And on that day humanity received a grim reminder – of how awesome Attack on Titan is! Welcome back to the Multiversity Summer TV Binge! Let’s take a look into a magical crystal cavern, have some trippy flashbacks, and blow the mysteries of this show wide open. Join me as we dive, swoop, and swing our way through Attack on Titan season three. Let’s see what happens in the sixth episode: “Sin.”
1. This is not my beautiful house
The aesthetics of Attack on Titan are remarkably coherent. The architecture is so specific to a particular time and place (late Medieval/Renaissance era Germany) that it comes back around and feels sort of timeless. So this wholly magical looking crystal cavern is totally incongruous to anything we’ve ever known. And that’s sort of the point. We’re going deep into the secret mystical cracks of this world, and I’m afraid we’re not going to like what we find there.
Historia for example, seems to be falling in with her dad. We haven’t seen her dad do anything too too bad on screen yet, but he’s been connected to enough bad stuff that deniability is starting to feel like a lie. When a politically connected figure is connected to so much crime, you gotta start questioning as to whether they’re a criminal, you know? Not relatable at all.
Like for example, he’s chained Eren up in his crystal cavern, and maybe it’s because I just watched Midsommar, but I’m getting a distinctly human sacrifice vibe here. That turns out not to be too outlandish because…
2. This is not my beautiful wife
A lot of this episode is spent in flashbacks and visions, and as such is pretty trippy. A lot of these visions surround a familiar looking black-haired girl. This is Frieda, who is Historia’s older sister who came up with the name Christa and was genuinely a lovely figure to a young Historia. Well that is… except that she keeps using her royal magic to erase Historia’s memories of her. Rod unlocks his daughter’s memories and everything comes flooding back. This is not a superpower I’m comfortable giving to someone I trust, like Patrick Stewart, so giving it to a sketchy d-bag named Rod… I don’t like it.
And hey, whatever happened to Frieda? Oh.
3. How… how did I get here?
The driving conflict of this series has always been related to the war. The titans are taking this territory, the Scouts are running a dangerous mission. These are pressing needs. But there’s an underlying mystery that we’ve left to simmer in the background. What the hell is the deal with Doctor Grisha Yaeger? What’s in his creepy basement? What did he inject Eren with? Who is he? What is he?
What we learn here, it ain’t good. In this world of titan powers, one can steal that power through eating people. Ruh-roh, you see where this is going? The entire Reiss family was killed by Doc Yaeger, who morphed into a titan and ate them. Eren’s pops ate a whole family. That is messed up. Rod got away, and Hsitoria survived, but Doc Yaeger ate Frieda who had some real powerful titan mojo, which Eren now has…
Holy crap. How did Doc Yaeger get those powers into Eren? Did… did Eren somehow eat his dad?
4. Psycho killer
The proceedings are interrupted by Kenny showing up with a political update: there’s been a military coup. (Which we all knew about). This is exactly what I am talking about. I sorta love Kenny but he’s a scumbag. He knows he’s a scumbag, he acts like a scumbag, he probably self-identifies as a scumbag. Rod on the other hand is classy, trustworthy, noble. But he hires Kenny as his right hand guy. Not really something you’d do unless you too were a scumbag.
We also get some updates on magical bloodlines. (Please show, don’t make me have to think about eugenics in a serious way). Kenny is part of the Ackerman family, which is resistant to the royal mind-wipe flashy thingy powers. There’s another family, who is Asian, who is also resistant. OK, I don’t know why but I will accept things at face value. Kenny also remembers learning about his sister, a prostitute, having a baby, who is very very much implied to be a baby Levi.
Continued belowSo for those of you keeping score: Kenny the Ripper is Levi’s uncle. I think that makes Mikasa their cousin?
5. This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco
The episode ends with two opposing militarized forces about to engage in brutal combat. And frankly, I’m here for it. This story is great at getting into tactical conflicts, turning quick choices into a chain of reactions that have huge consequences. Someone goes left instead of right, suffers a minor injury, and then isn’t able to be there for their companion who really needs them. Things like that. And the emotions of making such consequential decisions is magnetic. Well now we’ve got the Scouts and Kenny’s Krew ready to throw down in a serious way. This is gonna be dope!
