Attack on Titan Shows What Really Happened When Grisha Met Frieda

Attack on Titan's manga has been steadily building up to its finale, and each new chapter of the series has been packed to the brim with all kinds of wild reveals that are putting the rest of the series in a brand new context. While Eren and Zeke reside in the Coordinate space of the Founding Titan's power, it was revealed that the Attack Titan actually has the power to see across space and time and actually interact with whatever they choose. This puts a whole new spin on Grisha Yeager.

Chapter 121 of the series clears up one of the major events that set the series in motion as Grisha Yeagar attacked and devoured Frieda Reiss for her Founding Titan power. But apparently that's not what really happened. Grisha hesitated to do so until Eren forced him to do it.

In Chapter 121 it's revealed that the older Eren Yeager watched Grisha the entire time he was living with the power of the Attack Titan. Sensing Eren's presence telling him what to do, he first approached Frieda in an attempt to get her to kill the Titans attacking the walls. When she refused to do so, he continues to plead with her in order to save his family.

But Frieda continues to refuse, and Grisha tells her that the Attack Titan is capable of looking into the future because it's a power meant to counteract the power of the king's self-righteousness. He knows the future is already set in stone, but hesitates in transforming himself into the Attack Titan. It's here that the older Eren intensely talks him into taking revenge for the Restorationists (and thus fulfill the future of the series), and Grisha carries it out beyond his wishes.

Although Grisha hated himself for it, he did it in order to fulfill Eren's wishes, and it's here that puts the whole series in a new context. Essentially, Eren drove Grisha to attack Frieda and steal the power of the Founding Titan in order to eventually make sure it's passed onto him. Now it's a matter of seeing what kind of future Eren is actually doing all of this for.

Attack on Titan was originally created by Hajime Isayama for Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009. 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. You can currently find the series streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.