Sorry for the INCREDIBLY late post but this episode was A LOT and there was just a lot happening that I couldn’t find the time to sit down write until now. This episode left me with so much emotional damage. Like I KNEW these things were going to happen, but watching it unfold on the screen hit so much differently. The fact that this was basically two episodes in one, I’m going to have to talk about each chapter as its own part in this post since I feel like it would just be overwhelming if I talked about it all together.
Despite me understanding why Eren would want to wipe out the entire world in order to protect his little island, it’s still horrifically terrible. Especially when the series goes out of its way to actually SHOW just how horrifying the event taking place is and just how many innocent people have to die because of this cruel cycle. Despite the world essentially being Paradis’ enemy, there are still innocent people that are getting caught up in the crossfire. Just like those two brothers who were just trying to save money to help their family. (Also goodness I didn’t realize he had his hand cut off until I rewatched it) It’s a terribly difficult situation because on one hand, Eldians have been persecuted for hundred of years because of what King Fritz did to the world, but the on the other hand, complete world genocide is just something I could never bring myself to support. And just seeing the millions of people getting trampled was almost too much for me to watch. Not to mention I feel like people forget that the Rumbling isn’t only trampling people, but it’s also trampling over all the wildlife, animals and plant life alike. I have to really hold myself back from imagining all the animals being trampled and I’m glad that they didn’t explicitly show it, but considering everything that’s happening, there’s no way the animals besides maybe the ones in the ocean are going to get away unscathed.
They do a really good job diving into Eren’s psyche and just showing the hypocrisy and guilt he has. Like I’ve said before, we can completely understand why Eren is doing this and he isn’t above taking things to the extreme when he is passionate about something. Before the Rumbling even happened, Eren KNEW he was going to end up killing so many innocent people. And we can clearly see that he is not taking it well. I mean, who can blame him. He’s struggling over the fact that the future essentially tells him he’s going to do something terrible and there’s no way to change it. I don’t even know how he’s even able to cope with all of this. Especially when he goes out of his way to save Ramsi from getting beaten to death despite going to kill him in the future. It’s hypocrisy at its finest and it’s almost infuriating how he has the gall to apologize for what he is going to do. Especially since with what he’s about to do, he doesn’t deserve the right to give an apology. However, we know that this choice was forced on him as he feels as if he isn’t given any other choice. It almost feels impossible to truly understand what Eren must be mentally and emotionally going through because it’s overwhelming. Which is really good at just demonstrating how alone he must feel with this knowledge. Eren and Reiner are literally too sides of the same coin as both are torn between their missions and their natures of wanting to help others. Though it definitely is a lot more extreme in Eren’s case.
Being Eren is just pain and suffering. I feel so conflicted on how I feel about him because on one hand I do feel bad for what he must be going through. But on the other hand, I can’t condone his actions. We spent three seasons worth of following Eren where we had to witness him struggle through so many hardships and regret only for him to turn around and essentially become the ultimate antagonist to the world. Even going as far as to push away his friends who are the ones he’s ultimately trying to protect. But man, it was CHILLING how we just see him as a child declare how they’re free despite all of the destruction he just caused or is currently causing. It was such a twisted representation of what Eren is believing and it does beg the question if they actually are free. Though considering Eren’s mental state, he could be disassociating with what is actually happening in ways of coping with the situation. Which makes it both twisted and really sad.
Despite all the chaos and death happening, I have been WAITING to see the Armin/Annie moment. Never in a million years did I expect this ship to even be possible. I just thought it was cute just from seeing fanart of it and always viewed it as a crack ship. So I was SHOCKED to see it be acknowledged and be made into an actual thing. While I do wish we got to see more interactions between them during their cadet years, it is understandable why Armin would be interested in Annie. Though more so in present time than in the past. Especially since she would be in the only one who could understand his position as a fellow titan shifter as I think Eren started emotionally distancing himself from everyone at that time. I’ve seen a lot of people believe Armin only likes Annie because of Berthold’s feelings, but then that would mean what Eren would also be influenced by the people he ate, to which, while he his feelings towards things did change about certain things, that wasn’t because he took on their feelings, but because he was able to see things from their perspective. So I feel like the same could be said about Armin where he was able to see Annie from Berthold’s memories and possibly helped to develop them further rather than Berthold’s feelings forcing him to have feelings for her. It most likely built upon an already established respect and intrigue that Armin already had for her and being able to see a different side to her also helped. I do wish we got to see how his feelings developed more, but AOT is definitely not a romance focused series so the fact I even got some sort of confirmation is honestly something I never expected to happen. And because it seems as if the mangaka is supporting their relationship, it makes me believe that Armin doesn’t like Annie because of Berthold’s influence. But holy crap they are freaking cute. I never expected to see Annie be as freaking cute as she was in that moment when she realized Armin’s feelings for her. Despite their rough beginnings, Armin and Annie definitely compliment each other a lot. The two come from very different walks of life at the start and are able to meet in the middle due to being forced into the roles they have been given in different ways. Both understand the weight of all the lives they have took and seem to be able to confide in and understand each other because of it. Ugh, I love them so much.
The fact we also got an Annie and Mikasa somewhat bonding session was also really nice to see. Granted, seeing Mikasa interact with ANYONE besides Eren is nice to see. It was hilarious how Mikasa realized something was going on between the two and I just died at when she asked: So when did this happen? Me too, Mikasa lol. Despite the beef the two developed during their cadet days, it seems as if they were able to put it behind them and I’m glad that it seems like they’re getting along. Not only that, but it seemed as if Annie was able to put to rest both her animosity towards Mikasa and even Reiner. Because of what Reiner did to force Annie and Berthold into continuing the mission, the two have always had an extremely tense and volatile relationship. Most of the time during their cadet years, Annie just did not want anything to do with Reiner whenever he tried to be playful or nice to her. And considering what happened, it makes sense why she was super cold to him when they weren’t working on their mission. So the fact that they finally were also able to get past what went down in the past and hug was extremely sweet. I wish we got to see Annie work through these relationships more, but sadly just wasn’t given enough time. But I suppose it will have to do.
And while it doesn’t seem fair for Annie to just give up and not take part in the fight after everything she did, the only true loyalty she had was towards her father who she believes to be dead, thus losing her reason to keep fighting. She has no reason to keep going and when someone has lost their will to fight, they’re going to be no help. It was kind of like how when Mikasa thought that Eren had died back in season one, she just threw herself into the thick of it and nearly just let herself die. If Annie were forced into the battle, she more or less would have just ended up the same way. However, I feel like it’s been hinted that her incentive could change in the future, but I’ll leave that for a different post.
And just as they were about to take off, FREAKING FLOCH shows up in a last ditch effort to stop them. Just like with Eren, I understand why Floch is so desperate, however, I still can’t like him after how terrible he’s treated so many people. And FINALLY he was finally bested, though it wasn’t as satisfying as I would have hoped. Especially since at that point he was already teetering between life and death and it felt like they were putting him out of his misery instead of defeating someone who has been in a thorn in their side. Granted, he was still one of their graduate buddies back when they were still cadets who ended up being on opposing sides. Though I do wish the series had shown him when they were cadets because I’m not convinced by the “bond” they are said to have. So I’ve always been pretty unconvinced when the others viewed him as a close friend of sorts. I was kind of hoping he’d be able to witness Eren being stopped, but I guess that was too much wishful thinking. He apparently died believing he had stopped everyone and did his duty, which kind of leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. But that’s just me.
Now… LET ME TALK ABOUT HANJI. Hanji was put through the absolute wringer during season 4 due to being the Commander of the Scouts. And because Eren fell under her jurisdiction, it felt as if everything Eren did, came back to put more pressure onto Hanji. Especially since she didn’t have a concrete answer to Eren’s question of how to save Paradis from the world. She most likely feels semi-responsible for letting Eren go as far as he did since she wasn’t able to give him a satisfying answer or be able to really understand what he must have been going through mentally and emotionally. And the fact that we actually get to see a little bit of the old Hanji, the titan loving weirdo that we all fell in love with, even just for a brief moment made me want to cry. Especially since we haven’t seen her act silly and titan obsessed at all since the 4th season started. So the fact that she also went back to talking to the younger group as she used to during the earlier seasons and her teasing Levi one last time just hit all that much harder. It was as if she was finally able to relax because she saw it as the end of the line for her and let that old part of her come out after holding it back for so long after she became the Commander. They couldn’t afford to sacrifice any of their titans or the two Ackermans and wracked with guilt, Hanji most likely felt she had to be the one to take responsibility.
It’s been sad seeing how the Commander role sucked the life out of her through out the season and she most likely wasn’t best suited for the role. Not to mention, she probably feels partially responsible for not being able to help give Eren an alternative. And while Jean or Connie could have easily been left behind instead, sacrificing herself to allow the others to escape was probably her way of taking responsibility for all her mistakes during her time as Commander. It’s honestly sad how it feels like everything spiraled out of control within the scouts on her watch and she most likely felt so inadequate compared to Erwin. Which made her final talk with Levi all the more heartbreaking. Considering Hanji is literally the last person from the original scout and the one person that Levi has known the longest that’s still alive, it makes sense he’d be the one to give her the final send off. And while Levi isn’t particularly a favorite of mine unlike 99% of the fandom, I do still feel bad that he has to watch yet another one of his close comrades choose to die in an act of sacrifice and him being unable to do anything about it. Especially when you take into account that it not for Hanji, Levi most likely would have died back after Zeke blew the two up. Not to mention that he gave her his first “Give your Heart” to her, Erwin’s phrase that he had never once said until now. I think that in itself speaks volumes about the bond that they shared as comrades and loyal friends.
And man, they absolutely did Hanji’s going out with a blaze of glory justice. I saw a lot of people criticize her when this came out in the manga over not having to sacrifice herself and she barely did anything. And while I don’t fully remember how it went down in the manga, they absolutely showed her putting in WORK in the anime. She had limited shots and was trying her absolute hardest to slow them down to give the team as much time as possible. And at the beginning, she was staying relatively low to the ground, most likely trying to avoid where the titans gave off the most heat. Even though it showed people burst into flames while at the titans feet beforehand but we won’t talk about that hole in logic. Maybe it had to do with her zipping around so fast shrugs Anyways, after tripping them ended up having them fall way too close to the hanger, Hanji had to switch tactics and go straight for the nape. Unfortunately, that put her in burning territory and watching her just give it everything she had to buy them as much time as possible by taking out several colossal titans while on fire accompanied by the sorrowful music just hurt all the more.
This episode came out of my freaking birthday and I had to watch my girl literally burn to death. I WAS A MESS. It’s another situation where I knew it was going to happen, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. In fact, the anime probably hurt me more than the manga did with the music, the animation, the voice acting… UGH. Why do all of my favs end up getting burned alive TAT. And after all that, I nearly teared up again seeing how she reunited with all of her fallen comrades and was rest assured that her efforts weren’t in vain and gave the others just enough time to escape. Accompanied with Levi’s little prayer of “watch us,” her seeing the plain fly off felt bittersweet as it both signifies that she is watching over them but also that they are going on without her. And while I’m sad that she had to die, it does put my heart at ease that she’s not suffering anymore and can finally rest after all she went through together with all the others.
I’ve had to split up the Final season into several parts pertaining to the “chapters” or else this post would have been an even bigger monster than it already is. It was hard enough to get all my thoughts in order for this first chapter. But man, they’ve been absolutely NAILING the final arc so far and is just able to convey the sheer amount of dread and damage the Rumbling brings. Just watching the slow rise of the trembling indicating the Colossal Wall Titans were coming was just terrifying.
