Highlights
- Ymir, the first Founding Titan, chose to end the age of Titans and halt the Rumbling, bringing an abrupt end to Eren’s reign of terror.
- Ymir was trapped in servitude even after death, forced to shape future Titan shifters for the Eldian royal line.
- Ymir’s liberation came when Mikasa made the difficult choice to kill Eren and end the Rumbling, prioritizing the greater good over her own love.
The following contains spoilers for Attack on Titan Final Season THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2, now streaming on Prime Video.
After witnessing the resolution of the Battle of Heaven and Earth which concluded with Eren’s death, Ymir Fritz, the first Founding Titan in Attack on Titan, chose to end the age of Titans and her self-imposed exile in the Paths. In turn, this halted the advance of the Rumbling in its very tracks, stopping Eren’s reign of terror in which he wiped out almost 80% of the global human population beyond Paradis. From certain angles, this sudden end to the wave of destruction that Eren and Ymir had created in Attack on Titan, seemed to come out of the blue.
In fact, there was not too much concrete information given on Ymir’s own goals with the Rumbling, which added to the confusion. However, there were more complex narrative threads lurking beneath the surface, especially with respect to the implied parallels between Ymir and King Fritz’s relationship, alongside that of Eren and Mikasa, which offered a glimpse into Ymir’s own mind, and expanded upon her reasons to both commence and halt the Rumbling.
Trapped In Servitude Even After Death
Having gained immense power as the first Titan in history, Ymir forever changed the world order by placing the tribe of Eldia at its zenith nearly 2,000 years prior to the start of the story. Enslaved by the cruel and power-hungry King Fritz, Ymir crushed all his opponents with her Titan powers and spearheaded Eldia’s territorial expansion as well as the development of the nation’s infrastructure. In turn, Fritz chose to “reward” her — in his view — by having her bear his children.
After giving birth to three daughters, Ymir saved Fritz from an assassination attempt. Despite her ability to regenerate as a Titan shifter, Ymir accepted her demise and chose to forfeit her life and end her suffering under Fritz. Unfortunately, this was not to be, as she awoke in a realm where time appeared to stand still, and she could communicate with her descendants in the outside world through a glimmering tree-like structure that represented the Coordinate associated with the Founding Titan.
This was the world of Paths, where Ymir was now condemned to serve the Fritz line and shape the bodies of future Titan shifters from the sands of this realm. King Fritz also ensured the persistence of Titan powers well after his death by starting the tradition of Titan inheritance, as he forced his daughters — Maria, Rose, and Sheena — to consume their mother’s remains. As a result, Ymir saw the Coordinate form more and more branches as Titan powers were inherited through generations, and the population of the Subjects of Ymir grew with the evolution of the Eldian Empire.
Seeking Freedom At Any Cost
Ymir continued to shape the bodies of shifters for nearly 2,000 years, all while observing the actions of her descendants, as she was bound in service to the Eldian royal line. While her motives for continuing King Fritz’s will may have appeared murky, it was later revealed that she had grown to truly love him, and was trapped in a state reminiscent of Stockholm syndrome. Moreover, she also seemed to care deeply for her descendants, who paved the way for the Eldian Empire’s supremacy.
After spending an immeasurable amount of time in the Paths all by herself, Ymir slowly began to desire a means to end her captivity, as she had grown tired of her imprisonment. Sadly, at the same time, she could not let go of her duty to King Fritz, and continued to blindly obey the demands of the royal bloodline, even as they slaughtered countless innocents and engaged in horrific wars that erased entire civilizations with the Power of the Titans.
Seeing the weight of the suffering that her successors had wrought upon the world, combined with the burden of her own isolated resistance, Ymir wished for someone to come to her aid. Eventually, this wish was granted when Eren Yeager found his way to the world of the Paths alongside his half brother Zeke, in the War for Paradis Arc. As Zeke ordered her around, just like other descendants of the royal bloodline had, Eren begged her to help him rid the world of Titan powers and gave her the freedom to choose her own destiny.
Ymir Was Finally Liberated From Her Burden
For the first time in her life, Ymir was treated as an individual of her own free will, rather than a slave to be ordered around, and she chose to side with Eren and initiate the Rumbling, just as the latter had foreseen in the Attack Titan’s future memories. Over a four-day period, the Wall Titans led by Eren’s massive Founding Titan, wiped out four-fifths of humanity beyond the Walls, tipping the scales in Paradis’ favor.
During this time, Ymir also bore witness to the relationship between Eren and Mikasa Ackerman, and routinely peeked into the latter’s mind with the Founding Titan, which was revealed to be the root of her persistent headaches. When the Rumbling began, Ymir saw Mikasa’s own struggle in mustering the resolve to kill the person she loved most, which made her question the choice she had made to save King Fritz.
When Mikasa decided to kill Eren and end the Rumbling, Ymir realized the gravity of her decision, as well as the similarities it held to her own sacrifice. Instead of sparing Eren and allowing him to continue his path of genocide, Mikasa ended his life to save the world. This was a stark departure from Ymir’s decision to give up her own life to save King Fritz, which unleashed the Power of the Titans upon the world, condemning it to centuries of war and suffering.
In essence, Mikasa’s choice prioritized the greater good over her own love, which gave Ymir the closure she needed to let go of the burden of love and servitude that she was holding on to. With this, Ymir severed her bond with the world of the Paths, and allowed herself to pass on, bringing an end to her suffering, once and for all.
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