Are you ready? It’s time to return to a land surrounded by walls, where the fascist police state is the only thing protecting us from the even worse fascist police state. Welcome back to our coverage of Attack on Titan. This is the part where I let you know that I am very much not an anime watcher, but this strange, at time horrifying show, has really grabbed my imagination and never let go. We’re going to pick up where we’ve left off, part of the way into the third season. King Rod Reiss has been slain by his own daughter and now, peace can reign. But not really because this world is a bad place. Let’s get into it! Buckle up your Omni-Directional Movement gear and lets swoop into Attack on Titan season 3, episode 10, ‘Friends.”
1. A starry-eyed mentor
Most of this episode concerns our third season villain. It’s time to fill the gaps in the life of Kenny the Ripper. Kenny is an Ackerman (now there’s a familiar name). Once upon a time, the Ackerman family served the Reiss dynasty as warriors and fixers. Then relations soured and the Ackermans were hunted to near extinction. But King Uri Reiss (father to Rod, grandfather to Historia, who is also sometimes called Krista) (man this show is sprawling) takes a shine to Kenny, and decides the time has come to employ an Ackerman once again.
Kenny respects Uri because Uri has the Power of Kings. He can control titans with his voice. But Kenny’s loyalty is born of fear and awe. If he could steal that power away he would in a second, even though Uri thinks they have become friends. Things work out OK for Uri. OK erm, he does get cannibalized by his granddaughter (Historia’s sister), but that was his goal so I’m going to give that to him as a win. And Kenny goes on serving House Reiss until the very end.
2. The Ackerman Legacy
It turns out though, Kenny is not the only Ackerman left alive. If you can’t place that name, it’s also the surname of Mikasa. This makes her, I assume, some kind of cousin. We haven’t touched on that yet. Instead, we meet Kenny’s sister. It’s a brief meeting though, because she is already dead, though she leaves a starving son behind. I gotta say, that starving kid is animated horrifically, which again is the goal, so again I’ve got to award some points.
That kid by the way, is named Levi. It’s our Levi, the super cool soldier and Survey Corp badass. Kenny adopts him accurately describing the lad as, “an unfriendly brat on the brink of death.” This isn’t really surprising to the viewers, as the pieces have been there to put together. But Levi is pretty shocked when he finds out, and it’s clear killing his father who is really his uncle is a catharsis he’s long needed.
3. Cop Killer
Kenny got his nickname (“The Ripper”) from being a prolific serial killer, and a lot of his victims have been cops. But we fill in one last puzzle piece when we learn that Rod Reiss took this cop killer and appointed him as a killer cop. Once the Survey Corps started winning battles, Reiss created a hit squad to counter them. With Kenny in charge, a unit of the Military Police Corps became the king’s personal hit squad. I’ve long held that “Attack on Titan” is an explicitly pro-fascist manga, but I think the show has room for a little more nuance. The absurdity of a squad of police officers who assassinates political targets for the king is that it’s not far removed from what they were already doing. Putting an unsavory killer like Kenny in charge illustrates the point further. It’s a matter of tone, but I think the show does a good job at making this whole arrangement look gross and sad and terrifying.
4. Tears in the Rain
And that about catches us up! Kenny is at the presumable end of his life, internally bleeding under a tree. And who should find him but his son/nephew/manatee, Levi. Even though it’s all pretty clear at this point, the show is happy to linger on these final points with a beautifully directed montage. Kenny lays bare his entire soul. At first it sounds like he just desired power. It’s what he respected about Uri and later Rod Reiss. He coveted that power. Not only that, he’s stolen a syringe of titan juice, and with one injection he can be a mindless, lumbering behemoth. He knows he’s gonna lose his mind, but he is scared of death and he’s always wanted to see the world through really big eyes.
It’s like his version of the famous speech from Blade Runner. Everyone Kenny has ever met has always wanted something, and he argues that makes them slaves. He thinks if he can just become a titan he will have no mind, and be free of desire. But he’s scared to inject himself. He wants Levi to do it for him. We don’t beyond a shadow of a doubt see Kenny die, but his consciousness fades as he bleeds from the mouth and Levi looks on. And so passes an evil scumbag. But a watchable evil scumbag!
5. Historia’s Coronation
The episode ends with our main cast of characters. A brief flashback lets us know that Krista/Historia, the heir to the throne, conspired with fascist mastermind Erwin. They agreed to let Historia publicly strike the final blow, killing her dad. She’s welcomed as a liberator, and celebrated by her people. When Levi meets up with them, she punches him! Just because she can. It rules. He just laughs and thanks her, which also rules. Man I missed these broken people.
Finally, we get a preview of things to come. Our big time villains- and I do mean big- are rallying. Reiner and Bertholt, the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan, are up to something. They still want to rescue Annie Leonheart. And with them is the mysterious Beast Titan. We finally see him revert to human form. The camera pans up his dozens of abs, and his neat beard, to a familiar pair of glasses… Mysterious! It’s good to be back.
