After a thrilling previous episode, the end of part 2 of the final season of AoT ends in a change of pace episode that fills us in on how Eren ended up in Marley.

After Mikasa, Armin and the others escape Floch and the Jeagerists on the boat—through Mikasa’s flashback, she takes us back to when Eren, Armin, Mikasa and the other scouts first arrived in Marley. From that time-skip of the ending of season 3, we are filled in from when Eren’s change of personality occurred (probably by seeing the future & Grisha’s memories). As this is their first time ever stepping on land outside of the island, we got to witness some fun scenes with Sasha and Hange’s reaction to experiencing ice cream and seeing a car for the first time. The first part of the episode ends with Levi and crew helping a kid “pick-pocketer” escape after snagging Sasha’s bags.

As the Paradis Island crew begins talking with the Azumabito, Mikasa realizes that Eren escapes from the meeting and goes after to find him. Eren’s odd mood and decisions continues as he escapes to where the “boy pick-pocket” is back in his encampment filled with refugees. Here, we get a very low-key important scene that revolves around Mikasa and Eren’s relationship.

The aim of this episode is clear. Ingrain the last bits of good memories in the eyes of the audience before the ultimate showdown. This episode weaved in the last good feel moments between these characters and introduced us to a possible romantic ending. This is the kind of happy ending scene you should be getting to an end of a show. Things take a drastic turn as Eren disapears, only to be seen again by the beginning of Part 1 of AoT Final Season.

Mikasa & Eren

Even though this isn’t the typical hoorah of an ending most people would have expected, this does set us up nicely for the last-last ending that would conclude the Attack on Titan story. That last story is going to lean heavily on Mikasa and Eren’s relationship with each other. The previous episode hints to the audience again, as Annie questions what Mikasa would do if they tried to kill Ere.. This maybe my biggest gripe with the manga of how the writer handled this. Here we are, one year away from part 3 of witnessing how well the anime will conclude the end of the rumbling.

By the end of the episode, after revealing Eren’s plan of the rumbling from the very beginning; the episode ends full circle around Eren’s questioning of Mikasa’s love for him.

To me, this relationship between Mikasa and Eren has never really developed into anything until now. I think it is a little bit odd to go so heavily into this relationship as their love between each other was never really shown on-screen very much—especially on the romantic side. On the flip-side, it makes total sense that the story would push into this relationship because no matter what, they are going to have to make some hard decisions when they see each other.

Revealing Eren’s Plan for the Rumbling

The back half of the episode focuses on Eren revealing to Floch and Historia, his plan to eradicate a majority of humanity, in order to start a fresh beginning. I think we can all say that we are Historia in that moment, as that sounds a bit harsh..

These scenes may have hit a bit harder if this wasn’t already revealed when Eren back-stabbed Zeke earlier in the season. It was nice to see Historia have a moment, as she has been tossed aside as an important character. Still, it was nice to see Floch and Historia react to Eren’s decision to start the rumbling.

The Rumbling, it’s Coming

All season there was a rumbling going on, but we never actually got to see any animation of it until now. This episode ended in perfection as we finally got to see how massive and menacing the army of colossal titans are. Added to the fact that the episode brought the story back to the very beginning of how this all started with Eren. Him, witnessing his mother’s death.

The animation here gets an A+ to me. When the army begins attacking the titan, you can tell how fleeting it was as the titans just bursts out of the water to dissipate the naval fleet to smithereens. I really wonder if Mappa is going to double their budget to amp up all the epic fighting that’s going to incur in the last part of the season. As much as A+ animation can turn a basic story like Demon Slayer into a mass hit; I think with this animation from Mappa, everyone would revere Attack on Titan, no matter how the story ends.

Last Thoughts

The tide is turning in my perception of the last season of Attack on Titan. The fact that there will be a part 3 to the ending of the last season works in the favor of how people will perceive the ending. With the ending of the last handful of part 2 episodes ending on such a high note, the improved storytelling and craftsmanship of concocting a well made episode have really made a huge positive impression on me. If you watch anime first and start binge reading manga later like I do, you don’t get to feel the weight of “what’s going to happen next” because the series is already done. You can just flip the page. This episode does a great job in wrapping up all the loose ends and introducing how important the Mikasa & Eren relationship is. This is great foreshadowing for what is to come. We got to feel a wide range of emotions as the beginning of theepisode gave us the “good feels” of love and comradery; by the end, we got to feel the true pain of Eren by gruesomely watching him hacksaw his leg off and poking his eye out. The last scene showing us the rumbling teased us for an end to an epic story.

art 3 of the Final Season & Movie Speculation?

The rumbling is coming for you sometime in 2023. With the rise and growth of anime movies, I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended the series with a movie. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 & Demon Slayer: Mugen Train did pretty well opening weekend. This trend should continue as demand and interest is beginning to become financially appetizing for the creators. Honestly, that might be the best way to make the most money. It would be even cooler if they gave us an alternate ending. I think at least half of AoT fans would agree with me, but hey! I’m ready for whatever ride the creators want to put me on.