WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 1 of Attack on Titan, "The Other Side of the Ocean," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu and Amazon Prime.
Attack on Titan's Season 4 premiere gives anime-only fans plenty of new characters to get to know. In the trenches of the Marleyan-Mid-East Allied Forces' final conflict at Fort Slava are some of the youngest Warrior candidates -- those in line to inherit the nation's Titan Shifter powers -- Gabi, Falco and Udo, with Gabi keen to get her hands on Reiner Braun's Armored Titan. We also discover which of these candidates has already had this changeover occur between Seasons 3 and 4. In place of Ymir Fritz, a new Jaw Titan known as Galliard is on the prowl in Attack on Titan's final season.
This is the first time in the anime we've witnessed a dramatic difference in form from one Shifter holder to another. Ymir's manifestation of the beast was perhaps slightly more feminine looking with longer hair and a smaller frame. Her's was also less jaw-centric; almost more human. Galliard's is all about the Shifter's namesake, sporting a huge, skull-esque mouth, as well as long claws to match. He's still much smaller than the rest of the Nine, though, and still leapfrogs around the place.
This switch-over makes it sadly clear, in case there was any doubt, that Ymir is gone for good. A powerful but melancholy figure, Ymir's mysterious backstory helped slot some of the pieces into place that there was a world beyond Paradis Island's walls in Seasons 1 to 3. Though not part of Marley's Warrior unit, she had little choice, as a fellow outsider and then-holder of the Jaw Titan, to partner up with double-agents, Reiner (the Armored Titan) and Bertolt (the Colossal Titan). After falling in love with the hidden heir to the Eldian throne, Historia Reiss, Ymir also fought to defend and keep her fellow soldier close. Eventually, the two were forced to part ways though, and Ymir was returned to Marley for "punishment." A good-bye letter to Historia from Ymir was the final communication the pair had, and the last we heard from the tragic but fascinating character.
As is the fate for each of the Nine, the Shifter power has demonstrably outlived its former owner. With the Jaw Titan now back under the Marleyan military's control, that brings the nation's tally to four Titan powers that we know of: the Jaw, Armored, Beast and Cart -- the combined might of which cements Marley's victory in Fort Slava in the season premiere. The Attack, Founding, Colossal and Female Titans lie with Eren and Co., which leaves just one unaccounted for in the anime. Marley is desperate for the power of the Founding Titan above all else, and with the numbers neck-and-neck, the outcome of the upcoming Marleyan-Paradisian conflict could go either way at this point.
