Attack on Titan: What Would Happen if Eren Never Kissed Historia?

There was one moment, perhaps more so than any other, that has led Eren Jaeger to this point in his life in Attack on Titan’s final season. When Eren kissed the hand of Historia at the end of the third season, he was shown everything that was set to happen in his future, sending him on a mission to gain access to the power of the Founding Titan and unleash the power of the Rumbling on the world lying outside of Paradis. 

When Eren kissed Historia’s hand after the Colossal, Armored, and Beast Titan were defeated within the island of Paradis, her bloodline as a part of the Royal Reiss Family activated an ability within the young Jaeger, allowing him to see everything that ever happened, or will happen, in his life. Now on a mission that he believes will save the lives of his friends, Eren is aiming to eliminate all those who live outside of Paradis and is rampaging in a Titan form that is bigger than anything we’ve seen before. With the final episodes reportedly set to arrive as four one-hour specials, there is plenty of major events yet to show in the anime adaptation.

What do you think would have happened if Historia and Eren hadn’t made contact? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Titans. 

Eren Wouldn’t Be On A Rampage

The easiest thing to decipher from this hypothetical scenario is that Eren wouldn’t be on his current rampage, mostly because he never would have had the power of the Founding Titan to begin with. Before diving into that scenario, which is a whole can of worms on its own, Eren would effectively be flying by the seat of his pants, not knowing what events were to come and thus not being able to push toward the future he sees as one that would create happy and safe lives for his friends. Without being given a window on all that was to come, Eren might still be that same character from the first three seasons, attempting to figure out the world while fighting against the advances of Marley. 

Eren Wouldn’t Be A Titan

This is where we get into the “nitty gritty” of what Eren not kissing Historia’s hand would result in, aka the time travel aspect of the fourth season. Eren went back into the past with his brother Zeke to witness the events of their father’s life. Unbeknownst to the Beast Titan, Eren was able to change the past and push Grisha to eliminate the Reiss Family and add the Founding Titan power to himself. If Eren hadn’t learned the future, this time travel adventure never would have taken place and Grisha would have stopped himself from eating the Founding Titan and most likely dying as a result. Even if Grisha had survived, he most likely wouldn’t have passed on the power of the Attack Titan to Eren, focusing more on the power of Ymir when it took place originally. 

The Walls Still Would Have Fell

Even if Grisha hadn’t gained the power of the Founding Titan, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie still would have brought down the walls in an effort to bring said powers back to Marley. The question would then arise as to whether the trio would actually be able to take on the Reiss family and gain the Founding Titan’s ability for themselves, but that’s a question for a different article. The events of the series might have continued the same way for the first half of the premiere season, though we can certainly think of one thing that would have happened differently…

Eren Would Have Died

If Eren had never inherited the power of the Attack Titan thanks to his own time-traveling escapades, then he would have been killed in the first season when he was eaten by the bearded Titan following him saving Armin’s life on the rooftops during their first mission. Without having the power of a Titan on their side, the walls would have eventually completely fallen in the face of the rampaging behemoths, most likely meaning that the Eldians of Paradis would have been completely wiped out before the Scout Regiment was ever able to discover the truth of the world outside their borders. 

Or Maybe Grisha Played A More Active Role

If Grisha survived the Reiss attack when he couldn’t pull the trigger on chowing down on the family, perhaps he might have escaped with his life and helped the Scout Regiment with the intrusion of Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie, creating a whole new string of events. There are many different possibilities for how the series could have continued, but rest assured, the finale of the series would have been far different from what we know today had Eren decided not to kiss Historia’s hand and set off the events we now witness today.