So another season of Attack on Titan comes to an end. While there are still many mysteries left unrevealed, we have gotten some answers to some questions, though Eren and friends have learned these things at great cost.
What They Say:
Episode 37: “Scream”
Eren’s confrontation with a smiling Titan raises questions about his powers, but any answers will come at a cost.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
For those who were wondering whether the second season of Attack on Titan would end with a bang or a whimper, the answer is in and…it’s neither really. It does, however, complete its run on a fairly good stopping point (note: I am not a reader of the manga, so this is just an impression formed solely from watching the anime) that is filled with action and does present some major revelations. It’s not an explosive ending, though it does make you take notice and wonder what the future will bring.
Things are looking pretty bad overall as the Titans continue to eat at (literally) the Scouts as Reiner keeps on throwing the Titans who have glommed onto him at them in his attempt to regain custody of Eren. It’s pretty much a slaughter. Even if these, the most experienced Scouts with Erwin Smith in command, are capable of taking down a Titan here and a Titan there, there are simply too many of the giants and the terrain works against the humans (a plain with few trees in the area and no high vantage points to make the ODM gear fully useful). Could this be the end of it all?
No, of course not. But there will be losses and this is where we need to have our big death in the finale. Sure, he’s not a major character, but Hannes the Garrison soldier has been with us from pretty much the start and it’s time for him to get his moment of glory, even if it will prove to be a fatal moment. As the Smiling Bastard, as I like to call the Titan who ate Mrs. Jaeger back the beginning, appears, Mikasa moves to fight but is incapable (because of her injuries). Eren wants to transform into a Titan…but can’t, no matter how many times he bites himself. Just as things look bad for our lead pair, in comes Hannes to save them…for the moment at least. He might have been a drunken fool, but it should not be forgotten that he saved the youngsters once and he does so again, determined to extract vengeance for Eren’s mother, whom he could not protect those many years ago. He actually puts up a decent fight, severely wounding the Titan, but in the end he cannot kill the beast and is captured and crushed.
It’s at this point that the show decides upon presenting us with a surreal interlude in the middle. With Titans eating humans everywhere (especially the Smiling Bastard eating Hannes), Commander Erwin looking on in both horror and certainty that what he’s doing is still right and the Scouts either fighting for their lives or barely hanging on (we have Armin waving his blade furiously trying to hold off a Titan while cradling the injured Jean in his arms)…suddenly Mikasa makes a love confession to Eren, this right after his near-mental breakdown and the “scream” of the episode title. We get motions and movement along with lots of still frame imagery (yeah, the budget or the ability to get many animation cuts done on time must have run out towards the end of this season here) and one interesting lighting decision, as it seems a group of clouds above rolled over our scene, providing some shadow before the light returns. It’s not that it’s unusual or odd to have a love confession at this kind of moment. After all, Mikasa must be thinking that she and Eren are about to be eaten by the monster that devoured his mother and has just finished snacking on Hannes.
But it did feel slightly odd and awkward in how calm this eye in the middle of the storm was. It’s perhaps of a piece with the nonchalant, “oh, is this important?” way that they had Reiner reveal his and Bertholdt’s identities back several episodes ago, where it was thrown at us as if he were just casually asking Eren if he knew of any good restaurants in Trost. I’m not saying these are bad decisions at all by the director and production staff. Just…slightly odd.
And then something incredible happens. In what is the big reveal, the good stopping point at which we’re going to end this season, we find out that Eren has the ability to control the “mindless” Titans. That is, the Titans who do not seem to be self-aware, unlike Reiner or Bertholdt or Ymir or the Beast Titan, all of those mindless drones who make up the masses of Titans appear to be able to be commanded by the thoughts and emotional outbursts of Eren. I say emotional outbursts because it’s not exactly like Eren issues orders and they are followed. It is more that at that very moment, Eren had a deep and impulsive rage against the Smiling Titan. That impulse was transferred to all of the Titans in the area and they immediately stopped what they were doing and instead attacked the Smiling Bastard with the same rage and fury that Eren was feeling, tearing the monster into pieces and devouring it.
For those wanting more intelligent exposition, Reiner reveals that Eren must be the Coordinate. He is upset at that revelation. But there is another side to this as well: Ymir this whole time had wanted to bring Christa (Historia) outside of the Walls because there was no future within them (hinting strongly that the Titans inside the Walls will be “activated” at some point). That all changes if it will be Eren who can control them. Thus Christa goes back with the Scouts but Ymir heads off to save Bertholdt and Reiner and offers herself as the “souvenir” the two will need to present to their hometown. She can leave Historia to Eren’s protection.
With the final climax reached and Eren and the remaining Scouts (only about half who left the Walls) returning home, we get some narration to provide a coda to the season. Two final pieces of exposition round off events: Hange brings Conny to report on Ragako Village, where the Titan attack originated, to Erwin and Pyxis. The theory is that the Titans inside Wall Rose were the humans of Conny’s home town. So Titans…are humans. And finally, Armin and Jean hypothesize that Eren can control the Titans, though now the question is whether these four (Armin, Jean, Eren, and Mikasa) will reveal that secret to anyone else.
Season Retrospective:
Attack on Titan (at least in anime form) is a story that relies heavily upon presenting its conflicts and mysteries at a steady even pace, with appropriate reveals and sometimes stunning turns of events timed just about right. This season, however, felt just a bit more rushed or abridged in some ways, most likely because of the fewer episodes within which to work. That does not mean it was badly planned or executed. There was a clear idea of what they intended to accomplish with this season, even if this is a stopping point, not a complete story or completion of a story in itself.
But it also feels very much like the middle act of a larger work which, of course, this is as the manga is ongoing. That comes out clearest in how some new pieces are put in place for the future (the importance of Christa/Historia Reiss; Eren’s ability to control the Titans; the revelations concerning Titans and the humans who live outside the Walls) while at the same time we get some pieces of closure (the death of the Smiling Bastard this episode at least provides a measure of solace to the spirit of Carla Jaeger), and at the same time there are major mysteries that continue to be left for the future (who is it that Reiner and Bertholdt work for? What does their hometown want? Are there yet other human factions outside the walls? What’s happened to Annie this whole time? And, of course…that damn basement).
There is satisfaction and answers to be had from this season along with more annoying questions and the nagging desire to want to learn more, now. A pretty good season of Titan action and devastation overall. But word has come that perhaps more of these answers will be forthcoming in 2018 as a third season has been announced. Until then, the Titan feeding frenzy is over.
Episode Grade: A-
Season Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll (also streaming on Funimation)
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan