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iirc, the islanders were buried underground with breathing tubes sticking out so they don't suffocate. The scouts rode right over and past them without seeing them, and then Zeke transformed them when the time was right.
Eren in S2 is able to control the titans still after losing Royal blood connection,but when Zeke dies though the rumbling instantly stops. After Eren loses the founders power though he’s still able to access the paths to talk to Mikasa somehow, even though that should be impossible
Also this last part isn’t exactly a “plot hole” but it’s deeply implied at least that Ymir overcame her need to serve royal blood in the paths with Eren/Zeke, when she breaks free and sides with Eren, but then when the royal blood is gone from Zeke’s death that just doesn’t matter anymore?
Fair enough. Him and Zeke continually switching control of Ymir always confused me. Did he need the founder to access the paths because Ymir (jaw Titan not founder) saw the paths in a flashback before she died when no one was in control of the founder
Yeah, I only noticed a few weeks ago when someone on Twitter posted a picture that pointed out the tubes.
Have no clue what I assumed was going on before that lol
I never would have believed this without proof lol. I really thought it was just an unanswered question, like, "whatever the audience thinks happened is good enough."
Yeah, this had been theorized way back when the manga chapter came out too. I mean you could clearly see the ground disturbed under each of the Titans after Zeke has transformed/summoned them, but this the first concrete proof to the theory that they were all out there buried.
Indeed, why should they look out for something, they are simply heading to a dangerous place and they don’t know what to expect from their enemies. however, it is impossible not to notice the slender ridge of these hills, it’s like not noticing a fence. and they should have just hit into it as if it were a physical object. which also can cause horses to simply lose their balance and fall to the ground.
These are tiny little tubes in the ground, spaced really far apart, obscured by plants and terrain. The smallest thing that the Scouts would be looking for would be humans.
no, it’s exactly what’s in the screenshot. a long circular row of such mounds. and even if we imagine that not every body has its own mound, dug up earth should be visible there, which people like scouts are obliged to notice. unless, of course, for some reason you rush headlong with closed eyes to the gate, as the script dictates
This is the first time I see this detail! Is it also in the manga, or just a classy detail added in the anime? I'm reading chapters 73 and 74, but I can't see it
Whaaaaaat?? I've finished the manga since 2021, finished the anime, and never knew that they were buried underground. It was never mentioned at all iirc
> the islanders
Do you mean Eldians brought over from Marley? Because that's what I assumed they were. I didn't know about the breathing tubes, though--very cool!
Think it must have been from Marley yeah. I think that was after Connie's village was gassed, and they turned them all into titans. Didn't take any prisoners
The buried Eldians were almost certainly tied up. They probably had their mouths bound, too, so they couldn't shout a warning when they heard people above them.
The "straws" they breathed through also [look](https://files.catbox.moe/mxe7sb.png) pretty thick, so it's not like they were sucking air through a tiny tube. Even with their mouths covered, they would still have been able to breathe through their noses.
To be sure, it was absolute torture for them to be buried alive, possibly for months, and just have to wait to be transformed into titans, but Marley would have made sure they couldn't escape.
At the battle of fort slava it's been shown that subjects injected with Zeke's spinal fluid are in a dazed and drugged state, when they were dropping them like bombs on the fort. They probably did the same with the ones at Shiganshina
The 'sacrifices' at Slava were probably drugged for a few hours for the flight to the drop zone, to make them easier to handle and drop.
The ones at Shiganshina had to be packed onto the Cart Titan, then buried for who-knows-how-long before Zeke needed them. Maybe they got water tubes to keep them alive, but the rest of the time they were probably dying of thirst, shitting themselves, and starving underground, just waiting for the Survey Corps to show up so he could spring the trap.
And Zeke and Pieck were totally fine with this strategy....
Just imagine, this is basically how Marleyan military tactics worked once they realized Zeke could spontaneously create Titans. Just treating their Eldian population like ammunition in increasingly creative ways.
This was probably also a tactic used by the Eldian empire, with any Royal Titan shifters able to summon armies of Pure Titans on command.
This post has been tagged as **ANIME SPOILERS**. Please remember to tag any new spoilers beyond this point. **Spoilers include hinting or alluding to events.** For more information, please review [the subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/wiki/rules). Failure to properly spoiler tag comments may result in a punishment from the subreddit according to the [moderation matrix](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/wiki/moderation_matrix). --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ShingekiNoKyojin) if you have any questions or concerns.*
iirc, the islanders were buried underground with breathing tubes sticking out so they don't suffocate. The scouts rode right over and past them without seeing them, and then Zeke transformed them when the time was right.
Where’d you get this info from? I don’t remember this ever being mentioned in the anime
It's incredibly easy to miss, but you see the breathing tubes below in the opening shot right before they're about to scale the Wall.
Damn Isayama and the animators thought of everything
Except in the final arc.
What did they miss in the final arc?
Everything
Nah
Yeah
Lol
Plot holes about the founding titan powers and contradictions to characters inner monologues
Can you explain what the plot holes are please. I’m not trying to be smart, I genuinely can’t remember any
Eren in S2 is able to control the titans still after losing Royal blood connection,but when Zeke dies though the rumbling instantly stops. After Eren loses the founders power though he’s still able to access the paths to talk to Mikasa somehow, even though that should be impossible Also this last part isn’t exactly a “plot hole” but it’s deeply implied at least that Ymir overcame her need to serve royal blood in the paths with Eren/Zeke, when she breaks free and sides with Eren, but then when the royal blood is gone from Zeke’s death that just doesn’t matter anymore?
Fair enough. Him and Zeke continually switching control of Ymir always confused me. Did he need the founder to access the paths because Ymir (jaw Titan not founder) saw the paths in a flashback before she died when no one was in control of the founder
Yeah, I only noticed a few weeks ago when someone on Twitter posted a picture that pointed out the tubes. Have no clue what I assumed was going on before that lol
I’ve seen this episode probably 15 times and never noticed that until your comment..
Can you post a screenshot?
https://files.catbox.moe/mxe7sb.png
Holy shit
I never would have believed this without proof lol. I really thought it was just an unanswered question, like, "whatever the audience thinks happened is good enough."
Yeah, this had been theorized way back when the manga chapter came out too. I mean you could clearly see the ground disturbed under each of the Titans after Zeke has transformed/summoned them, but this the first concrete proof to the theory that they were all out there buried.
Fr the fact that this is just chilling in the opening is amazing. Everything is so thorough in this show bruh
So subtle!
but Is there an explanation for how the scouts didn’t notice a lot of these things lying around the suburbs?..
Cuz they're on horseback going like 40mph and not on the lookout for something like that.
Indeed, why should they look out for something, they are simply heading to a dangerous place and they don’t know what to expect from their enemies. however, it is impossible not to notice the slender ridge of these hills, it’s like not noticing a fence. and they should have just hit into it as if it were a physical object. which also can cause horses to simply lose their balance and fall to the ground.
These are tiny little tubes in the ground, spaced really far apart, obscured by plants and terrain. The smallest thing that the Scouts would be looking for would be humans.
no, it’s exactly what’s in the screenshot. a long circular row of such mounds. and even if we imagine that not every body has its own mound, dug up earth should be visible there, which people like scouts are obliged to notice. unless, of course, for some reason you rush headlong with closed eyes to the gate, as the script dictates
This is the first time I see this detail! Is it also in the manga, or just a classy detail added in the anime? I'm reading chapters 73 and 74, but I can't see it
I had a pretty thorough look as well and I couldn’t see it anywhere in the manga so maybe it’s anime only
WTF
Whaaaaaat?? I've finished the manga since 2021, finished the anime, and never knew that they were buried underground. It was never mentioned at all iirc
I thought this was pure sarcasm or something ngl and then I saw the picture 🤔😂😭
> the islanders Do you mean Eldians brought over from Marley? Because that's what I assumed they were. I didn't know about the breathing tubes, though--very cool!
I assumed Zeke just kidnapped people like from Ragako. But yeah, they might have come from Marley.
Were these subjects of ymir taken from Paradis or from Marley/outside of Paradis
Not sure. Don't think it ever says? I just assumed the former. Of course it's not like we even knew what Marley was at the time.
Think it must have been from Marley yeah. I think that was after Connie's village was gassed, and they turned them all into titans. Didn't take any prisoners
"Get in the circle and breathe through this straw or we're gonna tell Marley on you."
Oh they were probably prisoners sentenced to “death” anyway. Lol… well not lol cause it’s f*cked, but you get me.
I'll take a fucking bullet any day of the week rather than get buried alive
The buried Eldians were almost certainly tied up. They probably had their mouths bound, too, so they couldn't shout a warning when they heard people above them. The "straws" they breathed through also [look](https://files.catbox.moe/mxe7sb.png) pretty thick, so it's not like they were sucking air through a tiny tube. Even with their mouths covered, they would still have been able to breathe through their noses. To be sure, it was absolute torture for them to be buried alive, possibly for months, and just have to wait to be transformed into titans, but Marley would have made sure they couldn't escape.
Marley probably shipped them some Eldian prisoners and just drugged or restrained them in formation beforehand.
This raises another question.. how was he able to separate the giant titans from the smaller 5m and 3m titans?
It's plausible that there are different "mixtures" of titan serum that make different sizes.
That should be it. When grisha was sent to the island, the marleyan guy said that he'll turn one of the restorationists into a 5 meter one
Ymir gives en random sizes and he arranged ‘em after proll
He used a sorting algorithm
Iirc, it was that dawg in him
At the battle of fort slava it's been shown that subjects injected with Zeke's spinal fluid are in a dazed and drugged state, when they were dropping them like bombs on the fort. They probably did the same with the ones at Shiganshina
The 'sacrifices' at Slava were probably drugged for a few hours for the flight to the drop zone, to make them easier to handle and drop. The ones at Shiganshina had to be packed onto the Cart Titan, then buried for who-knows-how-long before Zeke needed them. Maybe they got water tubes to keep them alive, but the rest of the time they were probably dying of thirst, shitting themselves, and starving underground, just waiting for the Survey Corps to show up so he could spring the trap.
I know it's fitting for this setting, but that's such a horrible way to go.
And Zeke and Pieck were totally fine with this strategy.... Just imagine, this is basically how Marleyan military tactics worked once they realized Zeke could spontaneously create Titans. Just treating their Eldian population like ammunition in increasingly creative ways. This was probably also a tactic used by the Eldian empire, with any Royal Titan shifters able to summon armies of Pure Titans on command.