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. Put on your absolute finest, because we are charging into Attack on Titan season 4, episode 13, “Children of the Forest.”
1. Spine Juice
What a horrifying way to start this episode off: with the invention of chemical weapons! Considering the willingness of the armies of this world to commit what anyone in our reality would call war crimes, I am less than enthusiastic to see them figure out new ways to horrifyingly kill each other. And it’s worse than just deadly gas… it’s aerosolized spinal fluid from none other than Zeke. Turns out, you get that stuff into an Eldian, you can turn them into a titan. Also turns out that was what Zeke did to Ragako Village, where Connie grew up. Big yikes. There’s gonna be a lot of big yikes in this one.
That’s because after unbearable suspense, we are finally seeing the shape of Zeke’s plans, and they are evil! As we learn by the end of this episode, Zeke has been working with Yelena and Nicolo and the rest of the defectors to poison all of Paradis, turning them into titans once and for all. I don’t know if Eren was in on this plan, but if he was, I can’t really see him coming back from that. Now we just need a scene where he and his half brother meet face to face and we can truly get moving on this!
2. Sunday best
We last saw Papa Blaus taking all the orphan kids to what looked like a very fancy hotel. That is pretty much where we spend the whole episode. Turns out, this is where Nicolo has been cooking lately, and he invited Sasha’s dad and family to have a nice meal. So the Blaus family gussied up, dressed up the kids real nice, and decided to enjoy a day on the town. Of course, things don’t exactly go that way, mainly because Gaby has all the subtlety of a shrieking brick to the face.
Gaby and Falco get Nicolo alone, and try to get him to help them escape. That’s not a terrible plan. They had no way of knowing his true loyalties, but it seems like he’s been in cahoots with Zeke, so he’s likely to be able to get them to safety. But then Gaby has to go oversharing and that means bragging about killing Sasha. We knew Nicolo had feelings for Sasha, but it turns out the dude was deeply in love with her, the kind of love that makes you question all loyalties and rethink your whole damn life. That’s why Falco ends up getting clocked with a bottle of (spine fluid poisoned) wine, and Gaby spends the rest of the episode being held at knifepoint.
3. Like Agatha Christie
Something about the fashion and the single location of it all really makes me think about Agatha Christie mysteries, which were published just in time for World War II. The standoff also reminded me of “Midnight Sun,” the episode where Erwin dies. In that, a lot of characters just stand around shouting at each other while trying to make a deadly decision. This episode doesn’t quite hit those heights, but the comparison is a favorable one, it’s a very good episode!
Because what starts out pretty simple keeps growing more complex. Nicolo wants to kill Gaby to avenge Sasha, but he also acknowledges that Papa Blaus might be the one who gets to make the call. The shot of him handing off the kitchen knife was pretty chilling, even as I was certain the old man wasn’t going to be a murderer. Of course, then Hange Zoe shows up with the Scouts, which doesn’t help de-escalate. That just makes the standoff more tense, especially considering that a lot of the Scouts saw Gaby kill Sasha. Oh and also, Onyankopon is with the Scouts, and he had no idea that Zeke and Yelena and Nicolo were up to shenanigans (OR SO HE CLAIMS).
Continued below4. They’re not killers
I guess the climax of the story is Papa Blaus’s monologue and for such a bloodthirsty show, I thought his plea for peace was very good. He outlines his whole worldview. He believes in forgiveness and letting go of the past. Most of all, he believes in kindness to children. If the children are the future and the past is filled with war, then the only way to achieve peace is to teach peace to children through radical support and acceptance. I love this guy. I love all these guys in fact. You really can see that Nicolo was deeply in love. “She saved me from this shitty-ass war!” he shouts as everyone cries at each other. He’s talking emotionally, she gave him something worse living for. There’s one person though, for whom that sentiment is more literal.
I didn’t realize before but Kaya, the girl who had so much kindness for Gaby, was in a season two episode. She’s the same girl Sasha saved from a titan with a bow and arrow. Not too long ago, Kaya was willing to cover for Gaby. It didn’t matter that she was an enemy soldier, it didn’t even matter when Gaby tried to murder Kaya with a pitchfork. Kaya had learned the lessons of Mr. and Mrs. Blaus. But when she finds out that Gaby killed Sasha? Forget it. She goes nuts and tries to stab Gaby in the head. She doesn’t succeed, but she comes pretty close.
And I can’t blame her. Sasha has the effect on me too!
5. There is no other hand
So it seems that Gaby is safe, the Scouts can continue to travel on to stop Zeke, this is all gonna work out fine. That is until Hot Eren and Floch show up to ruin everything. This is the last brilliant move the episode has to play. After considering this small, personal conflict, the war comes calling and everyone is in more trouble than ever before. Eern seems down, maybe a little apologetic. Not Floch though, that dude is crowing and swinging a handgun around, so happy to finally be bullying his former superiors.
We check in briefly with Levi, who is supposed to be guarding Zeke. But now the tables have turned, and Levi is looking more and more like Zeke’s captive. This is the first time we’ve gotten to see how Levi has been feeling and it is… not great. Eren’s betrayal has hit him harder than everyone else. He threw in behind Eren because he thought that was going to win them the war. Now Eren is the enemy, and his faith is completely shattered. Levi has bounced back from worse though, a few times. I’ve got a feeling the most dangerous man alive still has a part to play. And so we creep forward towards the ultimate confrontation!
