WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapter #113 of Attack on Titan, "Violence," by Hajime Isayama, Dezy Sienty, and Alex Ko Ransom, available in English now from Kodansha
Impossible as it seems, given the miserable state of affairs in the midseason finale of Attack on Titan's final season, but the worst is truly yet to come for Paradis Island when the Final Season: Part Two begins. The remaining Survey Corps members in jail, Levi mortally wounded, Zeke Jaeger in the wind, and Marley on the attack, how could things possibly get worse? Unfortunately for the citizens of Paradis Island, the other shoe has yet to drop in Zeke's plan to use wine tainted with his spinal fluid to overthrow the island's military.
When Zeke Jaeger was first brought to Paradis Island as an ally, he brought Eldian Sympathizers with him, including Yelena, a woman who is his devoted acolyte. Under the guise of spreading goodwill, Yelena brought supplies with her, including high-end Marleyan wine. Unbeknownst to many, this wine was spiked with Zeke Jaeger's spinal fluid. When ingested by Subjects of Ymir, which is everyone on Paradis Island, Zeke's spinal fluid allows him to turn that person into a mindless Titan by screaming while in their general vicinity.
From the start, Eren's and Zeke's plan was to overthrow Paradis's military and replace it with a new faction, later termed Jaegerists. To this end, the wine was provided exclusively to the island's military, including high-ranking officers and even commanders such as Dot Pixis and Nile Dawk. Now that the entire Paradis military was effectively Zeke's hostages, the Jaegerists' coup was an easy thing. Even as Zeke was being transported far from Eren in an attempt to keep them from initiating their plan while Paradis tried to sort out the mess the Jaeger brothers made by attacking Marley, the fight was already over.
When a large group of soldiers led by Levi brought Zeke out to the Forest of Giant Trees, a crate of the tainted wine was packed along with the supplies and drunk by everyone except Levi. Once Zeke confirmed the wine had been drunk to the last drop, he made his first move by turning all of the soldiers into mindless Titans. Even those who drank the wine and remained in the city felt the surge of power despite being too far away to be turned into Titans, helping to establish the scope of just how many people were now Zeke's hostages.
Only those who opposed Eren's and Zeke's plan drank the wine, meaning Zeke now has the ability to wipe out the entire opposition in one fell swoop. At the end of the first half of the season, Eren is in Shiganshina where the vast majority of those who drank the tainted wine were also located. Apparently having survived the Thunder Spear explosion that blew him to pieces, it's only a matter of time before Zeke makes his way to Shiganshina where an unspeakable tragedy no doubt awaits.
Alongside the chaos of Marley's sudden invasion, Zeke turning a large chunk of the city's populace into mindless Titans would be the perfect distraction to allow Eren and Zeke to come into contact and enact their plan. Worse, the entire military being turned into Titans would render Paradis Island completely defenseless against both the outside world and Eren's and Zeke's plan to use the Founding Titan. Multiple factions inside Paradis, Marley's army, and mindless Titans would all be fighting at once inside Shiganshina, meaning that the town and possibly the world itself are just a scream away from Hell on Earth.
Attack on Titan Season 4, Part 2 will premiere on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022 and will be streamed on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.