Attack on Titan Episode 56 Review: The Basement

So it’s confirmed. What Grisha Jaeger was hiding in his basement after all this time is revealed to be… the Death Note! Well, not really, but he certainly has that Yagami Light -skillset of hiding stuff extremely well. Oh yes, and another exciting thing that happened: HUMANITY EXISTS OUTSIDE THE WALLS.

Japanese Original Episode Title: 地下室

Plot

Armin wakes up from a terrible nightmare, with no memory of recent events. After Eren and the rest of Scouts explain to him what happened, and since the rest were unable to find any survivors, Hange orders them to keep watch while she and Levi go to Eren and Mikasa’s house basement with them. As they arrive there, they discover that the key that Eren was given by Grisha does not fit the basement door, so Levi just kicks it open. The basement appears to be just a laboratory of Dr. Grisha where he was mixing up medication and had countless books regarding to medicine, but after a brief search, Mikasa notices a keyhole on the side of Grisha’s working table. Eren opens it with his key to discover three hidden books. Inside one of them is a photograph of a younger Grisha with a wife that is not Carla, and a child that is not Eren. There is also a message at the back of the photo by Grisha explaining how he comes from a city beyond the Walls. We then see the beginning of a flashback where a young Grisha and his sister Fay, get out of their house while wearing armbands to watch an airship fly over their home in the unnamed city. Against their mother’s orders, Grisha drags Fay beyond the walls of their district to watch it land.

Episode Highlights

Armin has a six-pack: So besides the fact that humanity exists outside the Walls, the most shocking thing in this episode was actually the insane six pack that Armin has. If you missed it, go and re-watch the episode now. I mean it shouldn’t be that shocking now that I really think about it; he is a trained soldier after all.

Hange will be the next Commander: Even though I am devastated by the loss of boss Erwin, I think Hange is the most suitable person to take over his position at this point. She is what we call a ‘bookworm’ as well, which is definitely going to come in handy after their discovery in the basement. I hope that they took everything from that laboratory and not just the three books because they will certainly be useful for a variety of things.

Levi was the key to the basement all along: When the build-up for the basement scene was happening I was just thinking to myself: ‘Can you imagine if Grisha trolled them all along and the key actually doesn’t work?’ and then Eren freaked out since the key was not intended to be used in that door and the awesome problem-solver of the show, Levi, just breaks it with his legs that are apparently made of steel or something. How bloody strong is that short hot man?!

Humanity exists, humanity is real: So this has been hinted a LOOOONG time ago in the show but now it’s actually true and confirmed. It’s safe to assume that there is something funky happening in the outside world as well, with all those camps and armbands that we witnessed in Grisha’s memories. The crazy thing about this, which makes Isayama a god damn genius once more, is the fact that society outside the walls might be very modern and up-to-date because when Grisha was young it seems like he was living in an industrialized era, and in the previous episodes Zeke was referring to actual baseball moves, so… I will leave you do the rest of the ‘math’ by yourself.

Themes & Trivia

Information Available for Public Disclosure

Basement Key: Grisha Jaeger, having come from outside the walls and thus knowing many secrets, entrusted the basement key to his son. The basement will probably reveal the mysteries of the world which Grisha couldn’t mention to anyone.

Comments

I love how they used their gear to get down the Wall and close to the area of Eren and Mikasa’s house but then they had to make the characters walk around and remember their past for dramatic effect. I also want to add that Sawano did an amazing job with the soundtrack of this episode. Making the music have that 20th century European vibe to it was kind of brilliant if you ask me.

Humanity has not perished.

What do these books hold inside? Is it just photographs and Grisha’s autobiography or do they include more hints and information about the Titans? How far behind from the rest of the civilization are they? Are they guinea pigs for rich bastards of the outside world that test out the Titans or something? Are they going to revolt against the rest? Are they going to be friends with the other humans? Will there be war? WHAT. IS. GOING. TO. HAPPEN?

NEXT TIME: That Day