Zeke is a crucial part of the Rumbling process.
Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 3 and the manga. Attack on Titan fans has been waiting for a long time to see how MAPPA would animate the Rumbling we have been hearing about since the first season. MAPPA has done a great job with the animation of season 4, part 3, episode 1, especially the Rumbling part. But, it isn’t as cool and enjoyable for the characters of the series as for the fans, and Eren’s friends are ready to go to any extent to stop it.
Levi remarks that Eren is able to control the Founding Titan with Zeke’s help, and the Rumbling might stop if they just manage to kill Zeke. However, it was just an assumption, and secondly, they had to find Zeke in the Founding Titan’s body first. Armin shared his thoughts regarding the situation that Eren had the power to control the powers of all the Titans, and yet they were able to control their Titans by themselves. It meant that he didn’t want to interfere with their freedom and allowed his friends to take whatever step they believed was right. With Eren giving them the liberty to deal with the situation based on their judgment, they finally decide to proceed with the plan to stop the Rumbling.
Will Rumbling Stop If Zeke Gets Killed?
Now the main question arises, will Hange’s assumption to kill Zeke to stop the Rumbling really work? As confirmed in the manga chapter 137, titled “Titans,” Zeke’s death did stop the Rumbling once and for all. However, Zeke himself initiated getting killed to put a stop to Eren’s plan. In fact, if it weren’t for Zeke, it wouldn’t have been possible for the Survey Corps to win the fight against Eren.
Zeke went to the Paths, where he was able to wake up the previous possessors of various Titans and made them help the Survey Corps to fight against Eren and the Titans on his side. After winning an intense battle, Zeke finally emerged from one of the spines of the Founding Titan and appreciated how beautiful the day was. But in the next moment, Levi beheaded him, and suddenly, all the Colossal Titans stopped marching.
Why Is Zeke Important For Rumbling?
Zeke is the son of Grisha Yeager and Dina Fritz, and the latter was the last descendent of the royal family who lived in Marley. Because Zeke was Dina’s son, he also had Royal Blood. Now, some fans might ask, why is Zeke so important for the Rumbling process? Well, that’s because the power of the Founding Titan could only be activated with the help of the Royal Blood. If the possessor of the Founding Titan is a Royal Blood itself, then it isn’t a problem to control its power. But in Eren’s case, he was not of Royal Blood, so he wanted to be in physical contact with someone of Royal Blood, and that was his half-brother, Zeke. When Zeke died, the needed physical contact between the Founding Titan and the Royal Blood ended, thus stopping the Rumbling.
