume Eren referred to the resistance Grisha started back in Marley.
@@Shuizid The resistance that was backed by "The Owl", another pawn in Eren's plan. Kruger even says that he kept his cover until meeting Grisha because he thought it was the best for Eldia. That's just Eren making sure he was born
@@dhrubankadutta2245 Eren was only able to influence Grisha because Zeke brought him to his memory. There is no indication he had any influence outside of that and hence no chance to activly influence the owl either.
The show did not hint at him having any significant influence outside of that, thus for now I highly doubt he had anything to do with the owl.
After all, he kept hidden to feed secret intel to the resistance and only revealed himself after the resistance got crushed and he was at the end of his titan-reduced lifespan. Maybe Eren somehow influenced that as well, but so far the story works out perfectly without.
@@Shuizid Fair enough, but I have this theory that once Ymir gives him power over all Eldians, he uses the power to influence titan holders throughout time. Because the attack titan "always fighting for freedom" could just be eren influencing previous holders.
What hit me the most were the chapters titles… To You 2000 Years from Now and From You 2000 years ago. I always wondered about that first title when I first watched the anime but I did not figure it would be this impactful
Also, the first line written in the Manga version, is also one of the last lines in the manga. I won’t exactly say what it is to avoid spoiling
Those chapters were written 12 years apart. Isayama had the story planned from the very start which is unheard of in modern day.
@@Godooable Isayama is the master of foreshadowing I’m convinced
@@Godooable not to burst entirely on your bubble but Isayama did not plan the entire story from the start. He had even said he changed the ending 2-3 times, with the original one having been changed very early in the story and having been much tragic in nature (survey corps all dying). I don’t think he anticipated the story ever becoming this popular. Even Sasha was set to die very early in the story IIRC but she didn’t at that time because of her popularity. That’s why you may find the anime first episode opening scene (Eren’s dream) containing a sequence of strange images (amongst themselves, the survey corpses dying and what looks like Eren’s own corpse) that never appeared in the story.
That said, he still intricately plotted the story carefully throughout its entire run and he had something in mind with the noticeably older Mikasa in kid Eren’s dream and Grisha’s positioning with the basement key. It’s more likely he went back to previous scenes he had written and incorporated them into his current vision of the story, which is still extremely impressive for modern writers to do almost so seamlessly.
@@lorenzovonmatterhorn2905 Most of the story was very clearly planned out. Things like the ending or the order of random side characters' deaths probably changed, but even the birds seen in episode 1 and the name of Chapter 1 and the first episode clearly foreshadow what is going to eventually be revealed.
The key to a good plot twist is things have to make MORE SENSE after the plot twist. All of the pieces need to fall into place at once.
Detective conan cant do that even after 9000 episodes.
Now we're talking!
i still dont understand how this works. So eren went back in time and told grisha to kill the reiss family, yet its the same eren who was still a child when it happened? So who is the real eren
@@user-ci2dw1pc4d There’s a future Eren and a past Eren. Future Eren is running through simulations on what 3 generations of attack titans need to do in order for his dream to come true- being “free”. It can get really sloppy- so future Eren manipulated the titan before his father (somehow) to give him the form- then manipulated his father to get the founder, then manipulated himself to join the scouts and try his simulation.
But it’s time travel- it’s sloppy. The more you think of it.. the more you realize it’s just garbage writing.
@@Aqwtiny ur comment felt so positive and then i read the last line 💀
You could've also mentioned, that after the plot twist happened Eren immediately was shown as the greatest villain in Attack on Titan. After Grisha killed the family, he was drowning in madness and sorrow, he cried and was mentally broken, yet Eren showed no empathy for his own father whatsoever. Even Zeke, who we knew as the one person who hated Grisha the most, cried. And then Grisha said, that Zeke has to stop Eren, since whatever Eren wants (of course now we know what he wants) is so horrible and "evil" that one of the bigger antagonists (here I mean Zeke) has to stop the "Protagonist" from literally destroying the whole world. At first, Eren being an antagonist was more of a meme. Now it actually is reality, and he may be one of the best villains ever. The beauty of his character tho is, that he can either be the protagonist or the antagonist, depending on where you stand and who's side you are on. It's just amazing, what kind of a story Isayama created...
this isn't really important but fyi, being the protagonist doesn't necessarily mean that the character needs to be "good". it pretty much just means it's the main character. same with antagonist not needing to be the bad guy. being the antagonist would mean that it's simply someone on the opposing side of the protagonist.
@@ciggieee I know but in most cases the protagonist is shown to be the "good guy" whereas here in AoT it's pretty much up to the reader/watcher to decide that. Another example of this would be Death Note.
@@ciggieee Ye, I think it's kinda the reason why these words are useful and we aren't stuck with just "hero" and "villaiin". I'm not an expert but from my understanding hero/villain refers more to the morality of the characters and if what they are doing is "right". Protagonist/antagonist refers more to roles that the characters fulfill in the story. Protagonist is simply the character central to the plot and antagonist is an character that simply opposes the protagonist. Protagonist/antagonist don't say anything about who is "right" while hero/villain do
I agree when you say that eren can be seen as either ‘a saviour’ or ‘a villain’ depending on what side you take, which i feel directly ties with how war is seen: there is no right choice, no right ‘side’, the actions and behaviours are what each side believes is best in that moment. Almost like what levi said time and time again “i dont know if its right, i dont know if its the right answer”. It just is, and its up to you to decide whose side you want to take. This show gives me chills every single time i remember the intricacy of it.
People don't understand but antagonist is a person opposing the protagonist so eren can't be both at the same time.
what drives me mad about this is there is no continuity errors between that scene and the originals. to be specific, when Grisha offers to show Eren what he was keeping in the basement, he was looking at older Eren. if you go back to the original episode when Grisha said that to young Eren, Grisha is still looking that direction, towards older Eren. it was made like this because when Isayama wrote AOT, he wrote the story first before drawing any of it. So this was entirely the plan the whole time.
That’s honestly something all story creators should do: write the entire thing before drawing it out.
@@AshCreeper yes, or write the story in a way so that they can make it up as you go. Breaking bad was created that way
@@mcook822 is that not how you're supposed to write stories? Whenever I write something it just comes to me as I'm writing.
I just went back to check that out. In the anime this isn't shown at all. Grisha looks at young Eren, pulls out his key and we get a close up of just the key. You can't tell at all that he's looking at adult Eren.
HOWEVER, in the manga, you see Grisha's entire profile as he holds out the key. On a first read through, you might see this as just a stylistic choice, and Grisha is looking directly at young Eren. In actuality, we are *really* seeing young Eren's POV of his dad, and Grisha is looking at adult Eren. It's genius.
What's crazy is that, by the way the attack titan memory power seems to work, is that in that moment, Grisha is actually seeing that scene from adult Eren's POV. So Grisha is seeing his own face head on and going "what the absolute fuck is going on"
@@bolshebrik3660 of course, because the anime directors didnt think it was meaningful unbeknownst of the fact it is literally an 11 years old foreshadowing
"We were too distracted" legit, in s2 after ymir transformed for the first time, there's straight up a moment of Berthold about to bite his hand and transform, but most people didn't notice until rewatching
Exactly, I love rewatching and every time I do I see more subtle hints at how everything was right there but you were distracted by this other thing happening at the time and asking the wrong question in the long run.
I can't wait to rewatch the whole series!
@@EllawoodBlues I did, and therefore I assure you: everything has always been connected and made sense, from the get go, every piece was on its place. 🏆
Dont forget the line “The Attack Titan is always looking towards the future”. Late season 3 or first half season 4, that line is casually dropped and never followed up on, until this big twist
Another important reason why the twist works so well is that the groundwork for the reveal of the Attack Titan's unique ability was subtly laid throughout the show from the very first episode. In the first episode, we see Eren have dreams of his mother's death, something which he should not be able to see and which, in retrospect, was caused by older Eren sending his memories back to his younger self. Then at the end of season three, Krueger tells Grisha that he needs to save Armin and Mikasa, two names that he should not and could not possibly know unless he knew the future. Even the way the Attack Titan is described hints at its unique ability as it's described as always moving towards freedom and standing against the will of the Founding Titan's inheritors, an ideology that perfectly matches up with Eren's beliefs. On top of that, we learn in season two that the inheritors of the Founding Titans are bound to the will of a past king, so it would make sense that the direct opposite of the Founding Titan, the Attack Titan, would have its inheritors be bound not by its past inheritors but instead by its future inheritor, Eren.
I get the point of Krueger knwoing Eren, Mikasa and Armin. I'm not sure how child Eren can see the memories of future Eren. The bearer of the attack titan is able to see the memories of future attack titan "holders", but in that moment Eren doesn't have it, until Grisha is eaten by Eren. Am I missing something?
EDIT: Oh wait! The founder titan can change memories of people :O Is this that power?
@@paolozago6123 That could be one explanation, and the other is (SPOILER OF THE MANGA ENDING)
.
..
...
that the "dream" Eren sees at the beggining of the story are memories of the previous loop, the one where he runs away with Mikasa and doesn't do the rumbling (and everyone in Paradis dies, supposedly).
@@paolozago6123 The Eldians are all connected by the Paths, which is stated to be something that transcends time, and also a way to send memories. This is why shifters can see their previous users' memories (and presumably how the Attack Titan can work at all). So I believe the answer is that, since Eren would inherit the Attack Titan anyway, and since AoT's universe is deterministic (meaning that the future is already set in stone), Eren is already connected to Paths and can access memories even before inheriting it. It's also why, in the anime, Falco talks about Ymir's memories before inheriting the Jaw.
After "the twist", the way Grisha has a meltdown outside is one of the best scenes in anime so far imho. It hits like a thunder spear to the heart.
Grisha apologizing to Zeke it's a tear bringer, a Man so broken so caught in the Situation.
Grisha's VA elevated the Manga source material with his acting in this scene. And let's not forget the beautiful score. #PeakFiction
The VA for that moment is perfect like no joke the desperate the despair and all the emotion is clearly conveyed at that moment
@@konichiwa837 I've only heard the sub, and I can say with 100% certainty, the dub will f*ck it up.
@@lady_k5588 it did
The "future memory" was hinted at before - when Grisha got the Attack Titan, the owl actually said "protect Mikasa and Armin" or so. When Grisha asked who that is, he responded with "I don't know, those aren't my memories". At the time, I wondered if there was some cosmic loop, in which there were characters with the same names in the past, as I think it was already established Titans inherit some memories of their previous owners. Turns out, those were also future memories from Eren.
On top of that, in the very first episode Eren "dreams" of the future, which in return were future memories from his father. Meaning the ability affected him even before he got the titanpower.
So despite all the distraction, the ability was hinted at in the very first episode already.
Thats more than a hint. Its flat out telling you the power.
@@ACORNyMOFO Timeloops, pre-cognition, rebirth and others are all topics present in fiction which could cause the same result. So there were a couple of options to explain it.
Eren’s dream at the start of the series was as a result of Ymir’s own tampering. Seeing as how he lacked the Titan powers at the time, Ymir actively sent those memories to push things into motion. That dream sequence was “To You, 2000 Years From Now”.
Eren's dream in the manga is completely different.
@@klato4264 The anime dream is still canon. Isayama let the anime team include information that wasn't in the manga yet, like the entire S2 ED depicting a backstory that wouldn't be revealed in the manga for years.
I love the theory that when eren at the sea asks “if we kill all our enemies out there, will we finally be free” that he’s actually asking himself this and that eren is not just manipulating others he is manipulating his past self
I don't think he was trying to manipulate himself. He himself says that it took the Marley journey and back for him to really realize that there was no way out of this. I think he was just rhetorically asking, like "That just makes no sense. How? How can that make sense?" This show is so damn heavy. Damn.
eren only showed his past self certain memories to convince him that the rumbling was the only option and he said himself that he only saw up to starting the rumbling when he kissed historia's hand and only saw up to his death after gaining the founders power from zeke
During that scene he's even doing the same thing as Grisha when speaking to future Eren, staring at seemingly nothing and talking in fear to absolutely no one. He completely ignores Armin and Mikasa to the point where Eren, who always wanted to go outside and see the world, didn't even take note of the shells or anything in the water.
I really feel like the team that butchered Game of Thrones should be asked to watch Attack on Titan for a lesson in true storytelling, to see how a protagonist can be moulded from hero to villain without insulting the audience's intelligence.
Eren situation is really something can only happened 1 in 2000 years.
A non royal blood that got the founding titan.
Having a royal blood brother from different mother giving him the access to the Path.
Being the Last Attack titan, so he can send his memory to the past Attack titan. You could say the Destiny of all Attack titan has been set in stone by Eren.
Desire Freedom more than anyone else so that he will set Ymir free.
It took Ymir 2000 years waiting so that someone to break her out of this curse.
In a way, but it's specifically because Eren is the latest (perhaps last) Attack Titan that he wields so much power. Eren could have projected his will onto history all the way back to Ymir's children. And because Eren still inherits the memories of his forebearers, he can have a dialogue through time. This means he may well have set up all of those "unlikely" events.
You actually hit on a really critical point with the kind of time in AoT. And when I say "time", I mean how characters experience the future and the past. Can someone with future knowledge change the past? It doesn't look like it, based on the scenes we see through the Attack Titan. Meaning, even if every character knew what their fate was down the line, all their actions would ever do is lead them down that pathway shown to them: in other words, a deterministic timeline. This was always going to be the result of Ymir's choices, or Fritz's, really.
SPOILER: Ymir was not waiting for eren.
@@rammycanales3784 Only Ymir knows 💀
@@warfarein it only seems like this though, because SPOILERS:
In the original timeline, everyone died, and eren sent back These memories to change it. The Story weve seen isnt the original one, but the finished Story that eren created by changing the original one. So technically eren changed history by sending his memories back, and if he didnt it would have been completely different. Eren Was able to save himself and others by giving the past attack titans his memories and leading e the Story down the line how it is now.
Eren Jaeger legit pulled an Aizen and showed the world that everything was all part of his plan
So, does that mean Grisha is actually same as Hinamori?
Here We Go Again....
Here before this blows up
Except the Aizen thing was an ass pull. Lol
Ray Mak wannabe
This anime went from legendary to God level
To shit
Can't agree more 😌
One detail that adds so much to this plot point is that Shingeki no Kyojin, translated into "Attack on Titan" in English, is meant to tell you it's the story about the war between the titans and humanity. But "Shingeki no Kyojin" also translates to "Attack Titan." ie, The Attack Titan is the focal point, the whole point of the story, the driving force, what everyone should have seen coming but no one did. That's actually pretty brilliant.
In fact, it is translating to "Advancing Titan", i.e. the same motto Eren has been using "keep moving forward". Attack Titan or Attack on Titan were both mistranslations as Shingeki can be both Attack and Advance, but Advance is the best way to describe his power.
The biggest hint we all missed - the first scene of the first episode, is Eren having flashes of this future. The author is a genius. Before the opening credits, we see the titan appear, and it looks like they've just hopped back in time after the credits to before that happens, when in fact, Eren is waking up after glimpsing it. He wakes with a jolt, after seeing his mother eaten. This wasn't random at all. He's already tied to this fate he creates for himself.
Though this doesn’t really make *that* much sense since he doesn’t have the attack Titan at that point, he shouldn’t be receiving memories from anyone
@@poporipopes4876
Eldians share the coordinate, connecting to the founding titan. Having both Attack and founding just strenghten the connection eren already have throughout the timeline
@@poporipopes4876 Nonsense, Eren is an Eldian, and all Eldians are connected to the Coordinate, therefore Eren can influence them.
What first episode? Episode 1 of Season 4? Episode 1 fo Season 4 pt. 2? Or episode 1 of Season 1?
@@Harvey_Mod I meant the first episode of season 1, literally the first scene of the show starts with him having flashes of the future in his sleep.
My favorite part is how the entire talking point of season 4 was how much Eren changed, and that no one could figure out what was going on in his mind. Yet when we go through his memories, he shows how much his original character is still there. "I was the way I am ever since I was born"
Yeah reshowing the cabin scene was perfect. Eren was always fucked up but we just forgot that since Eren lived in a fucked up world where even normal people often must do fucked up things. We fooled ourselves into thinking Eren was normal and rational when he was never that way since the beginning.
Even always had it in him to be a psychopath
Erin has always been erin. When Erin is telling Mikasa about her akerman blood in a way he's also talking about himself. His own actions and his entire life was guided by himself from the future. He had no say in it since it's a timeloop, without which he probably doesn't exist due to how he also manipulated the owl. He was always a slave to his future self and his future self guided him into becoming what he is. First indirectly through how his father was guided to raise him (as opposed to how grisha raised zeke), and then directly once he took on the attack titan himself.
For someone so devoted to freedom it would piss him off to know he was always a slave with no free will, even if it was to himself. He takes that anger and pushes it onto mikasa saying that she only acts because she is bred to do so.
Sadly, erin will never truly be free. His future self can always manipulate his past self. Even at death hed still probably feel like he'll be a slave to the next attack titan
@@TheBacknblack92 he was a slave to ymirs founding titan abilities. theres a bunch of manga spoilers that explain this
@@Michaelonyoutub notice how the cabin scene from season 1 is the biggest indicator of Eren's personality. For all we knew, he simply defended Mikasa. The scene was too ambiguous to have any real meaning.
The plot twist was shoddy because the foreshadowing was shoddy. If we only had one ambivalent scene to showcase how a seemingly nice character turns into a genocidal maniac, then something is wrong
When Zeke met his father and they said they loved each other is the only time I ever cried in this show. And then Grisha telling Zeke to stop Eren was so good
aftermath of sasha's death was what got me in tears. The little girl learning their enemies are just like them, human and the girl sasha saved goes from looking at Gabi as her friend to getting so broken by the truth that she takes up the role of the enemy. You can literally see the hate pass on from one person to the other. That really got me.
I almost cried when they walked through Erens hometown to get to the cellar and when we though Arman died. I did cry when Eren got his head blown off.
Spoiler for season 4 part 3
I only cried when Hange died fighting the Colossal titans.
Like that was so emotional. She wasn't even my favourite character. It was just too much. She deserved so much more.
It’s unbeliavable to believe that isayama was thinking about this details before in 2013. Incredible how detailed and awesome it is.
I think it's in cannon somewhere that the only titan shifters Marley didn't get were the Founder and the Attack titan. I like to think Eren tapped into the first Attack's user and was like "Bro, you need to get out of here and don't reveal yourself because I have a plan in a couple thousand years"
Gotta be cannon
"In a couple thousand years"
Nah this would have created a paradox the atack titan was the only titan that didnt revealed his ability so would make sense that the shifters are aways people that try being careful to not get caught
@@Bithe_Get I'm a bit confused as to what your comment was saying, but I don't think all the shifters would want to hide, depending on who the user was. We've seen the Marley-sponsored shifters happy to use their powers, but those were people chosen by the government. Maybe the Attack titan had more of a physic block against shifting that kept it hidden until it was out of Marley territory, idk.
@@kaygirl10101 well there is a difference betwen the marleyan warriors and the atack titan old shifters after marley took over bcs of the king they problaly started being aways in the shadows
That's why I consider this part of the story to be peak fiction. I can still remember the pure chills I got the first time I read it in the manga and nothing's matched that since
yuppp
I still think the three episodes "perfect game", "hero" and "midnight sun... and also the basement reveal in general were a bit better, but I can totally see why so many people call this episode peak aot. It changes all the events happening in the whole series, not in the world building part like the basement reveal, but in the character part, bc we now see eren and grisha with new eyes.
@@_weyhxx Well for me it's peak -aot- fiction because it literally gave me chills, something that no piece of media has ever done before, while those 3 episodes except hero were just meh
@@_weyhxx well that's because they were presented a bit better
Adaptation wise they were awesome
But content and plot wise s4 win so far
@@furiousdestroyah9999 could you explain what was so great about this twist? I think I might just be stupid because I never really understood the twist? Doesn't it a) create a paradox and b) kinda unnecessary? Isayama introduced time travel and all the issues that come with it to make Eren look really smart, but I thought that Grishas intentions make sense before the twist (he wanted to take the founding titan). Also doesn't the ending kinda ruin the twist anyways? (wont go into detail in case some ppl haven't seen it) I could def be misunderstanding some things though lol
It's weird, because although you could argue only Eren had the freedom to decide the plot of the story, it's almost like the story was set from the beginning, and so he didn't really have the freedom. So even Eren was never entirely free.
He grew up to become the person he did, because the person he would become caused him to. So did he choose who he became?
It's like that scene from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when Harry realizes he could do a Patronus Charm, because he already did (or he always could?).
wtf
Broooo
Eren is like the incarnated will of Ymir. The first episode is titled “To you, 2000 years from now”. It’s more than likely she was the reason his loop seems so perfect, she’s the outlier with total control of Eldians.
He did choose guys. At least I think he did. He woke up crying in the first episode because he chose then & there to become who he was going to be. #LLZ
@@deletekeyslate comer comment but it was mentioned as a theory that the attack titan was probably Ymir's inner desires of defiance to her servitude to the monarchy. It manifested after she died because she could never do it herself, she needed a push, someone from the future born with her will, that would be setup by the former attack titans and someone who had the will to defy the order of the world.
I’m jealous of the people who will experience this moment for the first time
The question is... haven't they always?
Time travel wasn't good. It was extremally confusing. Needlessly. Specially that condition to alter past was to alter past so you can get to the point where you can do it. Paradox.
I couldnt understand it for the longest time and eventually i gave up so yeah never fully got it and still sad to this day that i dont get
my jaw dropped to Australia when Eren grabbed Grishas shoulder. A masterpiece of a plot twist, i think it might be even better than the Reiner and Bertholdt reveale 12/10 beautiful
Hi from Australia! How’d your jaw like it down here 😌
and people say aot is bad, clowns 🤡
its ok if you dont like aot, but saying its bad is just plain wrong
@@lucyyyloo5495 hi from Slovakia, we can see the skin connecting your jaw and head over here
@@123VRa deadass
Eren didn't just manipulated his father, he had probably messed with other past Attack Titan shifters
We can confirm that, because Attack Titan before Grisha mentioned Mikasa ans Armin in their conversation, even though he himself had no clue who they are
he definitley told krugar to torture grisha, and allow his wife to turn into the smiling titan.
Kruger only can see the next inheritor's memories, the words 'save Mikasa & Armin' is actually from Grisha mouth talking to little Eren back in AOT season 1 episode 10
@@666blaziken Kruger can't see Eren's memories 🤦🏻♂
@@xmmsball1100 I disagree, greisha tells freida that the attack titan has never bowed to anyone and always pushed forward in the pursuit of freedom. And that they (all the previous inheritors) have been guided by their memories till this very moment...meaning even in ancient times all the inheritors knew they had to push forward to steal the founder at that moment in the future.
Then we know other titans can see beyond just the last inheritor (cos frieda knew all the history from the very beginning and even the warhammer knew things far before the previous inheritors) so I'm guessing the attack titans can see as far into the future as it wants (provided that future inheritor allows them see it).
Lastly, about the nature of the attack titan (always pushing forward, values freedom more than anything)..does it remind you of anyone..
THE ATTACK TITAN IS EREN the reason why all its inheritors behaved that way was cos eren was influencing them.
Can you explain to me cause I’m still confused. If explained to me in kid terms it would be good lol. I still don’t get the manipulation. The plot was written by eren right? But what about when he was a child? Or obviously grisha planned to turn Eren into this? Or it was set in stone? Zeke was already molded as a teen but I just don’t get it. Because there’s other attack titans before so was eren just seeing his future because it was destined that he’d be the attack titan? My favorite anime ever, have never read the manga (which would probably help) but I’m still struggling with understanding how eren manipulated everyone.
0:55 "While everyone was playing checkers, Eren was playing but somehow inventing chess at the same time"
This made no sense but so much sense.
The Beast Titans specializes in artillery with it's long arms. The Jaws, can cut and bite through even titan hardening.
But the Female Titans ability isn't to hardening. Hardening is seemingly something any titan changer can do. It something you get. Likely some sort of secret involving royal spinal fluid. No, The Female, can summon titans, as seen in her opening scene using titans to aid her assult.
I think it's ability is versatility
Because, hardening, summoning titans,crystal shell
So the female titan can summon simps?
@@hippityhoppityyourbrainisn4384 Basically.
@@PraveenKumar-zz8ho its said in the show that her ability is her versatility
isnt that the beast titan's ability as well tho? summoning titans. We see him ordering around titans when we first see him up close, he orders the titans not to eat a scout so he can talk to him and take his odm gear and has to give the titans permission to eat him so couldnt the beast titan just yell out for help if he needed it just like the female titan can and titans will answer his summon.
''If you want to save Mikasa, Armin and everyone else, you must master this power.'' Attack titan's ability of seeing into future was kinda revealed by that point but Eren's manipulation scene was really a shocking twist.
it was reviled in ep1s1, when Eren woke up from "dream". Eren had that power from first minutes in first season first episode
He wasn’t a titan in the first episode tho?
@@gacarino2345 but he still could see in future
my we
he cant see future man he can see past and manipulate it
"He has such a tenacious will , that it scares me sometimes "
-Hannes
I always remember those words....they never leave my mind
@@indonasiashabangu1991 ever?
I like to come back to this video once in a while to hype myself up for part 3. One thing I find so cold is when Zeke asks Eren why is he acting the way his father wanted him to act. Little does he know that Grisha has been acting the way Eren wanted this whole time.
In the first episode you have the dinner scene where Mikasa tells the parents that Eren wants to be a scout. Grisha attempts to argue Eren against it. But then he sees Erens rageful eyes and Grisha's reaction is fear, and then resignment. Its crazy how this is the manipulation at work, right there. And we are mislead TWICE about what this scene is. Wonderful writing.
It’s Erens mom that argues against him becoming a scout. His father smirks at his desire to see everything outside the walls.
@@deletekeys rewatch the scene! dad argues against it too, until he sees erens rage eyes
@@Bear-re5xm no he doesn’t…not in the anime nor manga does Grisha argue against Eren joining…he asks “why do you want to go outside?” To which Eren responds and he leaves arguing to Carla that you can’t stop a curious mind. At no point does he argue with Eren about it…
@@Bear-re5xm The story has a lot of good moments but that's not one of them. You don't have to search for hidden things in every single corner.
Grisha literally didn't argue, have fear or resigned. He was probably waiting for this moment to choose what to do.
He raised Eren the exact opposite way he raised Zeke. He didn't push some agenda on Eren, didn't fill his head with ideas and whatever. He just let him choose his own path. When Eren raged against the titans and wanted to become a Scout, Grisha then decided to tell him everything.
We don't know what exactly he was thinking. Remember that it was before the first attack. He was most likely just going to tell Eren the truth about the world and see if Eren would still choose to join the Scouts.
I honestly don't like the manipulation stuff since Eren had the desire to join Scouts way before that. I think if Marleyans didn't attack Paradise and Grisha casually told Eren about the outside world, Eren would turn into someone like Erwin if he survived that long. He would brutally fight his way out of the island.
The fact that Eren manipulated is still such a mindf*** to me. No matter how many times I think about it, it’s just a paradox. It reminds me of the “which came first the chicken or the egg” question. Did Eren live this story first without manipulation, and then gain the capability to manipulate the past through the Attack and Founder powers first, or has he somehow always been manipulating everything in an endless loop somehow?
Something I don’t think was that explicitly said in the name is that paths exists throughout all time and space, so while in paths, Eren and Zeke could have really gone anywhere, to any eldian’s memories, though they wouldn’t be able to change them, since they wouldn’t have the Attack Titan.
Eren didn’t live the story without manipulation, it’s future Eren went back to the past, told Grisha to continue his objective, and then returned back to the present. I do understand paths can be confusing but it’s not really that confusing if you just think of it as a normal time travelling story where the son interacts with the father, of course there is a lot more to it, considering they are only going through Zeke’s memories and stuff but this is the easiest way to explain the Paths scnee
It's even weirder when you realize Eren manipulated Owl to tell Grisha to find a new wife & have a kid, hence Eren is responsible for his own birth.
Eren keeps telling people how he's been since birth, didn't he?
I think even if Eren hadn't lived that way, he still would've revolted against the world's persecution of Paradise island.
The Founding Titans abilities aren't bound by space or time. There are some things he manipulated directly through the attack Titan holder and memories he could send to any eldian once he had his powers.
It might seem confusing if you look at the timeline as a logical chain of events constantly moving forward. But that's just one way of looking at things. If you look at the timeline as just logical array of events, defined from the very beginning it makes sense. The same would happen if you look at the timeline from backwards, looking from future to the past. It is only paradox if you look at it in certain way but with more openminded approach it's more logical. Eren was always meant to cause a rumbling and lead to such outcome. There's no other possible chain of events if the whole timeline is defined by the very beginning, per deterministic rules.
No matter what anyone thinks of the ending, this story was masterfully created and has the biggest and most interesting plot twists I’ve seen in a long time
yeah but the end is dogshit
@@Copimacs It is not. It's the natural progression of events. You didn't like it, I get it, but it is what it is: a proper final for the story and for Eren.
100%. In terms of story its an easy 11/10. The plot twists, the forshadowing, the secret hints, the realisation as you realise what certain people TRULY meant. This is why aot will go down in history as one of the best anime ever made. Isayama is a genius
@@squag0711 not just anime but it will go down in history as one of the best show everr made🫂🫂
@@kaaayab 100%. I'm not even into anime but luckily I watched AoT. This is easily one of the best pieces of cinema ever made. I don't enjoy the anime formula, but this story and expecially the execution of it goes beyond the genre. I put it right next to Lord of the Rings and above Breaking Bad in terms of emotions and investement I had while watching it. On the first watching, I remember applauding it in awe after the ending of every episode.
I love how AOT actually forces you to choose a side as if you’re in the world.
AOT is Honestly peak consumer product not just anime.
I became a Yaegerist right away just hoping Eren would save us on the island.
Atleast the Eldian Military government seemed like it was the least likely to permit a genocide, Eren wants to do a genoside, marley wants to do genocide, zeke just wants to do a slow genocide.
@@ninoy4914 Not really. Zeke doesn't kill anyone. He just stops reproduction. It's very humane way to deal with issue. Though it wouldn't work as Marle would start attack on Paradis before they would die of old age. So first Paradis dies, then Eldians just don't reproduce.
As someone who just experienced the whole series - from first anime episode to final manga chapter - in 5 short days, I have to say that Eren and Zeke's entire stay in the Paths is the undeniable peak of the series. The plot twist that this video focuses on was exceptional.
On a personal note, I very much enjoyed how these particular hints came together in this one sequence.
- When Zeke asks Eren why he's betraying him at the last minute, Eren says "Because I was born into this world." This perfectly tied back to what his mother said to Sadies: "He doesn't need to become great. [...] He's *already* great. Because he was born into this world."
- When Eren told Zeke about seeing his father's memories of killing the royal family, he said his "father was mistaken." Zeke took this to meaning Eren was rejecting Grisha's plans and supposed brainwashing. In reality, the reason Eren felt his father was mistaken was because Grisha hesitated and did not wish to kill children, even for a greater cause. The moment he saw his father hesitate, all respect Eren ever had for Grisha went away.
Its normal to hesitate if he really Lost respect on his father, because he hesitated on killing children than Eren is really Pure evil
What I love about AOT is needing to rewatch every episode. The clues were there, and I missed them. Every freaking season.
A mastapiece
every fuckin time lol...
Season 1, I thought "Shingeki no kyojin" means "Attack by titans"
Season 2, I thought "Shingeki no kyojin" means "Attack on titans"
Season 3, I thought, oh neat, there is a titan called the Attack Titan.
Season 4, I finally realized "Shingeki no kyojin" really does mean "The Attack Titan", because it is the most important titan to the story.
Kind of, it can mean either "advancing giants" or "Advancing Giant". Depending on context of how it's used. So at the start of the show, the first translation makes most sense, because they are being attacked by titans/giants, then later, we learn of erens power, leading us to the true title. Titan seems like a pretty bad word to use in the end, since the show is related to norse mythology instead of greek. Titans were from the greek mythology whilst giants were from Norse, and the name of the first giant/being in Norse mythology is Ymir. And the coordinate looks like a tree, aka Yggdrasil. A lot of norse inspiration in the story.
What a cringe ass comment, jesus
S4: Eren was the Attack Titan throughout history
Manga spoilers:
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Season 4 part 3: i finally realized "shingeki no kyojin" means "attack on titan" because the entire final battle is an attack on a titan, with multiple other attacks on titans taking place on a titan
Exactly AOT is trash after season 1 😂
I'm a manga reader, and when I read this chapter my mind was destroyed. Not blown. Destroyed. I loved it and it is still my favorite chapter of all manga that I have read. And then the anime took it and made one of my favorite episodes ever. For me, this was how I hoped it would go. I wanted to see Eren achieve the rumbling. I wanted to see him become the villain. I just wasn't expecting this twist.
Can you explain to me why did eren need to change the past if the future had already happened and he was where he wanted to be? You’ve already reached it so why do you need to change things in the past?
Love the fact that Eren evolved from a Hero, to an Anti-Hero and finally an Anti-Villain
Oh my god I remember when I first watched AOT, my entire focus for season 1 was “What is Eren’s special Titan power?” Because Annie seemed to have a special ability, but he didn’t. I thought it would be explained later on, or that it’s power was simply it’s sheer strength. After the plot of Season 2, i was more focused on other things, so I completely forgot about it. Now, years later, I realise that my original thoughts led to the biggest plot twist ever. This story is a masterpiece.
damn i never actually thought about that
Some claims that writer hajiyama wrote this when he was only 19 years ols
Back in season one I remember thinking that it was that flame titan thing he did to defeat Annie, like the berserker move. Think it was anime only though
Lmao his power is a bit of a harder punch
Same. I always thought his titan was boring cause its abilities are not unique. And theres a scene where kruger says “the attack titan has always been fighting for freedom”. I thought “thats it?!” Thats his only unique ability. I was so wrong 😂
I also just realised that Eren quite literally created himself . Back when Kruger told Grisha to go inside the walls marry and have children, protect Armin and Mikasa. Those were all Eren's memories from the future tasking his father to create him through speaking with Kruger.
Its ymirs manipulation
no man krüger could have decided this by himself. If he sees these memories, he knows by himself to tell him that. Zeke is the communication bridge and eren could only actively back manipulate things that were chosen by zeke for him to see.
@@Jazz-dt7fw Ymir doesn't have agency
Just to clear up, Kruger can see Grisha's memories and Grisha can see Eren's memories. How can Eren and Kruger be connected anyway?
@@lyontri5055 Because Kruger sees Grisha's memory of telling someone else to save Armin and Mikasa and its importance to Grisha is why he says it. Also Kruger hypothetically could see Grisha's tampered memory of the chapel with Eren there.
I like to think that Zeke showing Eren the past is what he needs to alter it. If that interaction never happened, Eren couls never talk to Grisha, so he planned everything leading to that point.
I would also like to think that this is why Eren laughed when Sasha died. He probably knew it would happen but it is one of the things he just can't bring himself to believe but it did happen, and from that moment on Eren knew what was coming. To be honest if I was him I'd laugh, too.
Or maybe he just lost it. I am pretty sure he didn't want to lose any of his friends.
Your first point isn't just an opinion, it's a fact. Eren can only send his memories, so to communicate with Grisha he went in the memories and sent them back to Grisha so Grisha would see himself in third person and hear Eren's voice. It's only through merging the Attack Titan and Founder's powers that Eren did the timefuck that he did.
The way I see it is Eren didn't change anything, he merely played the role he needed to play, in order to make events unfold as they already had from his perspective. It's just like when Harry Potter cast the Patronus charm to save his past self from the demetors, after having seen the charm be cast by his future self.
At the end, the message of AoT is the futility of war. How everyone is a victim and a villain. It all depends on perspective. War only brings pain and suffering.
AoT to shows constantly that if you get to know your 'enemy', you'll understand them. That is ultimately why Eren ends up being the bad guy, he only cares about his friends, to the point of alienating them. Losses his goal, and ends up destroying everything for a freedom that doesn't exist. He is in away the creator of his own tragedy.
It was even more than that.
Eren's desire for freedom, the one thing he guarded so dearly that he admitted would kill anyone trying to take it, was left unchecked so badly it became purely destructive. He was already an extremely violent person when he was little, so this development made sense.
In a flashback in ch.131, Eren confessed to Ramzi that he couldn't stop the desire to kill everyone across the sea because of his spite against the truth of the world: That there were people across the sea, not something he used to dream off.
He wanted to see the world as barren, which was ultimately why he wanted to start the Rumbling, something he reinforced in a dialogue in ch.139.
The desire also overshadowed his love for his friends, going so far as to being ok with the idea that his friends may die to stop the Rumbling...
"I got all of you... my precious friends..."
"... wrapped up in this battle without even knowing if you'd survive it."
(AoT, ch.139, p.9)
It was never about revenge; it was never about Eldians; it wasn't about Paradis; it wasn't even about his friends...
Yet, he still had the audacity to want to say he cared about them, despite knowing how little he really valued them. Dude already trampled over their dreams for a peaceful coexistence between the nations, and he didn't mind if he was responsible for his death.
Eren was a good character, but the most irredeemable person in existence.
@@user-iy7jo7bq4f im glad someone said this, erin’s goal never was his friends, it was his ultimate selfish wish for complete freedom, to see the world as flat and barren like he saw in the books he read, his desire for freedom overshadowed that even of his love for his friends
Eren is born to kill. That's all.
@@lemnlyme Actually, if you look at it, his desire was apparent from the very beginning when he was asked what is it that he wanted by the scouts. He wanted to rid the world of all titans and this was the only way he could do it. Eren was willing to make the hard choice to do what needed to be done. He knew there was never going to be peace regardless of what happened, this is revealed in chapter 139. Whether he let the rumbling happen, whether he died without it happening, or if he threatened it to buy the island time. The world was always going to see the Eldians as devils. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, nothing anyone could have done would have changed a thing. The one thing that got changed for the better was foreshadowed early on when he told them that he was going to kill every titan in the world. These were the steps that needed to happen in order to allow that to happen. Mind you, he never needed Zeke to get access to the founding titans power, Historia would have been a much easier option but he didn't want to hurt her as she was his friend and someone he cared about. He wanted a world free of the titans, he got it. It's really that simple.
@@jonese848
Then why didn't he intend to go full 100???
Once thing I love about AoT is how it subverted the traditional shonen trope of the "unwavering dude that gets good done by the sheer power of his will". We are programmed to like these characters because they are traditionally the good guys, fighting and fighting until they win over the bad guys. Well, ¡Eren is just like that! But the genius bit is showing how that personality, in reality, is closer to that of a zealot, someone perfectly set to become a dictator, a tyrant. Pretty much like Star Wars did with Darth Vader, the good guy is so obsessed with hiw own view of "good" that he is willing to make any sacrifice "necessary" to achieve it, even if it means killing childern (like Anakin) or however many Eren kills.
Big difference between the two though. Vader was manipulated onto that path. Eren was shown the future at the award ceremony and was essentially locked into that future. The irony in all of it was that Eren was never actually free because he was always doomed to walk that path that led to the freedom of everyone else.
What is amazing about Eren is, that he knew, he couldn't do anything out of sheer willpower. He wasn't the best fighter nor did he have the big brains.
But what he knew was, that Armin and Mikasa do. So he does everything to make his friends the protagonists that save the day.
It is truly just selfish and I think Armin and Mikasa would have declined, but Eren gave them true freedom and made them the best people they can be.
If Eren would have been free, of course he would have wanted to see the world with Armin and to marry Mikasa, but he just couldn't. He wasn't free. And to some degree, Armin and Mikasa wouldn't have been truly free without the ending that Eren provided. So tragic.
Eh, I think its more grey than that. Its more than most people act of necessity, rather than some arbitrary malice.
Yeah Eren is basically anakin if he wasn't written so poorly in the prequels
"however many Eren kills".. I think the answer is all of them basically, the trope taken to the literal extreme.. beautiful
While everyone’s playing checkers, Eren is playing StarCraft IV in 1997.
Loved the ending! The reveals in it only makes rewatching this video of yours even more WTF. Like him killing his own mom to start his own path, that literally made my jaw drop.
This twist doesn’t materialize out of thin air.
It develops within the realm of the narrative (and Eren’s character); there are hints of something being off in the episode (and on rewatch, throughout the show). I totally believe that Eren had no idea that Zeke still had control in the paths. When Grisha sees Zeke the first time, Eren is legitimately surprised, but quickly picks up on what is happening. Eren remains in shadow, learning as they are walking through Grisha’s memories. And as he’s learning, he is also manipulating Grisha. Eren’s fundamental persona is not different; he is still someone willing to fight, to keep moving forward because it’s “kill or be killed”.
I was shocked when Grisha refused to kill the family. Then not a second later, I realized what was about to happen. Eren took the reins. It was always meant to play out this way.
Grisha's hesitation was the moment I figured it out for sure. Hearing what the Founding Titan's powers were gave me a chill and got my gears turning because it stuck with me and I couldn't get my mind off of it. Then, when Eren stepped in and told him what to do, I was like "OH, F*CK! This S.O.B. has been writing the script the whole time!"
I mean, you can see the look on eren's face, and it tells you all you need to know: "Eren doesn't play games, he invents game businesses, and controls everything"
Well said.
dude eren litteraly mapulating himself by not revealing himself information. He killed his own mother to make himself hate the titans to give himself motivation and traning to fight later On. WTF
@@hiveknight3853 how tf do you come to all those conclusions? All we know is he's supposed to know the next successor's memories, not all that
Great commentary, man! Earned a sub! Now, what I really, REALLY love about this plot twist and all that ties into it, is how Eren's character at the core never changed even one bit. I was very confused when Season 4 rolled in and Eren seemed completely different than before. But when the twist was revealed, I understood that he was still exactly the same as always. Way to subvert the "hero's journey", or the crooked version of it depicted in this story. Eren never had a "real" journey...He always was what he was meant to be. That blew me away for good.
During this entire anime I did not once predict the next episode let alone the next few minutes. LIKE DUDE.
It was clear that something was going on with memory because of Kruger mentioning Mikasa and Armin.
What WASN'T clear, was that Eren could interact with things throughout time
I've only watched up to episode 4 so I don't know if he does any interaction outside of the Paths, but I think that being there may be a requirement for doing the interact part.
Considering it's a place where time is immaterial and traversable, all of the memories of the Attack Titan would exist at the same time in the Paths, so can be modified by any Attack Titan provided they were in the paths.
EDIT: Apparently the anime conveyed it vaguely and Eren in fact didn't interact? The way the manga describes it is kinda strange, but the basic idea is that Eren sent Grisha memories of himself watching Grisha's memories (the moment with Zeke in the paths), so Grisha was watching Eren's perspective of his own memories.
Feel like actual interaction would be easier to convey and get the same point across, but oh well.
Eren doesn't interact with or travel to the past.
Because the Attack Titan's power is to see the memories of future inheritors, Grisha is the one who is traveling to the future through his memories to see Eren's perspective. When Eren is watching Grisha's memories, the memory of Eren watching that moment causes a deja vu in Grisha during Grisha's experience, because Grisha and Eren are both looking at the same things. Then, for Eren to manipulate Grisha, all he has to do is selectively think of the desired memories, and Grisha will remember Eren thinking of those things.
There's several "why am I remembering this now?" moments in the show and it ties really great with this story being molded into place by Eren. It shows that because all of the eldians are connected by paths, Eren can manipulate some other eldians memories and make them do certain things they otherwise wouldn't. Like how Jean remembers Marco's words in order to have his courage up
I really don't think those are connected. Hell, Eren shouldn't even have knowledge of some of those memories. This one is a bit of a stretch.
The scene near the end of season 3 makes so much more sense. When the Owl told Grisha that he must protect Armin and Mikasa. And when Grisha asked who he was talking about, he said "I don't know, it wasn't from my memories"
I'm not a huge video essay guy normally but this one was incredibly well done, great stuff!
7:25 Except we already knew this. The owl did tell Grisha to save Armin and Mikasa, Girsha then asks who they were but the owl proceeds to say "I don't know, they aren't from my memories"
I had assumed it was something to do with the Founding Titan. Or that it was manga-to-anime show fluff. I've only watched the show, but I thought it was something from all titans and that it was maybe a fluke that all of the 9 titans have their memories leaking into each-other.
I just thought it was about that all eldians are connected via time and space, nothing to do with Eren
I thought it was time travel
@@wifparanoid304 It's been mentioned multiple times in the show how the attack titan has the ability so see the memories of the last and next successors. Has nothing to do with time travel
@@antonbonin5003 I've only watched the show and it's been mentioned multiple times that the attack titan has the ability to see the memories of the next and the older successors of the attack titan.
This may be the best show of all time. I still can't tell if Eren is the true villain, a victim making the best choices with the circumstances he was giving, or an innocent dragged along by fate. Can't wait till the end!
Honestly I think it's all 3 lol. I think it starts as an innocent, tuns into trying to make the best choice, and ends as a villain. The fact is that without Eren, the genocide of the eldians was guaranteed. Eren was a hero up to the rumble, because his actions, including indirectly killing kids, was shared amongst all our other favorite characters.
The only true villains I see in the show were the higher ups in the Marley government who knew the children of Ymir had nothing to do with the Titan war and still enslaved them while using their abilities to benefit Marley military power. I just see Eren as a natural reaction to that kind of bigotry.
@@evanragland4930 Spot on
@@evanragland4930 Monsters always create other monsters
Nicely narrated , can't imagine the planning and work u put in to get this quality of output.
Thank you for putting into words how amazing this plot twist was! I was shocked as well, but had a hard time understanding the whole context. I didn't think this show could get any better!
To grisha’s voice actor, who ever you are, thank you for such an amazing performance
He didn’t do it for you
@@zogbogbean2464 Yes, he did it for _us_
@@zogbogbean2464 who says he did?
@@zogbogbean2464 of course he did you dumb fuck. he did it for all of us.
@@dom1437 he is a voice actor, he did it for us
when i saw this episode i was like "what the fucking hell" because of its insanely high quality. i was stunned by the realization that everything was eren's plan. the buildup was outstanding. the music was perfect. i also thought that the scenes before the cave were zeke's time and that he was in control. i was distracted by grisha too.
i also want to point out that including the scene where eren and zeke revisit the aftermath of eren killing those child kidnappers with mikasa was so crucial. it reminds us of how dead set eren is in his path to freedom and how strong his worldviews are; he's only a 9 year old there but he has a strict criteria for what constitutes for a human or an animal and who deserves to live. those kidnappers to him were animals for trying to take away mikasa's freedom. iirc he said that he would kill anyone before they took away his freedom. that is a shocking thing for a 9 year old to say; a 9 year old who has just committed murder. it's really important that young eren doesn't really care what grisha says to him to reprimand him for killing those people. it tells us that young eren has killed those men on his own accords and isn't doing it to spite anyone or prove anything. in his mind, it was the right and just thing to do. it tells us just how far he's willing to go for freedom, even as a young child. it helps to prepare us for the reveal that eren planned and controlled everything in attack on titan.
this encounter also has an effect on what eren tells zeke. as i said before, eren killed those men for his own beliefs. old eren tells zeke that he's a pathetic man who did everything to go against their father. up until now we've not seen zeke as pathetic. he's a 29 year old man, he's 6ft, handsome, ripped, he's extremely powerful and can deal a lot of damage with the beast titan's rock volley, he's of royal blood, he's the war chief of marley, and in ep1 he'd just come back from the dead, his scream can create an army of titans, and just then it seemed as if zeke held all the power in the paths. but we now realize that all of his accomplishments came from going against his father. when he betrayed his father to the police, he became closer with mr ksaver. he then was able to inherit the beast titan from him and then everything else fell into place. his euthanization plan seems pathetic now. to me, when i first heard it, it seemed noble. these people didn't even have to die like a thanos snap, they just had to live peacefully to the end of their days and then the eldian race would be over. it would benefit everyone, including the eldian kids who would never be born and never have to face the consequences that the old king brought on them. it seemed like a hero's sacrifice. but now, making your entire race of people go extinct, backing down from fighting for your people, just keeping the peace until you go extinct? now eren's rumbling seems a lot more epic and you begin to side with him.
we are then reminded in that kidnapper scene that eren is the one in control. though zeke may be leading them through the scenes, and eren taking a passive viewing role, eren is still very much in control and you get a feeling that he's only there because he wants to be, which becomes very important later.
bro wrote a whole essay lmaoo 😭
It feels like he has also manipulated his past self. If he could convince his father to kill the entire royal family then he could have convinced him to fork over the key. Eren seems to have also been genuinely surprised by many things that happened through out the series. Like Eren's slow trickle of memories from his father and other titans. I just realized this, but I remember Grisha mentioning how he could see former attack titans' memories shortly after he inherited it and yet Eren didn't start getting any of those memories until years after he inherited and even when they started they were slow. He received bits a time until it seemed suddenly he wasn't confused anymore. Could Eren actually control which memories and when he received them in the past? Nonetheless there is a lot Eren went through that caused him pain and suffering and other things all the while his future self was manipulating things years before. It seems that he had plans even for his past self to follow, even if he wasn't directly manipulating past him.
Yeah I kinda agree that while Zeke's plan at first seemed like the best option, it's also kinda pathetic. But no one can deny that logically its still the best. Do you want to destroy the whole world or just 1 island+ some eldians outside the walls? You will be commiting genocide either way but the sheer amount of people outside the walls easily outweigh the people inside the Walls.
But it's also true that whatever Eren is doing also makes sense bcuz of how beautifully isayama wrote his character. He doesn't want to back down, he won't back down. Logic means nothing to him and he is willing to commit genocide even if it means he has to kill billions of people in order to save a few million. So yeah you can understand the reasoning of both sides tbh.
And finally (yeah I'm still not done sorry 😅) tbh I feel like a thanos snap would have been better than the euthanization plan of Zeke. His plan allows the eldians to live a longer life but in the end everyone will just die without anyone to take care of them because everyone else is also old. All the eldians just waiting for inevitable slow death. I don't think it's possible for anyone to die with a smile on their face in this situation. So ultimately what felt like a mercy will feel like the biggest middle finger to the eldian race in the long term. And idk if Zeke actually thought about this or not, maybe it is intentional, who knows....
@@crossed4596 the replies are also the same , i better take a dictionary also with me. Lets hold a comment reading session !
@@WIZARD-zg4yl lmao yes
The most insane thing for me is how the "I'll wrap the scarf around you as many times you want" scenes. Back then i thought the scene was rather forced, unimportant, and kind of cringe. Turns out even a small detail like this is actually important and contributed the plot and character building all the way to the end. It's spectacular writing.
I really loved this ending of the manga and series, the authors vision and purpose was amazing, not to mention he drew the rumbling! The art was crazyyyy good. I was shocked to see online so many people disliked it but the comments on this video have restored my faith 🙌
One of the moments that also struck out to me was when Sasha was killed. It felt like Eren tired to prevent her death and tried to change what was about to happen but when she did die because of Gabi, it seemed to have solidify his beliefs even more and maybe that was why he laughed when Sasha was shot.
If we see from past scene Eren will always start laughing if something very sad happened and in this scene it's the same but at the same time it emphasize his helplessness and how he feel that he is very weak and cannot change or stop anything now and also realized that this plan prob gonna drag down alot of people
Honestly eren started laughing after hearing that sasha's last word was "meat". I actually interpereted in a more positive way than his team did. I believe eren was laughing out of fondness for sasha, that he was so emotionally distraught by her death that hearing she had no regrets and was just her usual self even in the end. To eren everyone dies, he will die from the titan curse, everyone else will die either to the titans or to old age, but his friend sasha was able to remain herself even through all the tragedies they have seen
I think when Sasha muttered meat has her final words eren knew the future he has seen will be 100% become true and he cannot change even if he tries to so he laughed at the situation he was in
He laughed just like when he couldn’t transform into titan and help Hannes from being eaten by Dina (feeling helpless). Right after laughing about Sashas death he makes a somewhat angry face tho
Also remember when him and reiner met up under that apartment building while Willy was giving his speech? When he was giving his declaration of war towards Paradis, Eren smiled almost like he knew everything was solidified. It's almost as if he was HOPING that Willy wouldn't do that, but he knew the future.
I'm an anime only and I'm genuinely heartbroken that I accidentally spoiled this plot twist for myself. It still blew my mind to see how it was executed, so I couldn't imagine how great it must have been to experience this in full effect like the basement scene and Reiner and Bertholt twists. Even the twist, then reverse twist, with Zeke was amazing to me. I hope this series inspires a new generation of Mangaka and writers to think outside the box and plan their story from beginning to end in as much detail as Isayama. Truly a Grandmasterpiece.
same as an anime only i thought we always knew of the attack titans ability to see the future???
at some point in the earlier seasons* not always
@@nikimuncher I saw a spoiler that the attack titan could see into the future but that wouldn’t have ruined it for me. I was watching an AOT vid like 4 weeks before the episode aired and the title said “Eren manipulates Grisha” and the thumbnail was a manga panel.
bro the way you explained the whole plot is f**king amazing 💯
GOT GOOSEBUMPS🖤🖤🖤
There were a few points in the series that really foreshadowed the true power of the Attack Titan, most notably The Owl saying to save Mikasa and Armin, and that they weren't his memories that made him say that. That could just be Eren's stubborn will reaching backwards in time, but to do so he would have to allow The Owl into the future as well. Either way it's a mind bender.
Zeke: I have formulated the perfect plan to make sure I get exactly what I want
Eren: Actually, that's my plan, I made sure everything went the way I wanted it to so you'd make that exact plan so MY OWN plan would work.
One thing about the Attack Titan's ability to see future memories is... we never thought this to be a unique or all that special power that it was.
The scenes where we learned about memories of the titans were mostly with the Attack titan, Kurger, Grisha, Eren. When Kruger said memories can transcend time we assumed it was something that went for all titans, but didnt think of them as something you had that much control over.
Like in the scene of Kruger saying "For Mikasa, Armin, and everyone else.... who's memories are these ?" even that actually adds to this massive reveal, of who was using the power to shape history all along
We knew future titans can see past titans memories. That’s why it was a mystery when Krueger said mikasa and Armins names.
Your profile picture gave me a heart attack for a second
@@Briccomode Isnt this the story you started ?
@@robertromanul2212 ayo you do be kinda sus rn
Also the beast titan before zeke states that he wanted titan powers to go through their memories and learn about titan history so I always just assumed all titans can have limited access to other's memories
Absolute masterpiece. On of my favorite shows , anime or otherwise. Amazing storytelling. I can't wait for the final chapter. Great analysis.
Your story telling skills are amazing and I loved the whole video ❤
Eren’s entire life and is a paradox, everything that has happened in history has led to this moment, while he also influences those moments to line up the way they needed to reach where he is now. It’s just incredible story writing again about how eren is still not free from others choices, not even his own
exactly absolutely incredible unique story writing. except the party where he kills his mom😐
@@TElias5 he only did that cause he had to watch certain… events😶
Yea the contrast is there
The person that wanted freedom the most is the person that is slave to freedom and lost his freedom since he was born
@@Nmoren what do you mean?
Everybody is a slave on something
So does this mean that Eren allowed Grishas sister to be eaten? Since the owl was the attack titan at the time, eren could’ve had him stop her from dying, but eren needed her to die.
Yes, if he hadn't, he probably wouldn't even had been born
@@regotub exactly...at this point eren is basically just making sure that everything happens exactly the way its supposed to so he eventually unlocks the founders power
Yup
But heads up, don't think about that TOO hard, you're gonna end up spoiling yourself (You'll understand this comment when part 3 ends)
@@scoutalejan8259 thanks for this...I need to stop theorising 🤣
@Erik Kemeey bruh I didn't read the manga 😑
The plot twist is just so beautiful because it transcends questions of morally right or wrong and focuses simply on the absolute resolve of Eren. You just can't help but be amazed.
I’m so glad they decided to continue this anime I remember watching it in elementary school and thinking how amazing it was and wish it continued. Better late then never, but I really believe this will be the anime of the decade. I was so excited for every episode. My sister and I being stunned by the beast titan baseball scene I don’t want to spoil it so I’ll use that title. There were so many amazing scenes, they did great.
It's just crazy how Grisha is seeing himself getting manipulated by Eren in a third person perspective by the powers of Attack Titan of seeing the memories of future inheritor of the Attack Titan (Eren). Everytime Eren is standing behind Grisha, he's just giving Grisha a good view of his current memories. Watching past or future memories is like watching videos, they're basically recorded already but what Grisha is seeing are the latest memories of Eren in the paths seeing him, it's like Eren is watching a live stream and Grisha also is watching the same live stream but with Eren's eyes.
The plot twists are genuinely some of the best I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I’d even be that enthralled with this story if it wasn’t for those juicy drops. I’m so excited to rewatch the series after it ends.
What a sick video. Well done.
And what’s worse, he manipulates his own friends to help him and then stay away from him based on the circumstances… and tries to push mikasa away by breaking her heart, knowing all too well that she loved him. All to protect her, and all of his friends…. He does all of the worst things he possibly can, and does it all to protect his friends, and his home. I can’t think of another villain I’ve ever seen who did more horrible things for a better reason, and it’s truly relatable, heartbreaking and breathtaking all at the same time. As far as how captivating the story is, it’s a masterpiece.
I feel like the overarching point tho is that prejudice leads to hatred and genocide, which leads to more prejudice and revenge, creating a never ending cycle of hate, prejudice and genocide. Until we as humans can finally let go of prejudice, hatred, genocide and revenge will continue to stain human history, and all in the name of protecting those we hold most dear
lelouch did it best. In the end killed himself for everyone else
It goes even further back, to the flashback at the end of season 3 when, during Grisha's last conversation with the Owl, the Owl slipped up and mentioned Armin and Mikasa, two people he had never met and who hadn't even been born yet. At the time, it seemed strange, but we had no way of knowing how big a deal that would end up being.
My first thought when i heard the Owl say that was "holy crap time travel is gonna be a thing in AoT" i was confident that it definitely would but i couldn't come up with any theories that would make it make sense. nothing could have prepared me for the actual reveal and i love this show for that!
@@gazXO Like a dummy I was just like "huh, thats weird." and moved on lol
I thought future Eren was using the Founding Titan's powers to manipulate the Subjects of Ymir in the past.
Like I thought Eren sends back his own memories to people in the past and thus changes the past.
I didn't even think of the possibility that it was the Attack Titan all along.
I had noticed that and found it weird but I was just confused and never thought something like time travel existed
I think this story is a great example of why good writing happens when you figure out the end first in your plot, instead of figuring out the story as you go, like we see in many anime
Bro, I have bad news for you, because the ending is just bad. The last chapters of the manga are just really bad. It gives the impression that Isayma changed things in the last minute, just to please some people, and the ending just destroy all the building he had made so far.
@@lobo_melancolico I wouldn't say the ending is as awful as a lot of people say. While everyone is free to have their own opinions, I think people really overreacted to the ending. I didn't hate the ending on first read but I didn't really like it either, it wasn't satisfying and it was kinda confusing and messy. But now that the manga has been over for almost a year and after thinking about the ending for quite a bit of time, I really think this ending has really cool things in it.
@@samuelmercier2737 I'm the opposite. The more I have thinked about the ending, over the past year, the more problems I found. It just gets worse for me.
@@lobo_melancolico That's possible too. As I said I find some things I like in the ending but some still don't really work. I think some stuff feels out of place like it doesn't belong here or was poorly executed.
I feel that the vision of the ending was good but the execution fell flat on its face and hence people hate it.
One thing I find interesting (and no manga spoilers pls), is what has EREN seen of the future? I wonder if he's so dead set on causing the rumbling because he saw visions of his eventual successor being caught or destroyed by the world invaders attacking Paradis, saw visions of his friends falling and dying, and decided that he would do ANYTHING to protect his island, causing a series of chain reactions that led all the way back to Grisha.
In my opinion one of the best stories in manga in the last years. Some people don't understand the end, because they wanted their end, but a story is the expression of art of its creator, some are dark, some are bright, but at the end is the child of a writer and ours is the right to interprete it. Great video dude.
Man, This is the first time I'm coming across your channel and the quality of this video was insane. Most famous youtubers throw aside their creativity and blabber on without putting in as much effort because they know they'll get views. This video is perfect. It really had me hooked. It's proof that creating youtube videos is also an art form.
u just made my day. thank u!!!
Your so right! Thank you for this beautiful content. I hope you keep working hard & keep getting better. I’m happy I came across this hidden gem. I’m here for the long run king, don’t give up ☄️ (I’ve subscribed btw)
i've gotta say i agree, i was was so impressed throughout the whole video
When Reiner just said " hey btw we're the armored titan and the collosal titan we have to get out of here". I was like, huh? what? just as Eren and Armin were trying to comprehend.
felt the same way as Zeke too.
Man, good writing is good
Rewatched this 2 years later, wish I could like it again. Amazing video
Amazing vid bro👌🏻
Wasn't this power hinted at at the end of season3? When Kruger mentioned Mikasa and Armin, the only possible people the memory could have been from was Eren and Grisha.
It's hinted at there and when Eren kisses Crysta's hand when she becomes queen or whatever.
This show is a masterpiece. It goes down as one of the greatest shows ever made.