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Attack on Titan season 4 part 1 took the story of the series and its protagonist, Eren Yeager, down a much darker path. Season 4 Eren was almost unrecognizable, with his cold and distant demeanor, and ruthless fighting style. Fans were also shocked when he teamed up with the holder of the Beast Titan, his older half-brother, Zeke Yeager.
Zeke is possibly one of the most disliked characters by the Attack on Titan fandom, especially due to his role in Commander Erwin Smith’s death. But in season 4, he took things even further, trying to bring to fruition a sinister and delusional plan to bring what he believed was “salvation” to all Eldians.
Spoilers for the Attack on Titan anime and manga ahead.
What is the Eldian euthanasia plan in Attack on Titan?
Zeke’s past
To understand the Eldian euthanasia plan that Zeke came up with, it is important to understand his backstory. Zeke was the only child of Grisha Yeager and Diana Fritz. Diana Fritz was one of the last members of the royal family of Eldia, which granted Zeke the same bloodline on his mother’s side.
In Attack on Titan, bloodline and ancestry matters immensely as far as inheriting the Titan powers were concerned, with only members of the royal family having the ability to unlock the full potential of the Founding Titan’s powers.
Both Grisha and Diana were part of the Eldian resistance against Marley, betrayed by Zeke himself. Zeke was thoroughly schooled by his father in pro-Eldia history, and constantly reminded of the fact that Marley twisted facts and history itself to their convenience, maintaining their supremacy as a race of heroes and saviors, portraying the Eldians of the Attack on Titan universe as a race of devils.
Both his parents wanted to use him as a keystone in a political power play by forcing him to become a warrior and inherit a Titan which he would be able to control to a much greater extent due to his royal bloodline. Zeke’s constitution had been fragile however, leading Grisha to despair, causing Zeke to become both fearful and resentful of him.
After he accidentally found out about the military planning to hunt down Eldian resistance groups, his mentor, who was also the holder of the Beast Titan, advised him to turn on his parents to save himself. The tactic worked better than his expectations in fact, and Zeke began to be referred to as the “golden boy”, even inheriting the Beast Titan, as seen in the Attack on Titan series.
His conflicted understanding, fueled by his grandfather’s pacifist mindset and Grisha’s radical teachings, led him to believe that only complete annihilation of the Eldians would bring them peace and salvation. Zeke was the product of two clashing ideologies vilifying each other, causing him to lose faith in the human race in general.
Eldian Euthanasia plan
In the Attack on Titan anime, what Yelena called Zeke's Eldian euthanasia plan, is basically a glorified genetic neutering of the entire Eldian population living both in Marley and on Paradis Island. Using the Founding Titan’s powers, Zeke wants to manipulate the genetic makeup of Eldians, rendering them infertile and eventually have the entire race die out.
The necessity for this arises out of how the inheritance of Titan powers work in Attack on Titan. If a Titan power is not passed on by the end of the holder’s lifespan, the power will simply be reborn again in a Subject of Ymir.
Simply killing off the current holders of the Nine Titans would only result in an even more chaotic future, with no one having any control over who inherits these Titan powers. This holds true for Zeke especially, whose thirteen-year lifespan after inheriting the Beast Titan would come to an end very soon.
Eren, the current holder of the Founding Titan, does not have royal blood in him, rendering its powers unusable. Zeke tried to manipulate Eren into linking himself to an Eldian of royal ancestry, namely Zeke himself, and essentially using Eren as a pawn to go forward with his plan.
Predictions for Attack on Titan final season part 2
While not as enlightened as manga readers, anime-only fans of Attack on Titan also expect Eren to take a different, if equally fatalistic, path in this final arc of the story. Unlike Zeke, Eren has professed to caring for his friends dearly in the past and his erratic behavior in the previous season seemed too forced, as if he were intentionally setting himself up as a villain.
The ending to Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan manga received mixed reviews and many manga readers hoped for an alternate ending. But judging by the official trailer for Attack on Titan final season part 2, the original ending will likely remain. While controversial, the manga ending is considered poignant and raises a number of questions for fans to ponder upon.
