‘Attack on Titan’ Reveals New Look at Baby Eren

Attack on Titan‘s third season continues its trend of revealing major aspects of the past each episode with an exploration into Commandant Keith Shadis and his surprising connection with a young Eren Yeager and his father and mother.

One of the many reveals during Shadis’ story is a flashback to a baby Eren being cradled in his mother Carla’s arms.

In Shadis’ story, he recollects meeting Eren’s father for the first time outside of the walls. Grisha has no memory, and eventually he gets introduced to Carla, who Shadis had feelings for. During one of Shadis’ many missions outside of the walls as commander of the Survey Corps, he returns to find Carla holding a baby in her arms. She’s naturally happy with her child, but Shadis is heartbroken at this sight.

He lambastes her for what he perceives as her flirting with all the men in the bar, and wonders what her child could possibly do. What could he achieve in a world where no one is special? But she responds that Eren doesn’t need to do anything at all. He’s cute, and he’s special because he’s been born into this world. Ever since then, Shadis seemed to be carrying a chip on his shoulder toward the Yeager family.

It turns out that when he was training Eren during the first season, he actually sabotaged the maneuver gear to make it seem like Eren couldn’t straighten himself out. But, after seeing Eren break through with his own power, Shadis realizes there are special people in the world…but he’s not one of them. At least baby Eren is cute!

Attack on Titan was originally created by Hajime Isayama for Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009. The series has since been collected into 23 volumes as of 2017, and 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, Funimation, and Saturday nights on Adult Swim’s Toonami block.