In the article which broke down Eren’s dream in the anime and manga, we theorized that Eren saw atrocious visions and got scared by what he saw, leading him to cry. With this article, we’re wondering if that very theory is actually what happened.

Of course, that is one of the reasons, but maybe there is more! Here, let us take a look at what might be the true reasons for his crying.

This article contains major spoilers on the Attack of Titan manga. Please read ahead at your own discretion!

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So far, we have discussed that Eren was crying because of the visions that he say. It makes sense that a young kid would get heavily affected by violent dreams that might be the culmination of all his fears.

However, we’d like to propose that it was not just the dreams that made Eren cry, but also the knowledge that these things were going to happen. Watching his mother die would lead to her being eaten soon after. Eren must have realized that this was the future he was seeing.

What the future holds for crying Eren

Let’s start off with this, there’s no proof that Eren was crying because he knew it was the future. That being said, take a look at what happens after his dream. The titans break the wall, destroyed Shinganshina, and ate Eren’s mom.

Assuming Eren didn’t understand the implications of the dream before, he now knew for sure. What he dreamed was what was happening. This could lead to the assumption that Eren broke down more than he normally would have because of the additional trauma that he felt.

This would be an interesting parallel to how he cried when he saw Ramzi, knowing the future and unable to bear the weight of what was going to happen.

We could also assume that Eren knew his nightmare would come true and that’s why he was uncomfortable and wondering, “What if the titans got past the wall today?” before it happened.

Obviously, that’s one side of the theory. Let’s look at the other side.

Ymir sent Eren memories in the form of dreams

Looking at the information we have, it is possible that Ymir used the paths to send Eren a message in the form of dreams, thereby letting him know exactly what was going to happen.

At that time, Eren wouldn’t have understood any of the dreams, but as he grows up and learns more about the world, he begins to realize that the dreams from his youth are the experiences he’s having now.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Eren knew that he was going to play a huge role in the destruction that he envisioned. In fact, if you look at the dream sequence, every frame looks like it was Eren’s eyes captured an image that was used. It is all his experiences.

Additionally, Eren also wakes up crying when he gets the memory of Grisha with The Owl. He wakes up crying again, but this time, he knows what happened. He remembered the dream, and he knew exactly what it was.

Also important to note here, is that both times Eren wakes up crying, he says, “I feel like I just woke up from a long dream“. You’re right, Eren, Living out the past must feel like the longest dream ever, right?

Why is this important?

Tying it all together is easy, but will release serious ripples from the base. You see, Eren saw these things and Ymir showed him what was going to happen.

Unfortunately for Eren, he could only see the visions and get affected by them .He couldn’t do anything to change them. In face, trying to change something usually ends up with him ending back at the same point he wanted to avoid.

TL;DR

The Attack on Titan universe is set in a loop of sorts (if we are to ignore the ending and only focus on Eren’s dream and his crying). In this universe, history constantly repeats itself and people cannot change their future, even if they try. Just like the cycle of hatred is never-ending, the future of Eren is already written and ended.

We’re just on the path to see exactly how it will end. And maybe start again…

What do you think of this theory? Do you think Eren received memories from Ymir? Do you think he can’t do anything to change his path? Let us know in the comments!