WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 2 of Attack on Titan, now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu and Amazon Prime.
After putting the Jaw Titan's newest form on full, destructive display for the first time in its premiere episode, the final season of Attack on Titan just revealed the name and location of the final member of the Nine Titans in its second. And it's bad news for Paradis Island: the so-called "War Hammer Titan" appears to be on the Marleyan side of the ongoing war.
The revelation comes towards the episode's end. Marley's Eldian Warrior Unit -- Zeke, the Beast Titan; Reiner, the Armored Titan; Galliard, the Jaw Titan and Pieck, the Cart Titan -- gather in Liberio to discuss their next move concerning the conflict with Paradis Island. Despite claiming victory over the Mid-East Allied Forces at Fort Slava in the previous episode, it's not all good press for their nation. Talk of quickly-advancing technology overtaking the Titans consumes media coverage around the world, making some Eldians nervous about their continued usefulness to the "Motherland."
As Zeke tells his unit, Marley needs the power of all Nine Shifter Titans but above all else, they need the Founding Titan, which is in Paradis Island's possession. To retrieve the most powerful Titan of them all, they need to go back to Paradis Island to finish what Zeke, Reiner, Bertolt and Annie started nine years ago. But that's not all. The holder of the Beast Titan decides that they should enlist the help of the Tybur family, who are the keepers of the War Hammer Titan. Following the steady introductions of the Colossal, Armored, Attack, Female, Jaw, Beast and Cart Titans across the anime, the War Hammer is the final member of the legendary Nine to be added. The Nine, of course, are unique among Titans for their specific powersets, with the Founding Titan being the strongest of the group. They are also the only Titans that can shift between human and Titan form -- hence the name.
Little else is revealed about this mysterious Shifter in the episode, other than the Tybur family's wealth and isolated nature. They've deliberately kept themselves out of Marley's wars, it seems, which implies a certain level of neutrality -- or selfishness. Despite this history, Zeke is confident that he can persuade the respected family to drum up support for the Marleyan war effort in the face of a doubting public. As for the Shifter itself, viewers who have seen Attack on Titan's Season 4 trailers can make an educated guess that the unidentified white-masked creature with a spear is indeed the War Hammer Titan. Though the footage reveals very little of its powers and involvement in the show.
It's hugely significant that Marley has access to the War Hammer Titan, and that the being's identity, location and capabilities are completely unknown to the "island devils." If they can successfully lure the Tyburs' treasured possession out of hiding, it'll weight the power of the Nine in Marley's favor. However, Paradis still holds the trump card; plus, with Eren Jaeger hoarding Shifter forms like nobody's business, he's both the greatest and most vulnerable asset his people have right now.
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