Attack On Titan: What Eren Dropping Zeke’s Baseball Actually Meant

Warning: Contains spoilers for Attack on Titan episode 78.

Attack on Titan episode 78 has a flashback of Eren dropping the baseball Zeke gave him, and there’s a fair bit of symbolism to be found in the scene. Attack on Titan usually relies on subtleties to move the story forward and, in turn, expects the audience to be able to pick up on what needs to be picked up. The baseball scene is more explicit than some other scenes in its implications, but there are still some elements to it that warrant explanation.

Episode 78, “Two Brothers”, returns to the flashback in part 1 of Eren and Zeke meeting in Marley and discussing Zeke’s euthanasia plan. Just like what was shown in part 1, Eren agrees with Zeke’s sentiment that it would be better if Eldians went extinct, and Zeke is touched to the point that he’s brought to tears. Zeke, not wanting to make physical contact with Eren just yet, tosses him a baseball to act as a sign of them agreeing to work together.

When that flashback continues in season 4, part 2, it’s shown that Eren dropped the baseball, which says a lot about Eren’s true motivations. Since the baseball was meant to be a symbol of Eren and Zeke working together, the fact that Eren literally dropped the ball is a clear indication of Eren not actually agreeing with Zeke. Eren not being on board with the euthanasia plan had been a popular idea among Attack on Titan viewers ever since it was brought up in part 1 for how much it came across as being at odds with his character’s desire for freedom. Armin brings up that same reasoning in the beginning of part 2, and in season 4’s “Two Brothers”, it’s finally confirmed that Eren was never on board with the euthanasia plan.

The baseball also held personal significance to Zeke beyond his bond, or lack thereof, with Eren. Zeke always played catch with Tom Ksaver – whom Zeke saw as a father in place of how poorly Grisha treated him – so Zeke using the baseball as a sign of trust between Eren and himself meant that Zeke trusted Eren enough to bring him into the same act of togetherness he had with Ksaver. With all of that taken into account, it makes sense that Zeke learning that Eren was lying to him would be enough to bring him to tears.

At the very least,  Zeke had enough awareness to suspect that Eren was lying to him. When Eren reveals his true colors in the Paths dimension, Zeke, who had made himself out to be completely helpless, reveals that he has complete control over the Paths dimension through his domination of Ymir and proceeds to force Eren to work with him. How all of that will play out will be explored in Attack on Titan episode 79, “Memories of the Future”, and whatever happens, it’s astonishing that something as simple as a baseball helped to set it up.

Attack on Titan releases new episodes Sundays on Hulu.