There has been one question that has been bouncing around the heads of Attack On Titan fans since the start of the series: What’s in the basement? The most recent episode of the series finally revealed what Eren’s father had been keeping from both him and humanity, a secret history that stretched outside of the walls. While the next episode is sure to dive further into this “brand new world”, there are a number of things that viewers learned when the book was opened and the photograph was discovered.
When Eren, Mikasa, Levi, and Hange finally make their way to the basement, they find it only is housing common items that you’d normal find in a doctor’s study. Among the medicines and chemicals, the remaining scouts are disappointed that all their thoughts and suspicions about Eren’s father’s study may have been for naught. However, when they discover a hidden cabinet in Grisha Jaeger’s desk, they open up one of the books within to discover something they had never seen before: a photograph.
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Wondering whether it was some hyper-detailed drawing, the scouts discover that this photograph teased a brand new world outside of the walls where humanity lived in “affluence and comfort”. As the scene changes to Eren and company returning to their civilization, the celebration begins as the walls have be re-taken. However, the scouts now know the truth of the world and the discomfort in that fact clearly seep into their minds.
The world that was hinted at here is a somewhat modern one, as a flashback proceeds with Grisha and his family apparently in a world with zeppelins and other technology found in the past century. As Eren’s father has an armband placed upon himself as a child, along with his sister, this new civilization points at a country that is separated. With allusions to the Jewish people in World War 2 Germany, viewers are now left wondering what world the Titans were created in that threaten humanity today.
The secrets will surely begin to unravel as we move closer to the third season’s finale but the revelation of the basement has hit viewers hard in the closing minutes of episode 56.
What do you think of the secret of the basement? How will it affect our characters moving forward? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and Titans!
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.
