#snk paths

[smoothie-sailing]

The freedom we give to ourselves

How does one find freedom in a cruel and cynical world? What does freedom even mean? What would it feel like? How will we know when we see it? These have been recurring questions throughout this story. We seem to explore attempts at the answer to this question through the perspective of characters.

Kenny Ackerman’s life in pursuit of power led him to realise a truth about himself and the people around him. this idea of being drunk on something. That People need something to believe in to keep them going, to keep them from being broken by life’s suffering. Something that they hope gives each of their lives meaning. Each character’s pursuit towards this idea is what they believe will give them freedom from suffering.

Zeke was no exception to this, he sees the suffering he experienced as a suffering inherent in being an Eldian in this world. He was drunk on the idea that his and the collective suffering would stop if Eldians ceased to exist.

Despite this proposition, Zeke was able to find true freedom not by pursuing his personal mission through to the end but by letting it go. This push to move forward: to explain himself, his life, his suffering. It has brought him only more dissatisfaction and pain. He kept moving forward and when Eren took power from Ymir he was just sitting inert in Paths. It is not until his conversation with Armin that he truly looks back and reflects. Armin talks about a time where he was just having an aimless moment shared between loved ones. Zeke looks within and finds himself playing catch with Xaver. It has no meaning but it is a moment in his life where he’s not suffering but nor is he striving to push forward with some grand purpose. He is simply… existing. Without complication. Without justification. He is just someone who exists in this world because he was born into it. A simple moment with a profound effect: that life has intrinsic value and purpose regardless of how cruel it may seem. Zeke has now found that peace he was looking for his entire life. That feeling stays with him right up to the moments of his death. He can’t take back all the blood he has shed but for a few moments to take in the clear sky of the day. He can just exist.

There has been an exhaustive debate in and out of the story of who or what the true devil of humanity is supposed to be. The devil of all earth that plagues humanity. I don’t believe it is Eren but I do believe he is the person in the story most seduced by it. I put forward that the devil of humanity isn’t a person born once in a generation, it is not a creature or some sort of supernatural force. The devil of humanity is the cycle of violence itself. A tiny glimmer of light or fear of the dark that pushes us into war, into chaos, into hell.

We may believe we see something beyond it. Something we can gain or something we fear will be taken from us if we don’t answer the call: “Do this and your dream will come true, you will be safe, you will be loved, the pain will stop” Just once. Then once again. Then once more. Before you know it, you are gripping the wheel of a sinking ship so heavy you have no hope of turning it on your own. But that may be the very thing that can stop it. Hope. The hope you give yourself in small acts of faith. Kindness. Compassion. Empathy. Seeing beyond the walls that trap your spirit. Not to seek out freedom taken from you but to reconnect with the freedom you always had that never left, your humanity.

If this is Isayama’s message, that freedom is in finding one’s humanity. One finds freedom by reconnecting with their humanity. I put forward that the most free person in this story has been Mr Blouse, Sasha’s father.

Mr Blouse is the person in the story most consistently connected to his own humanity and humanity as a collective whole. He makes it a principle to stay connected to it. So much so that when given a justifiable choice to take revenge on Gabi for killing his daughter. He instead chose to forgive her and console both her and Niccolo showing her the most humane act she had ever received. She did not have to justify her existence as a good Eldian in that moment, she was accepted as another person who deserved to exist even if she’d made mistakes.

From Gabi’s experience and perspective, nothing made more sense than Mr Blouse killing her for what she did. What he decided to do was so simple yet its impact was profound. He reached Gabi because he saw something real beyond answering hate with hate. He sees a precious freedom beyond this cycle, and now thanks to what he did Gabi can see beyond it too and was able to find her humanity.

How does this relate to the main character of the story, Eren. Eren’s case is a very tragic one. No one is more emotionally attached to the idea of freedom than Eren, it has a specific imprint within his psyche. However there also lies the imprint of the wall within his psyche and all the trauma associated with it. From an early age Eren, at his most traumatised, found a resolve to find freedom from this horrific nightmare by destroying those who took his freedom from him at any cost. But in finding this resolve and trusting it above anything else, he had unknowingly damned himself.

The wall is so strongly associated with trauma in Eren’s mind, and now with the release of the wall titans, he is literally weaponizing his trauma and aiming it at the rest of the world. Yams is establishing that humanity is the only real freedom we have and Eren had always expected freedom to be beyond the walls. However, because of Eren’s compounded trauma, humanity is the ultimate enemy. In sacrificing his humanity and wiping all of it from the outside world, he is destroying the freedom he wanted for himself and for everyone in the world.

This happens all in the basement of his old home in Shiganshina. Eren was on the cusp of moving beyond his trauma when suddenly all of that pain, all of those triggers were reformatted, given new context when he learned the truth of his world. Why all of this pain and suffering happened to him. Once he met the formative father of his new world rebirth – Eren Kruger.

Eren has found stability in this turmoil by latching onto Kruger’s mindset, believing Kruger to embody what he needs to be to save those he cares about. In this new large and scary world, Eren sees Kruger as the person he will have to be to exist, to make a change. Eren has assimilated Kruger into his identity, evident from Eren taking Kruger’s name during his time spent in Marley. In how we are introduced to him post time skip, Eren is pursuing action using Kruger’s words to young Grisha about the Zeppelin.

Freedom is hard fought and after fighting tooth and nail and suffering and pushing as hard as he can, he will have his freedom.

Culminating in the Jaeger trio at the Reiss family cave, we finally see how far Eren’s resolve has pushed him. Eren is not the devil but he is the one most seduced by it (pushing forward the cycle of violence). He tells Grisha to do this to justify his own belief that this was necessary. To sacrifice his humanity, the humanity he managed to find in the walls after a life of pain and anger as soldier of revolutionary radicalism. For Eren, sacrificing one’s humanity is what is necessary. But Eren misunderstood what he was supposed to take away from Kruger’s life.

There is an additional meaning behind Kruger’s final words to Grisha – in sacrificing his humanity to get to this point, he has lost everything precious to him. All that exists is the end goal, the zeppelin. Seeing the zeppelin is… all there is. It won’t give you back what you lost or what you have told yourself you need to take back: aka your humanity. Eren’s “sight” is the zeppelin and he believes seeing it will give him back the freedom taken from him. It’s no coincidence that Grisha looks like Eren when he reflects on the day that traumatised him the most.

We see Kruger talking to Grisha further after he is given his mission. As Kruger prepares the serum for Grisha he mentions that he won’t know who will be watching this memory. If we take the ironic nature of this story into consideration, this can also mean that he doesn’t know if whomever is watching these memories will stop watching before he is about to say what he says. It takes place at the end of the chapter after we see Eren finding his new resolve and coming to grips with what he has learned and what he needs to do.  This may be implying that this further discussion between Kruger and Grisha is something that Eren didn’t actually see. Kruger’s final important message to Grisha is to love someone. Be it a wife, a friend, the people around you. In specific terms, treasure your humanity and preserve it no matter what happens. Like Mr. Blouse, treasure the humanity found in others, even in enemies who have wronged you or may wrong you. Because that is what it means to find life intrinsically valuable.  That is the only way to end this cycle of violence and ironically what Kruger has realised after losing so much of his own and now Eren in turn.

So if the path to freedom is to find one’s humanity does this mean that the cycle of violence can be wiped out and the devil of humanity will stop plaguing the world? I don’t think that’s a question Yam’s is capable of answering nor does he intend to. 

However, I think he may propose that if it is possible for the main character of the story, the one who has been the most seduced by the cycle of violence and spilled the most blood is able to give himself back his humanity after willingly sacrificing so much of it. Then there is hope for anyone of us to find true freedom. Not everyone, but anyone. Because not just knowing but realising that we are all human, and valuing that, is what makes us truly free.

[marley-warriors]

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.

[cidsideral]

To all the subjects of Ymir:

My name is Eren Jaeger. I am using the power of the founding titan to adress all of ymir’s subjects.

The hardening of all the walls present on Paradis island has come undone. And all titans entrapped within them hace started marching. 

My objective is to protect the people of Paradis, the place where I was born and raised. However, the world wishes for the annihilation of the people of Paradis. 

The hatred that has been swelling up for so long will certainly not end, until not just the paradisians, but all of Ymir’s subjects have been eliminated. 

I reject this wish. The wall titans shall trample all earth outside of this island underfoot. Until all life existing there has been exterminated from this world.

[sonderous-opia]

Is that seriously... Goth!Mikasa and Otaku!Armin in an actual panel of SnK??? So is it a multiverse thing instead of a timeloop thing????

[chyiraart]

Chapter 121 Shingeki no Kyojin Hajime Isayama

[notoisstrange]

A really quick drawing since I'm not really in the mood to draw today. •́ ‿ ,•̀

[metasnkpotato]

Paths’ aesthetic potentiel source

Maybe it’s just me who overinterpret that, but recently, I’ve watch one of Isayama’s avowed influence for SnK, In this Corner of the World (a Japanese animated wartime movie, if you don’t know it I recommend very highly to watch it cause it’s an absolute masterpiece).

And there’s one scene, which is a kind of the key for all the story cause it’s from that one the script is taken by its grievous major stake, aka irredeemable and tragic losses caused by war’s cruelty, where the main character is projecting herself able to escape war’s barbarity by going beyond imaginary fences’ gaps,  which she’s seeing that way :

A place produced by her imagination and ability to dream / fantasize the real (one of the main themes of the story as well).

But well, maybe it's just an over-interpretation, anyway I found the potential similarity interesting enough to mention it 

[spaceoceania]

Okay so basically the paths dimension is aot's Seven Walls right?