Bystander (Chapter)

 is the 71st chapter of the Attack on Titan manga, written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama.

Overview
Keith Shadis tells Eren and Squad Levi everything he knows about Grisha. He tells them that they first met 20 years ago outside the Walls, in front of Shiganshina District. Grisha was wandering with amnesia, and Keith took him in. At Carla's bar, Keith told him about the Survey Corps and the life within the Walls, and also got him a job as a doctor. Some time later, Grisha saved Shiganshina from a plague, including Carla. They fell in love and eventually married. Keith became the commander of the Survey Corps, but continued experiencing great losses. At his return, Carla introduced him to the baby Eren, and Keith scolded her for criticizing the Survey Corps. After another disastrous expedition, Keith resigned and passed his position to Erwin. That day, Wall Maria fell, and Keith found Grisha in the fleeing crowd. After finding Eren and learning of Carla's death, Grisha led his son to the forest while asking Keith to not follow them. Seeing the lightning of Eren's Titan transformation, Keith entered the forest and found Eren unconscious with no trace of Grisha, so he took him back to the shelter and left. Back in the present, Keith tells Eren about Carla's last words to him, and remembers the time when he sabotaged Eren's 3DMG test to make him leave the military and save his life, but changed his mind after witnessing Eren's immense will.

Chapter Notes

 * Keith Shadis really knows nothing of Grisha's secrets.
 * Keith and Grisha met 20 years ago.
 * Grisha was wandering outside the Walls, with no memory of his origins or knowledge about humanity. Keith points out that that day there were extremely few Titans around.
 * This has some paralells with the Beast Titan, who also wandered outside the Walls with no knowledge of the people within, and Titans tend to evade him.
 * However, Grisha somehow remembered that he was a doctor.
 * Keith already knew Hannes and Carla by that time.
 * It is suggested that Keith had a crush on Carla.
 * Grisha met Carla at her bar while talking with Keith.
 * Keith was not the commander of the Survey Corps by then.
 * It is seen how Grisha saved Shiganshina from the plague that Hannes had previously mentioned.
 * It is revealed that Hannes had a wife who was cured by Grisha.
 * Carla was sick too, and after Grisha saved her, both fell in love.
 * Keith became commander after witnessing his predecessor being eaten by a Titan.
 * Erwin had already developed the Long-Range Scouting Formation at the time Keith was commander.
 * Keith knew Eren since he was a baby.
 * Keith resigned as commander the same day that the children Eren and Mikasa saw the Survey Corps returning with great losses, few hours before the fall of Wall Maria.
 * This reveals that the Survey Corps can go on more than one expedition per day, as Erwin went on his first expedition as commander almost immediately.
 * Keith was the first Survey Corps commander to resign, and Erwin was the first commander to be promoted while the previous commander was still alive.
 * In his way to the Royal Capital to give his report, Keith knew about the breach of Wall Maria and encountered Grisha among the fleeing crowd.
 * This was the memory that Eren had about him.
 * This also reveals that either the Survey Corps' commanders don't need approval from a higher authority to appoint their sucessors, or Erwin went on the expedition before being the official commander.
 * Grisha had already attacked the Reiss chapel by then, meaning he did it before knowing of Carla's death.
 * Grisha is seen hearing Eren's news about Carla's death serenely. In Eren's memories about his injection of the Titan serum, the massacre in the Reiss chapel and the flashback about Grisha returning to Shiganshina, he is always seen out of control.
 * When Keith finds Eren uncounscious after receiving the Coordinate, there is no trace of Grisha. In Eren's memories, Grisha's lower body was next to him.
 * It is revealed that Keith was the one who broke Eren's 3DMG belt before his balancing test, in an attempt to make him desist from joining the military. However, after witnessing Eren keep on trying, he changed his mind and that was when he made him switch belts with Thomas Wagner.
 * This coincides with his previous statement that the fittings of the belts never break on their own.