Hey! I wanted to reach out to you cause your metas always make so much sense and are a great read. What do you think about the theory that Armin might be from Reiss descent? I mean he looks exactly like Historia (it can't be a coincidence), his grandfather had the book about the outside world lying around in his house and I really think that him being chosen over Erwin will make a big difference plot-wise. Maybe we'll get more answers? (sorry about my english, I'm not a native) Thanks!
We joked about Historia and Armin being twins long before he started cosplaying her for the Survey Corps. Then Uri came along and wow. Young Uri looks so much like Armin that thoughts of them being related were simply unavoidable.
Factor in the book and his mysterious parentage and, yeah, it’s not unimaginable to think there is more to the “Armin Reiss” theory than crack potential.
But from an in-story perspective, the only way I see it making any sense is if Armin needs to inherit Bert’s memories for reasons of plot. This is a huge stretch to me, but I’m going to go ahead and spell out this ridiculous scenario in detail for you.
It seems all Reiss’s have magic memory powers. Neither Rod nor Historia had the Coordinate, yet with the help of the crystal cavern, they were able to unlock Eren’s memories. Now crystals from the cavern have been widely distributed throughout the walled world as a light source. Their energy is everywhere. So if Historia touches Armin while Hange shines her crystal flashlight on him, wha-la! potential for Bert’s memories! Like I said, it’s a stretch.
I just thought of one other reason for Armin to be a Reiss. If Rod was correct that only a Reiss can use the Coordinate, Armin being a Reiss Titan is a handy dandy thing. He could eat Eren and gain the ability and save the world. But this would mean Grisha was dead wrong about everything, and the story thus far has been a lie. Especially the part about Eren being the protagonist.
I swear, I hate to even mention these as possibilities.
My reason for Armin not to a Reiss is more straightforward - isn’t he special enough as he is? He’s the smart one, the inspirational one, and now the titan shifter one - does he also need to be the bastard prince one? How many checkboxes need to be by his name?
Thanks for your ask! And the nice comments about my blog. I hope you still feel that way after reading this ridiculousness ^^