I expected this to happen eventually, but we're really catching up to the manga. This chapter is from 120 to 122, so there's nine chapters left as of today to write, and at the speed I'm writing... I might catch up, or I'll hold off by 129, since that's a good stopping point that I see.

Chapter 121 blew my mind the first time I read it, but having reread it while writing, I missed an important detail, that being that the vision Eren saw with Historia happens here. I can't imagine being Eren back then seeing what he saw and not panicking.

Enjoy the chapter!

"Eren, we're going to save everyone."

A tree made of blue light. That's the draw of Eren's attention in this mysterious realm. How he got here, how to leave, it is unknown to him. "Where am I?"

"The Coordinate… Where all paths converge." Eren turns around, seeing his older brother sitting down, bound by chains. By the length of his hair, Zeke looks like he'd aged a bit. "I believe this must be where those in the royal family who inherited the Founder came when they made use of its power."

"Zeke…"

"I've been waiting for so long, Eren. I feel as though I've sat here for years for you to recover and awaken."

"Have...years passed?"

"...I don't know. But what happens here takes place in the blink of an eye. Gabi blew your head off, but I was able to make contact with you before your life fully ended… We succeeded. We gained the power of the Founder." Zeke looks up, but he isn't looking at Eren, but past him. Following his brother's sight, he finds a shadowy figure between him and the Coordinate. "Someone's here."

"Don't worry. That is Ymir, the Founder."

Eren's eyes widen as the shadow takes a feminine form. "Ymir, the Founder? How do you know?"

"Who else would be wandering this place but her? Most of all, the Founder rebuilt half my body with this soil and returned life to me. She...must create Titans here. Over the course of an endless amount of time, whenever we seek the Power of the Titans."

Eren stares at the woman in the white and red robe that walks to him. "You've...been here all this time alone?"

"Eren, command our founder. The time has come for our dream to be realized."

Eren faces his brother. "What are those chains?"

"I'm glad you noticed them. Thank you for your concern. These hamper my freedom. In other words, they are the vow to renounce war. I knew it. You're the only one able to freely move. You're the only one who can command our founder. My dream, Mister Xavier's dream...and your dream. Please, you must...save the world." Eren silently stares down Zeke, making the latter fill with concern. "Eren? Tell our founder! Tell her to give every Eldian a body that will never again be capable of creating a child! Crushing the Allied Forces with the rumbling can wait!"

Eren turns away, facing Ymir. "You want me to euthanize every Eldian…"

"Eren?"

"There's no way in hell I'd ever go along with a plan that messed up. Sorry, Zeke, but I just played along so that I could come here."

As Eren steps away from his brother, Zeke holds his face in despair. "So long as there are Eldians, this hell will never end! If you don't do it here, this bloodshed will never stop. What we've done so many times will only continue for eternity… Why… Eren… Tell me."

"Because I was born in this world." Eren holds his hand out to Ymir for her to take. "Ymir, our founder. Lend me your strength."

The girl, however, passes by Eren, ignoring him completely. She continues to walk to the chained Zeke. "I should have known, Eren. I wanted to believe...that at least you would understand. Is this too because our father brainwashed you?"

Eren frowns as Ymir kneels in front of Zeke. "What's...going on?"

"In the long span of time it took for you to wake, I learned many things. The Founder can create anything, even these earthen chains, so long as I, with my royal blood, wills it." Zeke breaks his chains and rises, wiping off the dirt. "Unlike the kings of the walls throughout history, I arrived here without being tainted by the First King's ideology. And as I spent that dizzying amount of time with our Founder, I learned to nullify the vow to renounce war. Though she possesses immense power, in reality, she is nothing but a slave with no will of her own. She merely submits to any with royal blood, believing them to be her master. I have gained the Power of the Founder."

Perplexed by Zeke's confession, Eren doesn't know what to say to that. "...How?"

"You were nothing more but the key, Eren." Zeke points towards Eren, trapping him with chains. "I'm glad I waited to hear how you truly feel. I knew it. You have been brainwashed by that father of ours. But you are not to blame. We were born to that disgusting monster of a man. We are victims, deserving of pity. However, I had another father who rescued me. You needed someone to rescue you as well. I...will use the Power of the Founder to fix you. I swear I will not abandon you."

"Stop it," Eren says. "There's no point."

"When I save the world, I'll do it with you." Zeke places their heads together, letting a spark flash before darkness washes over.

"These are...Dad's memories." Standing before the brothers is Grisha and Carla Jaeger, with a younger Eren in his mother's arms.

"How happy he looks...considering he's living his life after sending his friends and his 'old' family straight to hell."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I'm show you this until you understand just how Grisha Jaeger brainwashed his son and planted those seeds of nationalism into you." Zeke turns away and opens the door to the home. "For as long as it takes." Before he exits, Zeke turns back towards his father. "Isn't that great, Grisha? No one will cast blame on you here for forgetting everything about your first family to enjoy this happy life. Even if you forgot everything about the son you once had… Let's go."

"Look, Eren, this is who he truly is." The brothers are now in a noble's home, with Grisha treating a patient. "He used his position as a doctor to nestle up to those with power inside the walls, all to pin down their king and steal the Founding Titan. Of course, if he messed up, his wife and child wouldn't get off scot-free. Yet he continued to take these risks. Do you understand?"

"Because my shitty old man was such a big piece of shit that he'd throw his wife and kids into a pile of shit if it meant restoring Eldia? I see now. I was wrong, I should have never been born. I'm no longer brainwashed."

Zeke scoffs. "We have all the time in the world. No need to rush."

Many images of Grisha's business later, including run-ins with Hannes, a former Garrison soldier, and Kenny, leader of the Interior Police years ago, the brothers come to a small church on the edge of a village, Grisha walking inside.

"Here? Could it be…"

"What is this place," Zeke asks.

"The King of the walls' base." The brothers follow Grisha inside, finding him kneeling and displacing a rug. Underneath, he finds a trapdoor.

"Impossible," Zeke exclaims. "Grisha should have stolen the Founder the day the walls were destroyed. That's years from now." Grisha, however, doesn't descend into the depths. Instead, he returns home to his wife and infant child, taking the young Eren into his arms.

"I see," Zeke says as they enter Grisha's own base, the basement of Eren's home. "It seems he did love his second son enough to put his mission from the Restorationists aside. It's almost nothing like what he did with me. It does seem he'd learn from his 'past' mistakes. But now you do exactly as he wanted. You've lost your true self. You'll see that soon enough."

"Zeke… I'm sorry…" Zeke looks from the bookshelf to Grisha, the doctor slowly awakening. As his eyes open, he glances in Zeke's direction. "Zeke?" Grisha suddenly stands in surprise. "Zeke...is that you there?" Neither child of Grisha says anything as the doctor rubs his face. "Heh. Don't be ridiculous. Why would that bearded old man be Zeke? It's just...a dream."

Zeke steps up to the desk, looking at his half-asleep father. "...What?"

"Next," Eren says as he opens the door. "The next memory, Zeke."

"You're almost nine now. Grisha has loved you and raised you freely." Zeke sighs. "So our father never brainwashed you?"

"That's why I said it was pointless. We never had to wander his memories for years."

"In that case, why did you betray me? He passed his Titan down without telling you a thing...yet you keep fighting, just as he wished. Eren… Why do you refuse to end this conflict? What did you plan with the Founder's power?"

"I...have always been this way ever since I was born." The scene changes to the day Eren saved Mikasa, dead bodies littered around the house. "You seem to have thought the two of us were the same. But you're wrong. If someone is willing to take my freedom, I won't hesitate to take theirs. Our father never made me that way. It's who I've been since the time I was born."

"Since birth?"

"You won't find the pathetic little brother you wanted in me or a convenient one who will share in your emotional scars either. All I see here is a man who can only define himself through continued denial of his father's wish to restore Eldia. A pathetic man still ensnared by his dead father."

Zeke turns away from Eren's glare. "If so, that man is grateful to his father, as his acts opened his son's eyes,ultimately saving the world from the danger Eldia poses. You could even say it was the father who saved the world. Ironic, isn't it not, Eren? Listen, Eren, I hold the Power of the Founder in my hands. I can carry out the euthanization plan at any moment. But… I promise I will not abandon you. Just as Mister Xavier saved me, I want to save you before I save the entire world."

"Eren, when I get home, I'll show you what's in the basement that I've been keeping secret all this time."

"I am an Eldian," Grisha says as he approaches the true royal family in the crystal cavern, "and I have come from beyond the walls. I, like you, am a Subject of Ymir. King of the Walls! Please, you must kill the Titans attacking the walls at once! Before...my wife and my children! Before the people of the walls...are eaten!"

The possessor of the Founder and Historia's older sister, Frieda Reiss, glares at Eren's father. But who speaks is not her, but the King of the Walls, King Fritz. "We cannot escape our sins. The time has come for the Subjects of Ymir to face judgement. Man is far too weak in the face of such massive power. The tragedy of the Titan War has made me realize someone must keep the Power of the Titans out of human hands. If the Power of the Founder were to fall into the hands of the weak, the world will be turned to hell once again. In order to protect the world we must accept our sins. Our only choice is to perish."

"I think I could get along with the lady over there," Zeke comments. "But this family will soon be slaughtered. You said you saw this memory before and that it made you lose all hope in our father. Was that another lie?"

Eren says nothing, just staring intensely at his father as the latter continues his plea. "My home is close to the destroyed wall! I live there with my wife, my son, and my daughter. The people who live in these walls know nothing of the crimes committed by their ancestors, all because you stole their memories! You call this atonement? Dooming us to be eaten by Titans, ignorant to the end?"

"...No. no matter how we may repent, we Eldians can never return the human lives we took. But what we can do is prevent the taking of lives beyond our walls. So long as we remain ignorant and accept the world's rage, we Eldians will be the only ones who have to die."

Eren scowls at such a message, so much he doesn't hear Zeke call his name or pay much attention to Grisha slightly turning in his direction.

"There's no point in trying to convince me. And...even if you do take the Founding Titan from me, you can not--"

"I know. I realize I can't use the Power of the Founder. Each of the Nine Titans is unique in its own way, including the one within me, the Attack Titan. From long ago, the inheritor of the Attack Titan never obeyed orders. I know why that is. It's all been to resist the self-righteousness of the king. Yes...for this moment. It's why we've all been led to this memory. The Attack Titan is capable of seeing into the memories of its future inheritors. In other words, it is capable of knowing the future."

"The future," Zeke says. "I don't understand." He averts his gaze to Eren, who stands in front of Grisha. "Eren?"

"The Attack Titan can? That's not--"

"I also know that you're unaware of this, because even if you are part of the royal family, the vow to renounce war keeps you from using the Founder's full power as well. From here, I will eat the Founder and put an end to the royal bloodline. That is the future already set for us." Grisha takes hold of a scalpel, forcing Frieda to send her family away. However, the Attack Titan doesn't show itself as Grisha kneels down, his resolve wavering. "I can't… I could never kill children. I...am a doctor. I save lives."

"Impossible," Zeke says to himself. "But Grisha did take the Founder. He massacred the family, didn't he? It's not as if the past could have...changed…"

As the Reiss family pleads for the Founding Titan to kill Grisha, Eren steps up to his father, glaring at him. "What are you doing? Stand, Dad." He kneels down, lingering in Grisha's face. "Did you forget why you are here? Isn't it to get revenge for your little sister, eaten by dogs? To your fellow Restorationists, for Dina, for Kruger. You move forward to avenge them, even if you die, even after you die. You started the story, didn't you?"

"I killed them," Grisha says as he drops to the ground outside the church, carrying a black case in his hands. "Even those children...crushed them with my hands. I felt it… Eren! I killed the Reiss family! Other than the father… Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted? Is this really what I needed to do to save Eldia?" With no answer, Grisha drops his head in despair. "Why won't you show me everything? The walls being destroyed...the day it happens...if Carla is safe… Was this really...the only way?... You're there, aren't you… Zeke?"

Zeke is indeed there, standing before his father. "From here on, it won't go as you wish… It will all be going… Eren's way…"

"What… What are you saying?"

"I saw Eren's memories of what's next. But I can't believe it. To think it would become that ghastly…" Grisha looks up, and for the first time since Zeke turned his parents in, father and son look at each other. "Zeke? Is that you? How you've.. grown." Grisha stands up, tears pouring out his eyes. "I'm sorry. I was a terrible father… I put you through so many terrible things…" Grisha steps forward, hugging his firstborn. "Zeke… I love you. If only...I had spent more time playing with you."

"...Dad."

"Zeke… You have to stop Eren."

"Ugh." Zeke drops to the ground as the brothers return to the Coordinate. Taking deep breaths, Zeke tries to wrap his head around what Grisha just told him. He must stop Eren? What is he planning?

"You haven't gotten to the part where I eat our old man yet," Eren comments.

"You… You were the one...to push Dad to fight the King of the Walls and the world? If the Attack Titan truly does have the power to transcend time, you should have the ability to affect the past by showing Grisha the memories that would serve you best. Dad… Grisha hesitated to carry out his duty as a Restorationist. If what I saw in your memories was true…he knew that he wouldn't be able to use the Power of the Founder himself, even if he took it… And yet, he did steal it from them and entrusted it to you. That's because he saw memories further into the future… You showed him something...that's yet to happen."

"Thank you, Zeke. The path ahead of me waz only made possible by you bringing me into my old man's memories."

"He told me...it won't play put as I wish...that it'll go your way."

"Yes. I saw it four years ago, memories of a future me within our old man's memories. Of that sight."

Zeke grits his teeth and shouts, "Ymir, the Founder! Steal the ability to reproduce from all Subjects of Ymir!"

Eren turns his head just as Ymir turns around to head to the Coordinate. "The Coordinate!"

"Grisha...told me something. He said to stop you. He regretted doing as you said. I don't know what kind of future you saw within father's memories, but it's not as if you saw it all. Just as you didn't know you couldn't use the Power of the Founder here. You're powerless as ever"

"Arrrrgh!" Eren frees himself from his chains, beginning a desperate run towards Ymir as she enters the Coordinate.

"It's pointless, Eren. Once Ymir, the Founder, begins to move… Nothing in this world can stop her." Eren ignores Zeke and grabs Ymir. Instantly, he gains a vision of her memories from so long ago. How she became the first Titan, how she destroyed then-superior Marley, how she died protecting the Eldian king, how her daughters, Maria, Rose, and Sina consumed her, and how the practice of transfer continued and the Titans began their reign.

"It ends now. I'll put an end to this world. Lend me your strength. You're no slave. You're no god. You're just a person. You don't need to serve anyone. You can be one to choose."

"What did you just say," Zeke shouts as he runs towards his brother. "Eren, you want to...put an end to this world? Stop! What're you thinking?"

"You get to decide," Eren continued to tell Ymir. "You choose. Stay here for eternity...or end it all."

"What are you doing? Ymir! Obey my orders! I'm telling you to steal the ability to reproduce from all the Subjects of Ymir! Do it now! Ymir!"

"Was it you who led me here?"

"I am descended from royal blood!"

"You must have been waiting...all this time. For 2,000 years, for someone." Ymir lifts her head up, showing Eren her eyes… They're purple...

Joshua

With Reiner's interference prevented, Eren has a clear shot to Zeke. Yet, even though we are protecting Eren, I don't trust him or Zeke. "Get to Zeke before Eren does! Don't let them meet!"

"Eren! Come here!" Eren races as fast as he can towards Zeke as the 104th drops down to intercept. But we're too late as a single shot is fired from Eren's right. Gabi shot him square in the head, and flew Eren's cranium right into Zeke's hand.

In the blink of an eye, the world begins to glow and shake.

A spine forms between Eren's head and body, illuminating the area with a bright light. Around the soldiers and warriors, the walls begin to crumble. The Cart Titan slips off the top of the wall, Mikasa and Armin quickly divert from the falling debris. As the skeleton continues to grow, I see Gabi nearby, looking upon the forming Titan in fear. Cursing myself, I shoot myself down, grabbing her and rushing away from whatever the hell is happening.

No, I know what's happening… The rumbling has begun.