Eren Yeager's History
Eren was born in Shiganshina District on March 30th, 835, in the southern region of Wall Maria to Carla Yeager and Grisha Yeager. He had a few friends, although his best friend was Armin Arlert, whom he often defended from the neighborhood bullies. Armin inspired his passion to leave the Walls and travel by showing him a hidden book about the outside world. He dreamed of joining the Survey Corps as soon as he reached the enlistment age, in order to see the outside world. Because of this dream, Eren and Armin were frequently regarded as heretics and harassed constantly by other children.
When Eren was nine years old he accompanied his father on a house call to the Ackerman family's house only to find both parents murdered and their daughter Mikasa missing. Fearing the worst, Dr. Yeager instructed Eren to stay within the house while he fetched the Military Police. Eren, however, tracked the robbers to a small cabin in the forest behind the house.
Thinking quickly, Eren feigned distress and claimed that he was lost. As one of the robbers approached Eren, he pulled out a hidden knife and stabbed the man. As the second man went after him with an ax, Eren charged him with a makeshift spear, piercing him in the shoulder. Once he was down, Eren proceeded to stab him to death in a wild frenzy while Mikasa looked on.
As Eren untied her in the aftermath, he was caught off-guard by a third robber, who proceeded to strangle him. Eren urged Mikasa, who was frozen in fear, to fight back, warning her that they would both be killed if she did nothing. As Eren began to lose consciousness, Mikasa finally lost all inhibition and lunged at their attacker, stabbing him through the heart and killing him.
When Dr. Yeager eventually returned with the MPs, he took Eren aside, scolding him angrily for his reckless behavior. While Eren was genuinely sorry for upsetting his father, he expressed no remorse whatsoever for killing the robbers. When Mikasa remarked that she was cold, Eren gave her the scarf from his own neck; and when Dr. Yeager invited Mikasa to live with their family from then on, Eren accepted her with no hesitation, tugging on her sleeve and shyly insisting that they return home.
Fall of Shiganshina
After Eren is woken from a nightmare by Mikasa, the two walk home through Shiganshina. They are harassed by Hannes, who begins teasing Eren for having apparently cried in his sleep. Eren is annoyed to see that Hannes and his friends are slacking off on the job and refuses to be placated by their claims that the Titans will never breach Wall Maria. Leaving Hannes behind, the children stop again to watch the Survey Corps return from an expedition, and Eren is crestfallen to see that the Corps has returned defeated.
Upon returning home, Mikasa reveals to Eren's mother that he wants to join the Survey Corps. Carla forbids him from joining due to the Corps' high mortality rate and begs Grisha to talk some sense into his son. Grisha ignores her objections and instead announces that he will be leaving for a few days on a trip, promising Eren that when he gets back he will show the boy what he has hidden in the basement of their home. Enthralled, Eren joins his mother and Mikasa in waving him off. Carla reminds him that she will not allow him to join the Survey Corps, and they exchange a heated argument before he runs off.
Eren and Mikasa scare off bullies harassing Armin and the three stroll through Shiganshina and settle by the riverbank. Armin deduces that Eren's parents found out he wants to join the Survey Corps before criticizing the widespread belief that it is impossible for the Titans to breach the Walls. Suddenly lightning strikes and an earthquake breaks out. The three gather in the center of the district with other civilians, where they all gawk in horror at the sight of a Titan larger than Wall Maria. The Titan kicks a hole through Wall Maria's gate, sending massive pieces of debris throughout the town.
Eren and Mikasa hurry home as Titans begin entering the district, arriving to find their house crushed by a large rock and his mother trapped beneath the rubble. As Eren tries to help her, a Titan begins approaching the collapsed house. Hannes arrives, intending to fight off the Titan, but is overcome by fear. Rather than fight the Titan, he takes Eren and Mikasa to safety and abandons Carla.
Hannes leaves Eren and Mikasa on a boat leaving the Titan-infested city. There, Eren and Mikasa witness an Armored Titan destroys the back gate of Shiganshina. As Eren realizes that he can never return home, he vows to kill every Titan in existence.
Eren, along with Mikasa and Armin, is sent to a shelter for refugees from Wall Maria. Soon after, Grisha arrives and finds Eren, who tells him that his mother was eaten. After hearing this, Grisha takes Eren into a nearby forest and instructs him to go to the basement; before Eren can react, Grisha injects him with a Titan serum, turning Eren into a mindless Titan. Eren instinctively eats his father, receiving his Titan powers, including the dormant Founding Titan.
104th Training Corps
After the fall of Wall Maria, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin briefly worked on a farm with other survivors of Wall Maria before reaching the proper age to enroll in the Military two years later. During the 104th's rite of passage conducted by instructor Keith Shadis, Eren is ignored alongside others who had clearly experienced trauma in their past.
Before training, Eren draws a crowd of trainees at dinnertime, describing the appearance of the Colossus and Armored Titans. He becomes sick as he remembers his mother being eaten, but when questioned he attributes it to an eagerness to begin his training and kill all the Titans with the Survey Corps. Jean Kirstein interrupts Eren and mocks his decision. Eren does not admire Jean's desire to join the Military Police simply to live in the Interior Walls and the two prepare to fight each other. The bell signaling the end of dinner rings breaking the tension and the two drop their disagreement with each other.
The next day, the trainees begin practicing with vertical maneuvering equipment. Eren utterly fails to keep himself steady and takes extra tutoring from Armin and Mikasa. He knocks himself out and at dinner, other trainees mock his performance especially after his pledge to kill all Titans.
Back at the dorm, Connie and Jean do not offer any suggestions and Eren visits Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover for help. Although they are reluctant at first, the group bonds over their similar experiences during the fall of Wall Maria. The three exchange tips and depart as friends.
Instructor Shadis gives Eren one last chance to pass his maneuvering equipment test before he will be shipped to the landfills. At first, it appears Eren can maintain his balance but Eren quickly loses control and falls over. Shadis has Eren switch equipment with Thomas Wagner and Eren finds that he is able to easily balance himself and Shadis reveals that the equipment he had been training with was defective.
During hand-to-hand combat training, Eren admits to Reiner that he finds it unnecessary, claiming that it would be much wiser to run away when attacked by another human than to engage them. Reiner reprimands him for his attitude and points Eren to Annie, who is also slacking off. Egged on by Reiner, Eren tries to attack Annie with his mock knife to punish her for slacking off and is quickly disarmed by her unconventional fighting style. She makes short work of Reiner and Eren, enthralled by Annie's proficiency, asks to know who trained her. He is taken aback when she begins to lecture him on the military's flaws, pointing out that it awards its most talented trainees with positions far away from the Titans, where their skills would be most useful.
Annie's words continue to bother Eren, who becomes annoyed at the idea of trainees trying to improve their skills just to stay away from the Titans. Eren confronts Jean for possessing such a mentality, which leads to a physical altercation between the two. Eren easily ends the fight by replicating Annie's moves and proceeds to lecture Jean for slacking off during his training.
At one point during training, Eren takes a bad spill while using his vertical maneuvering equipment. Frustrated, Eren asks Reiner for advice at improving and Reiner tells Eren that the only thing to do is to just keep moving forward.
In 850, Eren graduates in the top 10 of the 104th Training Corps. After graduation, he is assigned to clean the cannons atop Wall Rose with Sasha, Connie, and a few others. There they witness the return of the Colossus Titan, who has not been seen in the last five years. Eren faces the Titan alone in combat as his fellow trainees can all but look on in horror.
Battle of Trost District
While his fellow trainees are paralyzed in fear at the sight of the Colossus Titan, Eren attempts to kill it. Despite getting close enough to the Titan to nearly slice the nape of its neck, it vanishes into thin air. Reinforcements arrive and Eren's team is ordered to return to the military's headquarters for orders.
After resupplying at the headquarters, Eren and Armin are assigned to a squad together as part of Trost's middle guard. Mikasa is unhappy to be assigned to a different squad, but she assents when Eren berates her for not obeying orders.
Despite their nerves, Eren's squad enters the battle in high spirits, viewing the upcoming battle as an opportunity to prove their mettle as soldiers before they enter the Survey Corps. However, things immediately take a turn for the worst when Thomas Wagner is devoured. Enraged, Eren tries to kill the Titan, only to be incapacitated by a second Titan biting off his leg. Eren regains consciousness just in time to save Armin from being eaten, being swallowed himself in the process.
In the stomach of the Titan, Eren comes across the dead or dying soldiers who were devoured by the Titan. As he remembers his goal to kill every last Titan alive, his anguish triggers his first transformation into his Attack Titan form. Bursting out of the Titan that devoured him, he proceeds to wreak havoc on all the Titans he finds. In the process, he unknowingly saves Mikasa�??s life from another Titan and is baited by Armin, Connie, and Mikasa to help fend off a procession of Titans from a storage headquarters for the compressed gas used to power their maneuvering gear.
Eventually, Eren appears to run out of energy and begins to be overwhelmed by the Titans. The sight of the Titan that killed Thomas proves to be enough to drive Eren to throw off the Titans holding him down and kill the Titan by biting its nape off. As soon as the massacre is over, Eren falls to the ground and his human form emerges from the back of his Titan form�??s neck to the shock of all the onlookers. He is retrieved by an overwhelmed Mikasa.
When he regains consciousness, Eren finds himself cornered with Armin and Mikasa by a hostile military force which has decided to execute him as a possible threat due to his powers. Due to his hazy memories of what happened during the battle Eren is unable to answer their questions satisfactorily and they fire a cannon at him and his friends. Eren instinctively grabs onto his two friends and bites his own hand, partially transforming into a Titan and blocking the cannonball with the Titan's hand. While the cannon is being reloaded, Eren reveals to Mikasa and Armin that he intends to use his power to go over the wall and try to reach his father's basement on his own. Mikasa and Armin both protest the decision and Eren tells them that he will stay behind if Armin can convince the amassed soldiers not to kill him.
Armin's plea falls on deaf ears among the soldiers who have cornered them, but the trio is saved by the arrival of Commander Dot Pixis, who intervenes on their behalf. Pixis takes the three to the top of Wall Rose and questions Eren personally. Eren's answers satisfy Pixis and the man calls his subordinates to help devise a plan to retake Trost with Eren's powers. A plan is made for Eren to use his Titan form to reseal Trost's gate with a boulder that is in the middle of the district.
Upon his transformation to execute the plan, Eren loses control and attacks Mikasa before inadvertently rendering himself unconscious. When his body fails to regenerate, the mission is declared a failure. Armin arrives on the scene and convinces Mikasa to go help fend off the Titans while he tries to get through to Eren. Armin manages to rouse Eren slightly by stabbing into his Titan's nape and piercing his human body. Armin manages to bring Eren back by reminding him of their desire to see the world together, causing Eren to remember how he wanted to join the Survey Corps and destroy all the Titans. Eren moves the stone and is able to plug the hole in the Wall at the sacrifice of the rest of the team members (with the exception of Rico, Armin, and Mikasa). They are saved from the desperate situation after Eren�??s transformation back to human by Levi Ackerman.
After the events of Trost, Eren is placed in the custody of the Military Police and kept chained in a dungeon prison cell in the Royal Capital beneath a courtroom. While he is there, he is paid a visit by Commander Erwin Smith and Levi. Upon hearing his motive to kill Titans, Levi says he will accept him into the Survey Corps. Eren is left there for some time before being escorted by Corps members to the courtroom where he was tried, with Darius Zackly preceding over events.
During his trial, the Military Police and Church of the Walls call for his dissection and execution while the Survey Corps, argues in favor of using his power to their advantage in scouting missions. After an outburst by Eren, Levi savagely beats him to prove that Eren will not pose a threat to him. It is decided his fate will be decided after a �??test�?� mission with the Survey Corps. Afterward, Erwin thanks him for his cooperation.
The Female Titan
After joining the Survey Corps, Eren is assigned to Levi's Special Operations Squad and sent to an abandoned castle which had formerly served as the base of operations for the Survey Corps. While there, he is tasked with cleaning duty by Levi while also helping Squad Leader Hange Zoë with her Titan experiments.
During one of the experiments with his Titan abilities, Eren is lowered into a well before being told to transform into a Titan, in case he loses control. However, Eren is unable to activate his Titan abilities. He is eventually brought back to the surface and has his wounds tended to by Levi's squad. Later, whilst bending over to pick up a dropped spoon with his injured hand, Eren accidentally triggers his Titan ability in a partial transformation, creating a Titan hand in a small explosion.
Levi's squad surrounds Eren, demanding that he prove he is not a threat to them, and the situation has to be defused by Levi and Hange. After the incident, with the help of Hange's deductions, Eren learns that a Titan transformation requires him to have a clear goal in mind in addition to self-injury.
Eren meets some of his classmates from the 104th Training Corps who have opted to join the Survey Corps. He learns of Marco's death from Jean, who lectures him about his responsibilities to humanity.
After a month of training, Eren and the Survey Corps embark on the 57th Expedition Outside the Walls. During the expedition, Eren is positioned at the center of the Long-Distance Enemy Scouting Formation, where it is the safest. However, per Erwin's orders, the knowledge of Eren's location within the formation is given only to a select few while the rest of the soldiers are given false information in order to misdirect any spies within their midst.
It soon becomes apparent that something is going wrong with the expedition. Squad Levi receives the news of the decimation of the right-wing of the formation and sees black flares signaling the presence of an Abnormal in close proximity, even though their position should be safest. Soon after, the soldiers head toward a Titan Forest. The central column of the scouting force, including Eren and Levi's squad, are told to enter the forest while the rest of the soldiers stand guard at the perimeter of the forest to prevent any Titans from entering.
After entering the forest Squad Levi is set upon by a seemingly intelligent Female Titan, who is able to dispatch pursuing soldiers with ease. Seeing the soldiers perish one by one, Eren is tempted to use his Titan power to save them. Levi gives him permission, but Eren decides to trust in his team after recalling the trust they have had in him.
As the Titan approaches the squad, it is caught in an ambush set up by Erwin. Eren and the rest of his team excluding Levi ride out of the forest firm in the belief that the Titan was captured and her human self apprehended. The squad stands by and discuss Erwin's decision not to tell the soldiers about the plan while Levi consults with the commander. Eren wonders why is it that not even the elite soldiers were told about it, angering Oluo and Petra. Eld agrees with Eren, stating that Erwin must have had a reason. Remembering the odd question Erwin asked them when Sonny and Bean were killed, they realize that if they had answered they would probably be trusted enough to be let in on the operation.
Seeing a flare that indicates the Corps is retreating, the squad begins making their way out of the forest. They notice another signal flare fired in response, believing it to be Levi's. However, the mysterious soldier kills Gunther and then transforms into the Female Titan to resume her pursuit of Eren. The remaining three team members tell Eren to go on while they attack the Female Titan. Eren agrees to retreat but regrets his decision when the Titan manages to overpower and kill them. Filled with regret, Eren transforms and engages the Female Titan.
Even though he initially had the upper hand against the crippled Female Titan, Eren quickly expends all of his energy and ultimately loses the fight. His human form is eaten by the Female Titan just as Mikasa arrives on the scene. Working with Levi, Mikasa is able to able to rescue Eren from the Titan. The Survey Corps returns to Wall Rose in defeat. Due to the mission's failure, the military orders that Eren be turned over to the government.
Before Eren can be handed over to the Military, he is let in on a plan by Erwin to capture the Female Titan, whom Armin has deduced to be Annie Leonhart of the 104th. Eren is initially shocked and angry at the accusation, refusing to believe that such a betrayal by one of his fellow trainees is possible. However, he is forced to acknowledge that the fighting style the Female Titan exhibited was exactly the same as Annie's. Reluctantly, he agrees to participate in the plan to capture her.
After Armin convinces Annie to join them in escorting Eren out of Stohess District, they lead her to the entrance to an underground tunnel. Eren begs her to join them and prove her innocence, but Annie refuses. Several soldiers ambush Annie and she transforms, forcing Eren and his friends underground. Eren tries to go into Titan form by injuring himself but cannot due to shock and disbelief at Annie's betrayal, and his friendship with Annie making him unwilling to fight her. As Mikasa and Armin depart to attempt to lead Annie away, Eren is reminded of the lives Annie took as the Female Titan as well as his vow to exterminate the Titans, allowing him to finally overcome his inhibitions and transform into his Titan form.
Even though Eren is in better control of his Titan and is equipped with knowledge of his opponent this time around, he is ultimately no match for Annie's superior fighting technique and hardening ability. He manages to throw Annie into some buildings but gets his right leg taken off by a hardened kick from Annie, who proceeds to slam him into a building and pummel his head repeatedly with her hardened fist.
Annie attempts to climb Wall Sheena to escape but has her fingers severed by Mikasa, causing her to fall back to the ground, where she is set upon by Eren, who holds her down as corps soldiers pry open her nape.
Clash of the Titans
When Wall Rose is supposedly breached, Eren is among one of the teams within the area to survey the Wall for the breach. While en route to Ehrmich District, Eren is appalled to learn that Minister Nick helped keep the Colossus Titans inside of the Walls secret and begs him to tell them anything else he might know. Nick proves to be tight-lipped and Hange instead decides to inform Eren of her plan to try to replicate the Female Titan's hardening ability in Eren so that he can use his own Titan's body to seal Wall Rose.
After learning from Nick that Krista Lenz will be able to divulge more secrets about the Walls, Eren accompanies Hange's squad to Utgard Castle to save the soldiers trapped there. The soldiers arrive just in time to save their comrades, excluding the members of Squad Mike who have already died. During the rescue, Eren kills his first Titan while in human form but is scolded for breaking cover and endangering himself.
In the aftermath, Eren is among the soldiers on top of the Wall recovering from the ordeal at Utgard. He questions Ymir's condition and gives Reiner a hand up the Wall as Historia explains her true parentage. Helping Armin up as well, Eren checks on Reiner after hearing about how his arm was injured in Utgard Castle; this, along with the moment he was almost killed by the Female Titan, causes Reiner to comment that he does not expect to live much longer and that they should keep fighting until the breach in Wall Maria is covered. Bertolt reassures Reiner that they do not have to wait much longer and can return home soon. Hannes arrives with news that there is no hole or a breach in the Wall, confusing everyone and prompting Eren to question if Hannes is drunk. As Hange orders them to stay on standby in Trost District, Reiner wishes to speak with Eren in private.
Reiner reveals that five years ago, he and Bertolt breached the Wall and launched their attack on humanity. He reveals their respective identities as the Armored and Colossus Titans, going on to say that their objective was to wipe out all the humans living in the Walls, but that there is no longer any need and says that if Eren comes with them, they will not attack the Wall again and they will go to their hometown. Mikasa notices the three discussing and Armin beckons them. Eren recalls Hange inquiring about Reiner and Bertolt potentially being accomplices to Annie and tries to persuade Reiner that he is tired and simply not thinking straight. In response to Eren's disbelief, Reiner removes the bandage on his arm and reveals that his wounds are regenerating. Mikasa attempts to intervene and protect Eren, but Reiner and Bertolt transform into their Titan forms and attack. Reiner grabs Eren while Bertolt kidnaps Ymir and Eren, disgusted by his former friends, transforms himself.
Eren and Reiner grapple with one another while Hange's squad attempts to take Bertolt down. Eren grows increasingly angry as he remembers all of the pain Reiner and Bertolt inflicted on Paradis, but he is unable to do any damage to Reiner with brute force due to the latter's armor. Instead, he opts to uses Annie's fighting techniques, grappling with Reiner until he locks his foe in a submission hold. As Eren holds Reiner, he focuses pressure on one of Reiner's arms, breaking the armor around the joints and tearing the arm off completely.
With Reiner crippled, Eren falls back to the Wall where Hange orders him to find a way to destroy Reiner's legs so that he can flee without being pursued. Eren is caught off guard by Reiner attacking him head-on, but he manages to lock Reiner in another submission hold. As Mikasa slashes Reiner's legs, Eren begins applying pressure to his nape, causing its armor to crack. However, before he can break Reiner out of his Titan Reiner begins roaring, causing Bertolt's Titan to roll off the top of the wall, landing atop both of them.
Eren and Ymir are taken to the Titan Forest by Reiner and Bertolt. He attempts to transform into his Titan form in spite of losing his arms, but Ymir wisely tells him not to as she too is also healing from losing both her arms. While she questions Reiner and Bertolt about the Beast Titan they are after, Eren broods in silence as Reiner reveals that humanity has no hope in fighting against the Titans. He and Bertolt offer both him and Ymir a chance to join them in order to protect their loved ones. Eren furiously refuses and blames both Reiner and Bertolt for causing the hardship he has had to endure. Eren continues to violently resist his captors, causing Reiner to knock him out. His unconscious form is strapped to Bertolt's back to being carried.
Eren awakes in the midst of an attempt by the Survey Corps to rescue him and immediately begins resisting his captors again. In an attempt to free himself from Pure Titans which have begun to attack him, Reiner is forced to stop using his hands to cover Eren and Bertolt, exposing them and giving Mikasa the opportunity to attack Bertolt. As she rushes forward, Bertolt dodges and Eren tries in vain to warn Mikasa of a Titan behind her.
Armin distracts Bertolt, giving Erwin enough time to cut Eren free from his captors. Mikasa then grabs him before landing on their horses. As they flee, a large Titan is sent flying and creates a large explosion of dust. This causes some soldiers to fall off their horses including Eren and Mikasa. As the two pick themselves up, they are horrified to see the Titan which ate Carla approaching them.
Hannes steps forward to protect Eren and Mikasa. While he distracts the Titan, Eren shouts for Mikasa to free him, believing that he is the only one who can save their lives. But when he tries to transform into a Titan, nothing happens because he is still recovering from his injuries.
He is devastated when Hannes gets eaten, devastated at the thought that nothing has changed from when he was 10, and was powerless to save either his mother or Hannes. Mikasa attempts to reassure him, telling Eren that she wants to thank him for teaching her how to live, and for wrapping his muffler on her which she always wears. Filled with newfound conviction, Eren vows to Mikasa that he will wrap the muffler around her as many times as he needs to. In a desperate attempt, Eren punches the Smiling Titan in the hand as it reaches for him. Eren screams and another Titan attacks the Smiling Titan. Elsewhere around them, the Titans that were fighting the soldiers turn and start running to the Smiling Titan, surrounding and devouring it. Eren takes advantage of the situation and flees, carrying Mikasa on his back. When Reiner and Bertolt pursue him, he screams again and the Titans turn to attack them.
The Uprising
Eren and the unified military group manage to return to Wall Rose. Armin notes how Eren seemingly controlled the Titans on the way back, but Eren is not confident in the ability.[134] While Eren tries to remember exactly what happened and how Jean tells him that whether it was worth paying the price to rescue him will depend on what Eren does going forward. Eren finds it odd to be lectured by Jean but recognizes that he is right and vows to no longer hesitate.
Approximately one week later, he and the new Squad Levi move into a secluded cabin. Levi begins a meeting with his and Hange's squads, announcing their plan to use Eren's hardening to seal Wall Maria. At Levi's request, Hange begins testing Eren's hardening abilities, but little success is had. Eren fails to show any signs of hardening and the longer he tries, the more malformed his Titan body becomes. Eren is discouraged by the results, but Hange and Levi manage to cheer him up by reminding him that they learned a lot about his abilities and limitations.
After receiving word from Erwin, Eren moves out along with the rest of Levi's squad and heads to their rendezvous point in Trost District. However, he does not accompany them inside. Instead, he waits with Historia in an undisclosed location. The two of them bond over dreams they cannot remember and expectations they cannot meet. Historia notes that the others must be disappointed by how empty her true self is compared to her Krista persona, and Eren tells her that he likes her new personality more than her old one.
One morning Eren remembers a new detail from his time with Bertolt, Reiner, and Ymir and takes the information to Hange. Hange departs with the information to take to Erwin and Nifa returns with a message from the night before. Erwin's plan is to have Historia take the throne since the Reiss family is the true royal family. To lure out Rod Reiss, Eren and Historia are handed over to the Reeves Company to be delivered to the Military Police.
Eren and Historia are tied up in a remote location by Dimo Reeves so they can be handed over to the Military Police's First Interior Squad. Reeves hides tiny blades on Eren so that he will be able to cut himself in case of an emergency. However, the Military Police anticipate a trap and take away the hidden blades before they can be used. Eren and Historia are then loaded into a carriage.
Eren awakes in a large crystalline cavern, gagged and restrained by chains atop a raised platform. As he struggles to break free, he spots Historia approaching below him. He is glad to see she is safe and Historia assures him that her father has been misunderstood, having only acted in ways that are beneficial for humanity. Eren finds the cavern they are in familiar and Rod suggests that he and Historia lay their hands on Eren's back to help him remember. When they do, Eren begins seeing his father Grisha's memories and is stunned to learn that he ate his own father.
Once the three of them are alone, Rod opens a satchel and reveals a syringe, which Eren recognizes as the same kind his father had used on him. Rod explains that the Founding Titan's powers can only be fully utilized by a member of the Reiss family. Kenny, overhearing Rod's words as he returns, is distraught to learn he will not be able to use Frieda's power if he devours Eren. Intending to force Eren and Historia to battle each other over possession of Frieda's power, Kenny cuts open Eren's forehead so that he will be able to transform, before retreating to a safe distance.
However, Eren refuses to transform. Heartbroken to learn that Frieda could have put an end to the Titans and prevented so many of the deaths that had occurred since the fall of Wall Maria, Eren begs Historia to eat him so that she can use the power that his father stole to save humanity. Moved by Eren's words, Historia incapacitates her father and begins freeing Eren from the restraints that still hold him, to Eren's shock and despair.
As Rod transforms himself into a Titan, Eren begs Historia to allow her father to eat him. Historia refuses, explaining that even if she is an enemy to humanity, she is still Eren's friend. She is blown back by the winds created from Rod's transformation, but Levi and his squad arrive in time to save her and get the keys to Eren's chains. The ceiling begins caving in due to the sheer size of Rod's Titan and the squad's escape is blocked. Eren realizes that everyone with him is going to die.
As the squad considers ways to escape, Eren apologizes for being useless and Levi tells him that he has a choice to make. Spurred by Levi's words, Eren grabs a bottle labeled "Armor" that had fallen out of Rod's satchel and bites into it. After transforming into a Titan, Eren is able to harden it and reinforce the structural integrity of the cavern around it.
The squad climbs out of the ruined cavern and regroups to chase after Rod, who has become an Abnormal Titan twice the size of the Colossus Titan. Eren still considers being eaten by Rod to save humanity but Historia argues that the Reiss family has already tried undoing the brainwashing and once Rod has the Founding Titan's power, he can alter everyone's memories so they have no interest in restraining him.
Historia argues that taking away the Reiss family's ability to alter memories was the only way to save humanity, prompting Eren to remember his father's words from right before he injected him. His father asked him to learn to control this power to save Mikasa, Armin, and everyone else. They meet up with Erwin and his forces, and the soldiers all proceed to Orvud District to intercept Rod's Titan.
Eren helps the Survey Corps stack barrels of gunpowder together on a net of rope. He watches Historia stand up to Erwin and admires how strong she has become compared to him. Feeling melancholy that humanity has to depend on someone like him, he spots children in Orvud who remind him of himself as a child and thinks back to when the Colossus Titan appeared. Armin tells him that it will be different from before because this time the soldiers on the Wall can fight back. Eren punches himself, to try beating out his feelings of uselessness.
When Rod's Titan arrives and pulls itself up to the Wall, Eren transforms into his Titan form. He takes the net stuffed with barrels and shoves it into the open mouth of the Titan, which is hot enough to make the gunpowder ignite. This causes the Titan's head and neck to explode and enables the Survey Corps soldiers to attack the flying chunks of meat in hope of destroying the nape.
Two months after Historia becomes queen, Eren and the other members of the 104th volunteer at an orphanage that she has started. As Eren helps Historia, she asks about the progress of his hardening experiments. Eren says they are going well, but wants to speed up the training before Reiner and Bertolt come back. She asks what he would do if they meet up again, and Eren says he will have to kill them. Eren compliments Historia for the work she has done, prompting Mikasa to abruptly interrupt the conversation and take Eren's load away from him.
Thanks to Eren's hardening experiments, the Executioner from Hell is developed, giving soldiers a reusable weapon to safely kill Titans without risking their lives. However, creating the materials for one puts a strain on Eren's body.
As Eren and his friends eat dinner in the mess hall, Eren recalls the events of the past few months, particularly those concerning Ymir and how she said her life was like a nightmare when she was a Titan outside of the Walls. He wonders if there was a time when he was like that too, but all he remembers is what his father saw when Eren ate him. Jean advises that Eren focuses on remembering is the identity of the Survey Corps soldier from his father's memories. Jean jokes that a headbutt from their instructor would bring the memory back and Eren realizes that the man his father had seen was instructor Keith Shadis.
Return to Shiganshina
The next morning, Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Levi, Hange, and Sasha visit Keith Shadis, their former instructor. Eren asks him to tell them all that he knows and Keith tells him how he met Grisha and everything he knows about him. Keith confesses that he is nothing more than a bystander and that he has no power to change things.
The day before the operation to retake Wall Maria, the soldiers are having a great dinner in order to ready them for the operation. Eren and Connie are forced to restrain Sasha to keep her from eating everything. The two reflect on how much things have changed in three months since the battle of Trost. Jean starts a fight with Eren by insulting him and their fight is eventually stopped by Levi.
After the fight, Eren, Armin, and Mikasa have a conversation about their future. They talk about how strong and weak people need to combine their abilities in order to succeed. After mistaking a Garrison with Hannes, Mikasa wonders if they will be able to go back to easier times when they retake Wall Maria. Eren answers that it may not be possible, but that is the reason why they must make them pay.
The next morning, the soldiers are ready to travel. They get very surprised when they see that the civilians are cheering them. Finally, Erwin orders the start of the operation, and Eren travels towards Shiganshina along with Squad Levi.
While traveling on foot under the cover of night, Eren apologizes to Mikasa, who is escorting his horse in addition to her own, but she insists that he save his energy so that he can seal Wall Maria. Eren is surprised to find himself shaking in anticipation. He insists that he is just shaking from the cold, but Armin reassures him that it is normal to feel scared of the Titans and reminds Eren of when he was nearly eaten during the Battle for Trost. Eren reveals that he sacrificed himself to save Armin that day because he had remembered the first time Armin told him about the outside world, which had caused him to realize just how much the Titans had taken from the humans.
Arriving in Shiganshina, the Corps soldiers quickly scale Wall Maria with their vertical maneuvering equipment. Soaring over Wall Maria, Eren transforms into his Titan form and uses his hardening abilities to seal its hole. Mikasa retrieves him and carries him back to the top of the Wall.
While going to meet up with the rest of the Corps, Hange orders Eren's squad to take up positions along the top of the Wall after observing a signal flare fired by Erwin. To Eren's shock, Reiner emerges from the inside of the Wall and kill a Corps soldier before being attacked by Levi. As Reiner transforms into his Titan form, Eren is surprised again by the sudden appearance of an army of Titans on the outskirts of Shiganshina, with the Beast Titan leading them.
On Erwin's orders, Eren descends into Shiganshina where he changes into his Titan form and acts as bait to draw Reiner's attention. After leading Reiner away from Wall Maria, Eren begins to engage him, using his new hardening abilities to cover his fists in armor. Although he initially has the upper hand against Reiner, Eren is momentarily overpowered and pinned to the ground. He manages to regain control of the fight and throw Reiner off of him, and into an area where Hange's squad can attack. As Eren watches, Hange's squad blinds Reiner with their Thunder Spears before blowing open his Titan form's nape and apparently killing him.
After being informed that Bertolt is approaching, Hange orders Eren and his comrades to retreat from Reiner's immediate vicinity to avoid the blast from Bertolt's transformation. After Armin fails to negotiate with Bertolt, Bertolt transforms into his Titan form, and Eren uses his Titan form to shield his comrades from the blast. Armin gives control of the squad to Jean and Eren begins to retreat from Bertolt's position on Jean's orders, using a nearby building to keep himself hidden.
Eren attempts to draw his attention away from Wall Maria and the Survey Corps' remaining soldiers. Bertolt ignores him and Eren and his comrades are left with no choice but to engage him. As his comrades flank Bertolt, Eren grabs one of Bertolt's legs and attempts to push him back. Bertolt simply kicks Eren into the side of Wall Maria, leaving him incapacitated.
After Armin wakes him up, Eren reluctantly goes along with Armin's plan, pretending to fall down to the ground and become immobile in front of the north gate while Armin pretends to act shocked. Escaping his Titan form after hardening it, Eren then grapples onto the nape of the Colossus Titan, slices it open, and yanks Bertolt out. Once Bertolt is incapacitated, Eren finds Armin's charred body.
Eren laments that he could not prevent Armin from being killed. He notices Zeke closing in on him and threatens to kill Bertolt if Zeke comes any closer. To Eren's shock, Zeke claims that he has been enslaved by his father Grisha's ideology, and promises to save him. Before Eren can question him Zeke retreats as Levi arrives. Noticing that Armin is still breathing, Eren begs Levi to use the Titan serum on him. Levi initially agrees before deciding to give it to Erwin upon learning that the commander is still alive. He tries reminding Levi of all that Armin accomplished as reasons that he should be spared. Levi ultimately chooses Armin. As Armin returns to his human form after devouring Bertolt, Eren and the 104th go to reunite with him.
When Armin wakes up, Eren explains what has transpired to him, including Bertolt's death. He, Hange, Levi, and Mikasa make their way to his basement. However, they discover that the key Grisha had given him does not fit the lock. Levi kicks down the door and they enter an office. It seems to be nondescript until Mikasa finds a keyhole in Grisha's desk. Eren tries the key on it and it opens to reveal a drawer that appears to be empty. They find a false bottom in the drawer and underneath it are preserved books. Eren, with Mikasa, opens one of them and finds a picture of a family. On the back of it is a message of Grisha that the picture is called a "photograph" and that humanity has not perished.
Upon returning victorious to the Walls, Eren and Mikasa are placed in detention for disobeying orders from Levi and Hange. While serving his sentence, he helps Armin verify the contents of Grisha's books regarding the outside world and the true nature of the Titans by comparing them with the memories that Grisha passed down to him. During one of his nightmares, he is startled awake with the realization that Dina, Grisha's first wife, was the Smiling Titan who had devoured his mother.
Hange and Levi release Eren and Mikasa from detention ten days early, informing them that their punishment was only to set an example to the public and that their help is needed to chart a new course for the Survey Corps in light of the new revelations about the outside world.
Eren and the survivors attend a meeting with the rest of the military, including the Queen, to discuss the results of the expedition to Shiganshina and the information about the outside world recovered from Grisha's books. During the meeting, Eren realizes that the reason he was able to activate the Founding Titan's powers in the past was that he had physical contact with Dina Fritz, a member of the royal family. Eren chooses to withhold the revelation, reasoning that it is not the proper occasion to discuss such a controversial idea, especially if it involves having Historia turn into a Titan so he can control the Founding Titan.
The surviving members of the Survey Corps later attend a ceremony to be commemorated with medals for their bravery and success in Shiganshina. Before the ceremony begins, Floch Forster confronts Armin about the decision to save him over Erwin, angering Eren. An argument begins but before it can escalate it was broken apart by Jean. Armin, agreeing with Floch's argument, is comforted by Eren who reminds Armin of his dream to see the ocean. The ceremony begins and while receiving his medal from Historia, Eren kisses her hand and begins receiving his father's memories of the night he killed the Reiss family. Along with his father's memories of that night, Eren also receives memories from himself, sent to his father from the year 854 via the Attack Titan, effectively allowing him to see the future. The memories he receives of the plan he will enact to save Eldia leaves Eren visibly distressed.
In roughly a year the Titan Guillotine vanquishes all Titans within Wall Maria, Shiganshina District is repopulated, and the Survey Corps hold their first expedition beyond the Walls in six years. The Survey Corps encounters a deformed Titan, who had been crawling towards the Wall, and Eren identifies the Titan as a former compatriot. The Survey Corps follows the deformed Titans trail until they reach the edge of Paradis Island.
The Survey Corps go down to the beachfront, dismounting their horses and taking off their boots. Armin is overjoyed by the ocean, but Eren solemnly notes that the other side of the ocean does not hold freedom as he used to believe. Enemies exist on the other side of the ocean and Eren wonders if killing everybody across the ocean will bring the people of the Walls freedom.
Marley
In the year 851, Eren works with Hange Zoë and the Survey Corps to prepare for Marleyan action against Paradis Island. Eventually, the first scouting ship arrives and Eren uses his Titan form to pick it up and beach it on the shoreline. At a meeting between members of the Eldian Military, Eren supports the plan made by Zeke Yeager and recalls the encounter with Dina Fritz that caused him to activate the powers of the Founding Titan. He reveals to a disappointed Hange and Levi Ackerman that he stayed quiet so that Historia Reiss's life would not be threatened.
Over the next three years, Marley sends a total of 32 scouting ships to Paradis Island, all of which ended up missing or destroyed by Eren and Armin Arlert's Titans. At a shooting range the next year, Eren asks Armin if he saw anything from Bertolt Hoover's memories that could help them. Armin ponders if it is possible for Paradis Island and Marley to resolve the misunderstandings diplomatically instead of fighting and Eren brushes it off. Arguing that everyone still sees them as devils, he reaffirms his position that Paradis must strike the first blow in order to buy the island time.
Eren later attends a meeting between Kiyomi Azumabito, from the nation of Hizuru, and the heads of Paradis on forming an alliance. When Eren hears that one of the three paths of action would involve Historia succeeding Zeke as the Beast Titan, he refuses to accept the plan.
In 853, while helping his friends assemble a train line, Eren is disappointed to hear that Hizuru has been unable to find additional allies for them. Mentioning that Zeke only has two years left to live before he dies, Eren ponders who should take his Titan when he himself must pass it on. His friends offer themselves but he tells them that they are too important to him and he wants them all to live long lives.
Roughly a year later, Yelena is able to discreetly meet with Eren at least once during a festival in Trost. Eren and Yelena feel a similar sense of danger regarding Marley, though Yelena would later deny advising him to infiltrate the nation on his own. Eren also learns from Yelena that Zeke wishes to speak with him in regards to his true intentions to free Paradis.
Eren is one of several Survey Corpsmen who journey to Marley's mainland to meet with Kiyomi. Although his companions are thrilled by the new experiences beyond the walls, Eren remains stoic, only commenting on things which he recognizes from his father's memories.
Eren leaves the meeting with Kiyomi early and comes upon several tents near her estate, including one inhabited by the family of a boy Levi saved earlier that day. Mikasa comes looking for him and Eren brushes off her worried comments about his reckless behavior, instead of commenting on the similarities between the boy's family and their experiences when Shiganshina was breached. Without warning, Eren asks Mikasa why she displays so much concern for him. As Mikasa stammers that it is because they are family, they are joined by Jean, Armin, Connie and Sasha. The 104th graduates are welcomed into the tent by the boy's family and spend the night drinking and carousing.
The soldiers sit in on a hearing between politicians to discuss Eldian mistreatment. They are horrified when the speaker begins calling for the hatred being shown towards Eldians to be redirected towards the Eldians living on Paradis. As the others are listening, Eren quietly leaves the meeting.
Before the end of the Marley Mid-East War, Eren manages to infiltrate the Marley military and disguises himself as an Eldian soldier. He returns to Liberio with injuries and is sent to the hospital along with the other wounded and traumatized Eldian soldiers. After being knocked to the floor by a terrified soldier scared by Koslow, he is helped back up by Falco who points out that his armband is on the wrong arm.
Using the alias of Kruger, Eren is visited by Falco while he is in the hospital. He admits to Falco that he has been faking amnesia so that he will not be discharged and asks the boy to send a letter for him from outside of the internment zone so that the hospital will not figure out that he is faking his illness. Eren says the letter is to his family, to let them know he is all right.
During his stay in Liberio, Eren meets with Zeke and learns about the true nature behind the Ackerman clan lineage. Zeke asks if Eren would go through with his plan set to save the Subjects of Ymir by euthanizing them. Eren recalls how their father killed a majority of the royal family on Paradis to take the Founding Titan away and ensure victory for Eldia. Despite this, Eren mentions that their father was mistaken and agrees with Zeke's earlier claim that Grisha had brainwashed him into following his plan. Eren laments that there would be no suffering had the Eldians never been born and agrees to work with Zeke.
Eren continues to receive visits from Falco, who delivers more letters from Eren in his stead. During this time, Eren learns that Reiner is still alive and is Falco's superior. After Falco leaves, one of the hospital's doctors sits down next to Eren and introduces himself as Yeager. The two talk about Falco and Yeager asks Eren to stop using Falco to run errands so that there would be no risk of undoing the hard work that had returned peace to the Grice family. Eren asks Yeager if he has any regrets about his family, causing the doctor to have a mental breakdown.
Just before the start of the Tybur festival, Eren leaves the hospital and takes up residence in a building near where Willy Tybur will be performing a play for the assembled Marleyans. En route, he runs into Falco and asks the boy to bring Reiner to him. Reiner asks Eren why he is in Marley, and Eren responds that he is there for the same reason as Reiner; he has no choice. Revealing that he has already slit his hand in preparation to transform if need be, Eren insists that Reiner sit with him to listen to the play.
As Willy continues his speech, Eren regenerates his leg and apologizes to Falco for deceiving him, admitting that the letters Falco sent were not to his family but to his allies stationed in Marley. Eren overhears Willy saying that he is a threat to the peace of Marley and muses that he is indeed the bad guy before arguing that the Warriors were the bad guys when they invaded Wall Maria. Eren asks why Reiner and the others broke the wall and Reiner says that it was due to their mission: to find and capture the Founding Titan in order to save the world. When asked by Reiner if he has come to kill him, Eren admits that, just like Reiner did on Paradis Island, he has seen that there are both good and evil people in Marley. He admits that he understands the turmoil Reiner went through, causing the latter to break down and ask that Eren kill him.
Helping Reiner to his feet, Eren says that he now understands that they are both the same. Gripping his hand, Eren declares that he will continue until he wipes out the enemy and transforms into the Attack Titan. Breaking out of the building, he kills Willy and flings himself on top of the military high command in the crowd, killing them. As Eren rampages, the War Hammer Titan emerges and he attacks it before it can fully form. It appears he has the upper hand until a hardened pillar impales him.
The War Hammer Titan finishes its formation and constructs a hammer to fight Eren. Eren breaks the pillar trapping his Titan only to find the ground covered in barbed spikes, preventing him from lifting his feet. Eren hardens his Titan's hands in an attempt to block the War Hammer's next strike but fails, and the Attack Titan's head is sheered away. Eren emerges from his Titan's nape and calls for Mikasa, who attacks the War Hammer at the same time the rest of the Survey Corps attack the Marleyan military.
The War Hammer Titan survives Mikasa's attack and fires a pike of its hardened skin towards them. Mikasa quickly grabs Eren and flees away of the Attack Titan's body, barely evading the pike. Eren comes up with a plan to defeat and eat the War Hammer Titan and asks Mikasa to distract the enemy enough for him to enact it.
As Mikasa fights the War Hammer Titan, Eren remembers that this Titan's body materialized from its feet rather than its nape and deduces that its human body is located somewhere underground. Transforming back into the Attack Titan, he sees a hole in the street from where a long cable of flesh comes out, attached to the War Hammer Titan's left heel. Eren puts his hand through the hole and grabs the crystallized body of the younger sister of Willy. Eren severs the connection, disabling the War Hammer.
As Eren is about to eat the War Hammer, Galliard appears behind him in his Jaw Titan form and bites Eren's neck. With Levi's help, Eren smashes Galliard against the building and tries to take him off his back, but Galliard manages to flee. Because of the distraction, Eren fails to notice that the War Hammer has been generating a new Titan body and he is impaled in a tree-like structure made of hardened skin.
Trapped, Eren breaks his hand free and attempts to consume the War Hammer's user once more. When he bites the crystal, he breaks his Titan's jaw on the hardened surface. Eren resurfaces from his trapped Titan form and immediately transforms once again. The Jaw Titan runs across the plaza to assault Eren and resorts to using its claws to strike him. During the attack, Eren blocks a slash from Galliard using the younger sister of Willy's crystal. Noticing that the attack had been able to successfully produce cracks in the crystal, Eren devises a plan to use Galliard's Titan to get to the younger sister of Willy. When Mikasa cripples the Jaw Titan's legs in a surprise attack, Eren grabs it and disables it before jamming the crystal into its mouth and using its jaws to break through. He successfully kills the younger sister of Willy, consuming the fluids from her body and giving himself the powers of the War Hammer Titan.
He moves to finish off the Jaw Titan also but is stopped by the arrival of an incomplete Armored Titan. Eren punches Reiner, but Reiner manages to rescue the Jaw Titan. Eren emerges from his Titan, proclaiming that their mission is done, leading Mikasa to ask that they go back home. As they grapple up to the airship, Eren promises Reiner that they will meet again.
Once on the airship, Eren is met by Levi, who kicks him and orders that he be restrained. Eren does not resist but insists that nothing in his letter was wrong. Eren waits in a room with Zeke and Yelena aboard the airship when Jean arrives with Falco and Gabi, saying that Gabi shot Sasha. Hange berates Eren for having forced the Survey Corps to accommodate to his plans and abusing their trust. Eren is unrepentant, saying that the destruction of the Marleyan military leadership has bought them time. When Connie comes in to announce that Sasha has died, Eren asks about her final words. On hearing that it was "meat," Eren disturbs everyone by laughing.
After returning to Paradis, Eren is taken to a cell underground in accordance with his arrest.
War for Paradis
Hange arrives and notes that Eren was talking to himself before attempting to make small talk with him. Eren demands to know what Hange visited him for and Hange chastises Eren for inflaming the rest of the world against Paradis with his attack. Eren reveals that he stole the power of the War Hammer Titan in Liberio and claims that he can free himself any time. Grabbing Hange through the bars of his cell, Eren demands to know what Hange can do to him, and asks if there is any other way for them to act.
At roughly the same time Darius Zackly is killed by a bomb in his office, Eren uses his Titan abilities to escape from his cell. He seals up his exit route with hardened skin to prevent his captors from following him. After escaping, Eren meets up with the Yeagerists, a group consisting of Floch and the other recruits who sided with him during his incarceration. Eren declares that they need to locate Zeke.
Eren hears the proposal put forth by Commander Pixis and refuses the offer. He instructs his followers not to negotiate with the Military. He then learns from Griez, one of his new followers, that Hange, Mikasa, Armin, and the other Survey Corps soldiers are located at a restaurant where Marleyans work and travel there.
While he instructs Floch to restrain and move them, he goes to a back room where Mikasa, Armin, and Gabi are, claiming he wants to solve their issues peacefully. When asked by Armin if Zeke and Yelena have convinced Eren to join their side, Eren brushes it off and merely states everything he has done since the attack on Marley was by his own free will. Mikasa insists he is being controlled but Eren ignores her, explaining how he met with Zeke and spoke brother to brother, learning much about his plan.
Eren reveals to Armin that he is aware of the latter's frequent trips to visit Annie and suggests he is being unknowingly influenced by the memories Bertolt had of her. When Mikasa goes to defend Armin, Eren mentions what he learned of her family lineage from Zeke. He muses that the only reason she has stayed by his side is due to her blood and instincts to protect her host, explaining that Ackermans, once awakened, often suffer unexpected headaches due to their true self fighting the urge to protect their recognized host. He mentions the true Mikasa died the day he saved her from her kidnappers. Armin demands Eren to stop, but the latter goes on to say he has always hated people like Mikasa: obedient slaves that do nothing but follow orders.
Armin attacks Eren, but his point is proven when Mikasa instinctively grabs Armin and slams him into the table. Armin manages to punch him anyway and Eren responds by beating Armin into submission. He orders both of them and Gabi be taken away, but becomes briefly enraged when Armin calls him a slave for following Zeke.
Later, Eren takes two soldiers and visits Gabi in her holding cell and offers to help her save Falco in exchange for her issuing a call for help to Marley to root out any possible spies. Eren is caught by surprise when one of the soldiers aims a pistol at him after stabbing the other in the throat.[248] He is unfazed by Pieck's threat of shooting him, reminding her that her mission is to presumably take him alive. However, Pieck claims that she wishes to help liberate the Eldians. Not trusting her intentions, Eren pricks his finger and orders her to prove herself to him and the Yeagerists. When Pieck offers to reveal where her fellow infiltrators are, Eren heals his finger and orders, Pieck and Gabi, to be handcuffed together.
Once on the roof, he prepares to injure himself again and orders Pieck to reveal her fellow infiltrators. She points at Eren himself, and the Jaw Titan suddenly attacks Eren, taking both of his legs. As he transforms, Eren spots a fleet of Marleyan airships approaching their location. Eren trades several blows with Galliard, but soon the latter breaks off and begins to retreat. Eren is perplexed that Marley would launch a counterattack so soon after the raid on Liberio. Despite Yelena pleading with him to flee underground, Eren decides to fight Marley on his own. Noticing Reiner transforming into the Armored Titan while parachuting from an airship, Eren guesses that he must have had something to do with Marley's quick response to the Liberio attack and the two proceed to engage each other.
Initially, Eren overpowers Reiner, using his superior fighting skills and hardening to break through Reiner's armor plating. After Reiner begins to fight back and briefly stuns Eren, Galliard attempts to ambush him from behind, but Eren uses the War Hammer Titan's abilities to repel them. Eren is shot in the head with a round from Marley's anti-Titan artillery, leaving his motor skills severely impaired. Eren is able to generate more spikes when Galliard tries to attack him again but is shot in the head a second time. Stunned, Eren is unable to dodge Reiner's attack and is skewered by one of the spikes generated from the ground. Despite this, he manages to generate a third set of spikes to impale Reiner once more and smacks Galliard out of the air when the smaller Titan tries to attack him from behind. Eren tries to hold off Reiner and is able to rip through the latter's jaw. Despite this, Reiner continues to incapacitate Eren until he is saved due to Reiner being struck by a projectile thrown by Zeke from atop the Wall.
With Zeke's arrival, Eren begins trying to reach him in hopes of activating the powers of the Founding Titan while Zeke keeps Marley's Warriors at bay. As he grows closer to Zeke's position, Eren is set upon by the Jaw Titan once again but makes short work of him, repeatedly slamming down on the Titan's head and nape. However, this distracts him long enough for another anti-Titan artillery round to be fired into his head again and for Reiner to catch up to him and begin grappling with him.
The fighting is momentarily interrupted by the arrival of Colt and Falco who reveal that Falco has accidentally ingested Zeke's spinal fluid. Zeke is undeterred and screams, ordering a transformed Falco to attack Reiner. Falco's Pure Titan does not prove to be enough to force Reiner to let go of Eren, so Eren exits his Titan and begins running to Zeke on foot. However, before he can reach his brother Eren is decapitated by a blast from an anti-Titan artillery rifle.
As his head lands in his brother's hand, Eren suddenly finds himself standing before a pillar of light in an unknown land. He is greeted by a chained Zeke, who informs Eren that they are standing in the Coordinate. Zeke explains that he was able to bring the two of them into the unknown land by touching Eren's head in the moments before he could die. They have finally unlocked the Founding Titan's power.
Eren notices a young girl approaching them and Zeke informs him that the girl is Ymir Fritz. Zeke encourages him to take control of Ymir and activate their plan to euthanize all Eldians, but Eren inquires as to why he is sitting there in chains. Zeke explains that the chains are Karl Fritz's vow, keeping anyone with royal blood from acting freely and again asks Eren to begin their plan. However, Eren reveals that he has no intention of following Zeke's plan and was only using him to obtain the Founder's power.
Eren approaches Ymir and requests he be given control of her power, only to be ignored. To Eren's horror, Zeke reveals that during his time waiting for Eren to arrive in the unknown land he discovered a way to erase Karl Fritz's vow and that Ymir will only obey people with royal blood. Zeke subsequently chains Eren in place, explaining that he has been brainwashed by Grisha. Despite Eren's protests, Zeke promises to free him and begins showing him memories from Grisha's life.
Zeke systematically takes Eren through different moments in Grisha's life on Paradis, detailing how Grisha covertly used his occupation as a doctor to gain information on the royal family in spite of the risk posed to his new family. Eren is largely unfazed by the memories, only surprised to learn that Grisha located the Reiss chapel years before he actually attacked the family and that he still thought of Zeke years after arriving to Paradis. While Zeke is reeling at the revelation that their father still cared for him, Eren moves along to the next memory.
As Eren and Zeke go through more of Grisha's memories, Zeke asks why Eren betrayed him if he was not brainwashed by Grisha. Eren responds that he has always believed in stealing the freedom of anyone who opposes his own. Eren and Zeke then go to the memory of Grisha writing about how humanity has not perished beyond the walls, and are both caught off guard when Grisha is able to see Zeke for a brief moment.
Eren and Zeke travel to Grisha's memory of the day he stole the Founding Titan from the Reiss family. As he observes the exchange between his father and Frieda Reiss, Eren becomes increasingly agitated by Frieda's claims that the Eldians must take on the world's wrath for the sins of their ancestors. Despite Grisha's declaration that he will steal the Founding Titan from the Reiss family, Eren is disappointed to see that his father cannot bring himself to carry out his mission. To spur his father forward, Eren reminds Grisha of his fellow restorationists and Faye, ordering him to finish what he has started.
Zeke returns the two brothers to the present, despite Eren's objection that they have yet to see Grisha's final memories. Eren reveals that four years prior he had been given a glimpse of his own memories of the future while peering into Grisha's memorie
