‘Attack on Titan’ Reveals A Horrifying Titan Power Secret

This week, Attack on Titan made a horrifying revelation about the origin of Eren’s powers, and some fans may never look at the show the same way again.

Monday’s new episode, “Pain,” was filled with intrigue and espionage, revealing just how wide the divide between the Military Police and the Survey Corps really is. As some fans have noticed, the show gave its audience their first real peek at how the Titan transformation power possessed by Eren, Annie, Ymir and others is passed from one person to another, and it is not pretty.

Warning! Serious spoilers for Attack on Titan lay ahead!

In season 3, episode 2, Eren and Historia — a.k.a. Krista — are kidnapped by the Military Police. They are taken to Historia’s father, Lord Reiss, for reasons that have not yet been fully explained.

The episode does not focus on them much, however. Instead, it follows the actions of the various groups trying to control their fate, including the rest of the Survey Corps. Near the end of the episode, Hange goes to Erwin with an idea of what might become of Eren if they cannot save him in time.

“If we don’t rescue him quick, Eren will get eaten!” she says.

Hange also brandishes the paper she got from Eren, containing what he remembers from a conversation between Ymir and Bertholdt. She nearly refuses to believe it is real, but decides to trust it anyway.

Presumably, the conversation in question is the one that Ymir and Bertholdt have in season 2, episode 10, while Eren is trying to fight Reiner in the giant forest, while his hands have not grown back yet. In it, they talk casually about “eating people.” At the time, this seemed like they were talking about eating people in Titan form, but that may not be the case.

“Ymir, when you changed back into a human, do you have any memory of the person you ate?” Bertholdt asked.

“Huh, no, not really,” she said. “We’re talking about something that happened five years ago, but the way you’re asking I’m guessing it was someone you knew. I see, then I’m sorry for not remembering.”

“It’s not your fault that you don’t,” Bertholdt replied. “It was the same for Reiner and me. Eren doesn’t remember either.”

“Is that how it works?” Ymir asked.

“I suppose I have to believe you didn’t want to eat anyone.”

Ymir also reveals that she wandered outside the walls for “about 60 years.”

The end of the conversation is shown through Eren’s eyes, suggesting heavily that this is the part that he committed to memory. Upon closer inspection, they can’t just be talking about things that have happened in Titan form, since Eren has not eaten anyone while transformed.

It’s also important to remember that Eren’s father gave him something specifically to repress his memory of how he got his Titan powers, based on his own flashback.

With all this in mind, it’s clear where the series is headed: the Titan ability is transferred through cannibalism.

This makes the episode’s ending that much more ominous. The brief glimpse of Eren and Historia shows the latter hugging her father in a darkened room. Eren lies just behind them, bound and gagged, and completely vulnerable.

Attack on Titan is available on Hulu, Crunchyroll and Funimation, and new episodes go up every Monday at 2 p.m. ET in the U.S.