Board Thread:Manga/@comment-5774380-20161007195718/@comment-5774380-20161007220558

Ok, so this chapter was simply... WOW... WOW WOW WOW. After 7 years and 85 chapters of getting glimpses and clues in dribs and drabs, I expected Isayama to continue the same formula and delay the revelation of Grisha's secrets somehow, but here he goes and throws them all at once... o_O

The amount of information and secrets revealed is so big that I'm still processing everything. Let's go point by point and see if I don't miss something:


 * So now we know what exactly the Eldians did to the Marley to receive so much hatred from them (it's also good to see that these two races are finally named and we can stop using "people within the Walls" and "Hometowners"... but "Marley"? Bob, is that you?). Subjugating them for 1700 years is certainly not something they would forgive so easily; although in line with Isayama's style, it seems there's more in this story as I'll come back to it later.
 * Ymir's role is also revealed, and as her suggested, she's the creator of the Titans, the "goddess" of the Eldian (who turn out to be the same as the "Ymir people" the Talking Titan mentioned to Ilse), and [this was unexpected], the original weilder of the powers of all Titan Shifters, Coordinate included. After dying, these powers were inherited by 9 shifters, of whom 7 were captured by the Marley while the First King and another unknown one apparently remained with the Eldian. For some reason Ymir also shares surname with the false king Fritz (who knowing Isayama may be revealed to have been the true king all along). Her death thousands of years ago coincides with her quote from chapter 40: "I thought it would've been better if I'd never been born. The world hated me just for existing. To bring happiness to many people...I died. But—when I did, I wished for something from the bottom of my heart. If I could be born again...I wanted to live my next life for no one but myself..I wished...so hard." There's something off here though: if both Eldian and Marley children are told Ymir's story, and Ymir never hid her true name, why RBA never suspected of her during the 3 years they were in the Training Corps? Many things still need to be explained about her, like the circumstances of her revival, how he became a mindless Titan, and whether she could regain her original powers; which would have very important consequences in the upcoming war. PS: AoT is officially 18+ now, LOL.
 * It turns out that Grisha didn't live in luxury like the message in his photo suggested (and yes, it was OBVIOUSLY him the one in the photo, thanks God that "it's not Grisha in the photo" theory didn't live too long), but only the Marley lived in luxury while the Yeagers lived in a kind of World War II-lifestyle which made the life in the Walls look like a true "Paradise". We encounter a nazi story complete with ghettos, jew armbands, nazi hats and even zeppelins (my mind was totally blowing at this point). And of course, sadism and abuse of power with a nazi Marley guard literally feeding Grisha's little sister to the dogs, earning Eren's Grisha's eternal grudge. The mystery of the German names finally makes sense (despite the fact that Paradis is an upside down-mirrored Madagascar)
 * Grisha grows up and learns that, surprise, the story spread by the Marley government seems to be all a big lie to keep them encaged (I sense a déjà vu here), and according to him and his group of rebels, Ymir was a very nice person and the Marley are just evil liars-liars, so they plan a revolution to overthrow the government (more déjà vus déjà vus). The fact that this can't end well is hinted when we spot the unmistakable face of the Peering Titan popping among the group and we begin to look for more similarities: Grisha's Titan friends.png These guys haven't said a word yet and I already feel pity for them. :(
 * Then the girl in the photo appears and turns out to be from the Fritz bloodline, and... oh, no, that hairstyle... could it be?... Anyway, she instantly falls under Grisha's irresistible charms, and they have a son, who, of course, is Zeke. Goodbye "Zeke is Eren's uncle" theory. Two theories with one stone. (Y) But oh, no, that smile... so it is you... o_O Grisha's first wife was the Smiling Titan.png
 * The plan for the formation of the warriors who would attack the walls is revealed. After years of theorizing the reasons of the Marley for attacking the walls, the excuse is a simple "that evil people plans to attack us, so we'll attack them first" which in reality is "we want to steal their natural resources"... Mind blown Uncle Sam.jpg But... but... but... but that's always the... and we nev... ... ... what?... Oh, I can hear Isayama laughing so hard now...
 * So... the Marley plan to give the power of the 7 Titans to Eldian kids and send them to attack the walls under the promise of a better life for their families. I bet none of us ever imagined that ZRBA were never actually Marley but the same people of the Walls turned against their own race. We know that the 7 chosen will be Zeke, Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Marcel, and other unknown two, who could be the Quadrupedal Titan and the one eaten by Grisha (or maybe Grisha ate the one who was with the Eldians along with the First King? Anyway, there's a missing one no matter how we do the math). We also know why they didn't destroy the walls from the beginning: this is because King Fritz threatened to destroy the Marley with the millions of Wall Titans if they don't leave them alone (who would say that the Walls are both defensive and offensive?).
 * Grisha plans to infiltrate a young Zeke (who is playing with a monkey and some fallen soldiers and horses) into the warriors, but the little snitch doesn't understand that he was just supposed to "pretend" allegiance to the Marley and swears seriously, turning his own parents in, who then will be transformed into the mindless Titans that attacked Trost. Zeke_the_chosen_one_Obi_Wan.png

Overall an amazing and jaw dropping chapter that finally sheds light on a lot of mysteries and questions; although it still leaves some other questions open, since Isayama seems to be using an technique and it's still uncertain which of the two versions of the story that he told us is the real one.

It's interesting to notice that the book Grisha's father was using to tell the story is very similar to the one Frieda was reading to Historia in chapter 54, and her dialog suggests that Ymir Fritz was indeed a good person, even encouraging Historia to be like her, which supports Grisha's version of the story. However, for some reason Frieda and the rest of the Reiss Coordinate users in possession of the First King's memories also believed that Eldians were in fact sinners who deserved their punishment, which supports the Marley version.

So we'll have to wait for the next chapters to find the actual truth (and I'm already looking forward to it).