Great God above yes! Finally I can talk about this part! For those that have read the manga and been just as riveted by seeing the story unfold here in the anime, we have been waiting for this part.
Annie was revealed as the Female Titan, and she declares all of her intention to gamble against Armin and Commander Erwin with a ring that allowed her to injure herself and transform into her Titan body.
Eren is shocked, not wanting to believe it as it happens and we get a flashback of how this plan came about.
So to be clear, Eren and Erwin really were summoned, but they used the opportunity for one last gamble after Armin revealed the identity of the Female Titan. Marco's gear had been the first clue, but her actions as the Titan also gave a lot for Armin to use.
Mikasa confronts Eren's denial at that meeting asking if anything comes to mind. We see a moment of the last instant during Titan vs Titan in the woods, where the Female Titan assumes the EXACT stance and actions of Annie we know she did with Eren before.
If you go back and watch that episode you do see Eren freeze suddenly right before something chops his head off. None of it was shown to us then, but in Mikasa's question, we see Eren watching the Female Titan and it is now overlaid with Annie as she does the actions he knows so well from 3 years of training.
Back in the present things are going a bit worse than projections. Annie has killed more of the Recon Corp in her transformation and is basically smashing the tunnels to get at Eren. She is desperate and it shows.
Eren thinks to protect Mikasa and Armin as he did once before and now with a clear goal attempts to transform....nothing happens. Despite profuse biting, Eren can't get it to work once again and his healing is clearly not working as well. So little is known about this ability but the healing goes hand in hand with transforming it seems no matter what. It is not as simple as once activated it works forever.
Mikasa seems able to read Eren far better than Levi or Armin could at this moment. She again confronts him if feelings are holding him back from transforming and reminds Eren he has just watched Annie slaughter for certain the teams attempting to capture her.
Despite this, Eren still can't transform and chaos is starting to spread beyond the battle. Erwin orders the MPs to deploy all they have for the likely battle in the city and Jean reveals the ruse to all present to comply with that order to go.
Despite clear orders, though a bit understandably, the MPs turn on Erwin and accuse them all of treason rather than trying to go and fight a Titan. Citizen are panicking closer to the battle while most of the MPs present just stare in shock at a Titan tearing up inside the walls.
Armin finds Eren partially buried by one of Annie's attacks, completely unconscious now, while Mikasa once again takes on the Female Titan. This time she does far better with a cooler head, but both she and the rest of the Recon Corps once again see that an intelligent Titan can negate the 3D gear and any attack.
Jean comes upon Armin and is furious that Eren did not transform. Both he and Armin scream to wake Eren up as more of the city crumbles around them. The final thing Armin yells at Eren is that to change anything he must be willing to give up his humanity to fight the monsters of this world.
After that he is forced to pull Annie away by taunting her with Jean guiding him to the next attempt.
Once again, Hanji proves her ingenuity, and sheer insanity, by having a similar trap to the giant forest. However this time they do not have the Female Titan as off guard as they liked, even so it was very impressive.
Hanji threatens to "devour" the Female Titan this time referring to the call to the regular Titans back in the woods, but Annie is not down yet. She lashed out with her legs and smashing the buildings being used as anchors, which unlike the trees, do not have as solid a foundation to hold a Titan.
All of this seems so pointless, Annie could kill them all it seems even being outnumbered, but Eren is fighting back to being awake and Armin's with Mikasa's words to him are repeating in his head. He accepts that the morality of what must be done has to be let go or all he holds dear will die in front of him. He accepts that the world will not change if he does not give up something to move it forward.
Bleeding and raging, Eren remembers all that has come before, and all the Titan's have taken not only from him, but from all the people trapped behind the 2 remaining Walls.
The world freezes everywhere in Wall Sina as lighting crashes once again and thunder shakes its streets. A roar calls out and Annie turns to face her opponent.
Eren slams her down and stands firm before all the Recon Corps at last and the battle to capture the Female Titan or kill her resumes once more, but now there is no where for her to hide and no ambush to spring on them again.
This time Annie will be captured or she will die, either way Eren will prove his worth to the fools of the central government because her identity as an MP placed her right next to the king and all they thought safe from Titan's reach.
This is what makes your heart race and your mind just boggle in this series. For all the action going on, with quick fire lines and emotions flying high all over, we still get the impact of the characters. Annie definitely shows shock at Armin's taunting, while Jean shows remarkable change from wanting to be the MP to putting his frustration with Eren aside to fight Annie away from him.
The cracks in the military are showing a breaking point, so that even if everything resolves the way Erwin and the Corps wish, there will still be backlash I am sure to deal with. The line that says it best though, that really brings home the series before the end of the season next week is this:
"Stop expecting a happy ending in a horror story...."
That just about gave me chills and then some, because for that line to be in this kind of series makes me wonder who, if any, of our characters will actually see a day of hope or a day of extinction when all is said and done.
One more episode...then I need to go get some decaf and possibly a therapist...on and a hangout to just talk about this series non-stop ASAP after the season finale. NEXT WEEK: EREN JAEGER VS ANNIE LEONHARDT!
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