WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 6 of Attack on Titan, "The War Hammer Titan," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Episode 6 of Attack On Titan's fourth season is a jaw-dropper from start to finish in terms of action, but among all the drama, it also slyly brings up a major question for anime fans. A conversation takes place between Willy Tybur and General Theo Magath at the beginning of the episode that sheds light on a possibility that hadn't been considered yet, or at least, not in the anime.
With the knowledge that Magath and Tybur have regarding Eren Yeager, they can't help but wonder if he has had help from the inside, from Marley itself. Let's go over their conversation and what it could potentially mean for Marley if their suspicions are correct.
As the carriage takes Willy away from his family for the final time, Magath and Willy prepare for the night ahead -- much of which they've already guessed at. They discuss the emergency plans in place should a potential attack from Eren happen, and Magath informs Willy that any escape plans must be planned at the last minute for security purposes. Willy makes a point to clump the VIP diplomat and leaders together so they can escape safely. He continues to say that the Tyburs have been dedicating time to improving foreign relations and international views on Eldians.
At this point, the conversation takes on a darker hue as Willy says, "But we should have been watching our own backyard." He comments on how the enemies that are across the sea are suddenly at their doorsteps, which implies that the timeline doesn't seem to make sense. The enemy would have needed some sort of help to facilitate their travel and their slip into Marley. Willy calls them "conspirators" and it's them he fears the most. He suspects its members of their own military.
So, who could these Paradis Island sympathizers be? Based on Willy's guess, we too can assume it's a member of the Marley military. Considering these conspirators helped the entire Eldian scout regiment into the nation, they must have the power to pull some strings and silence some people so it has to have been someone high-ranking.
This high-ranking official must also, on some level, have sympathy for the Eldians and their cause. From this line of thinking, there are a few people that ring the alarm. From what we've seen of Reiner in Season 4, he is definitely a changed man and has some deep regrets about his way of thinking and his actions of Paradis Island. But after his shock at seeing Eren again, this doesn't seem the most plausible.
Another candidate that could have Eldian sympathy is Zeke Yeager. We know that he turned on his parents and sold them out to the Marleyan military, but that doesn't necessarily mean things haven't changed. He was raised as an Eldian Restorationist, so he has understood the truth about Eldia and Marley since his childhood. While he's given no reason to suspect him, he is the one with the most leverage on both sides and potentially the most to gain: his own redemption for what he did to his parents.
At this point, we really don't have much to go on, but we can be certain that there are Marleyan conspirators inside of the military and that Willy intended to smoke them out with the initial Eldian attack. While Season 4, Episode 6, "The War Hammer Titan," gave us this illuminating conversation, it really leaves us with more questions than answers. Will Willy's plan work and the conspirators be brought to light through his sacrifice?