We basically have two storylines going on in this episode. The first focuses on Gabi and Falco, who manage to escape from their cell and make it out into the wilderness. Gabi is still as crazed as she has been since being captured by the Scouts. Falco keeps trying to talk sense into her, although his efforts seem to be in vain. They are discovered by a girl named Kaya and invited to breakfast at her home. You can see that Gabi just sees a “Paradis devil” and starts to grab a rock. Luckily, Falco stops her;

Falco takes the lead when they go the girl’s home, which is the home of Sasha’s parents (this isn’t a spoiler since we saw the family at Sasha’s gravesite in an earlier episode). Falco gives fake names and refers to “Mia” (aka Gabi) as his younger sister. Gabi is having a hard time adjusting to life at the stables, and blaming everything that happens to her on the “devils.” At one point, while having a conversation with Kaya, Gabi starts spouting off all the talking points of Marley. Kaya asks the two of them if that’s what they’re taught in Marley, and it’s revealed that she heard them arguing when she first found them and has known all along that they’re from Marley. And to me, one of the most important scenes of this episode takes place after this conversation. Kaya takes Gabi and Falco to her village and talks about how her mother was eaten alive by Titans. This leads to a shouting match between Gabi and Kaya, with Gabi spouting off the sins of Kaya’s ancetors, and Kaya retorting that had nothing to do with her mother and that her mother did nothing wrong… so why did she die? What I liked about this scene is that it forced Gabi to have to stop and maybe start to question the worldview that she’s been taught her whole life. Kaya also reveals how she was rescued by a girl a bit older than her who had an ax. From the flashback, the audience knows it’s Sasha, but Gabi and Falco have no idea. The irony here is that this story is being told to the one who killed Sasha. At the end of this sequence, Kaya brings up that Sasha’s parents and the orphans they’re raising have been invited to a restaurant run by a Marlyean, and that if they come, they might be able to find a way home.

The other storyline going on is that the citizens are questioning why Eren, their savior, is being detained. Hange is the one getting harangued about it, and unfortunately, has to act differently toward the public than in the past. Hange also leads the questioning of Floch and some of the recruits, who were discovered to have leaked the information about Eren to the public. Floch argues that Eren shouldn’t be held captive because he did nothing wrong. And with a scene Mikasa has talking with one of the other recruits later, it’s obvious that Eren seems to have developed a kind of a cult following with some of the members of the Scouts. We also see Yelena being questioned as well, and the questioning seems to implicate that she may have been the one to encourage Eren to act on his own in the first place. While this isn’t definitively answered, it’s strongly hinted at.

There’s an after credits scene that takes place in Marley, and it’s made clear that they have figured out that Zeke has betrayed them. The government wants to wait six months before trying to rescue Gabi and Falco in order to build up their global coalition. However, Reiner argues that this would give Zeke the opportunity to plan something, and that they should strike immediately.

It appears that this episode is setting up a couple of potential story threads, especially from the Gabi and Falco storyline and the Marley portion at the end. The portion with the “Eren cult” will likely lead to something as well, although I think the other two will lead to more hard-hitting plot points.

Additional posts about Attack on Titan:

• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 10 – “A Sound Argument”

This episode seems to intercut between scenes taking placing at the current moment with scenes that take place two years earlier. The first time the episode moves from current time to two years ago, the audience was given a title screen to indicate the scene was taking place two years earlier. After that, though, there were times when it became confusing because the scenes would intercut between time and not clearly mark when the story switched back to two years ago.

In the story that takes place two years earlier, Paradis Island’s port has been built and the Scouts welcome their first outside visitor. It’s a delegation from the land of Hizuru, a nation that has always been friendly to Paradis. We learn that Mikasa’s ancestors came from Hizuru, and that at one point in time, a child from Hizuru was accidentally left behind. The delegation from Hizuru play up how Mikasa is the hope for their land. But during a meeting, we learn that the people of Hizuru are really money grubbing people, and what they really want is exclusive rights to a resource that’s only found at Paradis. During this meeting, it’s also revealed that Zeke revealed a plan to the people of Hizru, which they share with the Scouts and delegates of Paradis. We witnessed the first part of the plan with the attack on Marley. But we see the third and final part is a sticking point… which basically requires Historia to inherit the Beast Titan when Zeke dies. While she agrees to inherit it, Eren is pissed off that the second part of the plan basically calls for the people of Paradis to breed like livestock. It’s interesting to note in this portion of the episode, Historia may look more mature, but she still shows some of the energy and life that she had prior to becoming Queen. Which is quite the contrast from the Historia was saw in the previous episode, who looked like almost dead inside.

There’s a later scene that takes place two years earlier, where Eren and the other Scouts talking about who will inherit the Founding Titan when Eren’s time runs out. Each person volunteers themselves, but everyone has a reason why that person shouldn’t. The whole thing ends with Eren saying he doesn’t want any of them inheriting his Titan.

These scenes are a stark contrast to what happens in the current time. The episode actually begins with Hange talking to an imprisoned Eren, but the conversation devolves into Eren becoming enraged. Meanwhile, some of the higher ups are getting drunk and are pissed off that they didn’t follow the original plan of having Historia devour Zeke when he was brought in, because now she’s pregnant. With her pregnancy, they can’t pass the Titan down to her because it could hurt her unborn child, and if anything happens to Historia, everything is over. Apparently, somebody tipped Historia off that getting pregnant would delay her inheriting the Beast Titan. Of course, this now means she basically has to keep having children in order to avoid inheriting the Titan. Historia has had her role downgraded considerably at this point. And for anyone who’s wondering, yes, the baby’s father is revealed here… it’s someone she’s known for a long time (from before she joined the Scouts) that is now helping out at her orphanage.

The final scene of the episode, though, shows a schism developing between the Scouts due to Eren’s behavior and the fact that she seems to now be embracing Zeke’s plan (when he had been one of the vocal dissenters two years earlier). When Conny mentions the possibility that they may need to cut Eren down, Mikasa says she won’t allow it. But Conny comes back with a question for Mikasa: “Why did Eren laugh when Sasha died?” Mikasa and Armin, of course, don’t have an answer for this, and you can tell by their expressions that this question really stings them. At this point, it looks as if the Scouts could potentially start splintering apart due to the politics and events that are happening.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the character dynamics evolve over the coming episodes of the series. With this episode. the situation is starting to look more and more bleak, and there’s a lot of potential for major changes to happen for both the plot and for the characters themselves.

Additional posts about Attack on Titan:

• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 9 – “Brave Volunteers”
• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 11 – “Deceiver”

The first half of the episode sees Armin talking to someone, and talking about how there was a chance things could have turned out differently three years ago. This leads into a flashback that shows what led up to the invasion that was portrayed earlier in the season.

The first thing we see is a Marley force trying to invade Paradise Island. Instead, they are ambushed by Eren in Titan form and their ship being taken ashore. They’re greeted by Levi and Hange, who are holding a man named Nicolo hostage. We get a great interaction between Hange and Levi here, and I have to say that throughout this episode, Levi gets some great lines. When the commander of the force is about to shoot at Levi and Hange, everyone is surprised when the commander of the force is shot in the head by own of his own. We are introduced to Yelena, who, along with a companion named Onyankopon, join forces with Levi and the others.

Yelena and Onyankopon are Anti-Marleyan volunteers who work for Zeke Jaeger, with a goal of freeing the Eldian people. As part of their mission, they provide information about Marley’s military capabilities, as well as some demands from Zeke about a potential plan to take on Marley (which is basically what we saw during the invasion of Marley). When Zeke’s demands are brought forward to Historia and the government, there are those that are against it, including Historia’s advisor. However, the Scouts and their allies argue for it, and Eren reveals something that happened earlier in the series that lends credence to Zeke’s plan. Unfortunately, Levi is unhappy with Eren for withholding this vital information, but Eren says he did it to protect Historia. Speaking of Historia, it was jarring to see her character design here. Just looking at her eyes, she almost looks like she’s dead inside. I don’t blame this on MAPPA, though, because as I recall, she looked the same way in the original manga source material. I think this is to signify how much being thrust into this royal role has changed her. And really, she didn’t even say anything during this meeting, which gives her more of a feel of a figurehead than anything else. She may hold a title, but it seems like she doesn’t wield any power that should theoretically accompany that title.

After the plan is approved, Armin mentions in his narration that Yelena and Onyankopon proved that they have some friends across the sea and they taught them a lot about the outside world. A scene that really stood out to me was when Onyankopon (who is Black) is asked why his skin was so dark. At that moment, it really hit me that up to this point in the series, the only characters we ever saw were light-skinned. I feel ashamed that I had never noticed this earlier. Yes, I did see this part in the manga, but it just really hit me while watching this episode. Onyankopon has to be given credit for how he handled this question, because I’m sure this was an awkward situation for him.

Nicolo, the man Levi and Hange had used as a hostage earlier, has become a cook for the Scouts, and we see the first time he prepares Marleyan dishes. Most of the group is unsure of what to think of it, but Sasha dives right in… and she loves it. The look on Nicolo’s face when he hears Sasha complimenting his cooking said a lot without saying anything.

We then return to the current time, with Nicolo and members of the Scouts visiting Sasha’s grave. A touching moment happens here when Sasha’s family arrives at the gravesite. Nicolo introduces himself and explains how Sasha loved his cooking, and he offers to cook for the family. I thought this was a touching scene.

We also see Levi escorting Zeke to his “hotel”… a big forest full of tall trees. Again, Levi had some great lines during this scene. Unfortunately, because of the incident with Gabi, Pyxis and the Scouts have to take precautions with Yelena, Onyankopon, Nicolo, and the others from Marley. Yelena understands why, but as a viewer, it was hard to see after how much of a friendship these characters had developed with the Scouts.

We also see Gabi and Falco have been confined in a cell. Gabi is still very angry and muttering about Eren Jaeger. She’s definitely going to be trouble.

And right at the end, we see who Armin was talking with at the beginning of the episode… the crystallized Annie. I thought this was an interesting twist.

When the episode started out by providing providing backstory for what just transpired earlier in the season, I was afraid that it was going to be boring… but it wasn’t. The actual backstory only lasted for half of the episode, but the events were interesting enough that it didn’t come across as an “info dump.” And then we got a little bit of story progression in the second half of the episode. It’s going to be an interesting ride to see how much more this story is going to progress and evolve over the next few weeks.

Additional posts about Attack on Titan:

• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 8 – “Assassin’s Bullet”
• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 10 – “A Sound Argument”

The episode opens with Marley’s remaining Titans not having any more energy to fight. Eren is at his limit as well, so he flees the scene with Mikasa to the airship. Gabi and Falco see them leave, and an enraged Gabi grabs a shotgun and runs after them. Falco follows, trying to convince her to stop. They have a debate amongst themselves, and Falco is trying to defend the people of Paradis without letting on that he witnessed the conversation between Reiner and Eren. He had sound reasons for his stance, but was hampered by the inability to mention this detail. Gabi ultimately decides to continue following the airship.

When Eren makes it back onto the airship, he gets a less than warm greeting from Levi, which includes a kick in the face. Levi had a great line here: “This brings back memories, Eren. You have such a kickable face.” I admit that I laughed out loud when I read that subtitle. But on a more serious note, though, seeing Armin in this episode was a little unnerving. Unlike the character we knew before the timeskip, Armin’s eyes lack emotion, and he just looks like he’s dead inside at this point. But when you consider that he was forced to take the power of a Titan with the Titan injection and eat Bertolt, it’s not surprising that he’s become so hardened.

When they realize that people of Marley lack any weapons to take down the airship, everyone except one of the Scouts gets back into the airship. The one left outside is doing their last bit to protect the airship before boarding themselves. Unfortunately, Gabi catches up and shoots the Scout, killing him and making him fall to the ground. Since his maneuvering gear is still attached, Gabi intends to use it to board the ship and kill the Eldians that destroyed her home and her chance to rise above the abuse that she’s endured as an Eldian in the internment zone. Falco tries to plead with her to stop, but she goes on ahead… and Falco grabs on. Falco’s brother Colt arrives just in time to see this happen, and is helpless to stop it.

A little before this, though, we see a scene between Conny, Jean, and Sasha that shows how close they are. Conny makes it clear that he sees Jean and Sasha as special people to him. At this point, you know that something is going to happen, since a chummy scene like this in the middle of this kind of storyline is usually a form of foreshadowing.

When Gabi and Colt make it onto the airship, Gabi shoots at the first person she sees… Sasha. While Jean and Conny rush to her side, the others go over to Sasha and Falco and start beating them up. They are captured as a desperate attempt is made to save Sasha.

When Gabi demands to be taken to their ringleader, Jean obliges. Gabi and Falco are brought before Zeke, who is tied up next to Eren. The look of shock on Gabi and Falco’s faces really grabbed me. While it’s not surprising that they would react this way, I think MAPPA did a great job capturing their expression. When Hange enters the room and asks Zeke how he thought the plan went, he responds: “For the most part, but there were a few miscalculations.” Shortly after, Hange notices Gabi and Falco and asks who the kids are. Zeke’s response: “Miscalculations.” Ouch, that had to hurt. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a shot showing the audience how Gabi and Falco reacted to that remark. While I praise MAPPA for capturing the look of surprise, I have to take some credit away because they didn’t animate the kids’ reaction to Zeke’s comment about them. I felt like this was a missed opportunity.

At the end of the episode, Conny joins the others and announces that Sasha has died. That tear going down his face as he said this was heartbreaking. Eren is visibly upset, especially after hearing that Sasha’s last word was “meat.” This leads up to a flashback from the first season, when they were all recruits. It’s the scene where Sasha stole meat and shared it with the others, and commenting that they could raise more cattle and sheep once they retook their land. I thought this was very effective and added some emotional weight to the scene.

Overall, I thought this was one of the stronger episodes of Attack on Titan The Final Season. While the earlier episodes weren’t bad, it’s just that the first two or three were kind of slow because they were having tp establish Marley and the new characters that were introduced in this season. We had an episode or two of action, and now this episode finally starts focusing on the characters we’ve been following the previous seasons and showing us how they may or may not have changed during the timeskip. I’m looking forward to watching the next episode to see how this story continues.

Additional post about Attack on Titan:

• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 7 – “Assault”
• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 9 – “Brave Volunteers”

The title of this episode aptly describes what happens. The entire episode focuses on the assault on Marley, and it’s pretty epic. The Cart Titan and the Beast Titan join Marley’s side, while Armin makes a surprise appearance later in the episode as the Colossus Titan. But as we see in the episode, Armin doesn’t relish the actions he takes as the Colossus Titan, and wonders if Bertholdt saw the same sights of death and destruction that he was seeing at this point. Considering Armin’s personality, it’s not surprising that he has these thoughts and feelings. It’s not like he asked to be given the Colossus Titan in the first place, and that it was burden that was ultimately put onto him by someone else.

Of course, Eren and the Founding Titan are the ones who get to shine in this episode. What he ends up doing to Galliard and to the War Hammer Titan near the end of the episode was… something else. I found it telling that we get a shot of Mikasa as this is going on, and that she looks sad as this is taking place. It was a look that made me think that while she cares about Eren, she doesn’t necessarily approve of the actions he’s taking at that point.

A lot happens in this episode, though. For a lot of the episode, it seems like Marley should be able to keep things under control, but things start going sideways around the time that Armin transforms into the Colossus Titan at the port. Levi manages to get a hit in on the Beast Titan to knock him down, and the Cart Titan is taken down and Pieck seems to be near death.

Hange finally makes an appearance in this episode as well, aboard an airship that is heading to pick up the fighters from Paradis. Armin has already been picked up by the airship. It’s the arrival of the airship that makes Galliard move into action, and leads to Mikasa cutting off his Titan’s legs and to Eren’s actions that I reference earlier.

We also get to see what happened to Reiner and Falco when Eren transformed into the Founding Titan under the stage. Reiner transformed into the Armored Titan and shielded Falco. When Falco emerges, he realizes that Reiner is still alive but isn’t moving. In a flashback, we see Reiner saying he’s tired of everything and just wants to die. Falco goes to try to find help, and he comes across Magath and Gabi. Near the end of the episode, they see what the Founding Titan is doing to the War Hammer Titan and to Galliard, and they keep yelling out to Reiner. The episode ends with Reiner bringing forth the Armored Titan to fight, but grumbling that he wished they had let him die in peace. So it appears the stage has been set for another Eren vs. Reiner battle, but this time, it’s taking place in the streets of Marley.

When I read this section of the manga, I could tell that it was an exciting and epic fight, but I knew it would feel even more so if it was animated. And sure enough, this episode proved my thoughts to be correct. This episode was very action-packed, and I think the animation perfectly captured the actions and the events taking place. I’m looking forward to seeing how the next episode portrays what happens next.

Additional posts about Attack on Titan:

• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 6 – “The War Hammer Titan”
• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 8 – “Assassin’s Bullet”

The episode opens by backtracking to Willy Tybur’s departure to the event. We get to see him saying goodbye to his family, as well as talking with his military escort as they ride in a carriage to the event. At first, I thought this was simply done to remind the audience of what was happening, but when we return to the event, we see Willy Tybur falling into the Founding Titan’s mouth to his death. This made me think that the scenes we saw leading up to this could also represent Willy’s life flashing before his eyes before he dies.

But from here, the situation turns into utter chaos. Willy’s younger sister, who has come to the event, transforms into the War Hammer Titan, and a battle between her and the Founding Titan commences. Their fighting causes both military and civilian casualties as the spectators try to flee. In the chaos, two of the Warrior Candidates are killed (one has a heavy object fall on them, the other is trampled to death by the fleeing audience members). Pieck and Porco are rescued and are working toward joining the battle. It’s interesting to note that we never see either Falco or Reiner in this episode. At this point, all the audience can assume is that they have taken cover in the basement where they had been talking to Eren.

Just as it seems the War Hammer Titan is about to finish off Eren, the Survey Corps arrives. Mikasa seems to take the War Hammer Titan down, and begs Eren to return to Paradis Island. But, it turns out the War Hammer Titan isn’t down for the count, and Eren realizes that something seemed off about this Titan’s transformation. When he realizes what the deal is, he transforms back into the Founding Titan and proceeds with a plan.

I have to say, it was nice to see the Survey Corps again, especially getting to see how much they’ve changed in appearance over the four years that elapsed during the time skip between the third and fourth seasons. Their new looks will take some getting used to, but having them look so different is very realistic, especially when you take into account that most of our main characters weren’t full-grown adults yet at the end of the third season.

At the end of the writeup for the previous episode, I made a mention of how I expected this episode to the exciting and action-packed. There was definitely plenty of action, although “excitement” probably isn’t the right word for what happened here. The tension was high, and the mood was definitely dark when you take into account all the death and destruction that takes place. And this week’s episode ends in such a way that the action and heightened tension will continue into the next episode. But the story is now moving forward in a big way after taking a few episodes to establish Marley and the Warrior Candidates, as well as setting the stage for what’s happening now with Falco’s friendship with “Mr. Krueger.” While I have read this part of the manga before, it’s been quite a while, so I don’t entirely remember what’s going to happen next… so I’m looking forward to next week’s episode to getting my memory refreshed.

Additional posts about Attack on Titan:

• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 5 – “Declaration of War”
• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 7 – “Assault”

There’s a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode, saying the series contains graphic content, adult themes and violence. I hadn’t seen this kind of a disclaimer on any of the Attack on Titan episodes I’d seen previously, I wondered what prompted it. All I could see that could have triggered it was a flashback of a Titan eating Eren’s mom, which goes all the way back to the first episode of Season One. Shrug.

Last week’s episode ended with Falco bringing Reiner face-to-face with “Mr. Krueger,” and Reiner recognizing him as Eren. This episode expounds on this reunion, and also focuses on Willy Tybur’s speech to the people. Eren, Falco, and Reiner are in a room that’s below the stage, so they can hear what’s going on. This allowed for easy intertwining of the two portions of the story.

A bit of Tybur’s speech was a history lesson with reenactments. While this may sound boring, it actually wasn’t. While this is going on, Eren has a talk with Reiner and starts asking questions about Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie’s mission at the beginning of the series, in order to better understand why his hometown was attacked and his mother was eaten. I had to feel bad for Falco as the section progressed, because he learned that Eren had used him. You could also see the fear in his eyes, as he realizes what could happen to him if it’s discovered that he aided an enemy of Marley. Poor Falco really is innocent, though, and truly thought he was helping an injured man send mail to his family.

Meanwhile, Tybur reveals that the history that Marley has been taught over the years isn’t entirely accurate. Since the Tybur family inherited the War Hammer Titan, they have learned the truth of the history of the king fleeing to Paradis Island. The looks of shock and confusion on the faces of those assembled really grabbed my attention, because these peoples’ beliefs were suddenly turned upside down. But then, Tybur invokes the name of Eren Jaeger, who has stolen the Founding Titan, and paints him to be an enemy who could unleash Titans on them at any second. This ultimately leads to the dramatic conclusion of the episode.

Even though there was a lot of exposition in this episode, the tension and drama still built up so dramatically to reach the crescendo that the episode ends on. With the way this episode ends, you know the next one is going to have to be exciting and action-packed. War is now here, but it came faster than Willy Tybur ever expected…

Additional posts about Attack on Titan:

• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 4 – “From One Hand to Another”
• Attack on Titan Final Season: Episode 6 – “The War Hammer Titan”