First Impressions / Shingeki no Kyojin

「勇者」 (Yuusha)
“Hero”

Once the hair pulling frustration and rage of official subs being delayed for over eight hours has subsided (oh Cruchyroll you sure know how to dig yourself a hole) I think we can all agree this episode went places. Hot places. Like a phoenix from the ashes it was all slicing, dicing, and bombastic explosions from start to finish, and while more than one fan favourite looked to have met their maker, I seriously doubt the certainty of death until I literally see them die. After all, some have shown an uncanny habit of sticking it to the reaper.

While last week’s focus may have been on the differences in leadership between our two male blondies, this episode did help with getting one to rise to the challenge of a lifetime. No matter how easy it is to fault Armin’s previous decision-making there’s no denying he truly found himself here, both in decisively putting that intelligent mind to use and making one hell of a “non-Armin” move. The supposedly pusillanimous guy actually sacrificing himself so the blue team can prevail? Bet not many saw that coming. As Eren voiced however Armin has never really been a coward, he may not have the physical fortitude of our screaming transformer or the fatal danger that is Mikasa, but he has never once backed down or run away. Standing firm and refusing to back down is courage in of itself, and while one can rightfully criticise such sacrifice as simple, selfish indulgence—i.e. if you’re going to die might as well die swinging—if applied in the right situation it can make all the difference. Without Bertholdt drawing the wrong conclusions from Armin’s perceived cowardly personality and basing his decisions upon it, Eren’s success and the resulting ending may never have happened. Armin may have stood firm without a fight, but it was the best move he could have ever made.

In the aftermath of this battle 180 however, the results will likely prove to be anything but predictable. While both Bertholdt and Reiner are confirmed captured and likely up for decapitation (the former especially), Levi noticeably failed to kill our furry baddie, and with it the chance for a decisive victory. With both sides burnt out and the major pieces effectively removed from the board (with the noticeable exception of Eren and his supposed three transformation limit), it’s pretty much a stalemate with some negotiation likely set for the immediate future. Although easy to guess bloodshed won’t be off the menu for too long (because SnK things), the interesting thing to chew on is Levi’s remark about transferring the Beast Titan’s power to a fatally wounded comrade. I guarantee you this tidbit is going to flare up with a vengeance before all is said and done, because with three enemies possessing some seriously ridiculous Titan powers and quite a few good guys in need of healing, it won’t take long before others start putting two and two together. The question of course is who winds up consuming who, but I imagine we won’t have to wait long to find out.

With the major (remaining) players looking to come together for a bit of back and forth, it won’t take long before someone inevitably interrupts the lull.

 

Preview

18 Comments

  5. Judging the by the current state of armin and the bits from opening, where it shows him waking up in a much healthier state, we can guess who is gonna get the syringe .

    luckyluck
    Reply

  6. Probably for the best they had all the chargers looking dead instead of the screaming and thrashing mostly dying horses and many wounded many going to die but in agony you would actually expect from that rock barrage. I still wondering how Beast Titan kept the rock so tight in flight, my memories from childhood are a handful of pebbles scatters very wide as soon as it leaves you hand but that a primitive memory by a child without practice.
    Armin must have been hit by radiant heat in that last full blast, it looked that way as only light not much steam was shown, as that’s burn damage not steam type grey and crisp.
    Need to know how bad Potato girl is as well as she could be a Titan transform candidate as well. Armin should be dead not hanging on. Erwin should be alive for awhile it being a gut wound but living long enough to be transferred over the wall I don’t know.

    Funny just watched sword weapon damage video yesterday and they mentioned blade angle in that the better cut would do more damage while damaging the blade less. And her we have Levi still having one set of fresh blades left to deal with the last four large titans who rush him. Levi taking out three and for sure the fourth in the background near the end.
    Levi reminds of WWII African campaign, British pilots sometime ten plus would see a German plane solo diving on them, the British probably wished they could kiss their asses goodby. German WWII African Ace 158 kills Hans-Joachim Marseille. He would often return to base still with ammunition left as he was that accurate in leading his targets. Average Fighter had five seconds of ammunition supply and he would shoot down many and still have some left. 17 kills in one day his high in three sorties so less than a second fire at each target max. Killed by defect in new fighter causing fire and he hit plane with head trying to bail out and failed to open parachute so lost to malfunction not enemy action.
    History says Levi’s actually exist it’s just their luck sometimes does not hold but other times it does and they survive the war. Just think Hall of Fame level skills at war and fighting most often the common man.

    RedRocket
    Reply

    1. Sasha’s injury seemed superficial, so I don’t expect her to be in danger. Would be quite the twist if we lost both Armin and Sasha! (though I suspect the serum will be used on him in the end).

      Sekai
      Reply

  7. “Bet you didn’t see that coming.”

    (*Reluctantly forks over a dollar.*)

    Well, I was pretty certain about Erwin meeting a heroic death at the end of the previous episode–and even that seems to be in doubt with Levi retrieving Erwin. But Armin–undoubtedly one of the main characters since the beginning–doing a sacrifice play as part of a plan to defeat the Colossal Titan? Totally blindsided me like that other Thunder Spear from an actually alive Hange.

    Also didn’t expect that one cowardly Scout to survive that suicide charge.

    As for the Beast Titan dude…he may have escaped for now, but Levi still managed to do a number on the guy. Hopefully, that dude won’t be combat-effective for the time being.

    Incognito
    Reply

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