2000 years ago
Who was Ymir? What was Ymir’s titan?
Was Ymir really named Ymir? She never spoke, and it seems unlikely that her oppressirs would have cared to ask her name. So perhaps her name wadn’t even Ymir. As I though, the Eldians were indeed Germanics and Vikings, and based in this it may be that the Eldians actually gave Ymir her name after she first turned into a titan. They would probably have known what the name Ymir means: Progenitor of all Giants.
Ymir herself was not actually an Eldian. Her nation was devestated by the Eldians before being taken as slaves. Perhaps it could be that Ymir’s real name was actually Krista. I think this to be possible, considering Frieda called her Krista. After all why else would Frieda, whom knew Ymir, call her by that name? Perhaps we will get more on Ymir’s backstory. She has yet to speak as well, and we know nothing of her before she became a slave.
Many people seem to assume Ymir just willingly went back to the King. But this was never shown. Instead we know that some Eldians saw her transform. Most shifters are out cold for a while after inheriting their titans. If this was the case the Eldians may have found Ymir and retrieved her. Perhaps some would argue the Eldians to be too scared. But these were Vikings, whom may have even worshipped giants in norse mythology. I just doubt Ymir would have returned to the King on her own considering he ordered her to be ‘free’.
Ymir’s Progenitor titan is not the godess we expected. That was just Eldian propaganda to make Ymir look good. Instead she is a very large titan unlike any of the 9 titans. Because she is a combination of all 9 titans Ymir would have had qualities from each if them. It also seems tht she may be about 40 meter tall, taking into account her largest Titan: 60 meters, and smallest: 4 meters. The lack of any eyes or tunge in titan form seem to further represent her slave nature. The slaves were threatened to have an eye goughed out, and we did see their tongues being cut out.
Why was the power split into only 9 powers?
Ymir was the Progenitor. The first of all titans. Upon her death, she was cannibalised by her daughters: Maria, Rose and Sheena. We even see the Paths tree branch off into 3. Upon their fathers dying wishes, Maria, Rose and Sheena too would have probably birthed 3 children each and passed on their powers.
So Ymir had 9 powers within her. Then Maria, Rose and Sheena each held 3 powers within them. And their children, Or Ymir’s 9 grandchildren each held 1 power within them. But assuming those 9 grandchildren held up the tradition of each bearing 3 children and passing on the powers, why did it not split into 27 powers? I imagine this 4th generation of shifters would have been equally confused by this.
Here are some possible reasons:
1. The Eldian empire realised that each time the power was split, it grew weaker compared to the original Progenitor. So they limited it to 9.
2. The 9 realsm of norse mythology might be represented through the titans. So it was impossible for the Eldians to split up the 9 reals or titan powers any further, no matter how hard they tried.
3. The ‘parasite’ or source had 9 pairs of legs. Perhaps the source itself could not split itself into more than 9. The Eldians once again would have tried, but to no avail.
Are all Eldians Ymir’s decendants? Dosen’t that make them all royal?
[[MORE]]
This was pretty confusing. Ymir herself isn’t even an Eldian, only the King and father of her children was. But I do think all current Eldians are subjects of Ymir. The Eldian empire would have tried its damm hardest to have all Eldians be part of Ymir’s blood. All other Eldians that were not of Ymirs blood would have been considered unworthy and no one would have reproduced with them. Hence those Eldians would have died out.
So then if all Eldians and titan powers are decendants of Ymir, does that not make them royal? Well I don’t think so. Being ‘royal’ does not seem to have anything to do with being related to the first King Fritz, nor Ymir. We know only a very few Eldians are ‘royal’. I think what is considered royal here is the genetic makeup of the founding titan specifically. So being royal is not a title, its genetics. The genetics of the founding titan, which was the ‘heart’ or the core of the Progenitor Titan.
Hence all decendants of only the Founding titan are considered royal. The Founding titan among two other titans wpuld have been passed down to one of Ymir’s daughters. Im going to go with Maria, since she was the oldest and hence would be the next Queen of Eldia. Maria would then have passed the Founding Titan on to one of her own children. That child would be the first founding titan, and all its children, regardless of if they became a titan or not, would have had been royal. Meanwhile the children of the other 8 titans would just be considered normal Eldians.
As for the Eldians that were used as mindless titans. I imagine it possible that the Eldian empire would have tried relentlessly to increase the number of its 9 shifters, perhaps by doing so they gave some Eldians some spinal fluid to drink. But since those Eldians did not consume the actual spine they only turned into mindless titans. The King or Queen at the time might have screamed for order, realising that the mindless titans obeyed them, and only them. Hence a new opportunity for a greater weapon was born.
The outcasts, criminals and lower classes would have been used for mindless titans. The besiged nations whom had been enslaved and raped would have produced children that were probably also used as mindless titans.
What is up with the 13 year curse? And why could Ymir not regenerate?
There could be many possible answers. Some think she could not regenerate because no one was in paths to ‘repair’ her. But this theory is based on the idea that Ymir heals all injuries sustained by shifters. None of this is confirmed or canon. I think shifters don’t neex Ymir’s help to regenerate. It seems Ymir only builds titans, with no sign of her doing any repairs. But she did repair Zeke! Zeke was different. He was dying. He was not just injured, he was actually dying. And as a royal he made a wish not for this to end here. Ymir had to save him because of his royal blood.
Secondly, if Ymir died because no one was in paths to repair her, then who even built her titan in the first place? Its a contradiction. Because Ymir was the first she may not have needed anyone to build her titan body. Perhaps the source did it for her.
Or perhaps since time is infinite and non-linear in paths, Ymir actually built her own titan after her death. But if that were the case and she could heal others, then she could have just healed herself.
I think Ymir died because she lost the will to live. Isayama has addressed that before and must have mentioned it for a reason. So possibly Ymir died because she didn’t want to live anymore. She gave her all for the King. She brought him wealth, fought and killed his enemies, extended his empire, built infrastructure, bore him 3 heirs and saved his life. And what was the thanks? Nothing, no compassion, not even a helping hand. I think Ymir thought she could win the King’s love. She just wanted to be loved. We even see her as a child watching longingly as an Eldian pair kissed. But when Ymir realised that the King would never love her, never see her as more than just a slave and tool... well what was there to live for? Not even saving the Kings life earned her any love or compassion, and so she knew that nothing ever would.
Its not clear if she died 13 years after inheriting her power, but judging from her age, and the age of her daughters it seems very likely that it was indeed 13 years. Perhaps the curse is as simple as that. But it must also be noted that when taking the blame of her people upon herself, it was 13 hands that condemed her. 13 people decided her fate and blamed her for the pigs. It is this that would lead to her accidentally inheriting her power. Another thing is the source under the tree. It had 13 pairs of ‘tentacles’ on its back which extended upward to connect to Ymir. Perhaps this source feeds from its host for 13 years before seeking out a new healthy host.
Was that Marleyan the great Hero Helos?
No. Simply put, he was not. Yes he was a captive Marleyan and he did kill the Progenito Titan, but he was not Helos. Helos story is only from 1700 years later. By then no one would have remembered that one Marleyan. No one even knew the true story after 1700 years. It was all myths and legends by then. Besides, that Marleyan would have been killed instantly riggt there and then, and so would his comarades most likely. I doubt any of them lived to tell the tale. Even if they did, while at first that Marleyan may have been hailed a Hero, he would have very likely soon be cursed and shunned. After all because of him, Marley now had to deal with 3 titans instead of 1.
Further, Helos was never real. He never existed. Helos was a story invented by King Fritz the 145th, and the head of the Tybur Family. None of it was real, as is confirmed later by Willy Tybur. Helos would also not have been inspired by the Marleyan, as no one even remembers him in the current time.
What was the source under the tree?
I really don’t know... Yams will hopefully expand on that in future chapters. But I have heard some interesting theories about it being Nidhogg, the serpent dragon under Yggdrasil. Another theory is that it some alien life form that crashed to earth with a meteor. There were also suggestions it could be the roots of Yggdrasil, but the clearer scans debunk that. Others think its still the actual devil himself, perhaps hiding his true form.
I myself really do not know. But check out other peoples ideas, there are some really interesting ones.
Are there any other spoilers in the season 2 ending?
I don’t think so. There is already a clear shot of the unleashed Colossus titans in there, but that frame was already used in season 3 when the restorationists discussed the rumbeling. The panel of the 9 titans with a godess looking Founder was also already in season 3, as were many other shots.
But I have seen some people get confused about the titans coming from the ocean and attacking a town. Just to remind some people, that was the battle of Lago. The humans travelling out into the dessert was also part of the battle of Lago. It was said that the survivors fled to the dessert, where titans arose and killed them. That would represent the shot of the titans rising with the sun. So really none of these images are about the future or the rumbeling.