Chains

Contact with Eren's back floods Historia with recovered memories of Frieda, the gentle half-sister who taught her letters and then erased herself from Historia's mind. Rod explains that Frieda died five years ago, when a distressed Grisha Yeager appeared in the cavern beneath the family chapel as Wall Maria fell. In Titan form, Grisha overpowered and devoured Frieda to seize the Reiss family's power, then crushed Rod's wife and four other children, leaving Rod the sole survivor. Hearing this, Historia turns a cold stare on Eren, while Kenny interrupts to report the coup's success before excusing himself, his courteous exit curdling into a scowl once out of sight.

In the capital, Zackly amuses himself degrading a captive noble, whose boast that memory wipes cannot touch his bloodline confirms for Pixis that the Reiss ability is real and could unravel the revolution. Erwin observes flatly that people will hurt one another as long as more than one human remains alive, then leads the assembled military toward the Reiss estate. Riding separately, Squad Levi weighs their odds against Kenny's lethal anti-personnel gear. Levi admits he never knew Kenny was an Ackerman until the previous day and asks Mikasa about her own line; she describes her persecuted father and recalls the kidnapping where impossible strength suddenly flowed through her, an awakening Levi says both he and Kenny once felt.

Alone with his prisoners, Rod produces a syringe Eren instantly recognizes from the night his father injected him. Telling Historia that Frieda is not truly gone because her memories persist within the Founding Titan, he offers his daughter the chance to meet her sister again. Understanding exactly what is about to repeat itself, Eren thrashes against his restraints.

Touching Eren restores Historia's erased memories of her half-sister Frieda.

Rod recounts Grisha's slaughter of the Reiss family and his theft of the Founding Titan.

A captive noble's taunts prove to Pixis that royal memory manipulation is real.

Levi and Mikasa compare their shared Ackerman awakenings as the military closes on the chapel.

Rod readies a Titan serum and invites Historia to inherit Frieda's memories, mirroring the night Grisha injected Eren.

Chains opens volume 16 as chapter 63, released November 7, 2014 in both Japan and the United States within the Royal Government arc. Kodansha's English edition mistakenly refers to Abel and Florian Reiss as boys, and the serum vial Rod handles bears katakana reading "Strongest Titan," a label no character ever reads aloud. The anime covers it in the episode Sin.