Understanding Attack On Titan's "Time Paradox"

[@SeaTactics]

As mentioned in the video, here is where to buy my merch to help support the channel! 👉seatactics-storefront.creator-spring.com

[@xaoz2362]

that face Eren did wasn't that of a scared person, more like a mad person...

[@jakelong71]

You don't have to explain a time paradox as if Attack on Titan invented it 🤦. Out of content already?

[@j.k.1239]

Dr Manhattan "We're all puppets. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings."

[@ellalawani1271]

too see how far the Attack on Titan story has come from season 1 is amazing

[@SeaTactics]

It really is, creating this video was a MAJOR bitch just because I has to rewatch certain episodes from Season 1, which I've seen so many times. It also required MANY re-writes, many corrections, many considerations, and a lot of re-recording.

[@sliceoflifeanimeking1496]

@@SeaTactics The reason I Think eren was always angry and Savage as a kid is because he was a slave to wanting freedom Just how Ymir was a slave to not having freedom. They are similar in that aspect 🤯🤯

[@sliceoflifeanimeking1496]

@@SeaTactics you mad me yell bro I was shock when you explain to me that older eren was always in the show from the very beginning hiding in all season 1 episodes 🤯 could that be the eren we are seeing now with zeke in the paths in season 4? If this is true then that means when we were watching season 1 the older eren hiding in the back in some episodes was when zeke and eren are in paths traveling in season 4 is what we seeing now 🤯🤯🤯

[@sliceoflifeanimeking1496]

@@SeaTactics and that’s eren we seeing has to be manga eren telling anime eren to fix the future

[@chrissullivan6572]

It coulda easily gone off the rails but gotdang I love this story. There's a few more wild moments to look forward to

[@fredf3636]

Rather than the Attack Titan's powers not being absolute, they are actually entirely dictated by Eren himself. Eren can use the founder's powers to select exactly which memories the inheritors of the Attack Titan can see in order to influence them in the correct way. He starts by showing himself the memories of his father and Kruger - the way that Kruger knows who Mikasa and Armin are is because Eren allowed him to see it as he knew he would eventually show himself the memory of this happening. He shows his father the memory of him killing the Reiss family so that he can ensure his father will do it. He only shows select memories because if they were to know exactly what he would plan to do with the founder's powers, they would sabotage his plan. All they know and believe is that Eren is going to save Eldia. It's mind-boggling but absolutely, insanely impressive storytelling from Isayama. The Founding and Attack Titans were meant to oppose each other, the Attack Titan supposed to keep the Founder in the check by being able to avoid future tyrants and disasters at the hands of it. So when Eren gets both there is essentially nothing stopping him, not even the vow renouncing war.

[@RanDoM5469]

This needs more likes!

[@fredf3636]

@@RanDoM5469 haha thank you. It actually gets explained almost exactly like this in the latest episode after Zeke and Eren exit their father's memories. Really really great storytelling from Isayama

[@jakevukelic6390]

I'm an anime only guy and my prediction for the ending is no one will inherit the founding or attack titans powers and eren will die it makes 0 sense that someone who inherited power from eating eren wouldn't step in and stop him in the past from doing this

[@AstroReviews]

Headcannon.

[@MartialArtsTechniquesideas]

That’s the problem for me. How was Eren ablo to influence them the very FIRST time ? I get that once the time loop is formed, once Eren touche Sieg, he can influence the past shifters endlessy but before it was formed, in the very FIRST timeline, how was able to do it ? Because in the FIRST timeline (where EREN isn’t born yet and can’t influence them because there is no timeline before that), all the events naturally lead to Sieg catching Eren’s head. So the previous attack Titan holders didn’t needed Eren to make the good choices. For example, in the very first time line, Grisha killed Frieda and most of her fam without Eren’s help because Eren didn’t possessed the attack Titan yet so Grisha didn’t need once the time paradoxe is formed since he already made the right choice the first time. You get what it ? It’s just like when Ymir created the Attack Titan, Eren was already able to influenced the first holder even tho in the first timeline, before the time loop was formed, he wasn’t even born and that is straight up bs to me.

[@Melthazar]

Eren did a good deed in this episode. What I really liked in this episode, was that despite the fact that Eren here was shown being full of anger, dedicated to a singular purpose, almost a full-blown villain in this episode, there was a silver lining to his actions within the memories of his father. As mentioned by Grisha: Eren did not show him everything, he selectively shown him the memories that he needed to see. For sure, most of those memories were the ones that he needed to convince Grisha to take the Founder Titan from the royal family. Still - he then made it so that Grisha (through Eren's own eyes) was able to see Zeke and ask for his forgiveness. Eren had no need to do this, he could've cut those part of the memories from Grisha, or break the connection from Zeke before this happened. Yet - he still chose to make it possible for these two to (in a way) interact. He even specifically stood behind Grisha, so that he (through Eren's eyes) could see Zeke within the memory. This act is actually a benevolent act that allows to sooth the pain of both Grisha and Zeke (at least a little bit). Yes, it is too late, but even this small grace means a lot for the two tortured souls. Grisha is able to ask for forgiveness and tell Zeke that he loves him, before going to die in the mouth of Eren's titan. Zeke is able to get a moment of tenderness from his father - the one he craved his entire life.

[@jurre4279]

I'm guessing he showed zeke to grisha so zeke can stop hating grisha for no reason so he can help eren later down the line.

[@danielkurtz3045]

It could have simply been a manipulation tactic to break Zeke's resolve. I wouldn't say that it's clear allowing father and son to embrace was a wholly benevolent one. We may find out next episode

[@XxSeedOfEvilxX]

The fact these discussions get evoked is why I love this show

[@VII0777]

Allowing Grisha to give Zeke this therapeutic catharsis was a strategic victory for Eren. He understood Zeke very well psychologically. Eren knew that Zeke's whole motivation for getting this far in his project was because of his father issues. Eren said as much in the episode. By allowing this catharsis, Zeke loses the bulk of his motivation for going through with his euthanization plan. Without his resentment for his father, Zeke has lost his engine and now needs to reconsider what sort of person he's going to be. In the world of personal development, Zeke has had a breakthrough victorywith his psychological issues. He is now a more complete person having been given a second chance to reach an understanding with his father; to hear those magic words, "son, I love you because you're my son." But in the world of AoT, this is a loss in the game against Eren.

[@andreay9935]

Yes! The silver lining. Eren was able to give them a sense of closure and give them, that moment as father and son.

[@rouelandrewpulma9799]

A lot of the comments here mentioning about Eren choosing memories, Eren changing personalities after seeing what he's about to do etc are all true. But another thing that I can add that probably caused Eren to change all that much is the fact that he doesn't see any more memories from future Attack Titan holders past himself. He realized that It all ends with him.

[@rouelandrewpulma9799]

@noztk Not really. The Attack Titan can see memories of future self, sure. But all of the nine Titans are able to see memories of their past users. Eren saw what he was able to do NOT from his own future memories but from Grisha's memories. Having the Founding Titan with him at that time along with kissing a Royal blood just probably triggered a more vivid view of those memories instead of just glimpses, along with the realization that he could not see memories of future users. He basically put two and two together. Seeing himself in Grisha's memories and the fact that there are no memories of future memories told him what he was able to do.

[@cashmoney1151]

he was able to see his own memories from his future self we he gained the founders power

[@U_Geek]

Pretty sure the true attack titan ability isn't seeing the future memories of users BUT shoving past users your current memories. Grisha talks about Eren not showing him what he was going to do meaning that eren chose to show him his current memories but Grisha couldn't see what Eren didn't want to him to see.

[@plumily4197]

Correct

[@ramenshoyu3873]

that begs the question, why does Grisha mention seeing Eren memory of whats to come next? The one he describes as "terrible", when Eren isnt even at that point of time? So maybe Eren could select certain memories to send back but Grisha could also randomly receive memories of the future not sent by Eren.

[@omarabbasi2682]

As a manga reader you are correct

[@itsmesteve1081]

I was thinking about this too, but it doesn't make sense because if that's the attack titan's true ability then who sent the last eren (the one furthest in the timeline) the memories of himself telling his dad to kill the reiss family? That's why it's a paradox. I think the last incarnation of eren frabricated this whole story and possibly even more stories in other "timelines" to see how every possibly scenario would end (like doctor strange from infinity war) and then since the rumbling and him dying was the only to have a peaceful life after war he frabricated this whole story of our "timeline" by using the founding titan's ability. Because remember the founding titan can alter eldians' memories except ackermans. So I propose the last incarnation of eren somehow did end up having all three scenarios where he had the attack titan, founding titan and a person of royal blood BUT it turned out different for HIS "timeline". Perhaps things didn't go the way he wanted it to and so after looking back in hindsight like armin always says he frabricated his own little story of where everything went perfect even if it meant killing himself and billions of people. THAT is my hypothesis let me know what you think

[@itsmesteve1081]

All to save mikasa, armin and "everybody else"

[@lynxrolls7556]

You also got to remember, based on Grisha's statements in the episode, one can conclude that the Attack and Founding titans haven't been used by the same person since Yimir was alive, so it's more than likely when Eren kissed Historia's hand it didn't just show him in interacting with Grisha's memories, but ALL of the Attack titans memories, including his own. *He playing the game before anyone even knew there was a game in the first place.*

[@plumily4197]

I don’t think this is the case. There’s no indication that Eren knows anything about the past users (past Kruger). He saw his dads memories and that’s it. The more interesting case is what future he saw, if he saw any of it. Because while technically he saw himself in the future after kissing historia, they were still Grishas memories from the past. So you have to wonder whether Eren saw future Attack Titan memories or not.

[@kazikek2674]

It's kind of unlikely since Eren still showcases both surprise and a necessity for strategic thought like with Warhammer Titan battle that he has all of his memories. He does, however, know aspects of the future due to gaining all of Grisha's memories, including ones he sent. As an aside, it's difficult to be certain when Ymir's powers split into the Nine, but her daughters and possibly grandchildren likely had more than 1 shifter power per person in effect.

[@lauxLM]

So... Eren can or cannot see his memories from his own future? If he saw the future through his father's momeries than None of the Attack Titans ever had the power to directly see the future, only the past just like the other 8 titans.

[@lynxrolls7556]

@@lauxLM It's more that I believe that due to becoming the coordinate, Eren has better control over the power of the titans and the paths itself than just using powers on their own, when he kissed Historia's hand he saw what the future his future self; the one who freed Ymir from her self-imposed servitude; needed him to see, just like he did with Grisha to make sure everything goes the way he wants it to so that he can make sure his goals are accomplished. All I'm saying is that if he's was capable of doing that, who's to say that he didn't show the other past inheritors' something here and there to make sure they go were they needed to go for his future to be guaranteed . And yes, while we didn't see him do this in the manga or anime, it's very probable when you consider that after he transforms, we don't see him again until after he makes landfall in Marley, meaning he had a lot of time in the paths to learn how to use all of his abilities as the new coordinate and then some.

[@adriant240]

It was mentioned now in the final chapter in the anime that Eren saw the outcome of the Rumbling when he kissed Historia's hand.

[@NFG-Nero]

To those who still dont understand how it works this is even simplier explanation: the holder of attack titan is able to see past and the future but there is a catch, you can only see what the owner of the titan from his era allows you to see *through his eyes* think of it like of a camera: You want someone to record you having time on for example the beach. After the video is recorded you can watch yourself through cameraman's "eyes" but if cameraman decides he dont want to show you more of the video that he recorded then you are unable to see what happened next, but camera also allows you to watch the videos/memories of its past and future owners. Grisha (previous owner of the titan) is able to see future Zeke through Eren's eyes (current owner of the titan) cause Eren allowed him to.

[@FunY_T]

its not the attack titans power rather the foundings power of intefering with the memories of eldians

[@marcissopegins1585]

@@FunY_T yeah, the attack titan's power is to share memories, but the founding power allows him to interfere through them

[@game-enjoyer13]

The fact that Season 1, Episode 1’s title is straight up “To you, in 2000 years” is such a huge foreshadowing, clear as crystal from the very start. It’s like an enormous flag waving around saying “So yeah this entire story is about a 2000 year old original titan and the curse she gave, and her desire for freedom, and her obedience to her king. Oh, and she’s talking to Eren in 2000 years via memories and timeline shenanigans, all to make everything you’re about to see in this show happen in the first place” All of that information can be taken from that one title of the FIRST episode of the damn show. I remember when it first came out, I didn’t know what the hell to make of such a title. And then totally forgot about it’s odd, vague, out of place name. But now only AFTER finishing the show does it finally, FINALLY make sense

[@plumily4197]

The attack titan isn’t that limited to how well it can send memories to the past. The user just has to actively decide to send the memories back. Eren was specifically only allowing Grisha to see what he wanted Grisha to see, to manipulate his father. Also, it’s helpful and accurate to view the AOT universe as deterministic, with the idea that the future nor the past can be changed. Because that’s what we see in the show. While the attack titan always rebels due to its future sight, it always ends up falling inline with the future it foresaw. It’s why Grisha is soo sure Eren will get what he wants.

[@Aya..19]

So what's the point of manipulating Grisha through his memories to kill the Reiss family and steal the FT if it was going to happen anyways?

[@bksher6463]

Hey, can you explain why attack titan always ends up falling inline with the future it foresaw. I totally cant get that. Lets just imagine that after Grisha get's AT power from Kruger, he Kills himself on the spot. it literally could have happend and Eren will never be born. AOT universe cant be deterministic, because every attack titan shifter could have done something to prevent future that they saw. Even Grisha had plenty of opportunities to not giving his power to Eren. He could do what ever he want but not giving his power to Eren. This is real possibility and if it have happend Eren would never get titan power and that's it, future and past has been changed. So paradox created and universe collapses. I'm trying to say that IF YOU KNOW THE FUTURE YOU 100% CAN PREVENT THAT. Its fine that it Aot story everything goes as Eren wants, but what would have happend if something went wrong and Eren didt get to the points points where he was showing his memories to previous AT shifters. There is a big hole in aot universe and if you go one step aside everything dies. I might be wrong at something, but for now I feel like AOT universe is literally broken.

[@jaydenlobbe7911]

​@@bksher6463 Grisha chose to give Eren the Titan Serum because he wanted Eren to avenge Carla, furthermore, Grisha saw a 100% accurate vision of the future, it is impossible for him to change that future because it is Eren directly sharing those memories with him, Eren isn't showing Grisha a possible future, he is showing him the only future, because that future already exists in Eren's memory, and because he shared that memory with Grisha, that means that Grisha will go through with Eren's plan regardless of whether he wishes to or not, this is because in a Deterministic Universe, everything has been set in stone from the beginning, Free Will does not exist in a Deterministic Universe because your actions have already been made for you long before you were born Grisha was always going to go along with Eren's plan for the future because he never had a choice from the beginning, he saw a future where he killed the Reiss Family, hesitated because he knew it was wrong, but he went through with it anyway because that was the future that Eren had already showed him, Grisha did not want to kill the Reiss Family, but he did it anyway because he knew with 100% Accuracy that he was in fact going to kill them regardless of whether he wanted to or not, even his hesitation was already predetermined The Attack Titan's Power doesn't cause a Time Paradox because none of the Attack Titans ever had any choice to prevent the Future that Eren showed them, even if they tried to prevent it using what limited knowledge they had, any action they would have taken would only cause the Future Eren showed them, their actions were already in line with the Future because it was by seeing the Future and trying to act upon it that they directly or indirectly caused it, same with Grisha, he knew that what Eren was going to do was wrong, but he gave Eren the Attack and Founding Titans anyway because he already knew that Eren was going to have those Titans, and he knew that no matter what he did he could not have changed that, because Eren was the one who showed him those memories, therefore Grisha's choice was predetermined

[@handlerone5172]

@@Aya..19 Don't overthink it. Everything including Eren sending memories to the past was always going to happen. Eren was always going to manipulate Grisha, the Rumbling was always going to happen so on and so forth. Eren did it because he knew it had to happen. Think of it like this: AOT timeline is like a road and no matter how many side streets or separate paths there are, they all lead to the same outcome. Eren can see that road and knows he has to follow it and also because of how Eren is as a character, wants to follow it.

[@boianko]

@@bksher6463 It's impossoble to prevent it because it's destiny and it takes your decisions into account. Eren tries to prevent his interaction with Ramzi, but fails because he doesn't have the will to resist. If you try to change the future unforseen factors will push you back in line.

[@FerociousMit]

When Eren saw the memory of himself telling Grisha to kill the royals, he saw it in the perspective of his father. Eren was face to face with himself in that memory, receiving the future memories Grisha got in that moment, you can tell because Eren sports the same face as Grisha, Eren feels everything Grisha felt.

[@lola_103]

Crazy!: ain't it !

[@Needler13]

You know what makes this foresight so cool? That if you know anything about Norse Mythology, you knew this was going to be a thing YMIR is the first being in Norse mythology, a vast giant of a being who birthed the rest. Mortals, gods, the frost Giants and what the Giants/Titans were good at was foresight. The very thing Odin wanted and hated

[@SeaTactics]

That's actually super cool, wtf

[@SeaTactics]

Guys, I get it, I didn't explain some of this as good as I could have. But personal attacks and name calling isn't not the way to go about getting your viewpoint heard. MANY of you are respectful and have cleared up a couple of things, I appreciate that - some of you obviously haven't eaten your breakfast yet. We're cool guys, we're cool.

[@xxDevin95xx]

Don’t even trip about em bro , someone is always gonna hate on something when they haven’t put the time in for a video . If they put time into something and had it ridiculed they would feel as if all their efforts weren’t appreciated it . Keep up the great work man 💯

[@xxDevin95xx]

And i just subscribed

[@blackburnazx_1941]

no hate but around 2:36 you say years later after his first transformation, this is incorrect because in the anime it was about 1-3 months after the battle of Trost

[@My_Lacrimosa]

Make a better video then There's no sympathy on the internet

[@thinkninjas2981]

It’s been two years now maybe remaking this video with the ideas everyone has shared as well as the show being over could be interesting i know i would like to watch it.

[@xyz_xyz575]

Those random people you mention close to the ending part are not Eren and Zeke, because every scene is lived/seen from Grisha life. Eren and Zeke didn’t wandered randomly “trough the world” at their will, they were exploring Grisha’s life/memories. All those scenes, with random people where Grisha was NOT present in them, have nothing to do with Eren and Zeke.

[@SeaTactics]

That's a good point, note taken.

[@MartialArtsTechniquesideas]

And even tho it was them, Eren was already an adulte when he was in Sieg’s memories so it can’t be him at this moment. Spoil : However, later in the story, it’s very possible that Eren just visit his own story because we saw him as a kid watching the whole world.

[@ezrawilliams3148]

Makes sense but what if zeke didn’t only show eren grisha’s life but also eren’s to show him that his actions were all because of his father’s manipulation

[@LucidEndo]

Finally someone that pays attention 👏

[@samueloak1600]

@@ezrawilliams3148 That never happened

[@itsjustzero9323]

Good video, however I'd just like to correct a few things. First, the people who look similar to Eren in season 1 are not Eren. Eren and Zeke aren't technically time traveling, although it is extremely confusing. The times when Grisha sees Zeke and when Eren talks to Grisha are Eren showing his memories to Grisha, as he controls what memories Eren sees, evident when Grisha asks why Eren won't show him everything. That's why when we see Grisha in the basement and he sees Zeke, Zeke disappears. Eren looks away from Zeke so Grisha can't see him anymore since it was Eren's memories. None of it is truly time travel, it's simply looking through memories and sharing memories of their viewing to Grisha. Plus, if you look closely at the figures in season 1, they have some similarities, but they do not look like Eren does in this episode. Hope this clarifies some stuff.

[@SeaTactics]

This is what I had trouble explaining in the video, because like you say it's so confusing. Though, do we have it confirmed that's not Eren? I've always thought that's Eren, since he appears in all of those scenes and looks *very* similar. I also think there is room for change since 2013 to 2022 is nearly a decade, so maybe Isayama and the crew at MAPPA/WIT decided to change it up for the final design? Otherwise, I am in agreement with your explanation, you put it into words much better. (This video was re-written dozens of times, the video was re-edited four times total because it was so difficult to explain it as simply as I possibly could.)

[@itsjustzero9323]

@@SeaTactics I don’t believe it’s officially confirmed to not be Eren, but I think a pretty general consensus is that it’s not him, at least from what I’ve heard. I don’t know if the same person is there in the manga since I didn’t read it but it is possible that WIT made that change during production of season 1 intentionally. I’m guessing we may never know if it’s supposed to be Eren though. Great video though, I think it makes things a lot easier to understand, even for those who read the manga as it seems it was just as confusing there.

[@waveydavey6853]

Great explanation. I get it technically isn’t time travel and just memory travel basically (back and forth). So what I’m trying to figure out is how exactly did Eren tell his dad those words at that moment? That’s where I’m confused.

[@Alonkis251]

@@SeaTactics This could be Eren, as we may seen the story form grown up Eren eyes, but no time travel include

[@jurre4279]

@@SeaTactics nope it's not eren, it is litteraky proven that it isn't him because it's not actually possible. He isn't physically time travelling he's going through grishas memories with the power of the founding titan. He told grisha to kill the reiss family by using the attack titans ability so grisha saw erens perspective. The scenes you showed with people that looked like eren couldn't have been him because the story isn't told through his perspective and grisha was in meither of those scenes because he was dead. Zeker and eren were going through grishas memories so your theory can't be correct.

[@anjaneyasreetrout2444]

2:45 Correction here: The main reason Eren was unable to transform here was actually a bit different. IIRC a Titan Shifter becomes unable to transform if they are wounded immediately after coming out of Titan form. They can transform only after that wound has healed completely. You can see Eren's hands had not healed then. Source: Season 3 Part 2. Levi says that after taking down the Monke.

[@armand3466]

I'll assume you either read the manga or are watching the anime(i'm anime only), when pieck leads eren to the roof of that castle, porco transforms and eats both his legs, and yet eren still transforms. Also, iirc in season 1 hange puts erens ability to the test and its revealed that he can transform about 3 times before he gets completely exhausted. My theory is that one of the attack titans abilities is that they require little energy to transform into, and that with enough training the shifter can transform even if he is wounded. This makes sense given the 4 year time skip where eren learned to control his powers much better and with the whole fighting for freedom and always pushing forward idea

[@marcoscarrasco92]

But is it true that the Attack Titan holders peer into future memories... or is it what they believe, because Eren has been selectively sending them his own memories all along? Ever since the beginning of titans. Remember, the Attack Titan has always fought for freedom. But it would be impossible for ALL holders to have that personality trait before even inheriting the power. So... has Eren been influencing each and every Attack Titan holder all throughout time?

[@DannyConcepts]

that makes a lot of sense. similar to the kinds will to renounce war. this is eren will to renounce freedom

[@kazikek2674]

Yup, that is the most likely explanation. However the ability works, Eren has the most control over it and used it the most thoroughly in history, possibly because of the Founding Titan power and the time he spent in the Paths with Zeke.

[@markgregorygacosta531]

It's a possibility although it has never been confirmed in the show itself. However..(SPOILERS)! .... . . . . .. . . . . at chapter 139, eren revealed that (after gaining full control of the founding titan) he experiences time as non-liner. The past, present and future are all happening in his mind all at once. So there's really no distinctions about time as the founding titan really transcends time itself. And so it's really possible that he was able to somehow influence all AT users in the past. Although again this was never stated in the manga.

[@axserwz5022]

I tried watching someone do a watchthrough of AOT yesterday and I genuinely found it difficult to because everything is just so complex, when I see Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie, me thinking about the fact that older eren was just always around and just how slow and simple everything seems by comparison to the absolute mind destruction that was episode 80

[@Stefanjohnchach]

older Eren was not just around. that's no how any of this works. incredibly misleading by the creator of the video

[@xandergrande735]

Damn your analysis are wrong at some parts. When he touched historia and became depressed it’s because he saw the future of committing the rumbling. Also the past titans are only seeing parts of the future because Eren chooses what part he wants them to see.

[@ChanelU.]

What’s crazy is, Eren didn’t actually see the future directly because as stated, the attack titan can only see memories of its future inheritors and well, Eren is obviously the last attack titan user. Instead, he unlocked of all his dad’s memories through the paths when he kissed Historia’s hand and saw the future that his dad saw. AOT is mind blowing at a different level.

[@Rotunder]

a simple correction: At 2:37 you said ““years later” after his first transformation when the SC are cornered” that Eren uses the coordinate.” From The Battle of Trost, to the uprising in walls, is all in a span of two months or so. Most of the story is spent in a time frame of 3 months leading up to The Return to shinganshina. Unless you were talking about the time in between S1 and 2, you didn’t really specify.

[@jordanpatterson8536]

The Attack Titan's ability isn't seeing the future, that's just Eren giving them his memories. Reason why I would say this is because Eren has not been shown being able to see the future. The only time was as a child, and that was before he had the ability, this could definitely just be him showing his younger self something. So I believe it's just future Eren sharing his memories.

[@shifugamez.official]

He literally saw the future when he kissed historias hand

[@omarabbasi2682]

@@shifugamez.official he saw the future through grishas memories

[@jordanpatterson8536]

@@shifugamez.official Literally because of Grisha

[@shifugamez.official]

U can believe what u want but as a manga reader, AND as someone who knows how to pay attention ur wrong

[@ajcampos2309]

@@shifugamez.official bruh I hope you’re joking 😭😭

[@ivanwong8281]

In the first animate episode when Grisha told Eren about the key, Grisha was apparently looking away but not at Eren. Now we know that he was looking at the future Eren. It was insane when it all came together god damn

[@denellejoynes4569]

This was one of the best breakdowns ive seen. Explained in such a simple way.. great job

[@nama_]

I think the man who looks like eren in the background can’t be him, because the memory time travel thing ended when Grisha ate the founder. I also think Eren chose not to show Grisha everything instead not being able to. Great video btw

[@SeaTactics]

Interesting point you bring up there, I hope we get confirmation one way or another from Isayama (if we haven't already).

[@YoungstaJoey-j2s]

@@SeaTactics I don't think any of those guys you point out could be Eren, since the whole memory thing isn't them literally traveling back in time to the real events, just watching a recreation of it through memories.

[@rensvh98]

@@SeaTactics Nama is probably right about Eren choosing not to show everything, because if he did show him everything, including Carla getting eaten by Dina, there's no way in hell Grisha would have gone through with it.

[@TylernolPM1212]

Can confirm Grisha didnt know everything because eren didnt show it too him hence why grisha was pleading to be showed more. The attack titan cant simply see memories from the future but rather send its memories back to previous users.

[@Hosu223]

yah if Erin showed Grisha everything (his wife's death especially) he might not go through with the plan. But the fact that Eren can selectively show visions of the future like this is odd, does the Attack Titan power only revealed/used through the future version of himself? Also, it reminds me of the Netflix series Dark, which uses extensive time travel, on whatever action you do to prevent the future was actually exactly what was suppose to happen.

[@RYAN-pz8il]

If I remember correctly later in the manga/show there will be line that makes it established what mechanic of 'time-travel' is happening and how 'time' in the attack on titan universe works. Suffice it to say it does work and kind of adds another layer to the theme of 'freedom' and determinism which persists throughout the show.

[@loivern8015]

Hope they don't rush it like isayama did in manga.

[@teagoodstuff734]

eren couldnt be seen in the past (season 1 ) because he wasnt physically there, he was travelling through memories of grisha not through the real timeline, he used memories to send his speech into past and grisha saw it as a memory of the future . so its even possible that we didnt see real and primal timeline in the whole aot, we can possibly see and atlered branch of reality which was created by paradox which is created by eren. technically speaking we dont really know any more which is the primal timeline and which one is the altered one.

[@FunY_T]

for those who dont understand he is just saying the people in previous epsodes werent eren because eren adn zeke time travelled THROUGH grishas memories and since grisha wasnt at those places "eren" was then they cant be him because eren was only were grisha was.

[@bksher6463]

I think we dont know anything at all. If you think about one timeline, it cant be right because every attack titan shifter cound have prevented future that they saw. But multytimeline universe is also not really a thing due to everyone saying that whole history is fixed and cant be changed. So idk what to think anymore. Last episode literally blowed and kill my mind.

[@ajithviswanath7278]

Thank you!!!!

[@bestintheworld4850]

Eren also made Dina’s titan ignore Berthold and go for his mother and prevented his transformation at the end of season 2 so he would learn he had the coordinate.

[@anthonyche6257]

If the future Eren appeared in season 1, this means from season 1 -3 is someone’s memory。that means everything that is happening from Season 1-4 has already happened and we are watching someone’s memory

[@anthonyche6257]

future Eren (after season 4 ep4) could have travelled way back to 2000 years ago in the memory the first person who inherited attacked titan . He could have went way back to talk to founding titan . This theory opens some much more theory

[@Omega-EP]

If a good thing never ends, it is rarely remembered as a good thing.

[@तेजसरजनीशखरे]

This plot twist is inspired by Ben 10 Ben 10 Omniverse showed exactly a similar plot twist 6 years before AOT4. Ben was never supposed to get Ominitrix, but he traveled back in the past and used Omnitrix to send it to his younger self. Eren also did the same thing. He used the founding titan's powers to make his younger self get the founding titan.

[@Soothsayer7X]

It’s insane to think how many videos isayama is able to inspire through his work. And what’s even crazier is everything will need to be updated after next weeks episode!!!

[@harikiran4339]

True. Isayama did an amazing job in planning and writing the story, and still able to stock even with editorial influence and changes. This shows how good of a writer he is.

[@yeeblun3654]

dude wtf are you even talking about, this story doesn't make sense, time travel is super retarded, it's shitty writing

[@dParakeet]

I hope the anime receives a crazier ending than the manga because we already know what happens

[@Fujiisamaa]

the combo of the Attack Titan and Founder Titan makes Eren omnipresent, he, unlike other founders, who merely SEE the past, present and future, meanwhile he LIVES in all 3 simultaneously

[@citystar2318]

Bravo, sir. Just finished the show, confused for most of the last season, but this video helped put the pieces together. Great video 👏🏾

[@rmd2268]

For anyone who's watched the Flash. This brings me memories of Savitar and how Barry had to kill other Barrys except one so that Barry would become Savitar and it was just an endless confusing loop. Godamn

[@SultanAlZaabi]

"Maikng Mikasa wet for Eren." "What?" "With tears, you pervert!"

[@pixel9719]

5:15 sister Frieda like the one from dark souls 3?

[@abelcostilla8942]

At the end, when you said “all good things must come to an end right?” I was so ready for you to be like “WRONG it’s a time paradox, did you hear anything I just said?” 😂😂😂

[@lees5313]

Finally an anime where I'm excited for the next episode.

[@JoshMowery-42088]

Everybody in AoT is playing checkers while Eren was playing 4D chess.

[@Jjables12]

the fact i thought this show was about fighting pure titans in season one just makes me laugh

[@arcadegamerz_1]

The thing that confuses me is that to make Grisha kill the royal family Eren needs to get the founders power. In order for Eren to gain the founders powers, Grisha needs to kill the royal family. So does this mean that Grisha would kill them anyways without Erens influence? The first time these events happened Grisha didn’t have erens influence because Eren hasn’t gotten the founders powers yet.

[@Antnyyyy]

This has always confused me the explanation is plot i guess

[@Meianju]

Yes, this is my final and most hated unknown about the whole story, to me this breaks the whole story. I've been trying to find an answer, I might read or watch the whole story again hopping to find an answer to this question because I haven't found a single person capable of answering it so far.

[@justobserving4862]

same@@Meianju

[@meechie856]

My thought is that because eren was always going to get the attack Titan, he was always going to obtain the founding. That’s how he was able to show grisha memories of the rumbling. The past didn’t change, he was always there to influence grisha because that event was always gonna happen. He saw when he kissed historia’s hand

[@frog2444]

Probably some bullshit about the founder existing in the past present and future simultaneously. The way I choose to look at it as that the paradox is resolved when the titan powers are eradicated in the ending and the timeline “anchors” itself in the present Not the best explanation but its all ive rlly got

[@erossalazar2689]

My absolute favorite moment of the whole series is the Kruger and grisha scene at the doc

[@umwha]

One thing that nobody has thought of is: maybe all of Erens actions are determined by the next inheritor of the attack titan. The person shown in the far future who goes to the tree of Mikasas grave.

[@lil----lil]

This was the first Anime in my life where I had to take some notes down, there's NO way any person on earth would "get it " the first time maybe not even the second time watching it. The story is complicated but in a good way like good a detective novel where puzzles have to be solved before the "prize" is awarded.

[@doublekey8931]

Finally someone made a video about it. I've been looking for something like this

[@1106hdgaming]

If Eren is the reason (cause) Grisha managed to kill the royal family, how did Eren got the power of the Attack titan to motivate Grisha in the first place? A paradox is imposible to cause, because it doesn't have a cause or a consequence, it's just an artificial circle, a normal course of events cannot create it, a writer has to. Therefore, even though I love this anime, it's an absolute overstatement to say this is good writing, because its not viable or at least believable logically in the world they created. I'm not saying isn't entertaining or that all the other aspects of the story are not top notch, but whenever writers mess up with time and time travel (like thousand of anime do) they always create paradoxes and illogical argumentative lines. The animes that avoid this mess (like Dragon Ball) rely on timelines creation, with all the problems this creates is at least more logical, in AoT they haven't imply that so far (at least in the anime). Until proven otherwise, this time travel stuff is nonsense and a plot hole.

[@tomanonymus4125]

You are so right! Thats a big reason for AOT not beeing a masterpiece .

[@yukirias]

watching this video after aot has ended really hits the spot

[@GodMcQueen]

*This helped a lot. Thank you.*

[@notcyfhr]

For a character all about freedom it sure is crazy to be in a deterministic world.

[@IsaacParbery]

Lets preserve Eren with some hypotheticals that can somewhat be deducted logically by forcing an interpretation of perception. Erens dad seen the memories of someone who had not yet existed and only would exist if he committed to his plan, the idea of the memories was enough to create a spirit like figure of imagination that was enough to motivate him, eren experienced this as 'his sin' when he has the memories but clearly he wasnt truly alive to be there when his dad did what he did, so in some senses, his dads insight into his future sons memories and acting on up a plan that would bring them into existence is the reason why eren got so lost in the concept of fate. His dad regretted immediately what he did but that doesn't change the fact his dad started this all but based on a feeling of fate too, like he was bound, maybe he wasn't but it was the founding titans power that messed their consciences up for sure creating a paradox but not necessarily one that was inevitable and even if it truly was Eren there and his sin of encouraging his waivering dad, his dad still had a choice but maybe it was Erens will to live that kept that ball rolling however i dont believe that their was no choice, i think they just couldn't see any other way but to destroy the power of the titans and leave war to humans..

[@MrRmmk1]

Yall know so much about the story in these comments. I've seen some good analysis but in here yall are consistently analyzing things in a way that makes sense

[@edboiii_5530]

This last episode is probably the best of AOT

[@SeaTactics]

At least so far, I agree.

[@cc-viewiernote6066]

It crazy that the pervious user before grisha yeager saved grisha at that exact moment after the wife was turned and let grisha eat him almost like he was told to do it like that.

[@Khaos7X]

If I'm understanding this correctly young Eren can only see the adult version of himself by the titan ability. Vise versa. Granted why adult Eren probably hid his face from himself which is a pretty cool paradox

[@FunY_T]

no. they are not eren. they are random people. they were only in grishas memories. where grisha was eren was. since grisha wasnt in those scenes those people are not eren

[@biggamer7245]

If everyone could understand the time paradox as well as all of the hints and details throughout the series, there wouldn’t be as much criticism about the ending. I find the time paradox to be very awesome, interesting, complicated and something that has made AOT go from one of the best shows I had seen to a masterpiece that I will forever remember. It sucks that there are people who have lost faith in the story that Isayama has created because of how hard the story is to understand. 6:44 those people are not Eren, Eren does not time travel physically, he time travels through the way memories are sent from the future into the past, it’s most likely similar to the memory type time travel that had been used in steins gate. Also the power of the attack titan is not just to see fragments of the next inheritors future, it is for future inheritors to send memories(in Eren’s case he likely chose which memories got sent to Grisha as well as all of the other attack titans because Eren is the last of the attack titans, so he is the last inheritor and all of the past attack titans fight for the freedom of paradis) into the past, the attack titan is able to receive both memories from past inheritors and future inheritors and it likely has to do with the memories being sent via the paths because the paths transcend time.

[@souravroy6214]

Yes mate

[@Volkain10]

The attack titans ability isn’t to see the future. That’s just what the characters who had the attack Titan believe. What’s actually happening is once eren gains full control over the founding Titan he gains the ability to transcend time. And uses that ability to influence the entire timeline. That’s why the only future sight the attack Titan owners experience typically relate to choices that lead to eren. It’s perceived as an attack Titan ability but it’s actually just eren muddling with the timeline of events. In theory as the controller of the founding Titan eren could go all the way back and stop the eldians ever going to paradis through manipulating the timeline but he just allows most events to play out to reach the end where his friends get to live a long life.

[@TheRealFFS]

If that's the case, then why would he limit himself to sending those memories to Attack Titan users only? Of course their choices will lead back to Eren, because he is the last in line.

[@valentai_777]

Also to question some of the comments, even though Eren and Zeke weren’t LITERALLY time traveling, the series takes place largely through Erens perspective, so the presence of a future Eren is more symbolic or metaphorical.

[@_Mayibongwe]

His presence can't be metaphorical when we learned that future Eren is indeed the one who influenced most of the events in kid Eren's life. Without that influence, we wouldn't have the Eren that we have in this whole series. His presence in the present and flashbacks was as real as uu and me.

[@TimeDiddy]

yoooo thanks for this

[@TimeDiddy]

thanks for this again, i’ve got to refresh my mind ☠️

[@tommyvercetti9434]

I was *not* a fan of this at all. I liked the idea of Marley indirectly creating the actual devil from Paradis that they feared so much in the form of Eren. Him being this galaxy brain, chess master puppeteer doesn't make that much sense to me when he was always rash and childish through the whole show.

[@sreehari5423]

really love your vids sea!! haven't watched this yet but i know it will be great!!

[@SeaTactics]

Hope you enjoy it! This video was REALLY hard to make, I went through like 4 versions, two just counting today.

[@sreehari5423]

@@SeaTactics damn! but yea the video was AMAZING, really cleared some things up for me, keep up the goat content!

[@carlosjavierpalacios6194]

my theory is Eren Kruger saw the memory of Armin and Mikasa because Eren Jaeger was looking at him at the same time. Apparently when you look back to the past memories, they can look back at you

[@elcotera8042]

I'm still wrapping my head around this time paradox, like for example, when Kruger said that the attack titan had always fought for freedom could it be possible that that was also Eren all along manipulating the titan's previous inheritors. The only way around that I could think is that everything must be some sort of cycle. But hey idk anything, they told me next episode is about to eff me up, looking forward to it 🤩

[@SeaTactics]

In an abstract sense, yes, in a literal sense no. But rather his memories influenced certain events to happen, basically like a Steins:Gate situation with a couple less steps and a lot more tall people.

[@vedantgovin7531]

That's actually a really good point I didn't notice that!

[@photonalchemist6574]

I find that very unlikely. Eren only has grisha's memories, so the only way other weilders would see his own is passively, which could influence their actions, but not the way eren influenced grisha.

[@jaydenlobbe7911]

@@photonalchemist6574 Eren has full control of the Founding Titan when he starts The Rumbling, he can just go into the Paths whenever he likes, access the Memories of all Eldians, specifically the Attack Titans and then share his own Memories with them, and that can include the memories of any other Eldian as long as those Memories are what's necessary to manipulate Past Attack Titans, because he can experience those Memories as well In fact Eren is experiencing the Past, Present and Future all as one, and Time in the Paths means nothing

[@MarcoHernandez-nb5dc]

Eren can go back to season 1 even during the rumbling 😂

[@enderboss3773]

Since the royal family is so small are these guys cousins marrying each other?

[@SeaTactics]

*nervous laughter*

[@nobodyeverything5848]

I think they all just die off so fast they don't have time to reproduce or something like that. Because their life spans are so short from inheriting the titans. I don't think they are marrying each other. They look good if they are marrying each other.

[@SummerADDE_Elevators]

I love time travel elements but never would I imagine that would happen in attack on titan of all places.

[@eskaban_edits_beats_and_more]

i remember thinking it was just humanity vs titans, not knowing of marley, not knowing eren killed his own mom, not knowing that eldia was trapped with lost memory and for them being dominated by titans as entire humanity is all they knew not even knowing theres more humanity outside the walls that caused the whole thing to happen. this show is so deep it blows my mind

[@raihanadhitya378]

fun theory, the first time eren use attack titan power is when the first time grisha saw zeke as bearded man. You could see Eren as suprised as Zeke when that happen. Eren know his power from grisha's memory but he tried to test it. He also test it later little by little to confirm it how it works like when he and his dad staring each other at the doorway of his house.

[@kiroshakir7935]

This isn't an explanation But honestly I didn't expect it to be time paradoxes are called paradoxes for a reason

[@YashBhagat-cm4qr]

Forever respect to the developers of attack on titan.

[@celiniesworld7997]

Omg I’m dying at the effect that Eren’s first time activating the Founding Titan had on Mikasa 😏😭😂

[@kiroshakir7935]

6:03 at least before it was retconned at the end

[@iamameanace7235]

how was it retconned

[@SLITHERIS]

So let me get this straight, hopefully someone will explain. When grisha decided not to steal the founding titan did he see the future which caused him to not steal the founding titan? But he stole it anyway because eren told him to do it?

[@LawjNutz]

Contrary to popular belief, Eren did NOT show himself his own memories, that just wasn't possible. He only saw the Grisha's memories of what Eren showed Grisha, which would explain why Eren didn't know he would get trapped in the paths.

[@MasterOfTheBrood]

"trick question it's Hitch, it's always Hitch!" I see your Hitch, and raise you a Pieck!

[@ThisHandleSystemCanGetNicked]

That's if you believe that the hooded figure is Eren. It could just be a random. And so, if you accept that more simple line of reasoning, and you consider how Grisha went from a man of agency to a complete pawn in Eren's game, you realise the paths existed solely to make all that possible in the first place. In other words, a retcon. And considering how the ending plays out, i'm certainly not a fan of it.

[@w4keup874]

I’m sorry but eren cannot travel through time. He can only interfere with the past through memories that should still happen. This is the paradox

[@justobserving4862]

then who stopped the titan from eating reiner and went to eat eren's mum instead

[@souravroy6214]

​@@justobserving4862 He controlled the titan from future. It wasn't a time travel.

[@Budgetballistics]

@@justobserving4862it was berthold not reiner

[@tomanonymus4125]

Doesnt make sense at all​@@justobserving4862

[@baryaakov555]

This is absofuckinglutely insane🤯

[@alwaystheparadox]

Nice narration of the "sequence" of events. Still waiting (because of the title) for the explanation of the paradox tho

[@zaarwhite7907]

Those ppl are not Eren or Zeke, cuz they don’t time travel, they just go thru memories

[@chrisrodriguez7988]

I’m coming from the future to tell you in the past that the show ended amazingly wow beautiful masterpiece

[@soapbubs59]

in the scene where eren punches dina, beforehand he *vous* that he will wrap the sacrf around mikassa as many times as she wants forever. we all know how powerful a vow from the founding titan can be

[@Joe-wk4wl]

Grisha didn't saw Eren, but he actually saw Zeke, if you look closely evrey time Grisha saw Zake, Eren was behind him, cuz Grisha saw evreything from Eren's eyes, also Grisha didn't actually touch Zake, I think it was metaphorical thing, in other way if someone was walking by and saw Grisha he will see him huging him self.

[@francisryangonzales6201]

Is this confirmed?

[@FunY_T]

@@francisryangonzales6201 he is right

[@wiqtur]

I think it’s called “bootstrap paradox”

[@lukelim5094]

Ah the whole free will vs determinism thingy. The whole founding titan and coordinate world reminds me of quantam entanglement as wel, with how the subject of ymir can be all linked in similar state to it. And the hallucigenia might have the ability to manipulate matters on a quantam level as seen with the lighting and nuke. That is energy. And that bleed in into time travel as well. I am liking my theory so far.

[@Ayaanra30]

It’s crazy that Future Eren has been looking at Eren since the beginning

[@clumsyturtle8544]

Okay those screenshots of season one with future Erin in them just blew my mind wtf.

[@joseantoniovargas6548]

I don't understand one thing that kept bugging me so many times after the reveal, Geisha could've simply not given Eren the attack titan- that's the problem with time travel, like he had the knowledge of what Eren was going to do, and explicitly told Zeke to stop Eren, but why wouldn't he do it himself? This is the actual paradox in my opinion

[@kazikek2674]

There are two potential explanations to it : 1) Eren mixes Attack Titan and Founding Titan powers, and his memories essentially also carry suggestions 2) This is the one I like more because manga implies it is true... Grisha is TERRIFIED of the last memories Eren shows him before he shows him Zeke, and that makes him ask Zeke to stop Eren... But later that same day, Grisha learns his wife died, and how. And from that point on he is no longer as opposed to the vision he has seen.

[@FunY_T]

grisha did that because he had to. he will. he must. the future was already set that eren would cause the rumblging through grishas acts. whether grisha liked it or not he would have done it either ways because in the aot universe once the future is set the past cannot change. just like zeke said.

[@bksher6463]

Hey, I also cant find the answer to this qustion. Literally every attack titan shifter could prevent future that they saw. And with all this Eren will never get his power. When you know the future you 100% can change that. And I feel like this is a plot hole if it wont be explained somehow. Until last series whole aot universe was complicated but fine. And now I feel like its broken. I'm really afraid of those time paradoxes and hope everything will be fine, cause I love aot so much

[@biomutarist6832]

Future Eren sent only select memories to Grisha thanks to the Attack Titan's and Founding Titan's powers, which convinced him (or forced him to believe) that Eren will save Eldians. Also, Grisha regretted his manipulative parenting of Zeke, so he let Eren do whatever he wanted for a change. A father should respect and support his child's wishes, right? Why he asked Zeke to stop Eren? Well, humans are complicated and tend to contradict their choices and beliefs. He might support Eren to be a good father, and agree with Eren's plan deep down, while still disagreeing with the immorality of it at the same time.

[@proatbeingnub9945]

maybe it goes for another episode cus since grisha is techincally being controlled by eren, he had no choice i think

[@lottji]

“Eren, you can’t do that! You’ll create a time paradox!”

[@seanbroccoli2698]

Im pretty sure Eren saw the future too when he kissed Historia's hand. My question is how the paradox was possible in the first place. There would have to be a timeline where Eren's life wasnt manipulated in order to get the chance to create the paradox which seems hard to imagine since his father wouldnt have eaten the founder titan without Eren's interference, so how exactly did Eren get posession of the founder titan in the OG timeline?

[@SaImonfungus6]

Season 4 episode 21 gonna be freaking amazing

[@SeaTactics]

Yep, I can't wait!

[@SaImonfungus6]

@@SeaTactics yes me buyed ur merch

[@neil_hilario]

This isn't a time paradox, this is a time loop. Eren didnt change the past. The past is set in stone. He used the power of the attack titan to show the memories of his present to Grisha in the past and synced them up so it appears to be interacting with him and Zeke. Because he saw an older self do all this when he kissed Historia's hand by looking through Grisha's memories.

[@nika_lain]

That seems like the most reasonable answer. The world wouldn’t evolve the way it did if Grisha didn’t kill the family. Which means old Eren already made his dad do it years ago when our Eren was young. Very similar to Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. They followed their own steps because it has already happened. In theory, this time loop just needs to exist three times, and then it can be closed. I used to think that it’s never ending and Harry and Hermione are forever going back which creates multiple timelines. But I think as long as you do it ones in the future, ones in the present, and ones in the past, it is resolved and gone. If we take our Eren as the real one, then past grown Eren needed to exist to make his dad kill the family to make present Eren who he is. And present Eren needed to do it so the future Eren who is now a kid will follow the same path. Now, it’s all done and resolved.

[@SeaTactics]

Time loops can't not be a paradox though. It's a contradiction since time, while being a concept, is something that's always moving forward. To create a time loop is to essentially do something which is basically impossible, which is why I called this a paradox, which is the same thing as me calling it a time loop. Then again, I am not a scientist.

[@vlongo26]

Agreed, a paradox is something that has a logical contradiction, which this doesnt. (Unless you assume that time travel itself is a logical contradiction, which would be dumb if you dont accept time travel but do somehow accept the idea that people are able to turn into titans....)

[@Violate..]

@@SeaTactics its a loop there in and within this story we are watching is where the loop ends u would know that if ur a manga reader

[@saintdr3666]

@@vlongo26 turning into a titan doesn't really compare to literally breaking the space time continuum.

[@dbarraza8848]

Why doesnt every story in tv shows and movies have “big picture plans”? Youd expect every writer to have a beginning middle and ending in mind when creating their story

[@ratedr7845]

Because they don't have the passion, or it don't matter to some

[@siindree]

it wasn't only the use of the attack titans ability on display though, when Eren and Zeke did this, it was with the founding titan also, cause of Zeke

[@j.k.1239]

Dr Manhattan "We're all puppets. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings."

[@ango920]

Eren Krüger also said "to save mikasa and armin" because its what eren always wanted, with moving forward.

[@waynehenry127]

Sooo did Zeke launch his own demise by snitching on his father? Everyone seems to miss that butterfly affect moment

[@SaImonfungus6]

Everybody buy merch from him