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On Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 5, Pieck commented to Galliard about a “tall guard” who looked familiar to her. Fans have a fascinating theory about who the guard was.

This article will have spoilers for Season 4 Episode 5, but the article itself is manga-spoiler-free. Please don’t add spoilers from the manga in the comments. Thanks. 🙂 

Pieck Says the Tall Guard Looks Familiar

At first, the tall guard separates Pieck and Galliard from Zeke. This alone has spawned quite a few rumors, but we’ll leave that for another story. As the guard leads Pieck and Galliard away, Pieck comments: “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before. Where are you from?”

The guard responds: “Out west by Lakua, but I was called here. I didn’t come to chitchat with Eldians.”

Pieck responded: “That’s a shame. I kinda fancy your beard.”

Later, he tricks them and traps them in a pit, very calmly and deliberately.

When Pieck and Galliard are talking after they’ve been thrown in the pit, they wonder who could have been behind the whole thing. “Must be a pit to restrain Warriors,” Pieck surmises as they realize that neither has room to transform because the pit is so cramped that they’d be “squashed to death.”

“Why’d that scrawny soldier even do it?” Galliard wonders.

“I don’t know,” Pieck says, “but I feel like I’ve seen them before.”

Some Fans Think It May Be Armin

The prevailing theory right now is that the tall guard is Armin, all grown up. Sure, Armin didn’t have a beard before, but he certainly could now. And yes, Armin was never tall before. But it’s been four years and Armin was even younger than Eren, so it’s possible that he’s grown a lot.

On top of that, some fans think that maybe the Colossal Titan host gets a growth spurt after acquiring the Colossal Titan. This is based on the knowledge of how tall Bertholdt was compared to everyone else. It certainly could account for Armin’s growth spurt, if this is Armin. Plus, the guard did have blonde hair, which would match Armin.

But why did Pieck recognize Armin? Well, she was scouting at Shiganshina as the Cart Titan and might have seen him then, one fan suggested.

The only other theory I’ve seen is that maybe it’s Annie. But this one is tougher to buy, considering the beard (which of course, could be a disguise) and the height. Plus, it would take some pretty major negotiation to convince Annie to turn against Reiner and Bertholdt and her dad who is still waiting for her.

The more likely option at this point (with no manga spoilers) is Armin. Of course, these theories have been wrong before (like our theory about Helos which was disproven in a later episode.) But that’s one of the things I love about this show, to be honest. I love how sometimes it’s really hard to predict what’s going to happen next, and this show continually keeps me guessing and keeps me surprised.

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Stephanie

Stephanie Dwilson started Post Apocalyptic Media with her husband Derek. She's a licensed attorney and has a master's in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].

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