Attack on Titan fans have their favorites all lined up by this point, but they are changing their no-go lists by the day. As the story nears its end, fans are learning some rather surprising facts about a few characters, and they are not always endearing. For instance, Eren fell out of grace with lots of readers this year, but the same cannot be said for his father.
After all, Grisha Yaeger has made a surprising comeback with fans. The older man become a persona non grata after Zeke let everyone in on his old man, but they did not know the whole story. As people tend to do, Grisha changed as he got older, and fans just learned the truth about his involvement with the Titans invading Paradis.
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Recently, Attack on Titan put out a new chapter, and it was there fans caught up with Eren and Zeke. The two brothers are at odds now after the younger told Zeke he was not on his side after all. Upset by the betrayal, Zeke swore to save Eren from their father’s brainwashing, but it seems he did not need to. It turns out Grisha never brainwashed Eren; If anything, it was Eren who brainwashed his dad.
The chapter follows Grisha as he parented Eren, and he refused to drag the boy into his affair as the Attack Titan. It wasn’t until Eren signaled his desire to become a soldier that Grisha got upset, and he went to confront the Reiss clan. As it turns out, Grisha’s decision to murder the family was not made on his own. He let fans know the Attack Titan can see into the future thanks to a future inheritor, and that person is Eren. The Eren in present-day is the one who convinced Grisha to kill everyone, and it would be an understatement to say fans were shocked.
For so long, Attack on Titan portrayed Grisha as an overbearing figure who surely pushed Eren into becoming a soldier even if unconsciously so. Now, the series wants to make it clear that the older man didn’t want Eren to have the same life as Zeke. It was Eren (from the future!) who pulled the strings controlling Grisha, and fans are left to wrestle with their newfound image of the man as Attack on Titan comes to a close.
Did you ever suspect anything was up with Grisha before now…? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Attack on Titan was originally created by Hajime Isayama, and the series has since been collected into 23 volumes as of 2017. It’s set in a world where the last remnants of humanity live within a walled city in order to escape the danger of the Titans, a race of giants monsters that eats humans. The lead character, Eren Yeager, ends up joining the military with his two childhood friends Mikasa and Armin after the Titans break through the wall and attack his hometown. Now Eren, Mikasa, and Armin must survive in a world where they not only have the Titans to fear, but the very humans they are trying to save.
