Attack on Titan Episode 50 Review: The Town Where Everything Began

Guess what’s back, back again? Attack on Titan’s back, tell a friend. No words can describe my excitement for seeing the continuation of the third season. The chills and thrills in this episode were so intense that I honestly forgot how to breathe.

Plot

On their way to retake the Shinganshina District in order to reach Eren’s basement, the Survey Corps are walking through a forest under the darkness of a new moon, managing to pass an oversleeping Titan. They soon arrive in the seemingly empty Shiganshina district, and as the operation begins, Eren easily succeeds to block the hole in the outer wall with his Titan’s hardening ability. Armin notices that the enemy has been camping nearby and is given the authority by Erwin to search for enemies after finding signs of habitation.

Trying to get ahead of the enemy, Armin assigns members of the Survey Corps to search for cavities within the walls and before long, Reiner bursts from a disguised hole in the wall and even though he is attacked by Levi, he manages to transform into the Armored Titan. Suddenly, the Beast Titan reveals himself along with many other Titans and seals the inner entrance, trapping the horses within Shinganshina and preventing the Corps from using them to escape.

Episode Highlights

Eren is being Eren: The moment Eren started monologuing, I was like ‘Oh boy, here we go again’. The worst part is that he is trying to play it cool not the fact that he is scared. Armin points it out even more after basically saying to him ‘Bruh, you don’t have to hide it, it’s okay to be scared’.

No fear no doubt he’ll be your commander: Who’s the coolest Commander in existence? Yup, you guessed it. Erwin’s ooziness of awesome and lack of personal ego in order to get shit done is just blowing my mind every time I see him taking decisions. He trusts his whole operation in a ‘hunch’ of one of his unexperienced yet very smart new soldiers just because he is desperate to see this through and get results. Not many leaders would give this chance to someone like Armin under this critical circumstance. Our Commander is not afraid of taking gambles and believes in the potential of his people, which make him the most reliable leader ever. Also, he is hiding something under that cloak… Is it a BAZOOKA MAYBE?

Armin’s deductive skills are off the roof: This little guy is absolutely amazing. Even though he is scared shitless most of the time, it doesn’t blur his judgement and logic. He was hanging from the wall, panicking that the enemy will surprise attack them and take the upper hand once more and instead of losing it, he figured it out. I honestly have nothing less but respect for him.

Levi was quick to act: I will try to act as unbiased as possible, but come on, he is bloody amazing. When everyone was still in shock seeing Reiner coming out of the hole, he just acted so fast and stabbed him in the neck and in the chest. Even though he didn’t manage to finish him off (Reiner used some sort of ability here that I didn’t quite understand), I felt like he made Reiner super scared of him. He had that look on his face.

Themes & Trivia

Information Available for Public Disclosure

Glowing Ore: Ore harvested from the Reiss family’s underground cavern, thought to be produced by some sort of Titan power. It emits more light than a torch and with appropriate manufacturing can greatly extend nighttime operations.

Comments

When the opening started playing, I thought I put the episode of an older season on by accident. This song is so similar with the one from the second season that I was like: ‘Did they even try to change it’? Also, I felt so emotional and so awesome when Erwin screamed: “All troops switching to ODM Gear!” It felt so rewarding seeing them reach Shinganshina, even though we know that shit is just about to get real. And might I add that the direction was outstanding in that scene? The way they moved to stand on the horses and used the ODM gear was so great.

The scene with them analyzing the black liquid in the mugs and pot made me laugh a little bit but also made me feel super sad because they probably have no idea what coffee is. Last thing, I feel that at this point Wit Studio is just having fun with the way they animate Titans run and I must say that I love it. I mean, how great is this?

If Wall Maria was retaken what would humanity cry out?

I really liked how in the opening of the episode they associated Mikasa with humanity’s pride, Armin with humanity’s hope, and Eren with humanity’s anger. Very well put. On another note, that horrible ape is back in business and I am not happy to see him at all. It’s happening guys, get ready!

NEXT TIME: Thunder Spears