After a couple episodes of linear storytelling, the ending of the last episode of Attack on Titan, left us with a much needed time-skip, to snap us out of “storytelling purgatory.” The episode begins off on a high note and addresses everything we’ve been thinking.

Big Fan of Time-skipping!

It makes for a more compelling story, when you, the audience, are left out of the mix. Sometimes, when the story gets dull, you kind of have to break the viewer out of something expected to deliver something unexpected.

The Big Picture Issue is Finally Being Addressed

Once Hange gets in communication with Mikasa and Jean, they outright weigh their options regarding Eren’s decision to wipe out everyone outside of Paradis Island. From the ‘Yaegerist’s’ point-of-view, wiping out the world from their wrongdoing to the Eldians of Paradis Island is justified. Hange’s line of thinking is that “genocide is wrong.” These two point-of-views presented at the beginning of the episode gives the audience confirmation of how they are going to deal with Eren.

Hange’s heartfelt speech to Jean and Mikasa was done very well as it hit all of the feels of morality residing in our gut. In a melancholic-like scene, with the violin playing in the background, this moment hit all the feels. Bringing the images of all the fallen scouts like Erwin and Marco; this scene almost brought tears to my eyes, as we all were Jean in that moment. Stopping Eren’s genocide is the right thing to do and the feeling in our gut knows it. This scene nails it completely, in wanting us to accept that this is right course of action to take. A riveting start!

The Famous Camp Scene

The first scene of the episode sets up everyone’s resolve to stop Eren and the rest, we get to see the characters fight through their historical differences.

In the manga, this was definitely one of my favorite parts in the series that stood out to me. 2 sides are justified in their biases towards each other. It runs such a good parallel to the real world we live in. Everyone has a dirty history. Everyone can justify why they should fight and kill each other. At what point, do we sit down at the table together and stop the fighting? This camp scene represents that reality in the real world, that we can come together and forgive our historical differences. If not, an Eren-like genocidal rumbling is surely to manifest in our own reality.

Again, no character at this camp, can claim they are free of sin. Eldians and Marleyans are both complicit in mutual destruction. This scene, maybe remembered as one of the most iconic scenes, we are going to get in Attack on Titan.

Do Mikasa, Armin, Connie & others have the guts to kill Eren?

As we make our way to catch up to Eren’s rumbling, this question is going to be at the back of everyone’s mind. Friend, family, confidant; do you have what it takes to take down a loved one for humanity?

Annie has a Father to save and Mikasa has a loved one to save. There are stakes for everyone and trust can be easily lost, when it comes to Eren. The music, tension and dialogue hits the nail on Levi’s missing eye ball, as this addresses another big question the viewer has regarding Eren’s rumbling.

Now, you know why I hate Yelena..

I have always hated Yelena in the show and this episode finally reveals the main reason for my pure hatred for the character. I have wrote a lot about her being a plot device and this episode shows how much it is a hard pill to swallow. Wanting to be admired for having a place in history is nothing new; the driver of that motivation is something I cannot personally understand. Her whole backstory is based on a fabrication and wanting to be apart of the grander story. As a character and plot device, she still does her part—no matter how much I like dislike her.

Addressing Marco’s death

After Yelena begins instigating, bringing everyone’s dirty deeds to light; the story behind Marco’s death is addressed, as we get another intense scene with Jean and Reiner. Finally, a character decides to snap as Jean beings to beat the crap out of Reiner. Gabi ends to getting in the way and gets kicked by Jean. As she and Falco begin to beg Jean to help fight with them, Jean leaves.

The next scene breaks with Jean making amends with Gabi and not with Reiner, obviously. We now find ourselves watching all of these characters make it to the Azumabito Family port. What I love about this series is the real consequences characters face and we can bet on more characters meeting their end, as they approach Eren.

Last Thoughts

On a side note, I loved that this episode didn’t play the intro. It was a slight gripe I had with the previous episode, as it broke the momentum the episode was building at the beginning.

All in all, this episode was masterfully done. Everything I imagined from reading the manga, was done well here. Each scene executed its purpose well and gave us the roller coaster of emotions we were missing from the previous episodes.