The chapter opens with Hange and Levi telling Eren and Mikasa that their detention time is over. Hange comments on Eren's mentioning of the Attack Titan at the end of the last chapter. She thinks Eren is acting weird for just talking to himself like that, but Levi comments that he's just having a "phase" typical for 15 year olds like him. This "phase" mentioning is something that is brought up later, but for humorous reasons. I also find it interesting that Eren looked like an older man for a second in that one panel when he starts gets agitated upon hearing Hange and Zoe bicker at each other. I guess I had that impression because of the wrinkles forming on the sides of his mouth and the forehead, but looking back, these wrinkles are coming from Eren becoming frustrated and sad.
And it look Mikasa had the rougher time in detention compared to Eren. She lost lots of weight despite having enough food, and... uh-oh,
Mikasa got another headache. Seriously, what's the deal with those headaches?
Hange & Levi tell Eren & Mikasa that they had to be punished in order to demonstrate the Survey Corps disciplines its members when necessary (basically conveys transparency), but their punishment time is over because they will be needed more then ever for the final battle, especially when Eren played a major role in defeating the Armored and Colossal Titans. Levi also reveals that Historia has arrived in Trost District. We then see Historia reading several papers. Oh boy, I already know what she's reading...
...We've reached the moment we've all been waiting for:
what's inside Ymir's Letter. This is something that I'm sure all of us have been wanting to know since we first learned about it in the summer. The contents could probably as major as those books in the basement. After all, Ymir knows about the outside world just like Grisha does, not to mention it could finally tell us why Ymir is so important like the series has been hyping her to be. The last few chapters seemingly gave us clues when we learned about Ymir Fritz, and that made us wonder,
"Is the Ymir we know that same Ymir from the history texts?" We're about to find out!
As expected, this letter details Ymir's backstory. We learn that she wrote this letter while Reiner was watching
(I chuckled a bit when she stated he would never get a girlfriend because of it; oh Ymir, that's so you!). Reiner lets her write it to repay for her saving them when all those Titans came after him and Bertolt back in Chapter 50. She also states that she will be dead not long after writing this letter. Welp, looks like the Ymir's death flags have been raised significantly.
Despite saying she has little time remaining, Ymir mentions that she lives with no regrets, and she finally goes into her life story. It turns out she wasn't the Ymir Fritz from history. Rather, she was just an orphaned beggar in the streets of Marley who had no recollection of what her name was or who her parents her. One day, a man approached her and gave her a name: Ymir. Thanks to this name, she was brought into a cult where Eldians worshipped her and gave her meals plus a nice bed. She was essentially treated like a goddess. It seems like having the name "Ymir" was a big deal amongst the Eldians. When a girl like her showed up having that name, they likely viewed her as a reincarnation of Ymir Fritz. Ymir also states she kept playing the part of Ymir just to make everyone happy. Indeed, living under an oppressive regime made the Eldians in Marley feel despaired, so it seems like Ymir came in and acted like Ymir Fritz by preaching,
"Don't worry, everything will be OK. Listen to my word, and you will be saved." For an Eldian in the cult hearing that, he/she must've been filled with hope.
But things took a disastrous turn when the Marleyan authorities found out about the cult's existence. Fearful for their lives upon being discovered, some of the cult members started to call Ymir the devil, especially this guy:
This panel was very interesting to me. I believe that it is here that it reveals the true nature of this man. He probably found her and gave her that name just to exploit her to benefit himself. One page back, it is mentioned that the man started to dress in more lavish clothes overtime. Back when he saw him finding Ymir, he wore pretty simple clothes fitting for a lower class individual. It's possible that he was a thug who used her by turning her into someone that any Eldian would revere and provide for Ymir. Her guardian, that man, must've become pretty wealthy in the process, hence why he started to wear fancier clothing and hairstyles. Going back to the panel shown above, what really implies he was only using her was Ymir's reaction. Looking at her face, you can see both shock and grief. The man who gave Ymir a new life and was probably her most dependable person has betrayed her. For a close relationship like that, no doubt she'd feel devastated that he would abandon her like that.
Ymir then states that despite being called the devil, she continued to play the role of Ymir. Judging by their faces, all her worshippers are shocked by this. She explains,
"I thought if that's what would save them, it would be fine." However, we see a close up of her eyes that appear as though she is horrified it didn't do anything and ultimately sealed their fate. What I can presume she was telling the worshippers is that they will still be saved and in the long run, the oppressive Marleyans will receive their just deserts. For the Marleyans, they must've viewed this claim as a very taboo thing to say about them. Perhaps this phrase could've even been seen as a call to rebellion. Know what happens when Eldians try to instigate some sort of revolution against Marley? That's right, punishment!
And now we get to the most disturbing scene in the entire chapter: we see a Marleyan soldier dragging Ymir and the other members of her cult via a long chain as they walk through an angry crowd of Marleyans who are throwing rocks at them. Ymir and the other prisoners are drenched in blood thanks to all those hurled rocks, with a major focus on the injuries Ymir received. Ymir mentions,
"There are some people in this world who have rocks thrown at them for nothing more than existing. As their symbol, I was stoned from head to toe." We know from a few chapters back that the Marleyans view Ymir Fritz as an evil and devilish figure. Ymir's quote seems to reiterate that, as Ymir Fritz fits the bill as someone who is hated "for nothing more than existing." When someone pops up claiming to be a reincarnation of Ymir, you bet the Marleyans aren't going to take this person lightly. In fact, they will probably want that person dead, and so the death sentence is delivered onto Ymir and her followers where they are all sent to Paradis and turned into mindless Titans.
I read a Tumblr post that highlighted parallels between Ymir and Christ's passion story in the Christian religion, and looking back at it now, I can understand where this is coming from:
- Both were viewed as a reincarnation/child of god and the chosen one that would save their people from an oppressive regime.
- Both were worshipped by many, but then they were betrayed by someone close to them (Ymir by the man who named her, and Jesus by his disciple Judas)
- Both were publicly punished and ultimately executed
- Both came back to life sometime later (Ymir became a Titan Shifter after 60+ years, while Jesus resurrected himself while inside the tomb)
An interesting connection to this argument is that Ymir Fritz's backstory has some parallels to the Biblical Abraham story, and considering that Jesus was Jewish much like the Abraham who started the Jewish race & Ymir was Eldian much like the Ymir Fritz who started the Eldian race, it does seem like there could be Biblical parallels going on.
And upon watching Ymir and her followers turn into mindless Titans, something we've seen before appears again (not counting Ymir's Titan):
That Titan on the left looks familiar, doesn't it? That's right,
it's the same Talking Titan that appeared in the Ilse's Notebook OVA/special chapter. Thus, we now know this talking Titan was once one of the followers of Ymir's cult (which explains why it bowed down to Ilse, mistook her for Ymir, and worshipped her). What's interesting to note about this Titan was that back in the Ilse's Notebook OVA, we saw this Titan starting to rip his face apart when Ilse screamed (paraphrased),
"You're nothing but chunks of meat that are serious monsters." In this chapter, Ymir mentions that Marleyans see Eldians nothing more than "simple chunks of flesh that scream and flail." It seems the reason why the Talking Titan was ripping its face while screaming in agony was because it was remembering how the Marleyans viewed it and its own people as Eldians: as "chunks of meat."
One thing I want to briefly talk about is who exactly could this Talking Titan be from the cult. The SnK Wiki has jumped to the conclusion that it was the guy on the far right in this picture below:
The eyes and the hairstyle are very similar to each other. No wonder the Wiki jumped to that conclusion.
I originally thought the man who named Ymir was the Talking Titan though. Back when he was simply dressed, he too had a similar hairstyle to the Talking Titan, and even the paranoid-looking eyes on both are similar. Considering he was more important in this narrative than the dude in the picture and we see the Talking Titan appear again, it seemed to me that man who named Ymir was the same Titan. That said, I'm curious to hear which of the two individuals do any of you think became that Talking Titan.
We also see Ymir eating Marcel, the Titan Shifter who was with Reiner and Bertolt when they were traveling to the Walls, and becoming a human again. In one picture, it appears as if Ymir's Titan literally explodes upon eating the Titan Shifter. This was interesting to me because when we saw Armin eating Bertolt and becoming a Titan Shifter, his Titan didn't explode. Rather, it fell onto the ground, and then it dissipated in a way to reveal Armin. These contrasting ways a Titan reverts back to a human state upon eating a Titan Shifter makes me interested in seeing how this will look when animated. The anime will probably better visualize this process. We also see that Ymir was naked upon reverting to her human state, but when Armin reverted to a human, he still retained his clothes from prior to the transformation. I guess this suggests that overtime, the clothes that someone wears while inside a Titan will decay overtime similar to what normally happens when they aren't properly maintained.
Ymir then states that upon opening her eyes again, freedom appeared before her, and now she could finally walk freely and live life how she wanted to. Reading that reminded me of one of my favorite quotes in the series, and this was something Ymir told Historia before transforming into a Titan to fight those giants at Castle Utgard:
"Live your life with your head held high." This connects to what happened to her after eating Marcel; once she held her head high and noticed how vast and free the world really was, she was able to live the way she wanted to. It really conveys the sense of freedom!
On that note, we even see how Ymir's backstory connects perfectly with Historia's. They both "played a role" to make everyone happy: Ymir played as Ymir Fritz to bring hope to the Eldians, while Historia did kind acts so that others viewed her favorably (back when she was called Krista). However, playing a goddess role had consequences. In Ymir's case, it led to her and the other members of the cult becoming Titans upon the Marleyans learning of the cult's existence, while Krista even wanted to go as far as sacrificing herself to achieve those good deeds. Both also realized that it is important to live life the way they want by no longer an outside force dictate how they act (in Ymir's case, the outside force was the man who gave her a name, while in Historia's case, it was her background as an illegitimate child within the royal family).
Upon finishing the letter, Krista asks if there was anything else. Hange mentions that was it, and it's possible the Warriors didn't want Ymir to leak important information about them that could be useful to the Survey Corps. Jean asks Historia if Ymir left any sort of cryptic message that only HIstoria would understand, but she replies,
"Nope." That reminded me of the "mysterious language" that appeared on the cans and beer bottles present in Castle Utgard during the Clash of the Titans arc. Only Ymir was able to read this language. Judging by Jean's questioning, it seems like the SC might be aware about that mystery language that was discovered in Castle Utgard.
As Historia starts to cry to herself while thinking about Ymir, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Levi finally walk into her room. We have a cute scene where the EMA trio bows before Historia and calls her
"your majesty," but Historia is embarrassed by that and tells them it's not official yet. She then says a lot has happened to the three while she only resided within the walls and watched the sky. The EMA trio mentions she has an important role too: surviving. Historia comments that she's happy the three are the same as before, but Eren replies it's probably because they haven't really "felt it yet." Indeed, once the walled people battle the Marleyans, no doubt our characters are going to feel a real change!
The next part of the chapter kicks in as the nine remaining Survey Corps members are in a meeting with Historia, Zackley, and other high-ranking officers in the military such as Pixis and Nile. In the meeting, we even see an empty chair, which is presumably where Erwin would sit considering it is located at the front row where Hange and Zoe, two other high-ranking members of the SC, are at. We learn that everyone attending the meeting are the only ones to know about the existence of the books inside Grisha's basement. Zackley explains the military needs to come up with a strategy plan for the coming battle against the Marleyans. He turns to Hange and asks her what she makes out of this current situation.
This was one of my favorite pages from the chapter, and it talks about some pretty big information:
That flashback happened somewhere around Chapter 46-47 (I don't remember which of the two it was, but I know this scene will be in the first half of season 2). After Eren and Ymir were captured by Reiner and Bertolt following Eren's battle with Reiner, the quartet find themselves atop one of the trees in the forest. There, Eren wants answers from Ymir, Reiner, and Bertolt. He turns to Ymir and asks who the real enemy is. Ymir is about to say who it is, but someone interrupts her (I don't remember who it was though). In the English translation, we see that she is cut off right after saying "be." However, in the original Japanese text, Ymir is cut off right when she says,
"se-." Fans speculated that Ymir was about to say "the world" since
"sekai" is the Japanese translation for that word. Now, it turns out that theory is indeed true: Hange states it herself. I really liked Isayama's stylistic choice here. Putting Hange right next to Ymir revealing the enemy perfectly brings the two phrases together. Ymir was about to say "the world," and Hange appearing right next to this speech bubble validifies it.
I also really enjoyed how Isayama hypes up Hange's mentioning of the word:
"The true identity of the enemies we face... are men, civilization, and if I must say, the world." See how the underlined words add on to each other? It was another great stylistic choice. It really drives the point home! It's also worth mentioning that Hange revealing "the world is our enemy" matches up with what Gross told Grisha two chapters back: that the whole world is against the Eldians. Hange even reiterates this, as she explains that the world wants to eradicate all the Eldians, including those inside the walls, because they are the only race that can turn into Titans, and they can use this power to rule the world.
Surprisingly, we have another flashback to Grisha and Kruger's conversation. Kruger reveals that if Marley gains ahold of the Founding Titan, they will no longer have any use of the Eldians inside the Internment Zone, thus equaling doom for all remaining Eldians. He also states that Gross's words were true: that Eldians used "Pure Titans" (a.k.a. the mindless Titans) as weapons of mass destruction during wars
(I wonder how were the ancient Eldians able to turn their own people into Titans without syringes? Maybe magic?). Now, Pure Titans are used to prevent Eldians from exploring any territory past the walls. These Pure Titans are not only a problem for the Eldians, but the Marleyans as well. Without the Coordinate/Founding Titan's power to control them, they are unmanageable weapons. What's worse is that there are so many of these Titans that not even Marley can control them, so the Marleyans can't even get close to the island. The only reason they've been keeping Eldians inside the Internment Zone is because those Eldians can help Marley's military grow in the Pure Titans department. However, there are Marleyans who believe it would much be easier if all the Eldians would be exterminated. While this debate was put aside for now, Kruger believes there will come a day where Marley will take over Paradis for its resources and take the Founding Titan, then use its power to either use the Pure Titans as weapons or simply wipe them out.
^In other words, Kruger is telling Grisha,
"We need to take the Founding Titan before the Marleyans do so, or else the Eldian race will become extinct!"
One interesting thing I noticed during this part was when we see picture from what could be history textbook that shows Eldians using the Pure Titans as weapons. What I really want to focus on was the man on the horse:
Judging by the fur-coat cape, his size being bigger than the soldiers, the blowing horn, and the overall regal appearance, this person is probably a Coordinate-user/a Fritz king. The horn is the most intriguing part about it. When we see the Eldian depictions of Ymir Fritz, we see her Titan holding a blowing horn as well. It's clear that this blowing horn is used to represent the Coordinate/the Founding Titan's power. A blowing horn is usually used to call forth something or even make a call to action, and it's similar to the Founding Titan's power where it is used to call forth Titans or make them do something. Perhaps the blowing horn is just a figurative representation of this power, but a fun thought crossed my mind that maybe there really is a special blowing horn in the Attack on Titan world that allows instant use of the Coordinate, and maybe it is hidden away somewhere, If Eren had access to it, no doubt that would make things much easier! Too bad it probably won't happen...
Going back to the chapter, Grisha protests that the Fritz King would never allow his own people to be killed by Marleyans. Sadly, it turns out that's not the case at all:
These were the 145th Fritz King's final words to the remaining Fritz royal family on the Marleyan continent before heading into the walls. Yep, it looks like he is completely content with the idea of his own people being annihilated. What's also interesting about his words is the mentioning of a "vow" with the Founding Titan. As we will learn in a few pages from now, this "vow" may well explain why the Coordindate can only be fully utilized by those with royal blood, a fitting condition for a pact that also acts as a deterrent for those who want to steal its power.
Grisha reminds Kruger that the King mentioned that he would flatten the earth with the Wall Titans should the walls ever be invaded. Kruger reveals that the Fritz King only said that as a way of creating temporary peace. He reiterates the King is okay with his own people becoming extinct, and then he gives us some history we already know: the King wiped out the walled Eldians' memories and made them believe humanity has perished beyond the walls and they are living in utopia within the enclosures.
Kruger then leaves this awesome quote:
"A king who can't even protect his people is no king."
Damn. That quote is
so spot on! The number one duty of a King is to ensure his people are safe from any sort of danger. A King who advocates his own people's eradication is a truly bad one and deserves to have his power stripped from him.
Kruger also doubts the 145th Fritz King is even using the name "Fritz." When you think about it, it makes sense the King would do so. The Marleyans probably knew his name already. Thus, he had to change his name to both hide his identity and protect himself even further. Indeed, when we look back at the Founding Titan's history within the walls, we know that it was in the hands of the Reiss family. The Reiss were considered to be royalty, and they were the only ones who could make use of the Founding Titan's power. They were even influenced by the Fritz King's ideology. Kruger spoke about the King changing his name as a guess, but I think the 145th Fritz King really did change his name from Fritz to "Reiss" considering what we know.
Back to the present, Hange explains to the military officials that Grisha succeeded in his mission in taking the Founding Titan from the royalty and gave it to his son Eren. She then discusses what this "vow" could be, and this is another interesting page that is worth analyzing:
So Hange basically confirms what the vow is: the Coordinate can only be used if it resides within someone from royalty, but if it's inside someone of royal blood, they will be plagued by the 145th King's thought and ideology. This makes that person carry suicidal thoughts because these ideas from the King will be too much to bear.
One artistic aspect I really like in this page is the transition from Historia hearing Hange's words to the flashback featuring Frieda Reiss. Right before the panel with Frieda, a closeup is shown of Historia's eyes. The eyes give the impression Historia is sad, as if she is reminiscing about someone close to her. When Hange brings up the Coordinate in relation to the the Fritz King's thoughts, we see Frieda crying and holding her head as if she can't bear having a certain thought (or perhaps even suffering from a headache). Historia knows Frieda would sometimes go out-of-character and mention humanity deserved their punishment, and Frieda would experience headaches following those random thoughts. The fact the next panel after Historia's eyes features Frieda makes it clear that we are watching Historia's perspective on what Hange is saying. This visual aids in heightening Hange's words not only because Isayama uses a past example we saw regarding what she's talking about, but more importantly, it shows how much Frieda meant to Historia. After all, Frieda was the only person that cared for Historia when she was growing up.
Moving on, Zackley concludes that, at the moment, the only way the Marleyans can be stopped is if the Founding Titan's power is used to unleash the Wall Titans, but as long as the "vow" exists, there's no way this can happen. Hange reminds him that Eren has been able to control Pure Titans in the past. While it is still unknown how Eren was able to do so, it demonstrates that someone that doesn't have royal blood could still use its power. Eren remembers the time he used the Founding Titan's power to direct the Titans to kill Dina/the Smiling Titan. He explains that at that moment, he "felt like everything was connected" (reminds me of the "paths" that connect all the Eldians), but it was only that time. Eren thinks about why it was like that until he remembers Dina was royalty.
The page accentuated the moment that Eren touched Titan Dina's hand with his fist, and it was then that several Pure Titans ran toward Dina, tackled her down, and killed her. This emphasis could be hinting at the theory that Eren is able to utilize the Coordinate if he touches a person with royal blood. However, back in Chapter 50, Eren also managed to command the Pure Titans to chase after Reiner and Bertolt shortly after those Titans killed Dina. When he did that, he didn't touch a royal to use it again. All it took was a scream for those Titans to chase after the Traitor Duo. This makes me wonder how long do the effects of the Coordinate last upon touching a royal. Can you only command Titans upon touching someone of royal blood and that's it, or does touching a royal give you a few minutes to control Titans however you like? I want to say the latter for reasons already stated.
Another aspect to the Coordinate that makes me curious pertains to the form the royal should be upon touching him/her to activate the Coordinate. Does the royal need to be in Titan form, or can he/she be in that form or human? It was mentioned back in Chapter 70 that Eren has been holding hands with Historia so that he can try to remember certain memories, but it worked to no avail. However, Eren activated the Coordinate when touching Dina's hand while she was a Titan. This could suggest you need to touch a royal when they are in Titan form in order to completely employ the Coordinate.
Upon realizing Eren used the Coorindate back then because he touched a royal, he interrupts the meeting with a loud
"it can't be" that startles everyone. Hange asks him,
"What's the deal all of a sudden?" Naturally, due to the circumstances, Eren begins to stutter out of nervousness. Even Zackley inquires him about his behavior:
Zackley referring to Eren as "Our Titan" is worth discussing. Technically, Eren is not the only Titan Shifter that is fighting for the walled Eldians. Amin is too now that he acquired the Colossal Titan's power. Thus, Zackley shouldn't really be calling Eren "Our Titan" but instead something like "one of our titans." However, Eren is the one who is currently possessing the Founding Titan. As such, he is the one that has the capability of carrying the walled Eldians to victory. "Our Titan" has a hopeful tone as it expresses the idea that Eren is the Titan that will bring the Eldians hope. It's some pretty interesting diction on Isayama's part!
Getting back on track, Eren apologizes for his interruption. Hange tells Zackley that Eren is only going through a "phase" where he feels the need to show off and shout for no reason. Zackley replies it's unfortunate since Eren is "getting to be that age." I found some humor in this scene. Remember the beginning of the chapter where Hange thinks it was weird of Eren to look up at the ceiling and talk to himself, and then Levi stepped in and said Eren was only having a "phase" that was typically happens in his age? Now, it comes back full circle. Hange remembers what Levi told her back when they freed Eren and Mikasa from their jail cells. In order to put Eren in a more favorable position in light of what just happened, she brings up the "phase" to justify Eren's actions. Zackley's comment on the "phase" not only shows his disappointment about it, but it also creates a subtle hint of humor for us readers to perhaps chuckle about and say,
"Oh, Eren is just being a teenager!"
Eren has another monologue. This time, he remembers that he still hasn't told Mikasa that the Titan who killed Carla and Hannes was probably Grisha's first wife, but he thinks it's perhaps for the best he doesn't tell her nor everyone else right this second because the Survey Corps might have the idea of feeding Historia to Eren so that he gets royal blood of him. Eren understands that this is only a possibility and it's only a half-baked idea, so it is best that he doesn't bring it up right now. I really liked Eren's moment here. You can see Eren is becoming more mature in this scene when he realizes it was foolish of him to interrupt the meeting like that, and he knows he can't just do it again, especially when he is still trying to connect the dots on how he could make full use of the Coordinate.
We return to the Grisha and Kruger flashback as we now see Kruger preparing the Titan serum to inject into Grisha. Kruger tells him to start a family once he enters the Walls. Of course, Grisha is confused by this and declines the suggestion. After all, Grisha has Dina and Zeke. He also brings up the possibility that he could lose all his memories once he Titanizes. Kruger assures him that's not necessarily true, and someone else might see those memories later. Kruger could be referring to those "paths" that connect the Eldians and allow them to see each other's memories! Additionally, Kruger still encourages Grisha to make a new family despite the latter's comment:
Once again, Kruger offers some interesting points. He reiterates that past mistakes should not be forgotten when confronting new issues. This is especially true in Grisha's situation. Once Grisha inherits the Attack Titan, he only has 13 years left to live. He might not succeed in fulfilling the mission within the time frame, so he might be required pass it on to someone else. Thus, he'll need a successor. Who could work as a successor? His offspring! However, he needs to make sure his offspring won't backstab him. Remember what happened when he sent his first son, Zeke, into the Warrior program? He wanted Zeke to act as a mole for the Eldian Restorations. This plan could've worked, but Grisha made one fatal error: he didn't treat Zeke like his own son, but instead as a mere tool who would bring hope to Eldia. By forcing Zeke to accept his parents' ideology, Zeke grew to hate his parents, ultimately convincing him to turn them into the government. Had Grisha treated Zeke like a son, this disaster probably would've never happened.
And it seems like Grisha has really taken Kruger's words to heart. With his second son, Grisha did not force Eren to believe his (Grisha's) beliefs. Instead, he treated him like his own child by letting him grow and learn about the world himself. In a flashback in Chapter 85, we even see Grisha telling Eren that he will only show him the Basement once he has found his purpose. He clearly knows it will make sense for Eren to learn about the Basement secret when the time is right. Indeed, things worked out in the end. Eren eventually told his parents that he wanted to go outside the world because he is fed up with being trapped within the walls (and Eren came to that opinion on his own; he wasn't brainwashed into thinking that). That is when Grisha finally understands it is the perfect time for Eren to see the Basement's secret. Grisha realizes that Eren has developed the same desire for freedom just like he has, and he probably realized the mission would live on now that he found an ideal successor. You can thank Kruger for leading Grisha the right way!
But now we get to the big shocker in this chapter:
Hold it, hold it, HOLD IT! Did Kruger just mention Mikasa and Armin? How on earth does he know them when they weren't even born yet?
Even Grisha notices something is odd. Kruger ponders to himself,
"Hm, who knows. Whose memories could they be?" The chapter then concludes.
You know what I think just happened? Kruger received one of Eren's memories (specifically when Kitz was about to execute him, Armin, and Mikasa) thanks to the "special paths." Remember the last chapter when we learned that those "paths" that link all the Eldians transcend space?
It seems like these "paths" even transcend time, linking not only all Eldians in the present but even those in the past & future. Wow, this coordinate and path concepts is becoming more complex than we can imagine!
But I noticed Isayama made another great choice of words to accentuate the situation further. Mikasa and Armin are both individuals that will come into play in the future, and they will help Eren in winning back the walled Eldians' freedom. Kruger also tells Grisha,
"Carry out your mission to the end." The last part of the sentence connects nicely with Mikasa and Armin. All three represent the essence of a future. Like I previously discussed in the two paragraphs following the panels of Kruger encouraging Grisha to start a new family, Grisha's mission clearly won't conclude during his lifetime. It's going to last a lot longer than that. Kruger's quote really delivers the point that Grisha needs to handle this mission so that he can pass the torch on to someone else should the situation call for it. Indeed so, because this torch-passing concept is one of the series' major themes.
Concluding thoughts:
Phew, what a chapter! This review ended up being pretty long, but I think you can tell how interesting I found this chapter to be. Plenty of interesting information was provided this month: Ymir's backstory, a discussion on the final battle to come, more exposition on the Eldian vs Marley conflict, and the big reveal that reveals that Eldians throughout time are linked to each other thanks to the Coordinate.
No doubt next month's chapter will probably give us even more interesting information. Something tells me that we are going to see one more flashback of Grisha and Kruger; this time, we see Grisha turning into a Pure Titan and eating Kruger. It would be a fitting scene to include since next chapter will conclude another volume. That said, what better way to end the Grisha Files, what truly defined volume 22, by showing us the scene where Kruger dies.
Personally, another thing I want to see is Grisha asking Kruger one final question (and Kruger gives an answer):
"Is there a way for the Founding Titan's power to be used by someone who isn't of royal blood?" This scene could probably appear to Eren in another memory, and through that, Eren would finally learn how to use Coordinate! ... Oh well, I can only dream. I already know this scene isn't likely at all since Kruger didn't know what the "vow" was. It's much more likely that Eren and the Survey Corps will have to find the answer on their own.
And this meeting going on in the present is really hyping up the final battle between the Eldia vs Marley. It's been stated in the series,
"To defeat a monster, one must become a monster his/herself." The walled Eldians will be facing quite a gargantuan monster: the Marleyan Empire. Yet, the Marleyans and the entire world view Eldians as monsters. Indeed, the Eldians are the only people capable of turning into Titans, and they can use this power to easily the world. The walled Eldians will need to show how monstrous they can be by making the most out of the Titan powers if they want to win. No doubt this battle will be "monster vs monster!"
