How Future Eren controlled Dina Titan? What's the Founder's power?
How did Eren control Dina Titan? Why did Eren kill his mother Carla?
In conclusion, Eren did not intentionally control Dina Titan. He only found out later that it had already happened and admitted that he was the cause of it.
The rough explanation is that the cause is a causal loop brings about by the Founder’s power.
If we dare to focus, the activation of the Founder’s power in chapter 50 determined Dina Titan’s ignoring Bertolt in 845. This is because the only appropriate way for Eren to learn about this through his memories(ch130) is through his contact with Dina Titan at this time.
More to the point, all of these and every other event was predetermined from the beginning.
Eren doesn’t have the ability to control the Titans that exist in the past from the future at will.
If Eren is able to control the Titans across time at will without any restrictions, the story would fall apart. It would become very boring. It would also ruin the brilliant trick in episode 121.
But it isn’t. There are proper restrictions.
In medal ceremony, Eren only learned the truth after the events that transpired.
Eren’s contact with Dina Titan and activating the Founder’s power means that he has to acknowledge Carla’s death. This is because these events are determined simultaneously.
If Dina Titan eats Bertolt, she won’t be able to appear in front of Eren as an Pure Titan. Eren would, in effect, have made the choice to kill his mother in order to save Mikasa, Armin, and his friends. Obviously, he in 850 does not know this.
Eren did not intentionally control Dina Titan. It is that the influence that the Founder’s power brings about, which was activated in 850, determined that the 845 Dina Titan would ignore Bertolt.So Eren said something to the effect that he himself was responsible for the outcome. needless to say, he didn’t time travel to that day and place in 845 to command Dina titan.
What did Eren say? What does that mean?
In chapter 139, Eren said “the founder’s power has made it so that there’s no past or future… it all exists at once.” *1
“the founder’s power” is just that the power of the founding titan. It is not Ymir the founder’s power.
A more appropriate Japanese translation would be…
The influence that the founder’s power brings about have no past or future… they all exist simultaneously.
simultaneously exist is the influence that is brought about.
When Eren activates the founder’s power, it will surely affect both the past and the future.
It would brings about a causal loop. In short, the future(past) determines the past(future).
The work Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) is built on a fixed timeline. That’s why the founder’s power is designed to take advantage of this plot.
*1. This is not to say that Eren is aware of the past and the future all at once. Indeed, since there is no time constraint in Paths, there is no need for Eren to see the various memories en masse. If he were to see memories, he would have seen each one in turn, slowly and relaxedly.
Eren’s choice to die Carla
In chapter 50, Eren recalled that Carla told him to “protect Mikasa.” Why is this flashback inserted?
To Eren, Dina Titan is not only an enemy who ate Carla. At this moment, Eren is essentially faced with a choice, both from the past and from the future. Do you accept your mother’s death?
That means accepting his mother’s death and standing up to protect Mikasa. And that would automatically mean killing his mother.
Because the influence that the founder’s power brings about have no past or future… they all exist simultaneously.
How can Eren understand that Carla’s death was caused by him?
One of the memory fragments in chapter 130 is Bertolt as seen by Dina Titan. In order for Eren to see this memory, he must be in contact with Dina Titan. This means that the Founder’s power is activated.
- Eren’s contact with Dina Titan triggered the Founder’s power was activated.
- It caused Eren to see the memory of Bertolt, as seen by Dina Titan
- The content of the memory is the moment when Dina Titan ignores Bertolt
Thus, Eren understands that his contact with Dina Titan and activation of the Founder’s power caused Carla to die.
So, Eren said, the influence that the founder’s power brings about have no past or future… they all exist simultaneously.
Founder’s power examples
The phenomenon of the founder’s power generating causal loops has appeared in past episodes.
Zeke and Eren and Ymir the founder
The reason why Ymir the founder resurrected Zeke was because Zeke activated the founder’s power.
It was the founder’s power that Zeke activated that brought about the events in Grisha’s memory that occurred in chapter 121.
The distant cause of Eren’s inheritance of the Founding Titan and the Attack Titan was Zeke’s activation of the Founder’s power. And because of that, a causal loop was created.
causal loops
What the phenomenon means to the story?
At the medal ceremony, Eren learned that the Dina Titan had ignored Bertolt because of his own actions.
On the other hand, he knew that he was going to hurt Grisha, but he still had to do it.
It means that Eren has been shown painful memories from both the past and the future.
Eren pushed himself into hell. He accepted that all these events were his responsibility.
He wasn’t just working for revenge for his mother’s murder, nor was he just forced by his father to take on the power of the Titans, but everything he did was by his own choice.