Well, this was certainly an episode.
I’m uh, not entirely sure how to process everything that happened or describe the sheer levels of human cruelty in this episode. I think the one thing I can say in all honesty is that this episode is a little too, real? Of course, it wouldn’t be Attack on Titan if it shied away from murder or intense topics. We’re talking about an anime where the main characters mother was brutually eaten in front of him by a giant monster. Still though, that’s fantastical, you know it never has happened and never will happen in reality.
A young boy’s sister being taken by the military police, fed to the dogs and tossed in the river though for no crime higher than going outside their gated community however is far less fantastical and nothing short of horrifying. I think the most horrifyingly real part of it is when Grisha meets up with this same military soldier as he is about to meet him doom and be turned into a mindless Titan. When he confronts this man about what he did to his sister and Grisha has to face the absolute truth of humanity.
That there are just some people in this world who enjoy watching others suffer.
“If only you weren’t Eldian.”
God, I hate this. It makes me ill to think about, the all too real depiction of human cruelty. Of course, it wouldn’t be Attack on Titan if it didn’t once again slip into the fantastical. After the incident with his sister and facing the oppression of his people head on with his father trying to push onto him the governments narrative of their past. Grisha joins a rebellion when he grows up, against the Marley empire. Of course, this wouldn’t be possible without some help from inside and their source is someone called ‘The Owl’ who is apparently a mole in the Marley army.
They also get another form of help in someone from the remaining royal family. A girl named Dina Fritz, who became Grisha’s wife after a time and the father of his first son. Zeke, who, we would know better as the person in control of the power of the Beast Titan.
They saw Zeke as a perfect spy, someone they could teach their ideals too and make him a mole in the Marley army. However, they never calculated in the risk that he could turn on them completely, choosing his own safety and the safety of his grandparents over his own mother and father and the entire revolution. So Grisha, his wife and the rest of the uprising are dragged to the wall to be thrown over the edge and turned into pure Titans. Which is what they call the mindless ones running around and only feasting.
All of them are thrown, except for Grisha. Who is being held by the soldier that beat him when he was young, who turns out to be ‘The Owl’ who disposes of the soldier that killed Grisha’s sister by throwing him over the wall. Then turns and uses his Titan powers to attack the Marley’s.
Oh, and Grisha’s wife turns into the smiling Titan. Yeah, the one who ate Eren’s mom. She did promise to find Grisha eventually, and in a way she did. I feel like if I wasn’t already aware of this, it would of had a much larger impact on me. I knew that Grisha’s first wife was the smiling Titan, I knew that Zeke was the Beast Titan. Spoilers can be a real drag sometimes.
I am glad to see all of this animated though. I feel like we’ve come so far from the beginning of the series to here. The truth about the Titans is finally out. We’ve reached past the basement, I feel like it’s almost a milestone and it took us a long time to reach it.
I’m glad we’re here though.
Next episode is called “Attack on Titan.” which is really cool and I am super pumped for it.
One final note to end on, Mikasa’s bedhead is love. Mikasa’s bedhead is life.
