Attack on Titan fans are still freaking out about episode 44, “Wish,” which saw some epic battles, but also some game-changing plot and character revelations. We learned quite a bit about the humanity’s history behind the walls, and their connections to the Titans, as well as a method by which the Titan threat may be ended for good. However, the revelations weren’t all good ones: a big secret about the Founding Titans finally came to light, and it makes humanity’s chances look slim.
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Here’s what you need to know about the powers of the Founding Titans, and how they may spell some dark turns for Eren Yeager’s future.
MAJOR SPOILERS follow!
While Levi and his Scout regiment were battling Kenny Ackerman and his Interior Police to break the Reiss family’s secret chapel, inside the heart of the chapel, Rod Reiss was trying to sway his daughter Historia into making a drastic decision, to consume Eren and steal his Founding Titan powers. The reason Reiss needs Historia to do this? Because the full scope of the Founding Titan’s powers can only be accessed by a person from the royal bloodline!
This is a major reveal, which fundamentally re-frames Eren’s role in the war for humanity’s survival. As Rod explains, someone like Eren trying to use the Founding Titan’s powers will only be able to skim the surface; in fact, it was only because of extreme emotional trauma that Eren was able to use the Titan control scream at the end of season 2 to save the his teammates. Roe Reiss tries to bait Historia with the notion that only someone like her — a Reiss of royal blood — could end the Titan threat for good. It sounds like a noble mission, until Historia asks the one important question that needs asking about the Reiss family holding the Founding Titan power for 95 out of the last 100 years:
“In that whole 100 years, why didn’t the Reiss family eliminate the titans and liberate humanity?”
When faced with that question, Rod Reiss’ deception falls apart: The Reiss family hasn’t used the Founding Titan powers for altruistic means, they’ve used it as a method of controlling humanity and retaining power. Ultimately, Historia rejects her father’s offer, forcing Rod Reiss to transform into a fearsome Titan Shifter that only Eren may be able to stop.
Catch new episodes of Attack on Titan season 3 streaming Sundays on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.
