Welcome back to the titan war! The time has come to end things. We are finally watching the final season of Attack on Titan, and I got a feeling that not everyone is making it out of this one alive. If you are new to our coverage, this is the part where I explain to you that I’ve never been what you’d call a regular anime watcher, but something about this strange and at times horrifying has never failed to captivate me. But at least I’m not literally captured, which is more than a lot of people can say in this one! So let’s charge into Attack on Titan season 4, episode 9, “Brave Volunteers.”
1. “3 years ago”
This show sure knows how to keep me on my toes. I was wondering what the fallout from Sasha’s death would look like, and we get here eventually but of course we start off the episode by flashing back to 3 years ago, in the time gap between last season and this one. By the end of the episode, we’ve jumped back to the story’s present, but this little jaunt in the past is enough to keep us all guessing. It was genuinely a little shocking to see everyone back in their old Scout uniforms with their green cloaks, instead of the shiny black armor they are now all wearing.
We also got to check in with all our old Paradisian friends… er, um, frienemies. Dot Pixis, Queen Historia, and the rest of the government sit in war council and are planning the operations that are playing out years later. So when we see an invasion of World War II style battleships in the past, we know that this is a Marley fleet. So then when we see titan Eren literally pick up and carry boats out of the ocean, we are reminded that rooting for titans can be pretty cool. But not as cool as Hange Zoe’s absolutely mad greeting for the enemy soldiers. Or as Levi calls it a “shitty skit.” Earlier in the season, I was skeptical that I would enjoy following the new Marley characters, but they won me over pretty quickly. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I’m definitely thrilled to be back on the shores of the devil island.
2. The resistance defects
The Paradisians quickly kill most of the Marleyan sailors, but a few betray their fellows and try to defect. It turns out the Marley imperialist machine isn’t as solid as it seems. Some of the conquered people are still resisting. This means spies, soldiers, but most enticingly, technology that Hange Zoe gets to play with. And who doesn’t like seeing Hange Zoe being an absolute psycho? Besides the fun of watching a mad scientist do their thing, we are also seeing the seeds of the future attacks on Marley- in the present, the 3D-Maneuver Gear is affixed to semi-automatic pistols.
We learn a little bit about the defectors, but I’m finding it hard to commit to yet more new characters, especially when I am so excited to be back with my favorites. But we do learn that when Annie and Bertholdt were defeated, the rest of the world took that as a signal that Marley is weak, and now a world war is brewing. There are soldiers in the Marleyan army who are happy to defect to Paradis. So they did- under the command of Zeke Yaeger and his anti-Marley volunteers. I’m still not solid on Zeke’s motivations. After all, this is the guy who sold out his own parents when he found out they were rebels. But I could not be more impressed with how this show has slowly layered it’s political world for us. When I first started watching in 2014, I assumed the rest of the world had been overrun by titans and that the people within the walls were the last people on Earth. Now it turns out that we’ve been seeing the tiniest corner of what this world has to offer.
3. A beast, a nerd, a neat freak
“Welcome to the filthy island of filthy devils, you’re gonna love it,” Levi says. Great to have Levi back. It seems that the military high command are into good stories, because instead of assigning Levi an assassination mission or a command position, they have him babysitting their highest profile prisoner- Zeke. And we all know how Levi handles hostages. (He kicks them while they are down). And seeing Levi try to manage Zeke is a delight. Whenever Levi is responsible for the well being of someone he hates, he puts on a hell of a show. Whether for the benefit of the viewers or the other characters on the show, I cannot say.
For some reason, Levi decides to imprison Zeke in the Forest of Tall Trees. I don’t know if this is supposed to be a crack against him being a giant monkey man, or part of an actual scheme. But Zeke likes the idea of Gaby and Falco, who are also imprisoned, being allowed to live in the forest with him. Levi shuts that idea down. Levi also shuts down the idea of Zeke getting to meet his brother Eren. There’s something about the way Zeke is making his requests that makes me deeply suspicious. Something doesn’t add up. He’s gotta be a triple agent.
4. Funeral For a Food Freak
The best parts of this extended flashback focused on a (former) Marleyan soldier named Nicolo. Folks think he’s the best cook in the army. And I believe them, he cooks for everyone and none of the Paradisians have ever had seafood. So of course, Sasha loses her mind and starts double fisting lobsters and eating them, shell and all. But then we suddenly leap into the present where Sasha is dead… and Nicolo is taking it harder than just about anyone except for Connie.He is totally heartbroken. He didn’t know Sasha well, but he loved cooking for her, and who could blame him? Lady liked to cook. Connie is also totally wrecked, he describes Sasha as being like a twin to him.
Then Sasha’s dad shows up for the funeral and that’s when I start feeling funny. Nicolo, who I’ve known for all of 5 minutes, wants to cook for Sasha’s dad, and I’m not crying, you’re crying. I dream of a world without titans and without war, where Nicolo, Mr. Sasha, and Connie can form a weird family together. That’s a show I’d happily watch.
5. Friends after the end
All of the best parts of this episode focus on relationships. We see how Sasha’s friends are getting on without her, and the way Levi regards Zeke. There’s a brief moment where we learn that Eren is still looking out for Historia, which I think is sweet. But it was the one sided conversation at the end that left me the most excited. Armin seems like a new man; more muscular, more confident, he’s a guy who really believes in himself. The episode ends with him in a basement talking to none other than Annie, who we haven’t really seen since season one! Annie is still trapped in her crystal, and you get the feeling that Armin visits her a lot. These two had a weird respect for each other when they were comrades. I think both of them recognized the other as a fellow ruthless killer, and I’m sort of pleased that Armin is still carrying his torch for her.
There was a lot of information in this episode, but not a lot of forward progress in the story. That’s OK. We needed to take a minute to deal with a death of a major character in the ensemble, and it’s been so long since we’ve seen what’s been happening on Paradis that we needed the long check in. I hope that next week though, we’ll find out a little bit more about where this is all going. What’s the master plan to win the war? How widespread is the resistance? And what the hell is Zeke really up to!? Only time will tell titan fighters! Until next time.
