Here Is How the Owl Knew About Mikasa and Armin

Eren Kruger, also known as the Owl in the Attack on Titan universe, was a previous inheritor of the Attack Titan and a friend of Grisha Yeager. He was an Eldian spy that had climbed to the position of a Marleyan officer. His most significant interaction is when he gives Grisha Yeager the Attack Titan. Titan Shifters can only live for 13 years after they obtain their powers, and the Owl was almost out of time. When Grisha was caught and lined up with the other Eldians that were going to be injected and turned into Pure Titans, the Owl dropped his act as an officer, killing all the other real Marleyan officers. He then tells Grisha he will give him the Attack Titan and that he must start a family when he gets inside the Walls. Otherwise, he won’t be able to save Armin, Mikasa, and everyone else. The Owl never meets Armin or Mikasa, so how does he know about them? 

The Owl knows about Mikasa and Armin because Eren Yeager sent memories of them to him from the future. This is the power of the Attack Titan. All Titan Shifters can receive memories from past inheritors, but the Attack Titan’s inheritor can receive memories from both past and future inheritors of the Attack Titan. The Owl knew about Mikasa and Armin because Eren revealed those memories to him so that Grisha would be more motivated to take the actions that would lead the Attack Titan to Eren. 

Eren uses the “future-seeing” power of the Attack Titan on many people, positioning them so that he gets where he needs to be. The Owl is an important piece in Eren’s plan, as he had to find a way to get the Attack Titan from the Owl in Marley to himself in the Walls. This can get a bit complicated, so read on to learn about how the Owl knew about Mikasa and Armin, why he didn’t prevent the other Eldians from being killed, and why he chose Grisha as the next inheritor of the Attack Titan. 

The Attack Titan’s special ability

Each one of the Nine Titans has its special ability. The Female Titan is incredibly skilled in combat, the Jaw is fast and has very strong jaws, the Colossal Titan is gigantic and can expel hot steam from its body, the Armored Titan has an enhanced hardening ability which gives it its armor, the Beast is good at throwing projectiles, the Cart can carry things over a long distance, the Warhammer Titan can make any weapon, the Founding Titan can manipulate the memories of any Eldian, and the Attack Titan can see into the memories of its future inheritors. 

That’s how the Attack Titan’s power is usually thought of, seeing into the future of its future inheritors. However, it’s more like the current inheritor can send memories from the present to someone living in the past. 

Think about how people who lived in the past we’re living in the future. If you send a vision of what’s happening right now to someone in the past, from their perspective, they see a vision of the future. This is how Eren sends out visions to the inheritors of the Attack Titan, all to lead the Attack Titan to him. 

Why did the Owl choose Grisha to inherit the Attack Titan?

The answer to this question is the same as the question, “How did the Owl know about Mikasa and Armin?” Eren showed the Owl parts of his memories to push the Owl to make that decision. 

It’s been proven that Eren doesn’t show random memories to the Attack Titan inheritors. He likely only shows them the right memories to make them make the decisions he wants them to make. 

An example of this is when Eren shows his father select visions of the future to convince him to give him his Titans, as at that point, Grisha possessed both the Attack and Founding Titans. We don’t know what was shown to Grisha, but it was enough for him to be terrified and plead with Zeke to stop Eren. 

Eren likely did the same thing with the Owl but to a less extreme extent. He showed the Owl just the right bits and pieces of future visions to lead him to Grisha and convince him that Grisha was the right choice as the next successor of the Attack Titan. 

Eren convinced the Owl that the only way to end the War on Eldians was to give Grisha the Attack Titan and tell him to raise a family in the Walls. The mention of Mikasa and Armin was likely just an addition that would reinforce Grisha’s idea that he was on the right path as he went on. 

Why did the Owl kill Dina? 

We have seen Dina several times in the story up until now, and she always supported the Eldians’ cause and worked with her husband to achieve freedom. Many were surprised that the Owl let her and all the other Eldians be turned into Titans before killing all the Marleyan officers. 

The other Eldians couldn’t be saved. For Eren’s plan to work, there had to be no witnesses. Dina was simply at the wrong place and time because she had another important plan to carry as a Pure Titan. 

Dina wouldn’t have been able to carry out Grisha’s plan anyway because she’s a royal. Eren’s plan was for Grisha to inherit the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan. 

When a royal inherits the Founding Titan, the Vow of Renouncing War takes effect, which is a curse placed on the royal bloodline. Any royal who inherits the Founding Titan immediately adopts the same views as the creator of the vow, King Karl Fritz, which are that Eldians must immediately abandon War. 

King Fritz thought his people, the Eldians, were inherently sinners. He thought Eldia’s atrocities were too great to be forgiven, so his vow ensured Eldians would never fight back and accept any punishment. 

We can see this with the Reiss family, who had the Founding Titan for generations and believed Eldians must remain within the Walls. Uri and Frieda Reiss were convinced that the Vow of Renouncing War was morally correct. 

Despite being unable to carry out Grisha’s plan, Dina had another role in fulfilling as a Pure Titan. Future Eren commanded Dina to eat his mother instead of Bertholdt. This way, Eren’s intense hatred for Titans would begin brewing, and Bertholdt would survive getting eaten by Armin eight years later.