Titans have power far beyond the capacity of humans, however, it comes with a heavy price, i.e., death. The theory of equivalent exchange might not be completely applicable to the protagonist, but other characters fail to escape its jaws.
Titans are powerful beings that hunt humans as prey and seem to exist only for that purpose. This monstrous strength of theirs comes at the cost of their intelligence, and humanity.
While these two might not entirely affect the Titan Shifters (Nine Titans), they have to pay the price of a shortened lifespan.
How long do the Titan Shifters really live, and what exactly causes their death? Attack on Titan season 3 has finally answered our questions!
Do Titans Die After 13 Years?
I. The Curse of Ymir
Ymir Fritz was the first person to obtain the power of the Titans after fusing with a mysterious creature. Thirteen years later, she died while protecting the King of Eldia, after which her powers were split into the Nine Titans.
A few Eldians inherit these powers, thus gaining the ability to shift into a Titan, however, along with great strength, they also inherit a deadly curse.
Every Titan Shifter will die 13 years after acquiring their powers because of the Curse of Ymir that states that none of the humans inheriting the power of the 9 special Titans can live longer than Ymir.
Now that it has been confirmed in the show that the Titan Shifters such as Eren, Annie, Zeke, etc, will die after thirteen years, fans question whether the same rule applies to “normal” Titans.
From what we’ve seen so far, it is possible for Titans other than the special nine to survive much longer, however, what makes them so different from Titan Shifters?
Well, the “normal” Titans are the “subjects of Ymir” who were transformed into titans by injecting titan spinal fluid into them. However, they did not inherit the power of the original Titan, which reprieved them of Ymir’s curse.
II. Grisha’s Unusual Case
Titan Shifters have been sentenced to a die 13 years after awakening their powers, however, are there any exceptions? Not yet. Despite that, there are some discrepancies in Grisha’s death.
As we all know, Grisha Jaeger gained the powers of two different Titans before his death, i.e, the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan that he stole from the Reiss family.
As someone afflicted by the curse, he should have been at his death bed, or at least worn out by the time the thirteen years were up. However, in the series, we can clearly see that during that period, Grisha was not weak at all.
From this, while it might be a bit of a stretch, we can speculate that perhaps he had a chance to cure or overcome the Curse of Ymir; however, for some reason, he did not choose to do so.
While his death did indeed prove that the curse was real, Grisha’s condition prior to it makes us believe that there might be some hope left for Eren to live after his time’s up.
Will Eren Die in the End?
Eren has a terrifying goal of destroying the world, and is currently actually capable of doing so.
He possesses the powers of three Titans, and can be called the strongest being in Attack on Titan, however, it all comes at the cost of his life.
As a Titan Shifter, Eren is afflicted with Ymir’s curse and will die after four years; however, being the protagonist, will the creator actually kill him off?
Chances are that he will. The ending of AOT is bound to be tragic, and fans expect nothing less. However, many still harbor hope that something will be different this time, that the character they’ve come to love will survive.
I. Can Possessing Multiple Titans Make a Difference?
Eren has the power of multiple “special” Titans, and has power far greater than we can imagine.
However, how does this strength affect him? If by possessing one Titan, the shifters doom themselves to a short life, then will the curse be amplified or reduced in Eren’s case?
On one side, it is possible that Eren has a greater load on his body leading to an even shorter lifespan, however, on the other side, chances are that the clock resets every time he gains a new Titan power.
In this case, Eren would have extended his life by 7 years, thus reducing the Curse of Ymir.
Another theory is that Eren might not necessarily lose his life is that the “death” dictated by the curse might not be literal.
It could mean the death of his humanity, thus resulting in him becoming a mindless Titan, or the death of his physical body, where Eren can survive as a soul connected to the path like Ymir.
While these are popular theories that many desperately hope are true, anime can be quite cruel, and Attack on Titan definitely doesn’t have a good track record.
The chances of Eren dying are quite high, and this ending might be what will finally elevate the status of Attack on Titan from a masterpiece, to being legendary.
No matter what, the finale is near, and we can’t wait to see this series conclude spectacularly.
About Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. Kodansha publishes it in the Bessatsu Shonen Magazine.
The manga began serialization on September 9th, 2009, and continues to date with 30 tankōbom formats.
Attack on Titan follows humanity settled within three concentric walls to protect themselves from the terrifying titans that prey on them.
Eren Yeager is a young boy that believes that a caged life is similar to that of cattle and aspires to go beyond the walls one day, just like his heroes, the Survey Corps. The emergence of a deadly Titan unleashes chaos.
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