Attack on Titan Episode 54 Review: Hero

I am honestly speechless after the events of this episode. I was sure that many characters will die after this mission, but this is getting out of hand. At least Hange is back…

Japanese Original Episode Title: 勇者

Plot

The scouts continue to march towards the Beast Titan, who slowly slaughters each and every one of them with his boulder throws. As the soldiers die one after the other, Levi manages to get close to the Beast Titan and after fatally injuring him, he brings him to his knees and attacks his human form. Thinking that it would be a good idea for someone else to eat him and acquire his powers, he misjudges the situation and the Beast Titan is taken away from one of his fellow Titans and escapes. Meanwhile, Armin figures out a plan to take down the Colossal Titan, which requires everyone else to go and stall Reiner while Armin and Eren take Bertholdt down. Armin goes and wakes Eren up to explain the plan. Going straight into its execution, Armin anchors himself on Bertholdt’s teeth in order to give Eren time to use his hardening abilities and then sneak attack him from the back. As Armin is trying to survive the emitting steam attack, Eren manages to get Bertholdt out of his Titan body but it seems that Armin wasn’t able to survive and is now lying severely burned on top of a roof. Mikasa and the rest were able to take down Reiner with Hange’s help, who appears to be alive but misses one eye.

Episode Highlights

Captain Levi is dangerous: You bet he is. The scene of him fighting against the Beast Titan was just spectacular. His movements, his attacks, his screams, the way the Beast Titan fell down, his face expressions, the blood, everything was so well done in order to give this the necessary impact, and it definitely did. But there is a great irony in this scene if you really think about it. Levi might look very strong, fearful, and powerful but he is actually very weak: he is scared of turning into a Titan himself, that’s why he didn’t even consider eating him but tried to look for survivors. He hasn’t used the serum on him and also he lost his clear judgement in the heat of the battle when he realized that he might be able to bring Erwin back, which ended with the Beast Titan running away. It goes to show that he is only human after all.

Armin, the greatest hero of them all: His death flag has been risen to the extreme through the entirety of this episode. His inspiring and heartbreaking monologues, the way he becomes courageous, and of course his glowing big eyes when he was talking to Eren were all leading to the fact that he would sacrifice himself in order for the others to survive. Even though he said that he wants to go see the sea, Armin would never give up and see a plan failing, ironically again just like his Captain Erwin, which brings me to the following…

It all makes sense now: Do you remember that scene between the ending credits of last season’s episode? If not, I am talking about the sneak peek that we were shown before of Levi fighting against Mikasa and Eren. The moment I saw Armin’s corpse lying down on that roof I think I figured out what’s going to happen that will trigger that scene.

(Potential Spoiler Alert) Levi will want to use the serum on Erwin while Mikasa and Eren will want to use it on Armin (or already did?) and that’s why Levi is furious. And here is where I want to add that Isayama is such a genius to lead everyone in this situation, because as mentioned above, Erwin and Armin have many similar traits as characters: they both have dreams of their own that helps them carry on in this battle and both are equally necessary for the success of their greater mission. Putting the rest of the characters into this horrible dilemma of having to choose who is going to be saved will definitely not be easy for us to witness. (Potential Spoiler Alert)

Themes & Trivia

Information Available for Public Disclosure

The Outside World: It’s said a world beyond our wildest dreams extends outside the walls. It has fiery waters, lands of ice, sandy snowfields, and a saltwater lake called the sea that stretches far past the horizon. Some have joined the Scout Regiment to fight solely because seeing it is their dream.

Comments

I am very happy to see Hange back, even though she lost one eye. I feel like her character is essential for the scouts to win. On another note I really want the Beast Titan to be captured alive, because he seems to know everything behind the missing history. He mentions that humanity is repeating the same mistakes again after King Reiss stole their memories and that himself is not like his father… What does that mean? I think I will die from anticipation if this carries on.

‘Let’s go look at the sea.’

I hope that they will manage to capture Bertholdt and Reiner alive and that they will give us some more juicy information about everything. Also, I think it’s about time for this battle to end so they can finally go to that bloody basement.

NEXT TIME: Midnight Sun