First Impressions / Shingeki no Kyojin

「地下室」 (Chikashitsu)
“The Basement”

Well this is it, the truth (and the thing every SnK fan has been waiting to see) is finally here. Or, well, mostly, because while we certainly got truth bombs and (un)surprising looks at world outside the walls, quite a bit is still tantalizingly left just out reach. SnK may have finally reached the promise land, but it’s going to milk this development (and all the accompanying shenanigans) for all it’s worth.

Considering how vital the Basement has been to SnK’s mythos up until this point, the show sure didn’t make too much of a fanfare around it. Barring some quintessential Eren moments (key doesn’t fit? We’re doomed! Nothing in the drawer? What stunt is dear daddy pulling?) it was an unassuming, if heavy moment far detached from the carnage and tough decisions of last week. Sure there were no Titans clogging up the works this week, but the emotional toll was no less prevalent between Eren’s and Mikasa’s walk back to the house and the memories experienced along the way. Reminiscing after all can be cathartic, providing a way to come to terms with what happened and recognizing just how far one has come in that time. Eren for example may completely different from his first season self, but guaranteed part of him never left that house or Shinganshima; returning and collecting the truth was the only way to bring proper closure to that part of his life. Might be a small thing overall, but in this world of colossal threats, every bit of mental stability helps a lot.

Speaking of the mental fun and games to come, there’s also Armin’s changed circumstances to contend with. No question I expect some challenges on the part of our newly promoted strategist before all is said and done (that Bertholdt memory isn’t going to be fading away anytime soon), but considering how well Armin took it so far, I don’t expect too much trouble when the time comes for the kid to actually use his new Titan power. For all the success had so far in securing Wall Maria and finding the truth of outside world, there’s simply too much left at stake for everyone to rest on their laurels. Our big monkey and Reiner are still at large, the Scout forces are pretty much gone, and someone on the blue team has yet to properly venture beyond the walls—oh yeah, there’s a lot of story left to go, and quite a bit waiting for its reveal.

Kind of makes you happy knowing we’re going to get one serious history lesson next week doesn’t it?

 

Preview

16 Comments

    2. Oh you’re in for a treat if you haven’t spoiled yourself yet. Whether or not it’s the good kind you’ll find out, but there’s no denying it thoroughly upends everything you thought you knew about this world 😛

      Pancakes
      Reply

    3. That looks like a younger Grisha and possibly Zeke?? The hair colour and style match, which (if the woman is married to Grisha #FirstWife) might suggest Zeke is Eren’s half-brother.

      I always though Zeke might be an uncle, but this bit of info sure is a doozy.

      Sekai
      Reply

    4. It really does and I expect it’s completely intentional. Both stories and histories make a good basis (if a little heavy handed) for the context of the world at large. That’s something to discuss next week though once everything finally comes out into the open haha.

      Pancakes
      Reply

  5. The fact that the basement was a key point from the start meant that things would shift in a significant way from it. Combine with the Titans being a weapon of Terror not having a need to eat but a desire to eat humans. Titans had to be powered or created by a outside power either magical or super advanced technology unless the physics of the world are greatly different than ours. With outside attackers I concluded season one there had to be some sort of force out side the wall. I would not be surprised by a switch to Space in the end to deal with a massive cloaked space station that beams the Titan powers energy to the surface. Yes a recent controversial, name of it spoiler Show Spoiler ▼

    which has been done many times before in anime and other fiction. I knew that show was going to space because of the people involved in making it and others like me were joking that episode one.
    I greatly enjoyed the politics arc so I’m sure I’ll like where ever the humanity outside the walls goes.
    Levi was involved in crime as a kid and probably was quite familiar with the tricks the criminals used. There should have been porn above the false bottom though as interior police would wonder why a empty locked drawer and porn would give a lazy investigator a reason for the hard to see lock and key opening so the investigator would not think check for false bottom. Plus with all the jokes about that what the father was hiding over the past years that would have been a great moment. Of course the cover would not be too racy to avoid offending. Money or contraband above the false bottom could have also worked in throwing off a casual search but not as funny.
    Armin’s surviver guilt problem will probably be huge. A potato girl Colossal Titan would be cool.

    RedRocket
    Reply

  6. Quite an emotional episode, and can’t wait to see more of Grisha’s life story (and get some answers)! Some of the character models looked way off, but I suppose that’s to be expected after the last three episodes.

    Sekai
    Reply

  7. To quote another Horatio Caine one-liner:

    (•_•)

    ( •_•)>⌐■-■

    “Here we go…”

    (⌐■_■)

    (Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh!)

    Man, I’ve been waiting so long for Eren, Mikasa and Armin to finally reach the Yeager family basement. (How many years has it been since Season 1 began?) But with one journey’s end, another begins…and more questions are dumped on the anime viewers.

    With the Scouts taking terrible, terrible losses from the Beast Titan (who’s still at large along with Reiner), and Wall Maria retaken, I wonder what’s the next move of Queen Historia’s government and the remaining main characters? What is this world outside of the walls? But other than those…

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Incognito
    Reply

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