Did You Catch This Heartbreaking ‘Attack on Titan’ Connection?

Attack on Titan season 3 has delivered some of the darkest chapters of the seires – and we’re only two episodes in, so far! Episode 2 was titled “Pain” and it certainly lived up to its name, as Levi Ackerman‘s scout regiment was nearly decimated in an ambush by Interior Squad; Eren and Historia were abducted; and we learned some dark societal secrets, like how order has been truly been maintained inside the walls, and how Historia is connected to the throne.

With all those big reveals coming at us fast and furiously in the span of one episode, a lot of fans may have missed some fo the deeper Easter eggs that were unearthed in “Pain” – including this one that reveals more about one character’s tragic backstory.

During one of the darker sequences in “Pain,” we see Levi and the scouts have to make the soul-tainting decision to capture and torture Djel Sannes, the Military policeman who the Scouts discover is one of the two men responsible for torturing and murdering Pastor Nick, to find out what he revealed to Scout Regiment. During that torture session, Sannes goes on a tirade about how Interior Squad has maintained peace behind the walls by bloodying their hands, and references several dark examples of said murders – including one involving, “a stupid couple who tried to fly…” As discerning fans of Attack on Titan quickly surmised, that “stupid couple” is none other than the parents of Armin Arlert!

Armin’s backstory has been confirmed by the Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia, which confirms that his parents were killed by Sannes while trying to escape by balloon, after the fall of Wall Maria in the Shiganshina District. In true Attack on Titan fashion, the connection between Sannes and Arwin is completely understated, much like when we discover that Connie Springer’s parents had become Titans, during season 2.

If you can’t tell by now, Attack on Titan is not a happy-go-lucky series for the lighthearted, as these sorts of tragic connections – which then shape even more brutal violent acts in the present – are increasingly regular parts of the story. “Pain” even raises another possible connection: that commander Erwin Smith’s dad may be another victim of the military police’s vile acts.

Catch new episodes of Attack on Titan season 3 streaming every weekend on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.