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Attack on Titan, Hajime Isayama's hit manga/anime is exemplary in the many literary techniques it employs, but none more so than its foreshadowing.
For years Attack on Titan has wowed its audience with exceptional writing, plot direction, action, and mystery, enthralling readers and watchers alike. Deservedly so, Attack on Titan may be the single most popular anime currently running thanks to its exceptional direction in many areas.
Best instances of foreshadowing in Attack on Titan
5) “I’ll destroy the entire world!"
In Season 1, defeating and successfully capturing the female Titan who we now know is Annie is one of Eren's major triumphs. He seems to absent-mindedly declare his intent to destroy the world in his rage, which most Attack on Titan fans would have written off as Eren just being filled with rage in that moment. Flash forward to Attack on Ttian Season 4, and viewers now know that Eren might have put more thought into this comment. Perhaps it was in this very moment that Eren dedicated himself to the world’s destruction, whether it was Titan-kind or human-kind he’d be destroying once he broke free of the pastures inside the walls.
4) Season 2 'Yuugure no Tori' end credits video
The end and opening credits of Attack on Titan have had an infamous history of spoiling various topics and themes of the show, being so frequent and offensive that MAPPA went out of their way to announce that the Season 4 Cour 1 opening would be completely spoiler free in the months leading up to the season premiere.
One of the most egregious occurrences (in hindsight) is the Season 2 ending credits video for the ending theme Yuugure no Tori. Neither the average anime fan nor the average manga fan would have caught this spoiler at the time, as neither the anime nor manga had divulged enough information on the Rumbling.
However, some superfans and theorists may have realized that in the end credits video, the Rumbling is pretty heavily foreshadowed.
The Rumbling would be mentioned for the first time in the Attack on Titan manga just eight months later when Chapter 97 titled Declaration of War was released. While the average fan may not have caught the spoiler, Attack on Titan superfans who were already putting the pieces together most definitely understood what they were being let in on.
3) “Does that mean… we’ll be free?”
The end of the second half of Attack on Titan Season 3 was truly internet breaking. Many fans went crazy upon watching Eren seemingly struggle to come to grips with what his next actions would be.
Eren's own personal visions upon grabbing Historia’s hand during the Survey Corps award ceremony, lead to the protagonist becoming visibly conflicted and shaken on what his next choices are. Yet after Season 4, it seems that Eren’s question is a rhetorical one, and Isayama is trying to tell readers that Eldian has already made up his mind.
As a manga reader who has finished Attack on Titan, there’s really no point beyond the Season 3 finale where Eren’s resolve is visibly shaken, and Isayama’s characterization choice there drives home the point even further. By the time viewers see the ending of Attack on Titan Season 3, Eren has already decided that the entire world is his enemy and must be defeated.
2) Reiner escapes the Female Titan…?
Season 1 of Attack on Titan was arguably the season with the most mystery and unanswered questions, with many viewers likely going with the flow and taking Attack on Titans Season 1 plot and writing at face value. Most first-time viewers likely thought nothing of it when Reiner survived the seemingly fatal grip Annie placed on him in Episode 17, and definitely didn’t think anything of the Female Titan’s reaction afterward; staring at the hand Reiner just cut up to escape out of before running off in a completely opposite direction from our trio of Survey Corps members.
Even in this instance, Isayama was foreshadowing who the real enemy is.
The only significant moment that Annie and Reiner had together was during the Battle for Trost, where the two are seen in awe of Eren’s newfound abilities. Upon discovering Annie is the Female Titan, and that Reiner and Bertholdt are the Armored and Colossal Titans respectively, this piece of foreshadowing becomes one of the best in Attack on Titan.
1) Bertholdt ready to transform at Utgard Castle
This instance of foreshadowing occurs when the Survey Corps members present at Utgard castle come under attack by the Beast Titan and several other normal/abnormal Titans. This scene is infamous for revealing another Titan Shifter Ymir and exploring her backstory (another great bit of foreshadowing to occur here), but it seems another Titan Shifter was also ready to make their presence known.
In the moments leading up to Ymir’s transformation, all hope seems lost. There are Titans inside, outside, and even on the walls of Utgard castle, leaving many fans questioning who may be leaving Attack on Titan as a result of the situation.
The castle is crumbling away as the Titans climb it, and most members of the Levi squad who were with the Survey Corps for this mission are now dead. In a scene where we get a group shot of all the characters as they prepare for the worst, viewers can see Bertholdt with a reluctant yet resolved look on his face and hand raised in an eerily similar position to the one Eren takes when he prepares to transform.
Bertholdt is eventually revealed to be the Colossal Titan, making Isayama’s intent with this moment crystal clear and elevating it to a status of one of, if not the best, moments of plot direction and foreshadowing in all of Attack on Titan.
