My brother makes a very good point that this can also be to us, since we live roughly around the year 2000. And that the entire message of the manga is to show that if humans keep fighting amongst each other, they will wipe themselves out. Even if there's a bigger threat.
The moral is good but I don't think it would be that. Even in SNK humans are still fighting amongst each other. It could just be the story of one of the survivors(who?) about the triumph of humans and the sacrifice of a certain person...
I hear previously of some time loop theory but back then I didn't check as I didn't saw how that would fit in the whole Shingeki no Kyojin universe.
But now with all that information you presented I'm pretty much convince that something like that is at play. Perhaps not exactly as described in the theory but I agree, there is too much correlation here. I don't think it would have to do with a time machine thought, it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would fit into SnK universe.
There's another theory that I also find appealing though. Maybe the thing described by the title «to you in 2000 years» is Eren himself. Provided that he would have obtained the titan power before the destruction of his home, it's possible he wouldn't have aged at all during 2000 years. It is possible that the injection is father gives to him wasn't the cause of is transformation but had some other purpose.
Also, I always thought that the forests of giants tree have to be related to the titans in some way.
On another note,
Does anyone know if R&B knew of Annie's defeat and capture? I don't remember them being there during the capture operation. Isn't that why Armin is able to fool Bertholtd in the latest chapter ? But maybe I'm wrong.
Grisha's quote made me think of the famous "Assassin's Creed" game franchise. "Why?" some of you may ask, and I will explain, but for the sake of those who may be currently playing one of the games, or are planning to start and play them in the near future, I will try to be vague when it comes to the details of the games. So, in "Assassin's Creed" the protagonist repeatedly enters a machine named the Animus, so he can "travel back in time" (not really) and relieve the life of his ancestors through genetic memory. Genetic memory is a kind of memory that it is locked deep within our subconscious and it contains the memories of our ancestors instead of ours (this is not 100% true IRL, but the game creators have come close enough). The Animus, however has a side effect, which is caused by prolonged usage of the machine.
This side effect makes the user go crazy, have visions of the memories of his ancestor even outside the Animus, forget who he is and in which era he is living, and ultimately act like his ancestor for a brief period of time (usually a few minutes). During these lapses the Animus-user gains even the skills of his ancestors, and through careful usage of the Animus one can gain the skills of his ancestors without having to forget who he is.
I previously said that this was not possible to relieve the memories of your ancestors, however for the sole reason that they did not have the technology to send their memories to us through the DNA. It has been discovered that we can use parts of our DNA as a biological Flash Drive for pretty much everything and anyone in the future can use it(however it costs tons of money and it is thus not worth it). The serum Grisha gave Eren could have held genes filled with memories on Titans from an advanced lost civilization. This civilization may have created Titan-shifters, however things spiraled out of control and we have a Titan apocalypse.
I know it's sort of pathetic to make a theory based on another franchise and real-life facts that were proven true after the manga had started, but I truly can't think of anything else.
I hear previously of some time loop theory but back then I didn't check as I didn't saw how that would fit in the whole Shingeki no Kyojin universe.
But now with all that information you presented I'm pretty much convince that something like that is at play. Perhaps not exactly as described in the theory but I agree, there is too much correlation here. I don't think it would have to do with a time machine thought, it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would fit into SnK universe.
There's another theory that I also find appealing though. Maybe the thing described by the title «to you in 2000 years» is Eren himself. Provided that he would have obtained the titan power before the destruction of his home, it's possible he wouldn't have aged at all during 2000 years. It is possible that the injection is father gives to him wasn't the cause of is transformation but had some other purpose.
Also, I always thought that the forests of giants tree have to be related to the titans in some way.
On another note,
Does anyone know if R&B knew of Annie's defeat and capture? I don't remember them being there during the capture operation. Isn't that why Armin is able to fool Bertholtd in the latest chapter ? But maybe I'm wrong.
I've always thought the serum has to do with something else other than allowing his transformation. Although Ymir's recent statement about her "stealing the power from RBA group" suggests it could in a physical, steal-able form e.g. a serum, I think Isayama is actually misleading us with that flashback (not that I have any basis.) But it's only natural to think the serum is related, and even Eren himself thinks so.
Concerning Annie's capture, take a look at this post here, and go to the second part of the post. It seems that when the Titans are sighted during the Breach arc, this is also when they are confronting Annie. Under this chronology, RB would have no way of knowing about Annie's capture. This is also evident as Hanji explains to the team, "Do not mention anything about Annie in front of RB."
I didn't read all the posts (only the OP), however for some reason I think (and hope, I don't really like time-travel fiction) this is the one.
Grisha's quote made me think of the famous "Assassin's Creed" game franchise. "Why?" some of you may ask, and I will explain, but for the sake of those who may be currently playing one of the games, or are planning to start and play them in the near future, I will try to be vague when it comes to the details of the games. So, in "Assassin's Creed" the protagonist repeatedly enters a machine named the Animus, so he can "travel back in time" (not really) and relieve the life of his ancestors through genetic memory. Genetic memory is a kind of memory that it is locked deep within our subconscious and it contains the memories of our ancestors instead of ours (this is not 100% true IRL, but the game creators have come close enough). The Animus, however has a side effect, which is caused by prolonged usage of the machine.
This side effect makes the user go crazy, have visions of the memories of his ancestor even outside the Animus, forget who he is and in which era he is living, and ultimately act like his ancestor for a brief period of time (usually a few minutes). During these lapses the Animus-user gains even the skills of his ancestors, and through careful usage of the Animus one can gain the skills of his ancestors without having to forget who he is.
I previously said that this was not possible to relieve the memories of your ancestors, however for the sole reason that they did not have the technology to send their memories to us through the DNA. It has been discovered that we can use parts of our DNA as a biological Flash Drive for pretty much everything and anyone in the future can use it(however it costs tons of money and it is thus not worth it). The serum Grisha gave Eren could have held genes filled with memories on Titans from an advanced lost civilization. This civilization may have created Titan-shifters, however things spiraled out of control and we have a Titan apocalypse.
I know it's sort of pathetic to make a theory based on another franchise and real-life facts that were proven true after the manga had started, but I truly can't think of anything else.
Damn! AC eh, why didn't I think of that sooner? That would be emphasising the memory subplot very nicely indeed. There's one thing, Grisha says to Eren about "Their memory will help you" after talking about the basement, and naturally we would think the "memories" are hidden in the basement rather than the do with the serum. However, we also see Eren able to transform into a Titan by knowing the need to injure himself.
There's a very strange scene with Eren sort of 'hallucinating' during his transformation tasked with carrying the big rock. I'm not sure if that simply means his mind is in a messed up state, or that there is a deeper meaning behind it. I doubt it's the latter, but it is also important to note that is the first time Eren in his full transformation is able to communicate with the outside world (Armin.)
---------- Post added at 11:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:21 AM ----------
EDIT: I've also added information about the boulder on the first post, which is valid as pseudo-evidence for any time-related theories.
Or if it's too bothersome for the lazy lot of you, the extra bit is here:
Even wondered how the boulder got there in the first place? Or how the boulder was exactly the same size as the hole? Did you know the sub-heading for this section is actually engraved onto the sign next to that boulder? Why not make your brain implode with the help of the following post?
At first I thought "oh I guess that boulder was just there then" but it then occurred to me: "Isn't this kind of suspicious?" I mean what other reason was there for a boulder to be there, before the town was even built (which I'm assuming was not long after the outer wall towns as people migrated inward from Wall Maria to Rose to Sina)? Why aren't there other big rocks that were too heavy to move, from before the town was built? Why did someone feel the need to put a sign in there specifically mentioning the boulder was in place before anyone even got there? I realize there's room for doubt, but I think it's like someone knew what was going to happen.
I know I'm getting ahead of myself here with the hypothesizing but I think there's a good chance the rock was put there by someone who knew what was going to happen, even 100 years ago when the humans first migrated into the walls. Or rather, a group of people like the wall cult that knows about the secret of the titans in the walls. I think I'm going to start from around chapter 10 and start rereading all the way through, because I want to separate canon from filler, AND look more closely at what the cult was saying in court...
Am I the only one who thinks Reiner and Berthold are not the real enemy, and that their faction is fighting a much bigger enemy of their own and their mission has to do with finding something that will help them fight/stop that enemy?
Am I the only one who thinks Reiner and Berthold are not the real enemy, and that their faction is fighting a much bigger enemy of their own and their mission has to do with finding something that will help them fight/stop that enemy?
I think most of us have come to that conclusion, honestly. That would be what Ymir, Bert, and Reiner were talking about in chapter 46 (same chapter where she asks them "what was that monkey?" although it's not clear if the "monkey" is the "real enemy" itself or just related to RB's goal in some other way), which Ymir refused to reveal to Eren at the end.
*edit*
Based on the latest two chapters, I've come to think the "real enemy" is some kind of ruling alliance among humans at the centre (possibly figures within the gov't) AND shifters/intelligent titans from Reiner and Bert's "hometown" or the land they are from, wherever (or whenever) that is.
When Reiner reveal his identity to Eren and Eren ask where they want to take him, Reiner says : Think of it as our hometown.
My bet is that by OUR hometown they are including Eren. I'm not sure what that would imply or how that would fit into the time travel theory but I'm sure that it's the case.
Maybe the reason Eren is valuable as something to do with what his father told him. He said «Their memories will teach you how to use the power». We don't know whose memories he is referring to but it could be that those memories hold what Reiner and Bertholdt are after. That could explain why Eren is special, because the memory contain within the serum he was injected with aren't the same as those that other shifter received.
Scuse me for bumping this but I simply have to put up the Idea:
Ouroboros
Eternal Recurrence.
a concept that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space. The concept is found in Indian philosophy and in ancient Egypt and was subsequently taken up by the Pythagoreans and Stoics. With the decline of antiquity and the spread of Christianity, the concept fell into disuse in the Western world, with the exception of Friedrich Nietzsche, who connected the thought to many of his other concepts, including amor fati.
In addition, the philosophical concept of eternal recurrence was addressed by Arthur Schopenhauer. It is a purely physical concept, involving no supernatural reincarnation, but the return of beings in the same bodies. Time is viewed as being not linear but cyclical.
remember what Armin said. no one is truly a good person. to some people you're a good person, while to other people you're a bad person. so i'd say Reiner and Bertold aren't really the enemies, yet they are
That would be emphasising the memory subplot very nicely indeed. There's one thing, Grisha says to Eren about "Their memory will help you" after talking about the basement, and naturally we would think the "memories" are hidden in the basement rather than the do with the serum. However, we also see Eren able to transform into a Titan by knowing the need to injure himself.
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