Attack on Titanis a series that has kept its fans guessing ever since it first started. The whole story is shrouded in mystery, and just when it seems like the pieces are starting to come together, and the world is beginning to make a lot more sense, a drastic plot twist will come along to shake things up which keeps the story fresh and exciting.
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The majority of these twists have been well met by fans, however, there are some that have proven to be alittle more controversial, and this primarily relates to the revelations that are so big that they essentially flip the characters and the story entirely on its head. Nonetheless, it’s hard for anyone to argue that these twists haven’t resulted in an incredibly captivating story, and with part 2 of the finalAttack on Titanseason just around the corner, it feels like the perfect time to reflect on all the shocks and surprises this beloved series has given fans over the years.
7Titans In The Walls
The majority of the first season ofAttack on Titanis dedicated to establishing the world and the characters that we will be following throughout the story, giving viewers a glimpse at how the Survey Corps train, how brutal missions outside the wall are, and the sheer terror of the Titans that have boxed humanity into a corner.
However, at the very end of the season, once the battle between Eren and Annie is over, fans are treated to a simple teaser that blew everyone away when they first saw it, and that was the reveal that a Titan was actually inside Wall Sina. Sure enough, this set the internet ablaze with theories and predictions of where this would lead the series, and presented the first hints at what the Titans actually are, and how they were more closely related to humans than fans may had initially thought.
6Annie Reveal
While Eren had been able to take on the form of a Titan in Season 1, many fans believed that this was a one-off scenario and that, in classic shonen fashion, Eren must have some unique ability that enabled him to take control of one, but this theory broke apart completely when it was revealed that the Female Titan, who had been obliterating entire Survey Corps squadrons, was actually Annie Leonhart.
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Up to that point, Annie had been presented as a quiet, cold, and stoic soldier who just so happens to be proficient in hand-to-hand combat, but whenshe finally reveals to Arminthat she is actually the Female Titan, it expanded the lore so much as fans wondered why she would take on the form, and how she even retrieved it in the first place.
5Life Outside The Walls
One of the biggest reveals to come from the expedition back to Shiganshina was that the humans who resided within the walls weren’t the only people still alive in the world, and that there was in fact an entire civilization on the outside. All of this was confirmed with a simple photograph which confirmed that Grisha, Eren’s father, had lived elsewhere before moving toParadis Island.
The place being referred to here is Marley, a modernized militaristic nation that uses the Titans as weapons to win their battles, but while this mysterious area was referenced earlier in the story, it was upon seeing it in Season 4 that fans were really taken aback by just how much care and attention had gone into building this entirely new area. Learning that there was life outside the walls was surprising enough, but seeing that its people were thriving was even more shocking.
4Eren Being Devoured
While theAttack on Titanmanga was certainly growing in popularity before the anime had even aired, it was really only when the anime appeared that the series began its climb to becoming a worldwide phenomena, and while the gruesome setting and terrifying Titans certainly contributed to this, this twist also got a lot of people talking about it.
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As early as episode 5, Eren and the other members of the Training Corps are sent on a mission to help wipe out the Titans at Trost and protect the civilians while they evacuate. However, as the soldiers are picked off one by one, Eren eventually gets trapped in the jaws of a Titan after saving Armin, which seemingly kills him after it crunches down. Luckily, Eren manages to survive the encounter since the Titan only bit off his arm, not his spine where the Titan power was held, but this was definitely still an unnerving moment that suggested for a second that maybe Eren wasn’t going to be the main character after all.
3Eren Manipulating Grisha
Thanks to the Attack Titan’s abilities and a little help from Zeke, Eren was able to actually manipulate his father into acquiring the Founding Titan from the Reiss family which effectively kicks off the entire story, and enables Eren to put together hisRumbling plan.
Despite Grisha hesitating, realizing that he isn’t a murderer and would never take the lives of a family,Eren urges him to kill each of themby reminding Grisha that he must finish the story and avenge his friends Dina, Kruger, and his little sister. This single plot twist pieced together so many parts of theAttack on Titanstory, and no one could have ever seen it coming, especially considering it fully confirmed Eren to be the real antagonist of the story.
2Reiner And Bertholdt’s Secret
This reveal came so out of left-field that many fans had to rewind just to make sure they heardexactly what Reiner said, and didn’t accidentally mishear anything. After a dangerous expedition to save Ymir, someone whose knowledge of the Titans would prove useful to the Survey Corps, Reiner and Bertholdt start acting very suspicious, with Reiner visibly becoming more and more distressed by the ongoing events.
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When atop Wall Rose, Reiner pulls Eren to the side and nonchalantly reveals to him that he is actually theArmored Titan, and Bertholdt is the Colossal Titan, before Reiner than asks him to come quietly to his “hometown” to avoid any further destruction. The way this massive surprise was revealed so casually only made it even more jaw-dropping, and it truly shifted the story into high gear with the lore expanding greatly from that point forward.
1The Origin Of The Titans
At the very beginning of the show during a flashback, we see Eren’s father promise to the young man that he will show him the contents of his basement as soon as he gets home, but withEren never seeing Grisha againafter that point, this was never able to happen. Fans had been theorizing for a long time that the information that could reveal the origins of the Titans lay within this basement, so when an expedition was set out to return to the Shigashina District in the story, it became clear that the reveal wouldn’t be far away.
The three books left behind in the basement explained nearly everything there was to know about the origins of the Titans. Not only did they talk aboutYmir Fritz’s deal with the Devil of All Earthwhich granted her the Power of the Titans, but it also revealed that Titans were actually created by the people of Marley after the Great Titan War, who were injecting Eldians with Titan Spinal Fluid and dumping them onto the last standing Eldian territory, Paradis Island, in an attempt to box them in and punish them for their actions. Needless to say, this was by far the biggest plot twist on the show, and one that no fan could have ever predicted.
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