WARNING: The following contains general spoilers for Attack on Titan, now streaming on Funimation, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
In the latest episode of Attack on Titan, “Retrospective,” fans of the series were able to get their first look at Falco Grice’s Jaw Titan. This moment has been highly anticipated, as Falco would inherit his powers from Porco Galliard back in Episode 78, “Two Brothers,” which was released back in late January.
While the abilities of the Jaw Titan that audiences have seen so far appear to have remained the same, its appearance is startlingly different. Once transformed, Falco has claws that look like talons, a set of teeth that resemble a beak and at times, red eyes. All of these features feel more like those of the Beast Titan than either Galliard or Ymir’s Jaw Titans. This had led many fans to wonder if these dramatic changes have been caused by Falco’s ingestion of Zeke’s spinal fluid. Could this actually be the case?
Fans of the show will likely know that the Beast Titan has taken on a plethora of different forms since it was brought into the world after the death of Ymir Fritz. In the 1,700 years that followed this event, holders of this titan have exhibited the animal-like traits of crocodiles, elk, bulls, wolves, snakes, rabbits and even dinosaurs.
Since the start of AoT, the series has made it clear that the appearance of a titan alters depending on the host. While the extent of these alterations differs greatly between each titan, inheritors of the Beast variation have had some of the most dramatic revisions within the series. The reason for this occurring hasn’t been fully explained; however, some have hypothesized that it is determined by the animal that is either loved or represents the character the most. For example, in Zeke’s childhood, he can be seen playing with a brown-haired monkey.
In Episode 72, “Children of the Forest,” it is revealed that Falco has ingested Zeke’s spinal fluid, which was mixed into batches of Marleyan red wine. This occurred after Nicolo discovers that Gabi killed Sasha and attempts to attack her with a bottle in a desperate act of revenge. In an effort to protect her, Falco moves her aside and gets hit instead, leaving him motionless on the floor, where some of the liquid gets in his mouth. While previous scenes, such as Rod Reiss’ transformation, have shown that people can immediately become titans after consuming this type of liquid, Falco doesn’t. Instead, Zeke’s scream was the specific trigger required to initiate the process.
The features of Falco’s Jaw Titan are very similar to that of a bird. This is highly appropriate, as his name quite literally translates to "falcon." Furthermore, Falco has been associated with birds since he was first introduced to the series. At the beginning of Season 4, he can be seen lying on his back and looking up at the sky during Marley’s battle against the Mid-East Alliance, in which he attempts to call out to a bird to tell it to fly away.
While this scene didn’t likely mean a great deal to anyone at the time, today it seems like a powerful self-reflection. It's as if Falco is telling himself to leave the awful situation that he finds himself in, both in the present and future. Whether Falco caught a glimpse of his fate or not, it's possible that this traumatic event would become so ingrained that it affected his transformation.
Although it hasn’t yet been confirmed that Zeke’s spinal fluid was the direct cause of Falco’s titan’s strange appearance, there doesn’t seem to be any better explanation. From this encounter, it might be extrapolated that a titan’s spinal fluid works in a similar fashion to DNA, in which traits from the previous person are passed down to the inheritor. This would explain why Falco has features from both Galliard’s Jaw Titan and Zeke’s Beast Titan. The subsequent entry within the series will likely show more of Falco’s titan and its powers, allowing viewers to get a better idea of whether this theory is true or if there are more appropriate justifications as to why the Jaw Titan has changed so much.
