While many now view Attack on Titan as a tragic love story, at its core, it remains a cautionary tale about the weight of memory and the cycles we choose to repeat. Whether it’s the cryptic memory shards from Episode 78 or the reality-warping grief found in the Lost Girls OVA, evidence is littered throughout the series suggesting that Eren, Mikasa, and Armin are trapped in a shifting multiverse of timelines.
By centering the Attack on School Castes lore as the First Timeline, we can finally bridge the gap between Eren’s boredom in reality and his catastrophic “wish” for a world-ending crisis.
The “School Castes” Connection: Is AOT a Multiverse Isekai?
This theory explores how every story beat—from the hot air balloon to The Tree on That Hill—acts as a recurring anchor in an elaborate Isekai loop that is only just beginning to reveal its final divergent route. Settle in and theorize with us, as we connect the occult secrets of Goth Mikasa to the potential for a true Anime Original Ending, and let us know in the comments which timeline you believe holds the ultimate truth.
Now without further ado, let’s talk about this theory:
While now touted as a tragic love story, at its core, no one can deny that Attack on Titan is a cautionary tale about memory.
Whether those memories might be the destruction of civilizations, societal chaos, and collapse via a Rumbling, or building a log cabin while in titan form so that you have a place to hide with your lover from the military in an alternate timeline – memory is a major catalyst for characters, their arcs, and the overarching manga and anime storyline.
The memory shards shown in anime episode 78, or throughout the manga timeline, hint at events yet to come, and events that have transpired that few characters actually know about aside from Eren, Mikasa, and Historia.
Just as you can rewatch season one and find hints of Eren being a titan shifter before the big reveal (like steam coming off his head that signified titan healing, but was initially written off as a quirky anime trope), you can also find evidence littered throughout the world that Eren, Armin, and Mikasa live in, is one with many timelines and parallel universes.
The Red String of Fate: Mikasa as the Time Loop Architect
I was doing a rewatch of all the series’ spin-off media a while ago (which is considered canon, by the way), and while I did take notes on some stuff, I noticed that in each universe there are typical “story beats” or “key events” that happened no matter the world.
For instance, Eren always dies at the end of a cycle. And if you believe the lore of the canon Lost Girls OVA, Mikasa’s desire to be with Eren is the result of multiple timelines that always bring the two together.
The Butterfly Goddess: Why Mikasa Can’t Let Go of Eren
In the OVA, Mikasa is not attacked by kidnappers, but rather by wolves. Eren saves her, and she does not see the Yeager family for quite some time…until Mikasa clasps her hands together and “wishes” to see Eren.
She does see Eren again, but at the cost of her mother developing preeclampsia and losing her sibling in the womb. Mikasa acknowledges that this could have been her doing, but shrugs it off, as it means she can see Eren again.
I cover this more in-depth in my Mikasa the Butterfly Goddess theory for the OVA review of Mikasa’s episode, but basically, the “mysterious Mirror Man” who carries within his coat the knife Eren used to save Mikasa (and the one she carries in her child ED theme) informs Mikasa that she cannot save Eren from his fate. And that the world they reside in was created by her due to her mind’s inability to reconcile the reality of his death.
Story Beats That Never Change: The Tree, The Balloon, and The Death of Eren
After this encounter, Armin meets Mikasa for the first time and informs her that Eren has perished in a hot air balloon accident while seated under a tree.
Again, these are at least three story beats on display that always happen within AoT’s universe:
- Eren dies while trying to escape the walls and seek freedom
- The hot air balloon comes into play
- (In the main series, Armin’s parents are the ones who die by being shot down by the MPs while trying to escape the walls while he is a child. That’s why Armin is raised by his grandfather until he is sent to die by the government based on the famine his future girlfriend Annie causes….)
- Important information is learned while someone is seated at the base of a tree
- (In this case, Armin is seated while telling Mikasa of Eren’s death. In most other timelines, Eren is seated or lying down in front of The Tree on That Hill crying, and Mikasa then asks Eren, “Why are you crying?”)
While Mikasa’s special power is loosely attributed to being an Ackerman with Oriental blood – a foreign princess whose bloodline was engineered to use the Power of the Titans in human form – the other universes have another explanation for this phenomenon.
In the School Castes timeline, a “spoof” comic series set in an alternate universe within the manga that shows the cast in the modern world with humanity’s titan past being a mere 100 years ago, Mikasa literally might be a witch.
During the final moments of Attack on Titan the Last Attack movie, Goth Mikasa and Nerd Armin jump out of manga Eren’s memory shards and into real life. And given what manga readers know about Mikasa through the School Castes timeline, she is a young woman obsessed with Eren (a loser in that world), who is very much into the occult and dark love stories.
Now that we’ve established the baseline knowledge of why Mikasa controls the time loop in that popular theory, let’s get into Eren’s role in the series and his own “wishes” to destroy the world.
Decoding the Sandbox: How School Castes Sets the Multiverse in Motion
While many other theorists have their own ideas of how many timelines are at play in the Attack on Titan story, most of my theories follow the belief that there are three core timelines, with the anime having two core “fights” and subsequently two alternate endings.
Three Lives, Three Wishes: Divergent Goals of Eren and Mikasa
Those timelines are:
The Manga Timeline: Eren “wished” for the Rumbling to happen (and to exterminate titans)
The Anime Timeline: Eren “wished” for humanity’s extinction (and to exterminate titans)
The School Castes Timeline: Eren makes a pact with the Wallist Cult’s Goddess, Ymir, to destroy the world out of boredom from his mundane school life.
As for the two core anime fights:
Alt Route #1: Eren does a partial Rumbling and kills 80% of humanity, and humanity later retaliates. This is the School Castes timeline, and Eren sees the past Rumbling at an art exhibition. His Founder Tree can be seen in the background on the street where he, Armin, and Mikasa live in that world.
Alt Route #2: Eren uses the Warhammer Titan to complete the Rumbling to 100%, killing Mikasa and the Alliance in the process. He saves the island, living with Historia and their child in peace – the ANR Ending.
I would call that my interpretation of the ANR theory and write more in-depth about it in the “Eren will achieve his goal” theory.
Since Wit Studio just released a tweet that suggests Attack on Titan may be finally getting an AOE, let’s discuss a theory I’ve had for a while: Attack on Titan is an isekai.
To clarify, Attack on Titan is an isekai that loops between universes, with:
Timeline #1: School Castes, where Ymir and Eren control the loop, Eren and Queen Bee Historia conspire together to deceive everyone (like in the other timelines concerning the Rumbling and their possible child).
Timeline #2: The Cabin Timeline, the (alt) manga timeline where Eren runs away with Mikasa in Liberio, which is what we see at the start of the (“canon”) manga series, a la the famous “See you later, Eren”.
Mikasa controls the time loop spanning the manga timeline, AoT Junior High, the Lost Girls OVA, the “Farmer Eren” universe in the Spoof on Titan manga, etc.
Timeline #3: The Anime Timeline, with the aforementioned two core fights resulting in divergent, canon endings. Eren and Ymir fight for dominance in this timeline from Mikasa, with Mikasa eventually letting go of her love (taking off the scarf – the Red String of Fate allegory) for Eren, which moves the Founder Ymir and quells her rage.
Or we have the unseen route yet of Mikasa refusing to let go of Eren, resulting in her death along with the Alliance, the Outside world, and the Abandoned Paradis as seen in the “Akuma no Ko” Season 4 ED 2, where Founder Eren through PATHs shows child Eren “that scenery” while sleeping underneath the tree.
This is the PATH where Season one Eren and Mikasa remind Armin that he’s saved them all (“humanity”) countless times, and Armin has absolutely no clue what they are talking about, simply believing they are trying to make him feel less useless.
In the Cour 2 Fight, Eren would again ideally be using the Warhammer Titan for the Rumbling and remains atop the walls in Paradis during the fighting, crying alone in anguish at the lives he takes – as seen in “The Rumbling” Season 4 OP 2.
The First Timeline: Eren’s “Boredom” and the Goddess Ymir
So almost three years to the day, I made a Twitter thread about this exact topic that I will now include to round out this theory and tie in the School Castes lore as the First Timeline.
Attack on School Castes is the FIRST timeline in the series’ multiverse.
When speaking to Ramzi, Eren makes a distinction for the reason behind The Rumbling that seems like he is finally self-aware of his choices. (Which, we know he is after kissing Historia’s hand during the military ceremony and receiving the Attack Titan memory downloads, and seeing himself in PATHs with Zeke Yeager.)
Eren to Ramzi:
- Manga Eren: “I wished for it”
- Anime Eren: “I wanted it”
- School Castes Eren to the Goddess Ymir: Eren wishes for a “crisis” that would “wipe humanity out”
This link between universes is why Ymir is present during the rumbling watching the destruction of the world, and Ramzi is able to see her spiritual form.
In the School Castes world, there is an exhibition (mirroring the real-life exhibition for the “final” season), and Eren needs to go around it twice to fully understand everything. As you can see below, it has the same ‘story beat’ of Erwin asking Eren “who the enemy” is before the Warrior’s titan shifter reveal.
The two trips around the gallery could signify the manga and anime timelines, or even the two “fights” that will diverge the anime ending. Or even the now theoretical second movie referenced at the very end of School Castes.
Eren’s desire to start the Rumbling and wipe out humanity always seems to stem from feeling useless, or like in the case of School Castes, like a complete loser. While Founder Eren basically admits to Armin in the final manga chapter that he had to let Dina Fritz eat his mother in order to motivate himself to join the Survey Corps and see things through, Loser Eren doesn’t seem to have this noble of an ambition.
Eren wishes to:
- “Eradicate all zombies” in School Castes Timeline
- “Eradicate all Titans” in Manga Timeline
- “Eradicate humanity” in Anime Timeline with 100% Rumbling achieved
While Zeke and Yelena are members of Ymir’s cult in School Castes and thus have no real power or influence on the story (aside from kidnapping Eren – another crucial story beat in this universe), in Attack on Titan, Zeke’s Royal Eldian Blood is key to controlling the Founder.
Once Eren manipulates Zeke into getting him to PATHs and steals the Founders influence, Zeke realizes that he has no real power, and instead sits in PATHs after Eren steals him during the start of the Rumbling to make sand castles.
Maybe this is a hint toward the fact that within the walls is Eren and Ymir’s “sandbox world” where they can create anything they want – and then destroy it with impunity.
In School Castes, just like the main story, Eren, Armin, and Mikasa can’t count on the (military) police to recapture Eren from Zeke’s cult, so they ask Historia for help. Later on in the manga series, Eren can only trust Floch and Historia – deciding to tell the latter everything he saw in his memories.
Just as Eren always dies, Historia will always save or help Eren – no matter the cost. This is another story beat that exists within the universe.
Some other similarities and story beats throughout the series that can be found in School Castes:
When Eren is in the exhibition gallery, Janitor Levi says there is a red and blue door.
This could be a reference between reality and dreams (a big theme concerning Eren’s recurring memories explored through dreams), or the Red and Blue pill from the Matrix, said by Morpheus – god of dreams. Levi tells Eren to do what feels right, mirroring when in Season two Eren trusts Squad Levi and they die, causing Eren to then decide to trust himself alone going forward.
Eren trusts his friends, and Paradis is destroyed. Eren trusts himself, and attempts a full Rumbling based on his memories.
Walking further into the gallery, there is an exhibit with an upside-down titan world like in Attack on Junior High and the AnR music video. Eren then views the rubble from Season 4 Op 1 “My War” displayed on the walls by screens.
(That doorway refugees in Marley couldn’t get through but remained in the wake of the colossal titans after the Rumbling? Even that was there, too. Along with Eren on screen with titan marks from the final battle in Shiganshina.)
Moving forward, a wall encourages the visitor to “Hear the end of the world” in reference to the Season 4 Chapter 2 trailer that exclusively featured clouds with scenery from PATHs.
The final room in the exhibition is a picture of Carla and Eren – because Eren was “born into this world”.
Anime Original Ending (AOE): The Final “Second Movie” Theory
So to recap, School Castes is Eren’s dream and wish in reality, the Manga is a “world with titans” and Mikasa’s Dream, and the Anime is a transitional world that is “flipped upside down” as referenced in Attack on Titan Junior High, that has the potential to become the Abandoned Paradis seen in the Final Season ED 2 after Eren “becomes a hero” each time he “shoots” an arrow.
Maybe the (second) Final movie will show all of this. The end is the beginning. The movie is about School Castes timeline. The Movie is the beginning, and anime is the ending.
But, tell me your thoughts: do you view Attack on Titan’s story as an isekai? Which timeline do you think came first?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, we’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to follow us for more Attack on Titan Theories!
☆ In Asian Spaces ☆ Ephesians 6:12 ☆
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