Fans of Attack on Titan are still thinking back to one specific flashback scene from Season 1, Episode 6, involving Eren’s father and Mikasa. The episode’s Japanese version first aired in 2013, broadening the already massive manga audience to the cultural phenomenon that is the anime. However, the series’ time-traveling nature makes it equally relevant 12 years later, a testament to Hajime Isayama’s superb subtle foreshadowing and attention to detail. Attack on Titan finished airing a little over a year ago in 2023, and while the ending was not to everyone’s liking, the series’ fandom still actively participates in discussing theories, engaging with artwork, and even releasing a fan-made movie.
Up until Episode 6, fans only knew Mikasa Ackerman as Eren’s quietly protective and scarily strong adopted sister in Attack on Titan, with no information on how she ended up in the Yeager’s care. But Episode 6 changed that as Mikasa reminisced on her past, revealing how Eren’s father, Grisha Yeager, used to be her family doctor before a young Mikasa was kidnapped to be sold by her parents’ murderers and ultimately rescued by an equally young Eren. The scene was a gruesome one and explained Mikasa’s unusually strong attachment to Eren as well as the origin of her near-superhuman strength.
But a decade later, something else has caught fans’ attention. In Season 3 Episode 21, the previous Attack Titan, Eren Kruger, tells Grisha Yeager to complete his mission if he wants to save Mikasa and Armin before injecting him with the Titan spinal fluid and having him inherit the Attack Titan. Since this happens years before the two are even born, Reddit user u/krishm97 speculated Grisha meeting Mikasa in Attack on Titan may have been no mere coincidence.
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Attack on Titan Theory: Grisha Took His Son to Meet Mikasa Because of Eren Kruger’s Mission
We can’t be entirely certain if Grisha remembered Kruger’s words, especially since Titan Shifters don’t immediately remember becoming Shifters. But considering how they can access the previous inheritors’ memories and how Grisha named his own son after Kruger, there is a good chance he remembered. If that’s the case, when Eren befriended Armin, Grisha would have had his first clue that the Armin and Mikasa Kruger mentioned were people important to his son Eren.
Despite that, it seems unlikely Grisha would have gone searching for Mikasa just off that. But if he knew anything about the Ackerman Clan, it would make sense for him to look for their living members. And this search would have led him to Mikasa’s family in the farmlands of Wall Maria. Additionally, with Mikasa and her mother being the only two Orientals living within the walls, Mikasa was definitely not a common name, increasing the chances of Grisha concluding that Ackerman’s daughter was the Mikasa Kruger mentioned.
Even if Grisha only met the Ackermans by accident, there is definitely a good chance he would have recognized Mikasa’s name. That would explain why he chose to take his notoriously moody son Eren to meet Mikasa when the two had nothing in common except their age. And, even when he found her parents dead, he believed her to be alive, specifically asking Eren if he had seen a young girl around. When Eren replied in the negative, Grisha went to call the Military Police to have them investigate the incident (and presumably find Mikasa).
But Eren got to Mikasa’s kidnappers first, killing two of them and awakening Mikasa’s Ackerman blood to let her kill the third. Grisha Yeager is understandably disturbed when he learns of this, but as he scolds his son, a tearful Eren tells him he “only wanted to save her quickly.” This visibly surprises Grisha, and he moves to address Mikasa instead, asking her if she remembers him from the times they met when she was younger.
Fan Theory Suggests Grisha Took Mikasa in Because of Future Eren’s Memory
It’s possible as he asks this question, Grisha himself is remembering Kruger’s words and seeing them in a new light after his son showed such concern for a girl he had never even met before. This may have been the moment “he realized the weight of Kruger’s line,” as u/krishm97 put it, and maybe began to reach the conclusion that the one who told him to complete his mission to save Mikasa and Armin was a future version of Eren. And so when Eren gave Mikasa his scarf, Grisha offered Mikasa a home with his family.
This is one of many theories Attack on Titan fans have come up with in hindsight, and with the show’s interesting take on time travel through a shared consciousness, it won’t be the last. That said, for more coverage on the anime – including all of the latest Attack on Titan news, all of the latest Attack on Titan rumors, and all of the latest Attack on Titan Theory discussions – check here.
H/T: Reddit
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