Theory The Titan serum

[Demonspeed]

The adaptation of the Trost battle reminded me some things and I have a theory about the titan serum.

I think it's a drug which permits become a titan-shifter but has a secondary effect which makes you dreaming.

When Eren used his titan powers for the first time, he was dreaming about titan slaughtering(one of his fondest dreams), the second time he was unconscious and was dreaming about his family(with his mother still alive). We can interpret that Eren wanted to live a peaceful live with his family but the titans were an hindrance, it's probably one of the reason why compared to the 2 others MC, he was acting like a jerk who didn't care about his family.

Now, why did Grisha use this serum on Eren? Because he knew Eren is the human who wants to kill titans the most( he represents all the hatred of the humans), so he would have obviously killed titans in a battle. And some clever humans(like Armin) would have tried to use him as a weapon.

In fact, it's because he wants to eradicate the titans so much that he has been sparred by the Legion. Another titan-shifter would have probably acted like Eren during his 2nd transformation( going berserk and killing anything that moves while making a peaceful dream).

The serum functions like this:

1-Dreams motivated by hatred and destruction-> The titan destroys what his user wants.
2-Peaceful dreams-> The titan destroys everything.

So, when the titan-shifter abuses of his power...he confuses his dreams with the reality. It would mean that

Spoiler

Reiner and Bertolt are actually mentally ill and that the Ape Titan can't make them return to their village. Especially Reiner who has a split personality now. When you think about it's pretty unrealistic to think that the Ape Titan could do that.

I want to say that they are mentally ill and that they are actually fighting for nothing. It would make sense with all the illogical things they said. I remember Reiner said one time that he would never be able to return to his hometown.

They were probably guinea pigs which destroyed themselves their hometown(tragic I know). I remember Bertolt said he didn't remember anything about the destruction of his village. Him and Reiner were probably unconscious and when they regained consciousness, they glimpsed the Ape Titan and were delirious. Which led them to think that the Ape Titan could make them return to their country.

 

[Bandreus]

Well, since we know nothing about the serum and how exactly the Titan transformation works, this might as well be how things stand. The the drug also add a tertiary effect with causing him memory losses I guess (though it's not clear which memories he actually lost, aside from the memory of his father injecting the drug itself).

Anyway, I see a few issues with the theory.

For instance, when Eren transformed for the first time, he wasn't really dreaming at all. It's just that he was left unconscious at the end of the fight and, once being awaken, he was thought he just had a dream. The "dream" was so fond because, you know, it wasn't a dream but the actuall thing.

I think that whole episode is a bit misleading because 1) before transforming, he had just been swallowed by a titan 2) In that scene, Isayama depicted Eren like he was just waking up from a relaxing nap 3) It was the very first time ever Eren experienced his transformation, so it's pretty understandable he didn't even realize what was going on.

After all, a human being able to transform into a Titan was unheard before that very moment, so it's no wonder even Eren didn't believe people who accused him of doing such a thing "What are you saying? Man you oughta be kidding me! There's no way I could have transformed into a Titan. I'm a human, TOTALLY!!!". He believed it was a dream because his brain couldn't even fathom such a possibility, in fact it took him quite a while to realize it how things really stood.

Want further proof? In this panel you see Eren as he just transformed into a Titan. See how je's looking at his own hand? See the brief jaws-dropping, almost shocked expression he's has stamped on his face? You can tell Eren what Eren gotta be thinking in that very moment "Wait, WTF just happened? Why am I so big all of a sudden? Wait, am I a Titan? Man this dream is AWESOME I WANNA KILL TITAAAAAAANS".

So nope, by re-reading that chapter I can definitely tell Eren wasn't actually dreaming at all during his first transformation, although at first glance it might seem otherwise.

Regarding Eren going berserk, I guess you could say he was dreaming, in a way. It looks to me more like he was in some sort of drifting in a coma-like dream, like his Titan form took control of his body, while his mind was left sailing the depths of his inner-self. So more like the "dream" was because of him not being able to handle the transformation, and not the other way around. But yeah, it might as well been just a dream.

Anyway, at some point Hanji kind of gets how the transformation works, at least in part.

Something else I find counter-intuitive is the supposed link between dreams and the amount of control you can have over the transformation.

The serum functions like this:

1-Dreams motivated by hatred and destruction-> The titan destroys what his user wants.
2-Peaceful dreams-> The titan destroys everything.

Logically, if dreams had a direct impact on controlling the Titan, I would rather think that the less you're dreams are driven by hatred, the more easily you might be able to be in control. While dreams driven by powerful hate and lust for destruction would lead to an uncontrollable rampage.

See what I mean?

So, when the titan-shifter abuses of his power...he confuses his dreams with the reality. It would mean that

So why would Eren confusing his peaceful dream with reality make him attack Mikasa, who probably is the person he cares about the most? Now, if instead of going on a rampage he just sit and took a nap, maybe this could have had some sense. Like... I don't think it adds up that much.

As of why exactly Eren went berserk, I'm as clueless as anybody else. I kind of have a theory of mine, but it's more like guessing and speculating on my side rather than anything else.

Spoiler

Reiner and Bertolt are actually mentally ill and that the Ape Titan can't make them return to their village. Especially Reiner who has a split personality now. When you think about it's pretty unrealistic to think that the Ape Titan could do that.

I want to say that they are mentally ill and that they are actually fighting for nothing. It would make sense with all the illogical things they said. I remember Reiner said one time that he would never be able to return to his hometown.

They were probably guinea pigs which destroyed themselves their hometown(tragic I know). I remember Bertolt said he didn't remember anything about the destruction of his village. Him and Reiner were probably unconscious and when they regained consciousness, they glimpsed the Ape Titan and were delirious. Which led them to think that the Ape Titan could make them return to their country.

Okay this actually has very little to do with the serum theory at all. To the point I don't get why you posted this along your thoughts about the serum. Also, you seem to be relying a bit too much on "remembering" and jumping to conclusions too quickly. But I like discussing this sort of things, so here I go.

First of all, there's no element backing the fact that Bertholdt might be mentally ill. Like, none whatsoever.

He is a coward, he lacks any form of self confidence, he doesn't give shit about whatever happens to all but Reiner, he's not willing to take responsibility for all the horrific thing he did, he might be doing those things just because he has been told to or forced into doing them. In fact Bertholdt's personality can very will be summed up with his own words: "I don't have a will of my own".

Bertholdt is many things, but I would say that stating he is mentally ill is pretty much nonsensical?

Reiner... has been through some serious shit and has developed a split personality, yes. Mainly because of him feeling guilt for what he did vs. realizing the people he was supposed to exterminate were not that terrible after all after getting to know 'hem well during many years disguised as a soldier.

But his split personality doesn't really affect how he normally behaves. In fact you could say his illness is only limited to repressing his memory of being either a "warrior" or a "soldier". Otherwise he behaves in an incredibly consistent way for one who's affected by Dissociative Identity Disorder. He barely changes his facial expression when switching personas, let alone saying illogical things.

Also, what's so illogical with what they said? This is seems pretty random as well. When did Reiner said they won't ever be able to return to their hometown? Mind providing a link to the exact page/chapter? That's a honest question, I haven't memorized the whole manga (yet xD).

From what I can recall about 46 chapters, never once I felt like what Reiner was saying seemed illogical. Actually, once you know about Reiner's illness, you can re-read the chapters and tell fairly easily which persona he is 'being' at any given moment. You need to compare each persona against itself, not the other (to opposed personas are expected to diverge their opinions on at least something).

Feel free to provide links of instances you felt like Reiner or Bertholdt were speaking/acting in a noticeably illogical way. I would honestly appreciate this, since I'm very interested into this two characters.

Also, how can you rule out the Ape Titan from being somehow involved with them going back home? I mean, what we know about the Ape (and R&B themselves, actually) is dangerously close to zero. Would you mind elaborating this a bit more?

My guess is there's something pretty major still to be unveiled about the plot and most (if not all) characters, including Reiner, Bertholdt and the Ape Titan (especially him). So I don't think we have enough reliable info at our disposal to jump to conclusions.

 

[Knifeshade]

Yeah, I'm not convinced either. I've always imagined the "dreams" were depictions of their subconsciousness to us viewers/readers.

But...

So why would Eren confusing his peaceful dream with reality make him attack Mikasa, who probably is the person he cares about the most? Now, if instead of going on a rampage he just sit and took a nap, maybe this could have had some sense. Like... I don't think it adds up that much.

...it's not an entirely wrong way of thinking, in retrospect. Hanji hypothesize the transformation is triggered by a "want", or "urge/desire". From what we've seen, it makes sense. The second time he transformed, Eren wasn't exactly confident if he could pull it off and wavered and so he couldn't control himself, and it took Armin to remind him to pull himself together.

A bit out there, but possibly could surmise that if you don't have a strong conviction, that is how you lose yourself and just become a regular fodder titan.

In that regard, it's like the serum is akin to the Falls of Truth (probably a bad comparison and I should probably feel bad...), where if you have a strong purpose you gain power, but if you don't, you lose yourself?

 

[dabrickmaster]

I think the theory is a bit of a stretch, mainly with the dreaming part.

I think it's a drug which permits become a titan-shifter but has a secondary effect which makes you dreaming.

Perhaps not exactly dreaming, specifically, but deep sleep from just straight up exhaustion. After running out of juice in Titan Form, it seems that the person goes into deep sleep mode. Even Annie was seen in this condition after attempting to capture Eren in Forest of Giant Trees.

As for dreaming, that could just be Eren, who initially just hated the Titans is now starting to develop a really creepy maliciously sadistic psyche towards them, catalyzed through turning into a Titan himself. It's like up until he turned into a Titan, he has felt powerless and weak as a human, and now that he's obtained the Titan power, he can start bullying them back, and now that he is empowered to kill Titans fairly easily, he's getting a little over-excited killing them.

Well I could potentially see the story go this direction, there's not that much solid proof

 

[Demonspeed]

I think the theory is a bit of a stretch, mainly with the dreaming part.



Perhaps not exactly dreaming, specifically, but deep sleep from just straight up exhaustion. After running out of juice in Titan Form, it seems that the person goes into deep sleep mode. Even Annie was seen in this condition after attempting to capture Eren in Forest of Giant Trees.

As for dreaming, that could just be Eren, who initially just hated the Titans is now starting to develop a really creepy maliciously sadistic psyche towards them, catalyzed through turning into a Titan himself. It's like up until he turned into a Titan, he has felt powerless and weak as a human, and now that he's obtained the Titan power, he can start bullying them back, and now that he is empowered to kill Titans fairly easily, he's getting a little over-excited killing them.

Well I could potentially see the story go this direction, there's not that much solid proof

I agree with you about Eren. It's his hate which permitted him to kill Titans and I don't think any other soldier would have been in the same state as him. They would have been like Eren in his second transformation. It's one of the reason why I think Grisha "weaponized" Eren's hate and determination.

Spoiler

It's true that my theory about Reiner and Bert is far-fetched but I am sure that they destroyed their hometowns themselves and encountered the Ape Titan later. We know at least that Bert was unconscious and he is the most destructive titan.

However, if it's true that the serum functions as I said I don't see why Eren wouldn't attack Mikasa in his 2nd "dream". Even during his first transformation he was unconscious, he was just a stupid monster like the others, he didn't notice Armin, Mikasa and Conny who were guiding him. His titan was in pilot-mode with only one objective: Kill titans, don't care about the rest. In his second "dream" he didn't know how to properly use his titan power and the titan went berserk. Eren needed to be motivated enough. When his 2 friends where in danger his titan form protected them and after it didn't regenerate, his objective was cleared. After Armin's speech during his second "dream" he was motivated enough and has plunged the rock in the wall. He was also uncertain when Pixis asked his help. It's probably the main reason why he failed.