Few points to explain what's going on : (the history is different based on whose side you are on, but these are the essential points)
1. 1820 years ago, Ymir Fritz acquired the Titans power. This was separated into 9 titan shifter powers. (like in Naruto)
2. She established the kingdom of Elodia with this power, after defeating the Mare people. Her people (Elodians) ruled and controlled the main continent for 1700 years.
3. After this, the Mare people fought back and went on war for 80 years. The Mare people stole 7 of the 9 shifter powers from the Elodians.
4. The Fritz ruler (of the Elodians) decided not to fight back and retreated to Paradi (paradise) Island with most of the Elodians, where he constructed 3 Walls(the walls we know of). Some of the Elodians were left on the main continent.
5. The Mare established a sort of a Nazi-ish government on the main continent, discriminating against the Elodians. Grisha lived in one of the Elodian ghettos.
6. The Mare Government's technology progressed really fast so they needed more fuel, and there's a lot of it on Paradi Island. But the Fritz ruler there may release the Wall Titans if they declared war.
7. Thus they established warriors, who'd be young kids of 5-7 yrs chosen from the Elodian ghettos. These warriors would be given the 7 shifter powers and would infiltrate the walls and obtain the Fritz ruler's power (the coordinate).
8. Grisha was a part of some Elodian revolutionaries, who wanted to revive Elodia. They were caught after Zeke, their son, who was supposed to become a Warrior, exposed them. They'll now be sent to Paradi island as Titans.
Also, there's a lot of references to previous chapters.
- The smiling Titan that ate Eren's mom looks like Dianna Fritz, Grisha's first wife.
- Most of those revolutionaries look like the Titans that attacked Trost.
- Zeke, the future beast titan, is holding a monkey toy and playing with fallen soldiers and a horse.
All in all, this chapter answers 60% of the questions we had since the beginning of the manga.
....
lately I haven't been excited about reading a AOT chapter but this got me hype. For next month
