Welcome back to World War Titan! The time has come to end things. We are finally watching the final season of Attack on Titan, divided up into three parts. And it looks like just maybe, this is the one where our heroes manage to turn everything around! 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 show has continued to captivate me. Join me for a surprisingly quiet episode of Attack on Titan, season 4, episode 25, “The Night of the End.”
1. More leaves than people
After the relentless push that has been… pretty much this entire season since we got back from the break, we get a quiet episode. Actually, this is probably one of the talkiest and least bombastic episodes of Attack On Titan ever. After a little bit of table setting to bring together the rest of the survivors, everyone sits in a circle and talks about their feelings for twenty minutes. It’s so quiet, there isn’t even an intro song, just credits playing over Hange Zoe making stew. And the info card halfway through the episode didn’t have anything to do with weapons or politics, just how many potatoes Hange Zoe puts in the stew.
To break up the visuals, there are a lot of lingering shots on leaves, branches, you know, the woods. I’d even be willing to bet we saw more leaves in this episode than actual people. All of these things, the lack of credits, the trees, the stew, come together to create a powerful sense of tone. It’s artsy as hell. I just don’t know that there’s a lot of deeper meaning.
2. Shiganshina Pals
So mainly this big conversation is about what comes next, and who will do what. Early in the episode, Mikasa wonders out loud to Armin whether or not the best way to protect Eren may be to actually kill him. That feels like a long time coming, but it might not even be real. By the end of the episode, Annie spells out exactly what she thinks will happen. “So,” she asks, “Can you kill him?”
Mikasa is suddenly confident. Of course there will be another solution. Maybe she can talk to Eren? Turns out that plan was the kind of thing you can say in front of Paradis Scouts, but not Marleyan Warriors. I mean, I get it. I just really hope Mikasa stands up for herself one goddamn time this season. Annie sees a future where someone makes the move, takes the opportunity to off Eren, but then Mikasa and Armin defend him. And she’s absolutely right! Annie clearly is the only one who has been watching this show.
3. Genocide is Wrong
In a similar moment of personal weakness, Jean wonders what would happen if they just… did nothing. The rest of the world would be flattened, but Eren is a terrifying demon protector. They could be safe. He then remembers that there’s a time limit on living as a titan, and that Eren’s death clock only has a few years left. He wasn’t totally committed to letting Eren get away with it, but Jean is only human, and he sees a slim chance for safety.
Hange Zoe is having none of it. “Genocide is wrong,” they flatly say. A bunch of characters try to “yes, but-” and are interrupted. “Genocide is wrong.” Considering the sort of politics this show likes to dabble in, it is great to hear someone take an uncompromising moral stance. Sure Hange Zoe did torture and lived to regret it, but they will not be complicit in genocide. They even conjure up the ghosts of their fallen companions, remembering what they are fighting for and not wanting to dishonor their memories. Erwin is there, and Mike. We see Marco. Other folks start remembering the dead, which brings us to…
4. A list of war crimes (and personal slights)
Thus begins the most satisfying stretch of the episode. It starts with Marleyan Magath, bringing up thousand year old grudges. Yelena, always a messy bitch living for drama, starts the list. Reiner and Annie started a war that killed hundreds of thousands, if not more. Armin has done some pretty atrocious stuff in war, including turning into a big bloody Godzilla guy and leveling a whole city. And everyone who hasn’t done a massive crime has still killed someone that somebody else in this circle. Gaby killed Sasha. Connie tried to feed Falco to his titanmom. (I guess Falco is mostly still pretty innocent). The thing is, if the plan is going to move forward, this stuff couldn’t be hanging over everyone’s heads. If someone gets a traumatic memory triggered at the wrong time, that’s it, the difference between life and death. Yelena is actually pretty smart to get this ball rolling. Everyone needs to squash their beef.
Continued belowBut like, Reiner really had been built up into the archvillain of this story. He was the stoic leader who pointed Annie and Bertholdt at innocent people. We’ve seen him scared and alone now, but Reiner has done some truly heartless, awful things, with foresight. So when Jean remembers Marco, he gets up and kicks the everloving shit out of him. Long long long long time coming. Jean is only human. In his rage, he stomps off into the woods.
5. So damn noisy
“So damn noisy,” is Levi’s one contribution to the conversation.
The next morning, people actually seem inclined to apologize to each other. Jean starts it off by apologizing to Gaby, who he may have thoughtlessly kicked. She apologizes for being a murderous zealot. Pretty much everyone has gotten to a place where they could maybe work together. But with Reiner so morally compromised and Levi so physically compromised the team needs a new captain, someone to help Hange Zoe manage all these bozos. And it looks like Jean just signed up to become everyone’s new dad.
