Captain Levi drives his team onward from the fervently pursuing Female Titan in the forest of Giant Trees. Despite the more desperate pleas from his squad for answers, he only tells them to cover their ears and launches what seems to be a flair.
Instead it is a sonic grenade that does seem to be uncomfortable for people to hear based on our characters reactions. Meanwhile the rear guard continues to throw itself at the Female Titan and they might as well be ants for all the good it does beyond slowing her down.
Eren wishes for orders to attack, to stop the wonton slaughter of his fellow Recon Corps soldiers. He keeps demanding answers or that they attack, but the squad tells him that Levi has given the order and they should move forward.
In his panicked state, Eren remembers he does not need a squad to stop a Titan. He does not need to let his fellows die anymore. He moves to bite his hand when Petra draws the attention of all to his actions. They all heavily tell him he cannot disobey.
They tell him he has to move forward because Levi gave them the order.
However Levi himself tells them the truth about Eren. Eren is a monster of a different source than any Titan. Any cage, suppression, or act of force and he will not only resist but will never accept that limitation ever. He also tells Eren his actions are not wrong, but he has to make a choice. To only have faith in his skills alone, or have faith in his comrades who are making their choices on greater experiences.
No one can know the consequences, but you must be ready to accept them after you make your choice. Levi delivers the whole speech calmly and then tells Eren to choose. Petra implores him to have faith and that triggers a flashback for us.
We see the squad first telling Eren how the experiments with his Titan power would go, that if he was out of control, their first step would be to remove him before killing him. They show a clear outline that Eren would lose his hands and feet for sure in that case.
Understandably Eren is nervous, but accepts that this is how it will be. Hanji sets up a dry well for a transformation experiment, but despite many bites to his hands that drew blood, Eren could not transform, nor heal his wounds.
Ironically it is an innocuous thing that finally works, a spoon falls and reacting out of instinct to reach for it, Eren creates an incomplete Titan form. Hanji practically flips for joy and singes her hands on the exposed flesh.
The squad however flips the other way. The scared faces and harsh demands that Eren prove he is actually an ally pile one on the other despite Levi trying to calm them down. It is Eren himself who finally shouts them down and wrenches his right arm out of the partial construct to dissolve it.
Only later does Hanji reveal that the damage inflicted on Eren is part of the transformation trigger, he needs a goal as well. It also seems to work for his healing as well but that is not as certain. Upon the revelation of how unsure Eren is in his power, the squad bites their own hands, but are unable to draw blood. They realize how much pain Eren puts up with and ask for his trust in them again. To have faith in them.
Flash back to the present and Levi demands an answer, Eren smashes his eyes closed and puts faith in them. They blaze ahead on their horses and Eren still watches the rear guard, he burns their cries and faces into his heart it seems.
Finally the squad charges past a trap, and the Female Titan, so focused on Eren, realizes too late to avoid it. She still has a moment to protect her weak point as Commander Erwin orders the ensnaring trap that finally stops her cold.
Levi leaves the squad with orders to hide Eren and cooly reveals his own anger at the rear guard sacrifice to stop this monster. I think Levi really would have understood Eren's choice to become a Titan if he wanted, but respected more his choice to trust in Levi and the squad.
We are left with Levi and Erwin looking down at their captured foe and the Female Titan trying desperately to escape but barely able to move. The cost was higher than it would have been for any other Titan, but unlike them, there is someone inside to rip out and demand answers from.
My nerves are not doing well and since I read ahead I know I will be just as bad next week. Going to brew some decaf and put SAO on to relax after this one.
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