'Attack on Titan' Speculation: "What we can share so far..."

     The greatest part of speculative discussion is that someone might point out something that I missed, allowing me to either improve or altogether abandon my own theories. However, the unexpected popularity of my Attack on Titan posts has created an unforeseen problem: the comments sections are a bit of a mess and the amount of edits I've made to each post is bordering on the ridiculous. The posts have become disorganized, and are much in need of abridgment. So, here we go... (WARNING! Spoilers up to Episode 25!)

     FYI: I own the first four tankoban (collection of chapters) of the manga, but I haven't read them. I had a hard time deciding whether I should read ahead and spoil the surprise or wait for each episode and enjoy the feeling of suspense I get every time the next episode ends. After a long struggle, I decided on the latter. I say this to let everyone know that I don't know anything more than what's shown the anime. I, along with many others, enjoy the act of speculation and the creation of theories. So, please... NO MANGA SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS.

Or else...

QUESTION 1:

WHAT'S IN THE BASEMENT?

THEORY 1: KNOWLEDGE AND/OR TECHNOLOGY
     What if he has a computer, or some other sufficiently advanced technology, in the basement? A computer with all sorts of data on it regarding the titans, and machines and technology to produce the "titan juice"? In episode nine, while Eren is having a flashback to when his dad injected him with the titan elixir, the subs I watched say, "I'm sure Their memories will teach you how to use it."



     While these are not official subs, I have to wonder what "it" is, and how "Their" (capital 'T') memories will help him to know how to use whatever "it" is. Perhaps he may have a computer, or some other form (or forms) of technology (maybe even as simple as a book), from ages past containing all sorts of knowledge on the titans locked away in the basement. But why in the world, if whatever was down there was really so important, did he keep it a secret?

THEORY 2: UNDERGROUND BUNKER COMPLEX
     Instead of the technology being in the basement itself, could the basement be an entrance to a bunker beneath the walled area? Is it an elevator or stairwell leading down into the bowels of a vast network of laboratories? Is said bunker where Eren's father gathered his knowledge of medicine and did his research? Did he find the titan elixir there?

What secrets are you hiding?

     From what's been said before, I doubt Eren's father is hiding there. If he was, he would be the one to show Eren how to use whatever's down there instead of relying on the memories within the titan elixir to teach him how to use it. This theory would seemingly go hand in hand with the first theory above. If there is a bunker beneath the walled areas, then someone with vastly superior technology would have had to build it (and the walls for that matter). Such a bunker could also be the origin of the 3DM gear, whose innards and workings are a heavily guarded secret known only by a select few (as we are told by another "What we can share so far" card). But all this raises another question: if Eren's father knows about this, how many others know? And just how much do they really know?

THEORY 3: A RELIC OF SORTS
     In the the second ending, we see a mural seemingly depicting two kingdoms going to war (as explained in the beginning of "Question 1.5"). There are a few things that we can pick out just from the mural itself:

(Brightened for easier viewing)

     One, there are two sides, two different colors representing two different groups of people. Each side has what appears to be a banner behind them, the battle standards of their kingdoms. But what jumps out at me is the "reticle" in the middle... which is probably not a reticle at all. It almost looks like an "illuminated object" or a "holy relic". Perhaps this is what the two kingdoms were fighting over, and perhaps this is what they used to create the titan serum. If so, is this relic in the basement? Is it an actual, supernatural "holy relic", or is it piece of technology whose method of creation has been lost to time?

NEW!: QUESTION 1.5:

"WHO" IS DR. YEAGER?

     Perhaps a better question to ask is WHO is Eren's father? Where did he come from? While I haven't done a terrible amount of research myself on this, several commentors have speculated that the kingdom within the walls is not the only kingdom in the world of Attack on Titan. This brings up a whole new aspect of said world: world politics.

The second ending is a great source for speculation: The differences in colors would indicate that these are two different factions, and since it was the first image to appear, I would assume the wall is a pictorial representation of the world's history. Here, they seem to be raising weapons, i.e. at war with each other.

THEORY 1: THE DEFECTOR
     Perhaps Dr.Yeager is a defector from the other kingdom, one with knowledge of the other kingdom's "titan program". He came to the walls for asylum, cured a plague to gain the locals' trust (which could have been a biological weapon released by the other kingdom... maybe), and found a home within the walls.

     Now here is where the speculation goes into overdrive: what if the whole reason for the attacks on the walls was to find and reclaim Dr. Yeager? The other kingdom sent their spies to the walls, found out Dr. Yeager was in Shiganshina, then called for an attack on the town to capture Dr. Yeager. They weren't able to find him (possibly because he wasn't actually in Shiganshina when the attack happened), but were able to track down his son at Trost five years later (or perhaps Dr. Yeager was in Trost), hoping that he knew where his father was. But if that's so, why did it take five years to find Eren? It wasn't like he was hiding... See, not all theories are without holes...

He seemed none too happy about the attack on Shiganshina, so I doubt he had anything to do with ordering the attack.

     I'm guessing that the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan are both from the other kingdom. I don't believe Annie is though: I think she's another of Dr. Jaeger's experiments OR one of the kingdom within the walls hybrid titans. Annie's job seemed to be "capturing" Eren, not "killing" him, which means she/they are after the same thing: finding Dr. Yeager. He knows something very important, which could also be the answer to what lies in the basement... (Thanks to A Virgin Theory for bringing this question to my attention)


THEORY 2: GOVERNMENT FUNDED RESEARCHERS
     SWEET CUPPIN' CAKES! I never put two and two together! Thanks to Roger's comment below, I've had an epiphany that led to another theory. Annie's flashback in episode 25 would seem to take place somewhere around the same time as the titans first attacked Shiganshina. In the early episodes of the anime, we see Annie walking around town by herself (Episode 2, when young Eren and Mikasa are talking and Armin brings them food), which leads me to believe her father left her as well or that she had to leave him...

     What if Annie's father and Eren's father were both part of a scientific group, sanctioned by the government, to study the titans and come up with a way to fight back against them? They created the titan serum in order to fight back, but some of the scientists had differing opinions on its potential use. Some wanted to use the serum while some didn't, or some wanted to use the serum for good while some wanted to use it for evil or to overthrow the king. When the "hybrid" titans attacked and breached the wall, the government cracked down on the only people to have had that sort of technology: the scientists. Both fathers injected their children, then fled from the government and went into hiding.

     In Annie's case, however, I speculate that her father brought her with him into hiding. He gave her the serum, explained its use, possibly trained her in its use, then sent her back to civilization to a place where she could keep an eye on what was going on in the kingdom. She became a member of the military police for precisely this reason: to get to the center of civilization and observe. This is why, at least in the translation I watched, her father says, "Promise me... That you will return..."

     When Eren (and the entire city) became aware of his titan powers, she was ordered to capture him and bring him to where they were hiding so they could explain their predicament and the government's involvement in all this. When she couldn't capture him, and in turn became the target for capture herself, she tried to escape so she could keep the promise she made.

QUESTION 2:

WHERE DID THE TITANS COME FROM?

THEORY: EXPERIMENT GONE WRONG
     While watching episode 15 again to refresh my memory, I listened to Hanji's explanation of her experiments and experiences with the titans that the Legion has captured or killed. It was expressed here (and possibly a few times before and after episode 15) that the titans are far lighter in weight than they should be. Something that size shouldn't be able to stand, much less walk or run, but they can because their bodies are lighter. She then says (in the translation I read) that, "The titans we see and the titans of actuality might be different things all together." Does this mean that the titans we've seen throughout the show are "fake" titans? If so, what are "real" titans?

This one... wasn't real?

Option A: There was an "original titan", its body unearthed by ancient humans and experimented on. Perhaps titan regenerative properties were discovered, prompting experiments that attempted to either clone the titan or introduce titan DNA into humans. These were disastrous, and resulted in the world we see in the show. Perhaps this is what Hanji meant by "the titans of actuality".

Option B (Best Guess): The titans are a human creation, the result of super soldier research gone terribly wrong. This could be supported by the explanations given in episode five: They ignore animals other than humans. Their sole purpose is the consumption of humans, even though they don't need to eat to survive. The logical answer is that the titans are programmed that way, their desire to kill humans written into their instincts.

Option C : A mixture of theory one and two.

     I'm willing to bet that all the titans were at one point human, injected with a "titan elixir" that allowed them to transform into titan-like beings, either for scientific or military purposes. However, the titan instincts were too powerful, and the titan and human parts ended up fusing together when the humans lost control. This has almost happened to Eren. He's almost lost it while in titan form, even going so far as to strike out at Mikasa in the battle for Trost. This "fused" theory answers why the titans who are not hybrids can still be killed by a blow to the neck. The core nervous system is still in the neck, so when the neck is cut, the titan dies. Because the two parts are fused, when the titan body dissolves, the fused human bits dissolve too.

QUESTION 3:

WHERE DID THE WALLS COME FROM?

(AND WHY ARE THERE TITANS INSIDE OF THEM?)

     Unfortunately, someone commented a spoiler on the composition of the walls, which I unintentionally read when moderating them. I wasn't a theory-shattering spoiler, but it wasn't something that had been covered in the anime. It allowed me to make an educated guess as to how the walls were made, therefore, I'll only speculate on why the walls were made so as to not make spoilers of my own.

     The "What we can share so far" cards before and after the commercial break of episode 25 give us a story of a miner who tried to dig under one of the walls so that he could live in prosperity on the other side. From this story we find out that the walls go underground, deep underground. Not only that, they also extend beneath the ground like bedrock. This is an incredible piece of information, one only superseded by the mind-blowing revelation after episode 25's credits.

Sweet cuppin' cakes...

     Such an incredible revelation gives us some insight into where the walls come from. The creation of such walls is far beyond humanity's present abilities, and therefore must have been built by an advanced, long dead civilization. How many titans are in the walls? Are they shoulder to shoulder in there, miles apart, or somewhere in between? More importantly, why were they built?

THEORY 1: PRISON BREAK
     What if the titans were originally inside the walls, sort of like a prison or a nature preserve? This theory could work in tandem with the "Experiment Gone Wrong" theory above: the ancient humans created the titans, the titans became uncontrollable, the humans locked them away to keep them from destroying the world. However, in order to create walls that were strong enough to hold back the titans, the walls were built around a number of human hybrids for extra durability.

     However, someone came along and opened the doors, either on purpose or accidentally, and released the scourge of the titans on the world. They nearly wiped out humanity, but the survivors found these amazing walls and decided to move in. They built cities and reinforced the walls with gates, and for a hundred years knew peace... until the fire nation attacked until the Colossal Titan kicked in the door. In effect, the wardens became the prisoners.

THEORY 2 (Best Guess): LAST BASTION OF HUMANITY
     The same idea could be said for a sort of last bastion of humanity. The titans were created or appeared and nearly wiped humanity out, but a few survivors sectioned off an area in which humanity could survive. Human hybrids encased themselves inside the walls to make them stronger OR were encased so that if the wall was breached they'd be there to stop the titan advance. The first is more likely, as it would seem the wall would be significantly weakened if every titan inside suddenly decided to jump out. Survivors from all around, hearing of the safe haven that had been created, flocked to the walls, which is why you have Asians like Mikasa in a sea of various European peoples.

The second ending's mural depicts ships sailing away from a land overrun by titans and landing near the walls.

You can also see what appears to be a group of people heading to the walls (far left). These could be the refugees from the ships that found their way to the safety of the walls, giving the population inside the small amount of variety that we see in the show.

     But why doesn't anyone remember these things? A hundred years is a short time to forget something as important as "there are titans in the walls". It's obvious that someone knows, given that the humans are using advanced technology (3DM gear) and the existence of the "titan elixir" and "modern" hybrids. But why don't the rest of the population know?

QUESTION 4:

NOT "WHAT" OR "WHERE", BUT "WHEN"?

     An equally as important question to be asking as any: What is the timeline of events that have led us to this world? The title card of the first episode says, "To You, 2,000 Years in the Future", but that's not as important as the current year: 845. What event happened 845 years ago that was so significant as to warrant a calendar reset? I can fathom only two things: either the titans first appeared/were created, or the walls were built.

THEORY: THE BUILDING/APPEARANCE/DISCOVERY OF THE WALLS WAS THE "SIGNIFICANT EVENT"
     The near annihilation of the human race by the titans is a significant event, one that could warrant the calendar reset, but I think that the halting of such an event and the restarting of civilization would be more significant. I interpret the resetting of the calendar to be a sign of the "start" of something new, a new age of mankind in this case. I could understand the creation or discovery of a "safe bastion of humanity" as the point at which humanity believed it stood a chance of survival.

Not sure if it's an official translation, but...

     They say that there have been a hundred years of peace within the walls, but were the walls actually built a hundred years ago? At first I thought that's what they meant, but now I don't believe that. As the picture of Armin above states, the walls hadn't been breached in a hundred years, which mean that they would have had to exist before then. As I said above, a hundred years seems an awful short time for people to forget where the walls came from and how they were built, but 845 years seems a lot more plausible. The complacent attitudes felt by many of the soldiers in the beginning would make more sense: they've never had to deal with the overwhelming sense of inevitable annihilation.

A FINAL WORD: THANKS!
     So there you have it. All the speculation so far, summarized and in one convenient location. Now all there is to do is wait for them to decide to make the next season. The temptation to read the books is strong. Thanks to all those who participated in the previous discussions, and please feel free to continue the discussion in the comments below. But remember, be a decent human being: PLEASE NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS.

Did you really think I would forget... DEM EYES?

If you want to read more speculation about the show, here's where it's at:

ATTACK ON TITAN SPECULATION POSTS