Grisha Jaeger's hands are tied. Literally.

His hands are tied behind his back, he is being dragged by his captors, and forced to kneel. His body is beaten, bruised, and scarred. He is missing fingers, molars, and even his testicals from the Marleyan's interrogation. They asked him for everything he knew about the Owl, the hidden mastermind and informant of Grisha's Eldian Restorationists. But he had nothing.

Now, Grisha is forced to his knees. He can feel the sun shining on his face and he can smell the sea air. The fear and pain he felt since he and his comrades boarded the ship doubled.

"We're here," the Marleyan officer said as he removed Grisha's blindfold.

"This is…Paradis."

Grisha can see a sandy landscape with small rocky hills. He is standing on a large stone wall at a port. This is the island where the king and a handful of refugees fled from the war 100 years ago. And it is where Marley sends Eldian traitors, after turning them into Titans.

"That's right," says the Marleyan officer. "The penal colony of Eldian traitors: Paradis Island. This is where you'll serve your life sentence…As a Pure Titan, that is."

Grisha looks up at the man, Kruger. He was in the interrogation chamber as he was being interrogated. Watching him with an emotionless expression as he was stripped naked, tortured for information he didn't know. He was older now, but Grisha recognized him. He was one of the two men who caught him and his younger sister Faye outside the internment zone wall as children years ago. That was the last day his sister was seen alive. Kruger and his partner, Gross, found him and Faye. The punishment for being outside the zone without permission is either a beating or labor. Grisha chose a beating and Kruger agreed to give him double so Faye would be spared. Gross offered to take Faye home, but instead, she was found the next day, dead, with bite marks on her body. Gross claimed that he left her outside the entrance and that she must have wandered off. His (cowardly) parents believed him (or rather chose to), and even thanked him. But Grisha knew the truth. It was all but confirmed years later when his fellow restorationists showed him Faye lying on the ground, screaming and crying, with dogs sicced on her by three Marleyan boys of different ages, laughing sadistically. And Gross, their father and the man who brought her to them, standing and watching.

"I've met you before," Grisha tells Kruger. "When I was little."

"You remember that?" Kruger asks.

"As if I could ever forget what happened that day!"

His fellow restorationists were led out. All of them except Dina. Grisha felt guilty over not telling his captors that Dina was a royal. She would have been spared, but he knew that she would have been made a breeder. Forced to have children for Marley to be brainwashed, and used as tools to control Titans once they got the Founder. It pained him, but Grisha knew that it would be better if Dina became a Titan. Besides, if not him then Dina would have said something.

"Please, just kill me…" Grice, one of his comrades, says as he is escorted by an officer. "Don't!"

"Keep walking," the Marleyan officer escorting him says

"Please not a Titan…"

"Grice?"

"Grisha!?" Grice screams. "What the hell!?"Why in the world did Zeke betray us?! He's your son!-"

They were a small group of Eldians who planned to overthrow Marley and free their people, which involved having Grisha's son Zeke (whose mother, Dina, was a member of royal blood) enlist in the warrior program so he could steal the Founding Titan from the cowards who fled to the island instead of fighting for their freedom. Instead, Zeke turned him and the others into the Marleyan authorities. Looking back Grisha could see why. Aside from the fact that Marley punishes entire families for a single Eldian's crimes (which meant not just Zeke but also his grandparents), Grisha wasn't a good father to him.

"-I was an idiot to entrust everything to you! The Restorationists! Dina, too! Say something!"

"I'm sorry…" is all Grisha can say, while Grice weeps.

"Why did we let…a guy like you…? Eldia is finished."

A fat Marleyan with a dark mustache walks up to Grice.

"We've got a lively one here. You're free to go."

The Marleyan then kicks Grice off the wall, without even making him a Titan. Grisha was genuinely shocked by this as Grice rolled to the bottom.

"Run straight north!" the Marleyan who kicked him yelled. "If you're lucky, you might make it to the Wall!"

Grice runs for his life. Though he knows what is going to come next.

'Oh, I get it,' Grisha thinks. 'He's going to sic the rest of us as Titans on him for sport. Sick bastard.'

Grisha gets a better look at him. 'Wait, that man. He's-'

"Um, Sergeant Major Gross?" a Marleyan soldier asks, confused.

"Hmm? This your first time here?" Gross asks. "If we let him run off, the Titans we're about to make will chase him down and leave the area. It won't be long till he's eaten. Isn't that right, Kruger?"

"Yeah."

Grisha's glare at the man became more intense after he was called "Gross". That confirmed it.

'It's him. Without a doubt. He's the one who killed my sister!'

Ten Marleyan officers behind each of his comrades stuck syringes containing Titan serum into their napes. Though for some reason, Kruger hadn't done him yet. Grisha averts his gaze to the ground, not wanting to see his friends and comrades Titanized. Or eaten.

Grisha hears their screams as the needles pierce their necks. The sounds of them being kicked off the wall. But he didn't hear the thunderous sound or feel the light of their transformations until after he heard them hit the ground. The Titans that were once his comrades chased after Grice. Grisha did his best to repress his tears as he heard Grice's screams.

"Kruger, why didn't you turn him?" Gross asks.

"I still want to interrogate him a bit," Kruger says. "Continue without me."

Another soldier brings out a woman with neck length blonde hair.

"Oh? A woman this time?" Gross says. "What a waste. If only you weren't a devil."

Grisha's eyes open after he hears the word "woman". He sees Dina being forced to her knees, an injection ready for her. Grisha releases his tears as he looks at his wife for the last time.

"Dina."

"Darling."

"I…I'm sorry…"

Dina smiles sadly. She knows what Grisha was talking about. She doesn't blame him. She didn't try to tell her captors who she really is herself. Both fates are worse than death, but at least now she won't benefit Marley.

"Grisha, I…" Dina says as the serum is being injected into her. "No matter what form I take, I promise I'll come and find you."

"That's lovely," Gross says, walking behind her. "You'll make a great Titan couple."

Grisha calls Dina's name as she is kicked off the wall. In a flash of lightning, his beautiful wife transforms into a 15-meter Titan, with a big creepy smile. Grisha closes his eyes and growls, trying to repress the pain with anger. It is only partly successful. Meanwhile, Gross is laughing as Titan-Dina walks off.

"Look! She's running after Grice and forgot all about you! I guess she fancies that guy more than you!"

"Shut up!" Grisha yells at Gross.

"Did you say something?"

"It's you!" Grisha snaps, opening his eyes again to glare at Gross. "Fifteen years ago, the one who fed my eight-year-old sister to the dogs was you!"

Gross shows no emotion. He just turns to another Marleyan who's escorting a prisoner.

"Tsk. Let me get him off your hands. You can head back to the ship."

"Um, yes, sir."

As the soldier leaves he turns to his friend.

"What was that all about?"

"The Sergeant Major wants some time to have fun, rookie. It's best to leave it at that."

Grisha is left alone with Kruger, the Eldian prisoner, and Gross. He glares at his captor, his sister's killer. But Gross remains stoic and lights a cigarette.

"Kruger, are you done interrogating?" Gross asks. "Let's have that lad dance for us."

"Dance?" Grisha asks, indignantly.

"I remember you now, son," Gross tells Grisha. "Let's not make you a Titan."

Gross then turns his attention to the other prisoner. He is on his knees, terrified. Gross, untouched, Gross readies an injection.

"I'll have this one turn into a 3-to 4-meter Titan so you can fight him."

"Why would you do something like this?" Grisha asks with disgust. "Do you get enjoyment out of people getting eaten by Titans?"

"Why, you ask?" says Gross. "Because it's interesting. Do you think that's a little crazy?"

'Yes, you sick fuck.'

"But you know, people actually want to see cruelty," Gross says as he prepares an injection. "Peace can be such a wonderful thing, but something about it is lacking. Losing touch with life and death, perhaps? We should live thinking this might be the last day we've got. That's the only proper state of mind for living things. I'm ready to accept it when that day comes for me. That's because I've faced this cruel world head-on and deepened my understanding of it."

'You're just spewing nonsense,' Grisha thinks.

Grisha continues glaring at Gross as the latter injects the prisoner.

"Yeah, It was educational having my sons' dogs eat your sister."

Grisha's breathing becomes heavy, as he grits his teeth. As the Eldian prisoner is kicked off the wall.

'Educational!? So what was the lesson!? All of us (Eldians) deserve to die!?'

"The punishment for leaving the zones is beating or labor, not death," Grisha says, furious. "She did nothing to deserve it. My mom cried for days! You destroyed our family! Have you no remorse!?"

"Well, I get what you're saying," Gross says. If something like that happened to one of my sons, it would crush my heart." Then he smiles wickedly. "But here's the difference. Me and my boys are actually human, your Eldians." Gross points to the recently transformed prisoner. "Look, there is your people's true form. All it takes is a little Titan spinal fluid and you transform into gigantic monsters. Your kind are beasts." Gross takes a smoke. "You should have been fed to the dogs that day too. And your parents. And every other Eldian in the world. That's the wish of all true humans everywhere."

"Then don't inject us," Grisha says spitefully. "That stuff kills anyone else anyw-"

"So no, I don't feel remorse," Gross says, interrupting him. "And what about you? What were you Restorationists planning to do to Marley? Don't you feel any remorse?"

"I…You just said you want to exterminate us!" Grisha shouts. "Marley keeps us enslaved. Justifying it over something that happened decades before we were even born!"

"And you wished to bring those days back?" Gross points out. "With us Marleyans in zones, enslaved, and being wiped out while your kind rules the world? Not really making the world better overall, is it?"

"Those are lies!" Grisha shouts. "The Founder Ymir helped people prosper on the continent!"

"Yeah, whatever," Gross says nonchalantly. "Since your history is so grand, go and share it with your friend down below."

Gross grabs Grisha and starts pushing him from behind to fall off the wall to the Titans below. Grisha resists and screams.

"Hear that?" Gross asks, smiling. "Your sister is calling for you!"

"Dammit!"

Kruger suddenly pushes Gross off the wall instead, grabbing into Grisha to keep him safe. Gross looks up, shocked at his coworker and "friends" betrayal as Kruger looks down at him in contempt. Grisha looks up at Kruger, shocked. Gross rolls on the ground and slowly gets up. He looks up and sees the Titan he just created looking at him. Gross whimpers and tries to run but the Titan grabs him. Gross screams as the Titan brings him close to his mouth.

As Grisha watches the whole thing, a tiny smile forms on his face. Seeing the man who mercilessly fed his sister alive to dogs, now crying as he struggles to avoid being eaten by a Titan of his own creation. An Eldian he wanted wiped out and punished.

'Music to my ears,' Grisha thinks, hearing his screams. 'So much for being ready to face death.'

"Well, isn't that interesting?" Kruger asks.

"Uh…thank you," Grisha says. "But why?"

"Because I'm the Owl, Grisha."

Grisha's eyes widen.

"Now pay attention, Grisha," Kruger says, bringing a knife to his palm. "This is how the nine use our power."

Kruger cuts himself and jumps off the wall just before lightning strikes him. Grisha stands up and watches in shock as Kruger/the Owl turns into a fifteen-meter Titan. But he isn't like a normal one. He is muscular, has glowing green eyes, and has enough control over himself to lift up the ship that brought them here and break it over his shoulders.

'Nine…' Grisha thinks. 'One of the nine shifters!'

Grisha watches pleased as the Kruger-Titan crushes the remaining Marleyans with his bare hands and throws their remains into the sea. After he is done, Kruger exits his Titan and returns to the top of the wall with Grisha. He cuts his binds. Grisha is still shocked.

"Owl, just who are you?" Grisha asks.

"I am Eren Kruger," he says. "As you just saw, I possess one of the Nine Titans. In other words, I'm a Subject of Ymir, just like you."

"You pretended to be a Marleyan and infiltrated Public Security?" Grisha deduces. "How did you pass the blood tests?"

"That was easy enough with the help of a doctor. Doctors make good spies. In all honesty, you did very well. But in terms of results, Grice had every right to grieve like he did."

Grisha sighs.

"What about you!?" Grisha shouts, grabbing Kruger's collar. "Why did you wait until now to transform!? You could have saved the restorationists!? At the very least you could have saved Dina! Dina was someone special, being a Subject of Ymir with royal blood. She would have brought out the true power of the Titans!?"

"Enough. Don't your fingers hurt?"

"Thanks so much for your concern!" Grisha says sarcastically. "You didn't seem to care so much when you were chopping them off!"

Kruger falls to his knees. He coughs. Grisha doesn't care right now.

"It wasn't just them. I've severed thousands of fingers from Subjects of Ymir and made them into Titans. Women and children, too. All while believing it was for the sake of Eldia."

Grisha's gaze softens. He can sense Kruger's underlying remorse. Doing terrible things for the sake of your people. That much he could understand. Looking back Grisha acknowledged that he was a terrible father to Zeke. He was a tool to use to defeat Marley to him, a soldier for his mission, never really a son. Grisha thought back to all the times he had Zeke do extra studying when he came home early. All the training he had him go through. All the times he yelled and got angry when Zeke failed. All the times Grisha could have been a father, but wasn't. Even so…

"Sometimes, we have to do things that are bad for a greater purpose," Grisha says. "But…we have to remember to keep reason. My son betrayed us because…I never treated him like one. I never played with him or tried to encourage him beyond our mission. I put so much pressure on him. I regret a lot of the things I did…but not everything. Zeke was the only one who could have helped us then. I needed to raise him as a soldier. But, I could have made more of an effort to be a father."

Kruger nods.

"I don't have much time, Grisha," Kruger says. "I'm entrusting you with the final task. Not anyone else. Only you. To answer your first question, I didn't save you all because I couldn't. Only one of us, one of the Nine, can make it past all the Titans on this island to the walls. And Dina…well, that's another issue altogether."

"What? What could have possibly been wrong?

Kruger doesn't answer him. He just wipes his bleeding nose.

"That day… The day when I first met you, if none of that had happened, you wouldn't have festered enough hatred of Marley to come this far."

"Is that the reason you chose me?"

"That's part of it. The country, your father, yourself, the hate in your eyes was enough to burn the world to ashes. I was once like that, too. A group of Eldians loyal to the king had formed a resistance on the continent. My father was part of it. However, they accomplished nothing at all and were burned alive. I was so young, all I could do was peek through the closet door and watch. Ever since then, I've sworn revenge on Marley and the revival of Eldia. But all I've managed to do is cut the fingers off my fellow patriots, kick them off this wall, and turn them into Titans. It's because of the things I've done that my true identity was never discovered. I'm no different than when I was little. Perhaps I'm still looking at the world through a crack from the closet."

Grisha is silent for a moment.

"Tell me something, Owl. What mission do you want to give me?"

"I want you to infiltrate the society within the Walls and steal the power of the Founding Titan," Kruger says. "You'll do it by inheriting my Titan."

"Wait, but that means you'll…"

"I'll have to be eaten by you as a Titan," Kruger confirms. "You'll take the Founding Titan from its owner the same way."

"Why can't you do it?" Grisha asks. "You're not in good health, are you? What condition do you have?"

Kruger faces him.

"Those who inherit the power of the Nine Titans perish in thirteen years," Kruger says, solemly. "I inherited this power thirteen years ago."

Grisha gasps.

"I was going to…" Grisha says, thinking of Zeke.

He clutches his head as Kruger speaks.

"Ymir Fritz died thirteen years after receiving her power. None of us can be allowed to surpass her. I'm sorry, Grisha, but this is the way it has to be. Like you said, we all must do difficult things…for Eldia."

Grisha thinks back to how he realized Zeke, and what he said before to justify it. He thinks of his sisters Faye and Dina, both gone to him now. He thinks of how he thought he was going to die now, yet still lives. He looks at the bloody handkerchief that Kruger used on the floor and realizes they don't have any other options.

"And what happens if you die without me eating you?" Grisha asks, curiously.

"Then my Titan will be inherited by a random baby in either the island or some internment zone," Kruger says.

"How is that possible?"

"Some throughout history with the power of the Titans had spoken about seeing some kind of paths as they transformed," Kruger says. "The bodies of Titans, blood, and bones, forming from sand and even the inheritance of past holders' memories. The only explanation is that all the Subjects of Ymir are connected by something we can't see. A pathway that the power of the Titans is channeled from. All the paths cross at a single coordinate. That coordinate…is the Founding Titan."

Grisha looks at the half-eaten body of Gross. The look of horror froze on his dead face. Kruger reaches into his pocket and takes out a picture. It is of Grisha, Dina, and Zeke posing for a family portrait.

"Here, I brought this from your home."

Grisha snatches it.

"I go back to my other question," Grisha says. "If I'm going to be taking your mission then I need to know. Why not Dina? Or was her Royal lineage a lie?"

"No, Dina being a Royal was true," Kruger says. "But recently my inherited memories have revealed an interesting piece of information. There is now a vow limiting the power of the Founder."

"A vow?"

"The Royal family cannot flatten the Earth unless the Earth attacks the island first," says Kruger. "Otherwise, the Colossi within the sea and the walls will not move an inch. The memories of the walled citizens have also been altered. They know nothing of Eldia or Ymir anymore. They simply believe that Titanism is a condition they can be afflicted with and the world simply wants them dead to eradicate that."

Grisha takes in this knowledge and groans.

"So training Zeke was truly for nothing?"

"Not for nothing," Kruger says. "I know there is a way to break the vow. I wasn't able to figure out what it was. But I have faith you will."

"Do they truly not remember?" Grisha asks. "Two thousand years of history? Our goddess, Ymir?"

"You still believe that?" Kruger asks.

"You do not? Or do you believe were spawn of the devil?"

"Who knows the truth? Under Marley's authority, she's a pawn of the devil. During the Eldian Empire era, she was a miracle of the gods. And some merely think of her as a young woman who made contact with the source of all living matter. Who's to say they're wrong? But you must find the cowardly king in the walls and strip him of his Titan. That is your mission."

"I honestly don't know if I'm cut out for this," Grisha says.

"You will be enough," says Kruger.

Grisha thinks.

"I will accept my mission, Eren," Grisha says, then he looks at the picture. "Just…give me a moment."

Grisha sits down and stares at the picture of his family for several minutes. Afterward, Kruger prepares a syringe.

"Have another family," Kruger says.

"What?"

"After you enter the Walls, build a family."

"I just lost my wife, you expect me to move on just like that?" Grisha asks. "And won't I forget the things you tell me just before I become a Titan anyways?"

"That's not always the case. And someone may see it later," Kruger explains. "But from what I have seen, you having another family is essential for the future."

"Huh?"

"To save Mikasa, Armin, and everyone else, you must see it through."

Grisha cocks his eyebrow.

"Mikasa? Armin? Who are they?"

"Who knows? I'm not sure… Whose memories are those?"

Grisha grunts.

"So, what's this Titan you're about to give me?" Grisha asks as Kruger sticks the needle into his nape. "I didn't see anything special about it besides glowing green eyes."

"This Titan is special," says Kruger. "It was the only one that the Tyburs were not able to capture for Marley. No matter which era this Titan has found itself in, it has pushed ever forward, seeking out freedom. Its name is…The Attack Titan."

Kruger injects Grisha.

Grisha feels a surge of energy coursing through his body. His head feels dizzy, and he sees things.

He sees a vast desert with a tree made out of light. And a little girl sculpting Titans out of the sand. She turns to look at him, and Grisha sees so much more in her eyes.

He sees a vision of that girl drowning, and a strange spine-line creature attaching to her back.

He sees a fat man with dark hair glaring at him with purple eyes.

He sees a beautiful dark-haired woman in a yellow shirt and an apron, smiling warmly at him while holding a baby.

He sees a beautiful, blonde, teenage girl dressed in royal robes with a crown on her head. She is surrounded by a 5-meter Titan with dark hair, sharp teeth, and claws. As well as an Armored Titan with white hair.

He sees a blonde boy transforming into the Colossal Titan.

He sees a new Attack Titan, with dark hair, pointy ears, and a skull-like mouth charging with an army behind him. A dark-haired Asian girl, wielding swords, and propelling herself around him with a wire-like device. They charge at the Warhammer Titan, ready to fight.

Finally, he sees himself being injected with Titan serum from another person's point of view. He sees himself struggling, lighting up, bursting with lightning, and transforming into a Titan. he has pointy ears, wide eyes, and a wrangled body. He reaches toward the person (whom he can see as Kruger through his eye reflection). Kruger is last shown lowering his head and raising his arms, accepting his end.

Grisha wakes up. He is among the steaming ruins of a Titan skeleton. He looks at his hands and his fingers have returned. He no longer feels pain and all his wounds are healed.

"It worked."

Grisha sees Kruger's hat lying on the ground. Grisha picks it up and makes his way down to the beach below. He buries the hat and uses a piece of driftwood to create a makeshift grave marker.

"I have thirteen years left," Grisha says. "I can't waste a second."

Grisha takes the knife that Kruger had and cuts his hand. In a flash of lighting a massive Titan body forms around Grisha's body. Connected to him by strips of flesh. Grisha, inside his Titan, walks to the ocean to see his new form in the reflection. He is 15 meters tall. His torso is large and his limbs are small in comparison. He has a dark beard, green eyes, and a hairy chest. Then he turns around and begins running to the Walls.