@peachessifunda I understand the argument, but Connie wasn't simply choosing not to save his mother. Turning Falco into a Titan meant killing an innocent child who had just lost his brother.
The War Hammer Titan stood out among the Nine Titans for its ability to turn the battlefield itself into a weapon, summoning massive crystal spikes from the ground and crafting complex tools like hammers, crossbows, and whips on the fly while its user remained safely encased underground. In the Liberio clash, this remote control and structural hardening let it impale and briefly behead Erenโs Attack Titan, showing just how quickly a well-timed construct could neutralize even a hardened veteran shifter.
Yet the fight also exposed the limits of that power when stamina ran low and external help arrived. A more experienced inheritor might have pressed the advantage harder by chaining constructs without pausing to recover, denying Eren the openings he used to sever the control cable and force a rematch. Even so, the outcome hinged as much on timing and support as on raw ability, leaving room for the argument that superior control of those same crystal weapons could have ended the duel before reinforcements closed in.
What if the very people who tore down your walls were already standing in the crowd beside you, watching the horror unfold with the same wide eyes as everyone else?
Thatโs the quiet, devastating trick of Reiner and Bertholdt. By the time the Colossal Titan kicked a hole in Wall Maria, they had already spent years living as ordinary refugees inside the wallsโkids who ate the same bread, trained in the same corps, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the people they were sent to destroy. The attack wasnโt their entrance; it was their cue. They had already slipped in through the front door years earlier, and the chaos simply gave them the perfect cover to stay.
@dfw_ella_ You didn't miss much. The anime doesn't explain it in great detail, but Zeke reveals that the Ackermans were the result of experiments involving Titan science.
The Ackerman clan originated from experiments conducted by the ancient Eldian Empire, which combined Titan science with Subjects of Ymir to create super-soldiers capable of protecting the royal family. These modifications granted Ackermans extraordinary physical strength, speed, and combat instincts that rival Titan shifters while remaining in human form, along with access to the accumulated battle experience of previous generations upon awakening. As a direct result of this altered biology, they function as partially titanized humans rather than ordinary Eldians connected fully to the Paths.
Because their bodies already express a version of Titan power at a cellular level, Ackermans cannot transform into Pure Titans or inherit the Nine Titans through normal means; Titan spinal fluid or gas simply has no effect on them, much like how existing shifters resist further transformation. This same genetic change also renders them immune to the Founding Titanโs memory manipulation and control, which is why characters such as Levi and Mikasa remain unaffected during events where other Eldians are turned or influenced. The anime and manga reveal this lore gradually, particularly in later seasons and chapters involving the clanโs history and the Paths.