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. And so now, as part of our 2021 Summer TV binge, we will have a drink on a train while we long for the days of Omni-Directional Movement gear. Lets charge into Attack on Titan season 4, episode 2, “Midnight Train.”
1. Cut to the chase
I was really hoping to be back with Armin and Eren and the others by now, but it looks like we’re in Marley for the long run. OK. That’s fine, I just need to reboot. This episode was mostly pretty interesting as we learned a lot about the mysterious villains, their lives, and the structure of their nation.
Last episode, I noticed how the changing military technology made titans seem obsolete. Sure enough, this episode starts with a meeting on that exact topic. The era of titans is coming to an end. Tanks and bombers are going to make regenerating giants a lot less viable. Marley military command seems to be made up of identical dudes in tan uniforms with mustaches, and none of them seem all that broken up about the end of titans. Our protagonist in this meeting turns out to be, of all people, Zeke. In fact if you take this episode in a vacuum, Zeke is downright sympathetic. He was disgraced after the events of last season. He can see that his military funding is about to be cut. So he wants one more chance to capture the Founding Titan as a redemption arc. This was the plot of countless action movies in the 80s and 90s, right?
We really establish Zeke as an underdog. As an Eldian, he’s got to deal with discrimination from the higher ups. Plus he’s expected to grovel, to light their cigarettes. It looks like a stressful way to live. And it turns out all that he really cares about (besides his grandparents) is fighting as a titan.
2. Perspective reversal
I was actually deeply impressed by how effective the perspective reversal was throughout this episode. I first started noticing it when we see Reiner’s nightmares about Eren and Mikasa. It was just footage from last season, but if those two were trying to kill you, you’d have nightmares too. The show presents his trauma as very real, and I can’t think of another story that played with the same idea as effectively. We hardly ever are asked to consider how the violence our heroes inflict effects the villains. Even when we do, it’s usually as a tool to show the villains as cowardly. Here we understand that this is a war that is effecting everyone it touches.
Later in the episode, Reiner tells the story of Sasha and her potato. You and I remember it as a goofy way to be introduced to our favorite adorable comic relief character. But Reiner tells the story as if Sasha and the gang are pathetic, a slave to their vices. At first, I thought he was telling the story to his audience; dressing the whole thing up in propaganda so as not to offend his dinner hosts. But no, I think he actually is buying what he’s selling. Watching Annie and Bertholdt get killed has deadened any feelings he ever had towards the Survey Corp. And the story doesn’t cast judgment, it just presents him as a whole person with a whole lot going on.
3. Unfortunate armbands
But I want to pass judgment on something. Hoo boy. So I generally like this show’s exploration of life under fascism. I and even liked some of themes in this episode. The squad of soldiers we’ve been following since the last one are are all Eldians conscripted into Marley service. Brainwashed you could argue, though the show presents the idea with some nuance.. But those yellow armbands are… ooh, not great. And the info text before the break did not make it any better. Apparently. failure to wear a yellow armband in public will result in punishment for Eldian citizens.
This isn’t the first or only time Attack on Titan has pulled from obvious historical sources. You don’t even have to do a deep dive into the whole Dot-Pixis-looks-like-a-famous-fascist-general thing. Like, the whole show looks like early 20th century Germany. And the military technology is right on pace for the two World Wars. And sure, the uniform styles have always had a fascist flavor to them. But we all know that wearing yellow star armbands in public under threat of punishment is about Jews living under Nazi rule. And that’s not what this is a story about. Fascism always targets enemy outgroups, but also the Nazis didn’t conscript Jewish wizards into their armies. It’s lazy imagery, that has nothing to say. Even without litigating whether such a thing is in good taste (which, it is not), it’s not even a creatively or artistically compelling move. The yellow armbands are the kind of lazy comparisons that made early 2000s superhero comics so lousy. I am firmly anti.
4. Threats on a train
Fortunately, the writing and character stuff in this episode remained strong. The most chilling moment happened between Reiner and Falco on the train ride home. Falco said something obliquely unpatriotic and Reiner immediately threatened to have his whole family turned into titan weapons. Seeing him say something so horrible so casually was deeply chilling. Like, this is his subordinate and companion in this terrible war that has clearly them both so deeply. Falco could probably use the support of his hero and mentor. But even something as benign as hoping for peace can be considered a threat to order. And we know one word from Reiner is all it would take for a whole family to be wiped out, no questions asked. This is the kind of think I think Attack on Titan does so well. We can see how Reiner and Falco have both been shaped by their experiences so thoroughly that their interaction is still compelling even as I root for neither of them. As long as I believe in them, I am invested.
5. Tybur plot
We close out our episode with Zeke’s scheme. The Beast Titan seems to be the brains of the Warrior Operation. And I am now assuming that we are sticking with this crew for the long haul. They are going on the propaganda offensive. And for that they are going to need to help of the Tyburs, an influential family that possesses the War Hammer titan. They were the family that chased the old king to Paradis island. It’s not clear exactly what Zeke is going to have them do, but considering everything we learned about Marley this episode, influence is everything.
