The Marley Kingdom is introduced into the story of the second part of season 3. They were part of the larger conspiracy that led to the breach in the Wall Maria and the tragedy that fell on Eren. It was part of an expedition to get the Founding Titan that was rumored to be inside the walls. In this article, we will know everything that this country across the sea is capable of and why it has such a big part in the final season of the Shingeki no Kyojin anime. Note that this article will have major spoilers for the upcoming anime and the manga’s latest story.
5. Founders of the Nation
Marley and Eldians have a long history before any of the current events of the story. It was a powerful nation that had influence over the rest of the world. The balance of power changed when one of the Eldian slaves, Ymir, gained control of the titans. Her strength was used to attack the mighty nation by King Fritz. When they saw themselves massively overpowered, Marley surrendered. After Ymir died, her power was split into nine titans, and Eldians used the variants to wage a massive war against the rest of the kingdoms. Marley was among the domains that faced the destruction brought by the gigantic beasts invading city after city. Eldians conquered the entire world with their massive power. The titans have divided among nine families, and the conflict among them led to the war that ended the rule of eldians. According to Marleyan history, a hero named helos was responsible for bringing the power back to Marley. He freed the land, and the current Marley kingdom was founded. They gained possession of seven of the nine titans bringing much military strength with it. However, the real reason for the fall of Eldians is that King Karl Fritz wanted to end the oppression of Eldians. The king himself orchestrated with the Tybur family to bring conflict among Eldians, which led to the war that followed. King Fritz took his kingdom to Paradis Island, made the three walls using the powers of the founding titan, and kept his country from starting any other wars for the future. Marley became a powerful country again and started invading neighboring countries with the help of some of the remaining Eldians and the power of titans.
4. Location in AOT’s World
The Marley Kindom has a vast landmass under their control, ranging over the area of a continent. It lies over the west of Paradis land. A few more countries lie around Marley, on a smaller mainland and islands and oceans surrounding the land. Marley has a large number of ports strategically placed for influences over neighbors in all directions, through the ocean and land. The sea’s presence around much of its area led to their naval endeavors over other lands, and the national flag contains the seashell symbol.
3. Military and Politics
Marley is, in essence, an independent country with no apparent ruler and an organized military structure. When the country gained its freedom from the Eldians, they started an extended expedition to take all the territory back. During this, the military is established as the main order of the nation that made the conquest and expanded the influence of the country. The Marleyan commander leads the army and the navy units, and the government had continued both land and overseas domination throughout their history. Among the Marley forces, the Eldians are also recruited for ground and naval forces along with the select few that make it to inherit the Titan powers. However, in the government’s shadows, the Tybur family is at the helm of the nation. The current head of the family, Willy Tybur, rules the country behind the cover of military strength. However, the family does not involve themselves in the matters of the country. They keep themselves away from the decision-making and observe until the worst happens. Tybur is an Eldian Family that remained with the Marley kingdom after the Great Titan War. The head of the Tybur family, Willy, comes out to take control of the country at the festival that changed everything for him and the kingdom.
2. Mission To Obtain The Founding Titan
After the Great Titan War, the authorities of Marley’s Military observed that the world is catching up with the power of titans with their technological advancements. They needed resources to build their own army to the new standard. Hence, Marley made a move to disrupt Paradis Island. The mission was called Paradis Island Operation. Marley wanted to destroy the whole system of the Eldian nation, gain the powers of the founding titan that lies inside the walls and exterminate all of the Eldians inside. To stop this, Karl Fritz threatened that if Marley tries to attack Paradis Island at any moment, he will unleash all the Colossus Titans inside the walls onto their kingdom. Avoiding the massive war that would come in such a circumstance, Marley held off the attack but continued to train low-class Eldian to inherit the titan powers that they possessed and made the titan force they needed for the operation. The Tybur family kept one titan for themselves, and the rest were distributed among the chosen candidates. Out of these, four of the Warriors, Reiner, Annie, Marcel, and Bertolt, were sent for the initial breach into the walls and find the location of the founding titan by infiltrating the Scouts. Marcel was killed during the journey, but the rest of the warriors successfully breached the wall to bring havoc to the people inside the walls. The titans outside the walls came in and devoured hundreds if not thousands. Eren lost his mother at the same event, which led him to apply for the scouts and explore the world outside. These three warriors joined the new forces that were being trained after the sudden attack on the land. All three ranked among the top 10 of their batch. They were eventually found out as the secret could be kept for so long. Annie figured out that Eren has inherited the founding titan powers. She attacked and threatened to wipe out the entire special operation squad during an expedition, but she failed to capture Eren due to the actions of Mikasa and Captain Levi. Annie was later found out, and in a battle, she was almost killed by Eren. In the end, she lost and stored her self in the hard titan skin. At the same time, the Warchief of this operation, Zeke Yeager, invaded Wall Rose, causing chaos around the land, only to leave later.
1. De-facto Leader Willy Tybur
Willy Tybur did not start the initial operation, but after Zeke returns to Marley, he holds a festival to reveal his real power in Marley. He declares himself the ruler of Marley and announces a war against Paradis for the possession of the founding titan. He had remained in the shadows for most of his role as the de-facto ruler of the nation. However, as Eren was perfecting the powers of the founding titan, it would be bad for the Marley kingdom. Willy is known to show concern for his Eldian people as he was not happy with how Marley’s people treated them. He also disliked the country’s military structure and regretted the way it was ambitious to gain more and more. Still, when threatened by a massive war and concerns that the situation will worsen, he decides to exercise his power to lead the country to war. Tybur is later executed by Eren and the rest of the high command and lays rest to his plans for Paradis Island. They were quick to attack the threat in the home of the enemy and destroy a lot of their strength in the Marley Arc (the one currently being animated). Following this, Marley’s kingdom teams up with the rest of the world to start an extermination operation on Marley to end Paradis Island. They launch a massive attack on the Shiganshina district, but this leads to the awakening of the Colossus titans as Eren Yeager gets hold of his powers. What follows is a significant destruction spree in the major cities of Marley. Eren Yeager declares that he will destroy all life outside of the Island using his founding titan powers. So far, Marleyan Kingdom is unable to respond to the massive titan fleet unleashed due to Eren’s anger over Marley. These were some of the nifty stuff that I have compiled for you in anticipation of Shingeki no Kyojin Season 4. The Marleyan Nation is a worthy rival to the Eldians. They broke off from the massive kingdom that resulted after Ymir unleashed her nine-titan power. After getting the titans, they started the operation to take down their rivals in possession of Founding Titan. Eren was not delighted with the things that the Marleyan process brought to his life, and hence, he is here to pay them back. We are still waiting for Attack on Titan story to end, hoping that a peaceful nation emerges from this conflict.
