Mirza Aaqib Beg
In the 18th episode of ‘Attack on Titan‘ season 4, Eren, who is cornered by enemies and left at the mercy of Eldians to come to his aid, finally gets help with the unexpected return of the Beast Titan. Even though Armin, Mikasa, and their other friends are still conflicted by Eren’s sudden change in demeanor following his stay in Marley, they still don’t want to leave him in the hands of the enemy. Once they are freed from the prison, they regroup and prepare to put their lives on the line to push the Marleyans back.
Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 18 Recap
Titled ‘Sneak Attack,’ the episode begins by turning its attention towards Armin, Mikasa, and their companions who had been imprisoned until now. Once they are freed, they realize that they have a tough call to make. Despite Eren’s arrogant, disrespectful, and downright cruel behavior when they met each other last time, Armin defends him and argues that he probably did not have much of an option. By siding with Yelena and Zeke, he can use the Rumbling to threaten the enemies of Paradis and keep Eldians safe. Although everyone has their own reservations, they all agree that they wish to defend Eren and Paradis from the Marleyans.
Meanwhile, Eren is struggling against the enemies as Armin and the rest of his friends prepare to give him all the assistance he needs. However, before they can fight alongside him, Zeke surprises the Marleyans with an unexpected wave of attacks from the top of the wall. It barely takes him just a few sneak attacks to seriously injure Galliard’s Jaw Titan and Reiner’s Armored Titan. With a great vantage point of the action, he manages to take down every single Marleyan plane as well, pushing the enemies on the back foot.
Meanwhile, Falco and the rest of the people who had drunk Zeke’s spinal fluid are also freed. Dot Pixis, who has consumed the contaminated wine too, addresses the Eldian soldiers and orders his men who are at risk of becoming a Titan on Zeke’s call to fight on the frontlines. At the same time, Gabi, accompanied by a Marleyan soldier, is desperately looking for Falco. Luckily, they find him but are afraid to approach him as he is surrounded by Eldians. However, to their surprise, one of the enemy soldiers who has realized what’s going on assists Falco’s escape.
But Falco is aware that his future is uncertain, so when Gabi confesses that she now understands how Reiner feels and Eldians are not devils, he also opens up. He confesses his love for Gabi and tells her how he unknowingly assisted Eren in his attack on Liberio. Elsewhere, the injured Founding Titan strolls towards the Beast Titan, and General Magath uses the opportunity to attack the latter. He delivers a violent blow, after which Zeke’s Beast Titan falls from the wall. The Founding Titan continues to walk towards it as Reiner gathers all his strength to stop the two from coming in contact with each other.
Why Are the Marleyans Trying to Stop the Founding Titan From Reaching the Beast Titan?
In order to fully comprehend the Marleyan fear of the Founding Titan and Beast Titan, it is imperative to understand the origins of Eren’s powers. The hot-headed protagonist of the show first became the holder of the Founding Titan when he was injected with the Titan serum by his father. Ymir Fritz used to hold the powers of nine shifter Titans thousands of years ago, and the Founding Titan was one of them. It is different from the others as it has the mysterious power of manipulating the memories of the Subjects of Ymir and controlling Titans with its scream. However, despite being a holder of the Founding Titan for a long time, Eren has been unable to use its powers.
The strange anomaly is caused just because Eren is not of royal blood, and he can only use the full extent of his Titan abilities when he is in contact with someone of the royal bloodline. In season 2 episode 12, Eren manages to do that when he touches Dina Fritz, and the Titans around him respond to his screams by devouring the Smiling Titan. So, the true extent of the powers of the Founding Titan is only unleashed when the holder is either a direct descendent of Ymir Fritz or is in contact with someone of the royal lineage. Since Zeke is Dina Fritz’s son, when his Beast Titan and Eren’s Founding Titan come in contact, it will give him the ability to access all his powers. But how Eren intends to use those abilities to his advantage is still not entirely clear.
In one of the episodes, Willy Tybur had predicted that Eren would use the Founding Titan to unleash countless Colossal Titans hidden in the walls of Paradis Island to intimidate and attack Marley and other nations. With Zeke’s remarkable understanding of the Titans and their history, nothing could be far from Eren’s grip. Since he can manipulate the memories and physical bodies of the Subjects of Ymir, he could easily follow Zeke’s euthanasia plan, which entails the genetic neutering of the entire Eldian population so that the threat of Titans could be dealt with once and for all. But knowing how unpredictable Eren has been in the past, only time will tell what he would do with the powers of the Founding Titan.
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