Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season – 23

「夕焼け」 (Yuuyake)
“Sunset”

I’d say I told you so – but oh yeah, told ya so! Oh and something something Annie not going wild right out the gate breaking with expectations, but have to give the girl some time. Much like Mikasa is finding out determining a suitable path forward is often a hard and arduous task, and no more so after time spent in literal stasis. Though what Annie decides is nothing next to the fun Falco is about to experience.

As might’ve been picked up by anime-only viewers now, the current stage of SnK isn’t about the Rumbling itself as much as everyone’s response to it. While the first wisps of resistance are forming (Floch has painted a pretty convenient target on his back for one), it’s currently very much about just figuring out where everyone lies. Armin arguably summed this up best: there’s no hard answer, no easy path forward. What Eren did and is doing has upended the table and left many without any real sense of plan or purpose. For every Annie latching onto the one constant in their lives there’s a Mikasa thoroughly rudderless and unable to even begin figuring out what they want. It’s the veritable eye of the storm and it won’t be long before the chaos starts forcing movement.

In terms of what that chaos could be, need look no further than the likes of Connie and Hange/Levi. The trouble with Connie is pretty obvious: bring back his mother by sacrificing another? Only way that ends is with suffering all around. You can probably guess how that’ll end once Armin gets involved – and Falco finally puts two and two together – but in the interim it’s a fairly good microcosm of Paradis itself and the split in opinion over Eren’s actions. Likewise is Hange-Levi duo, and her and Levi are more for the potential alliances forming in the Rumbling’s wake than for any conflict. Eren after all threatens everyone equally and those like Marley will be strongly inclined to side with any Eldian possessing a functional moral compass. Might take some time – and some talking – but don’t expect Gabie to be the sole exception in this story of someone able to identify with both sides.

There’s further insanity coming to the world of SnK, it’s simply a matter of who decides to test the waters first.

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