Attack on Titan Episode 52 Review: Descent

Wait… Did they KILL MARCO? Once again, as we learn more about Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie, pieces of the story connect in ways that we would have never imagined. Things are about to get very messy.

Japanese Original Episode Title: 光臨

Plot

Back to the events of the past, when Eren transformed into a Titan and tried to seal the hole in the Wall, we see Reiner and Bertholdt discussing their plan of action, but Marco overheard their conversation. Shocked by the idea of them being Titans, Reiner tries to pull it off as a joke but fails. Marco is then captured by Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie, who remove his ODM gear and leave him to be eaten by a Titan. Moving a bit forward to the night before the Survey Corps arrive at Shiganshina, we see Reiner, Bertholdt, and War Chief Zeke camping on the Walls, discussing how they will put an end to everything after this battle. In present time, Reiner who seemed to be defeated, screams for help and that acts as a signal for the Beast Titan to throw the barrel with Bertholdt inside to transform inside the Walls and destroy everything. Before he does so, he checks if Reiner is still alive and asks him to move so he won’t get more hurt by the explosion. Armin tries to buy time and negotiate with Bertholdt but he is no longer moved by his words anymore and even after Mikasa attacks him, he still manages to transform into the Colossal Titan, destroy half of Shiganshina in seconds, and even probably annihilate the Hange squad.

Episode Highlights

These bastards killed Marco: It’s absolutely incredible how events of the past connect with the story so well. Seeing Annie freaking out in the first season over Marco’s death makes so much more sense now. Everything that we have seen so far, especially in the first season has a reason to be there and I cannot even imagine the rest of the horrors that will follow. Anyways, I have to admit that I was quite shocked with this revelation. I can’t believe that characters like Marco find out the truth about so many things so early on and they just die. On that note, I think that this event, Reiner seeing Marco being eaten alive, initiated this split personality of his, which is also something that makes Bertholdt freak the f*ck out. I mean it’s fairly understandable why he has gone mental after experiencing all this and I cannot really say that Annie and Bertholdt are keeping it together very well…

The enemy plans are working out: So Bertholdt was hiding in a barrel and was thrown inside the Walls by the Beast Titan. I would have never seen that coming, but okay we all knew that he was going to show up one way or another. Also, I never thought that Reiner would be defeated so easily so seeing him moving his consciousness to his nervous system didn’t surprise me at all.

Armin tries to negotiate: His resolve to solve this without further bloodshed is incredible. Even after all the things that they have done, Armin stills tries to talk them out of it and gain more information. I am not going to say that Bertholdt got smarter and sees through Armin better now. He just gave up on trying to balance out his feelings and follows orders at this point. Can we also mention how terrifying and menacing Mikasa’s face looked when she tried to sneak up on him and kill him?

Themes & Trivia

Information Available for Public Disclosure

Dark Liquid: Believed to be a beverage consumed by the Titan shifters while they were camping out. Confirmed to have a pleasant aroma from the remaining liquid found. Its origin is unknown, but this suggests the existence of an ‘outside’ culture that consumes luxury goods similar to black tea.

Comments

When the Titan that carries their supplies or whatever comes to talk to War Chief Zeke, his voice creeped the hell out of me. Furthermore, I am dying to know why they consider them such an evil race at this point. Is it because they fought back better than any other generation? Is it because they stole the Coordinate or is it just because they are ignorant about everything that is going on? I am so goddamn intrigued.

Put an end to this cursed history.

Okay, if Hange is dead, I will be devastated. Also, how can Erwin keep his cool after all this and just keep observing the battle from above the Wall? (Erwin is obserwing, get it?) That man is such a badass, I can’t even anymore.

NEXT TIME: Perfect Game