Attack on Titan is a hard-hitting journey through gut-wrenching themes and truths about life that are too difficult to accept. The anime presents a story of a lost world built upon blood and bones, leading to further destruction and the elimination of life. The Eldians, who once became tyrants, paid a heavy price for their supremacy over the world.
This cost was passed down to future generations when the events of centuries ago came back full circle. Eren Yeager attempted to execute what was bound to happen eventually. Although his decision to initiate the Rumbling is controversial, the underlying ideology—no matter how twisted or unacceptable—fueled the catastrophic event that many still struggle to understand.
The Eldian Empire’s Collapse, the Formation of Paradis Island, and the Threat of the Rumbling
At the height of its power, the Eldian Empire fell victim to internal strife. The great families holding the Nine Titans became entangled in conflicts, igniting a destructive fire that consumed everyone. Witnessing the devastation his empire caused, the last king of Eldia, Karl Fritz, sought to end the bloodshed once and for all.
He detested his ancestry and the methods Eldians used to acquire power. As a last resort, Karl Fritz collaborated with the Tybur Family to bring about the fall of Eldia. He desired for his empire to vanish from the Earth, but lacked the resolve to commit genocide himself.
Instead, he chose to protect a few remaining Eldians and offered them a temporary refuge, hoping that the world would eventually eradicate them entirely.
Tormented by guilt over the Eldians’ actions, Karl Fritz planned to weaken the Eldian Empire from within, making it vulnerable to attacks by Marley and its allies. After the downfall of the Eldian Empire, King Karl relocated the remaining Eldians to a remote island, where he erected 50-meter tall walls to shield its inhabitants.
Although Karl Fritz believed his people deserved the world’s impending punishment, he could not fully abandon them. He aimed to offer them protection and temporary happiness by erasing their memories, hoping that if they were unaware of the Titans and their past, they might avoid repeating their ancestors’ mistakes.
Nevertheless, Karl Fritz also believed that if Marley or other nations decided to assault the island, the consequences for its inhabitants would serve as atonement for their sins. Therefore, he used his Founding Titan’s abilities to create millions of Wall Titans to confine the Eldians.
These Wall Titans, through their hardening abilities, formed three enormous walls to safeguard the remaining “humanity.” Despite his intentions, Karl Fritz issued a warning to the world about the catastrophic consequences that would follow any disruption of the island’s peace. He declared that if the island were attacked, the Founding Titan would initiate the Rumbling.
The Founding Titan’s Threat of the Rumbling and Marley’s Infiltration of Paradis Island
When King Karl Fritz moved the remaining Eldians to Paradis Island to spend the rest of his life in peace, he issued a warning to the world. He threatened anyone who intended to harm the Eldians on the island with a global catastrophe. He informed them that the Wall Titans he had created could be activated using the Founding Titan’s powers to unleash devastation.
The millions of Titans would march across the world, commanded by the Founder, crushing everything in their path. This was a strategy to deter the world and protect the Founding Titan. However, Karl Fritz considered it an empty threat, as he could not devise such a defense without a failsafe.
To ensure that the Rumbling could never occur, Karl Fritz imposed a “war renouncing vow” on his people. This vow is an inherent feature of the Founding Titan, designed to prevent its inheritors from waging war or initiating the Rumbling instinctively.
Despite understanding the truth, anyone who inherits the Founding Titan will uphold this vow, and the royal family will always protect this secret from the public. Although the Marleyans might have suspected that Karl Fritz might not actually carry out something as destructive as the Rumbling, they remained cautious.
Even if these were merely empty threats, the potential risk was deemed too great for a full-scale invasion.
After the Great Titan War, Marley realized that possessing Titans alone was insufficient. They were repeating the mistakes of the Eldians and falling behind in military technology. To secure their dwindling resources, Marley focused on Paradis Island and its wealth.
Fearing Karl Fritz’s threat, Marley decided to conduct an infiltration mission, which becomes the central plot of Attack on Titan. Their plan was not only to secure resources but also to capture the Founding Titan. Meanwhile, Marley used the outer regions of the wall as a punishment zone for Eldians who remained in Marley.
The Colossal Threat of the Wall Titans and the Hidden Truth of Paradis Island’s Walls
Karl Fritz constructed three walls named after Founder Ymir’s daughters. These 50-meter tall walls were designed to keep nearly everything out, except Bertholdt’s Colossal Titan. Ironically, the Wall Titans closely resemble Colossal Titans, suggesting that Karl Fritz’s threats were not as empty as they appeared.
A single Wall Titan, standing at 50 meters, could destroy an entire town in moments. Considering that a single Colossal Titan could punch a hole through these immense walls, a million Wall Titans marching together could cause unimaginable devastation. Under the Founding Titan’s command, Wall Titans could break free from their stationary positions and march until the entire world was annihilated.
The truth about the walls was first exposed during the battle between the Attack Titan and the Female Titan in the Stohess District. The sight of a Colossal Titan-like figure embedded within the protective walls shocked the public.
However, Eren and his companions later discovered that the Subjects of Ymir were all bound to the will of the Founder, made to forget everything to prevent them from seeking the outside world. Only members of the royal family remained unaffected by this memory loss and upheld the so-called order on Paradis Island.
The Rumbling’s Catastrophic Impact on the World
After learning what lay beyond the walls from Grisha’s diary, the top authorities on Paradis Island began re-evaluating the Founder’s power. Since the threat of the Rumbling was not enough to deter Marley from carrying out secret missions on the island, the Eldians needed to revive the old fear.
Eren, not being of royal blood, turned out to be a loophole in the War Renouncing Vow. He could activate the Founding Titan’s powers by coming into contact with royal blood. This not only granted him access to the Paths and the Founding’s powers but also freed him from the vow’s constraints.
When Zeke and his anti-Marley volunteers arrived on Paradis Island, they devised a plan for a small-scale Rumbling to intimidate the world into leaving them alone for a while. However, it was noted that a small-scale Rumbling would have limited impact until the world advanced technologically.
The real turning point came with Eren’s resolve when he accessed his future memories. Discovering that the only way for Eldians to survive was to destroy everything outside the walls, Eren committed to a path of intentional genocide.
Upon contact with Zeke, Eren overpowered the royal blood’s will by convincing Founder Ymir that her only path to freedom was through total destruction, thus granting Eren the power to act. Chosen by Ymir, Eren immediately exerted his will and released all the Wall Titans from their hardened state.
Eren and the Titans advanced south towards Marley, with the Wall Titans taking several days to fully leave the island. The deafening and earth-shattering noise of the Titans’ colossal footsteps flattened everything in their path.
By the time the Rumbling reached the Marleyan port, it had already devastated 600 kilometers of land, and it took just four days to obliterate the entire continent. This led to global-scale destruction, with some people dying from sheer shock, millions being crushed under the Wall Titans’ feet, and thousands turning to ash from the intense heat of the Titans’ steam.
The only way to halt the Rumbling was to sever Eren’s connection with Zeke, a task achieved with Armin’s assistance. Once Levi decapitated Zeke, the connection was broken and the Rumbling ceased.
The Wall Titans turned into steam, but by the time Eren was stopped, the Rumbling had decimated 80% of the global population. A threat once seen merely as a deterrent had wrought devastation from which it would take centuries for the world to recover.
