The latest episode of the final season of Attack on Titan, Season 2, Part 2, Episode 3, shed light on the significance of royal blood for the Founding Titan. The episode reveals that Eren’s possession of the Founding Titan means nothing without royal blood. While Eren and Zeke find themselves at ‘the coordinate where all paths converge,’ a vast desert inhabitated only by Ymir, the Founder, and the Original Titans named Subject Ymir. Ymir possesses immense power but no free will of her own and will obey only the orders of Eldian royalty, as Zeke explains.
Ultimately, whoever enters the coordinate with royal blood would become the new Founding Titan. The Paths are the place where those with royal blood travel to access the powers of the Founding Titan. While it remains unknown for how long Ymir has been there constructing titan bodies from sand each time a Titan Shifter borrows her power, it’s clear that this is where Zeke was healed after nearly being killed by Levi Ackerman in Season 2, Part 2, Episode 2.
At this location, anyone with royal blood can do as they please, as Zeke does to trap Eren. He pretends to be restrained to ascertain if Eren still supports his plan. However, Eren admits to having tricked Zeke into helping him reach the coordinate. Zeke, too, needed Eren to activate the Founding Titan.
At the beginning of the series, Eren was referred to as the coordinate Titan and had the Founding Titan, making him the prime target of the Marleyans. However, it’s clear that without royal blood, the Founding Titan is merely a key that takes Eren as far as the coordinate point. The weakness of the Founding Titan is evident in how easily Grisha Yeager defeated Frieda Reiss and acquired the Founding Titan.
At present, Eren remains powerless when at the coordinate since he lacks royal blood. If Ymir has no free will of her own, as Zeke says, then the future of humanity rests on Zeke, the sole royal blooded owner. On the other hand, there’s a small possibility that Ymir might consider Eren’s wishes. For answers, viewers will have to wait and watch Attack on Titan, episode 4.
