War is Hell
-William Tecumseh Sherman
Hello lovely readers,
The scouts find themselves at the precipice of a cliff, and they have reached, as someone once said, “the point of no return.” As the remnants of the Levi squad try to figure out how to tackle the Colossal Titan, can they begin to hope to defeat such an impossible foe? As the pressure mounts on all sides, the Beast Titan finally makes his first move. In a moment, the scouts on the other side of the wall are faced with a situation so impossible that hope seems to have deserted them. Is this the end for humanity’s struggle for freedom?
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Hoo boy. Here I thought that the last episode was bleak. Man, was I wrong. Let me just leave this spoiler-free conclusion here: This was an effective and hard-hitting episode that served to emphasize how outgunned the scouts are. “Perfect Game” did a wonderful job getting the adrenaline flowing, but the scouts are in such dire straights that it’ll take a miracle for them to pull through.
Now for the spoiler-laden part of my review.
The scouts believed that they were holding steady to their position. That didn’t last long. In the blink of an eye, all of that confidence is utterly destroyed. The Beast Titan has taken his next step, and it is devastating. If Attack on Titan is exceptional at something, it is showing how overpowered and over matched humanity truly is against their foes. The Beast TItan is unlike any foe they’ve ever seen. He doesn’t take risks, doesn’t put himself into any unnecessary danger, and is bigger and stronger than any other character in the series. He hits the scouts like a shotgun, and they are forced to retreat, with their backs to the wall.
On the other side of the wall, the Levi squad sussing out their strategy for taking down the Colossal Titan. Eren then tries to grab its foot. It goes about as well as you can imagine. They decide to try and distract the Colossal enough so that Mikasa can thrust the thunder spears into its nape. It goes about as well as you can imagine.
I was just about as surprised as Erwin was 😛 Call me an armchair quarterback, but I’d probably try this out: have Armin watch the Colossal Titan for any strategy; have Jean, Conny, and Sasha distract the titan from the front; Mikasa takes the thunder spears and eradicates the titan’s feet. Finally, have Eren leap from a roof and turn into a mass of crystal death right over Bertholdt’s ugly nape. Or, when Eren was distracting the Colossal Titan, Mikasa could have blasted him.
It’s unfortunate that it’s now of all times that the scouts, after so many battles, so many scrapes with death, choose now to lose their minds. However, the inter-card may present a bit of foreshadowing as it talks about the steam perhaps being finite. They should totally continue attacking until he shrivels to an empty husk 😛
Whatever the case, the Armored Titan is back >:O
Then we get to the other side of the wall. Everyone begins to lose hope and succumb to despair. We see even Erwin reduced to nothing as everything crumbles around him, and he is truly faced with the consequences of striving toward his dream.
One of the narrative strengths of Attack on Titan has been how the show examines the impact of war on the characters and what they have to do to survive. This episode makes stark the stakes that everyone finds themselves in. And in the brief moment between stone barrages, Erwin reveals a side of himself that we haven’t seen before; it is a man who has been shattered. Everything that he ever fought for has been wrenched from his grasp, and he finds himself with nothing. He steeles himself for death, and is ready to just give up.
All I have to say is that Levi is awesome, full stop. He snaps Erwin out of his funk, and gets the gears moving. Levin is the entire reason that everyone doesn’t lie down to die.
In a moment that reminded me of the battle in front of the gates of Mordor, they ride to what is most certainly their doom. Erwin finds a new resolve as he musters his troops for one last charge– This is where we get to see why people are willing to die for him, why he was trusted to lead the scouts and more importantly, the battle for humanity’s freedom. He leads the remnants of the squads straight down death’s throat with no regrets. All of this is held together by a piano rendition of that amazing song from episode one. It emphasizes the hopelessness that surrounds them all, and it ends right as Erwin accepts his fate.
During a brief, we have a brief flashback to the scene where Erwin talks to the remaining scouts about their final mission. The piano tune is at first frightened and frantic as Erwin confirms to the scouts that they will meet their deaths. The music crescendos to that good old Attack on Titan choral bombast as Erwin pushes them onward until the rocks hit and the music stops. It’s absolutely pitch perfect.
Perhaps Erwin’s gamble with Levi will pay off, and Hope will once again come back to humanity, but it doesn’t look good right now.
And what of Eren? Can he recover in time to save them? I can’t believe that they never thought to have him practice using his hardening ability to create blades or claws. Heck, encase the thunder spears in crystal shards and chuck them at the Colossal.
And I have another question… why in the heck did Erwin not have Eren use the Coordinate power from the start? I assume that his power is greater than the Beast’s, so why not try it? Have they been neglecting that part of Eren’s training to solely focus on hardening? If so, darn it Hange! That is the most important power to hone, not the hardening, unless there’s some limit that we don’t know about yet.
Griping aside, this is a great episode, and I hope that the rest of the season is as gripping. My only worry is that whatever is in the basement is a letdown. However, AoT‘s twists and reveals have all been impressive, so I have confidence that my jaw will drop during some crazy revelation that will change how I see every single thing that has happened over the course of the entire series. It’ll be kind of like the Reiner/Bertholdt twist, only on a much larger scale, and I can only hope that my heart can take it. The only issue with the episode is the same as in every other season: the CG looks a little cheap. It’s not as poor as in season 2, and I get why they use 3D, it just stands out a lot.
But until the last man is consumed, there is always a chance that they will triumph over the titans.
Until we meet again,
Kevin
And darn it all that Attack on Titan‘s subbed release has been delayed until Wednesdays.
Adventures in Korea 