One of the many crazy moments that happened in Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 17 was Zeke’s vision while he almost died. Last year when Episode 16 aired, we got a glimpse of what he saw, but now we know the details.
This Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 17 review will have spoilers for the newest episode, but the article itself is manga-spoiler-free. For anime-only discussions, join us on Discord or in our AoT Facebook page.
The Titan That Helped Zeke Live Was the Same One Who Carried Him Earlier
In the last episode, we saw a Titan place Zeke directly into its stomach. As we shared in that review, the Titan who did that was the same Titan who was carrying Zeke earlier when he was fighting Levi.
Here it is in Episode 16:
And then in Episode 13’s battle with Levi:
Looks like the same Titan.
Now Zeke emerges from that now-dead Titan’s body fully healed, without a single scar despite almost dying in Episode 16.
Zeke’s Eyes May Have a Strange Glow to Them
Zeke’s in shock in this scene and his eyes have a strange glow to them as he tries to process what happened. His eyes seem to have an odd glow to them. The glow reminds me of the same glow we saw in other people of Royal Blood when they took on the Founding Titan and their personality was changed. To me, this feels like MAPPA’s interpretation of the same look.
He Saw a Girl ‘Building His Body Out of the Soil’ — The Same Girl Was Featured in NHK’s Secret Trailer
Zeke describes a strange vision/dream, where a girl was “building my body out of soil.” The girl he saw is likely the Founding Titan Ymir. I find it interesting how her eyes are shaded, and Zeke’s eyes (along with others from the Royal Family) get a strange glow when she is influencing them.
This same girl was heavily featured in a secret trailer from NHK that didn’t air in the U.S., which we analyzed in our story here. She also appears in the teaser photo we saw before the season began. Here it is again:
This teaser photo seems to reveal that Eren will finally meet who we’re guessing is the Founding Titan Ymir face-to-face for the first time. They’re meeting at what appears to be the same glowing/electric tree that was teased in every post-credits video during Season 4.
First, here’s the closeup of the girl, as we can see her on the teaser photo.
She looks exactly like the girl Zeke saw.
Here’s the teaser trailer for S4B that NHK released, but the U.S. did not release. (Notice that the same glowing tree in this teaser trailer is also shown in MAPPA’s teaser photo.)
The girl in Zeke’s vision and in the teaser photo looks SO much like the girl who plays a central role in this teaser trailer.
The biggest difference is that the girl in the teaser and in Zeke’s vision has blonde hair, while the girl in the teaser trailer has red hair.
We analyze the secret trailer and screenshots from it in our story here.
Zeke Muses That He Might Have Seen the Paths
“I was in some strange place watching it happen,” he said in Episode 17. “It felt like years passed by, but at the same time, it felt like an instant.”
Recall that the first episode’s title in the entire series was: “To You in 2000 Years.”
“Were those the Paths?” Zeke asked himself. He previously said that he used the Paths when he screamed, to activate his spinal fluid in anyone who had consumed it. But it appears he never physically saw those Paths for himself until now.
It appears that Zeke “woke up” while he was being regenerated in the same “place” where Ymir woke up after she gained sentience from eating a warrior Titan.
There’s a lot to unpack from all of this. I hope it doesn’t mean that this “Founding Titan” personally regenerates each Titan every time they need it, because that would be a tedious, never-ending job, lol. But it certainly points to something much deeper at work, and likely far more spiritual than the science-based answers that many fans had previously envisioned.
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