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 with the triumphant return of 3D-Maneuver gear, let’s charge into Attack on Titan season 4, episode 6, “The Warhammer Titan.”
1. Ice cold open
This was a fantastic episode, full of action and much needed payoff. But before we can get to the dramatic entrances, we need to talk about Willy Tybur.Most of the cold open is used to explain how Willy Tybur knew he was going to be targeted by Eren, and this was all some sort of insane double sided gambit. Beyond that, the episode takes a lot of time to say very little. On the one hand, I guess it makes sense to spend more time with Willy, but I don’t feel like we’ve learned much more about him. He has a family. He loves to scheme. I appreciate having a new major villain to represent the Marleyan establishment, but he’s going to need three more seasons before he can compete with Reiner for depth. To top it all off, it seems like ‘ol Willy just got eaten. Ah well, that was five minutes we’re never getting back.
2. Brutality
Wow, when this episode kicks off, it’s brutal. I talked about missing Eren, and now he’s back and he’s a killer. Eren has totally mastered his titan abilities, and he uses them to attack civilians and kids. Plenty of time is spent on the ground with Eren’s victims and this being a very violent show, we have to linger on people being crushed by rubble. It’s something I appreciate while at the same time I can’t really go so far to enjoy it. It would be one thing if Attack on Titan was trying to grapple with the emotions of the moment, but the cool rock bass that punctuates the arrivals of all our favorite characters is just too cool to sit well with this kind of violence. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love secret agent music while grappling hook special forces guys zip around like assassins, but sometimes a show has to pick a tone.
3. Cavalry Corps
But then, the cavalry arrives. And holy crap, Mikasa’s entrance. The heavy Mission Impossible bass kicks in and we see the wonderful arrival of ODM zip-lines. If your show has the coolest method of mobility this side of Spider-Man, you better show me some cool specialists flying in with their red scarfs fluttering in the breeze. Eren’s chaotic attack is now becoming a brutal operation, the Survey Corps is now looking decidedly more modern warfare. Their cloaks and cotton uniforms have been replaced by black tactical gear, and many of them are wielding sidearms, which are much more useful for killing humans than titans.
4. The titular War Hammer Titan
A lot of this episode is devoted to Eren’s battle with the episode’s title. It can use the diamond hardening titan powers to make any sort of weapon. You want a giant spear? That’s doable. A hammer with an impossibly long haft? That’s no problem. A totally functional crossbow. That’s in the cards too for some reason! It’s so cool to see Eren and Mikasa working together again that all other thoughts are totally expelled from my brain. Mikasa has been training as hard as Eren only instead of huge diamond-hard fists, she has a souped up thunder spear launcher that gives her the ordinance of a nuclear submarine on top of her ninja speeds. It’s awesome.
By the end of the duel, Eren proves himself to be more useful than just his mighty thews. He notices a fleshy cord going from the Warhammer Titan’s foot beneath the street. One superhero-like maneuver later, and he’s pulled the Marleyan Warrio out from her hiding spot, and almost wins the battle if not for the timely intervention of the Jaw Titan.
Continued below5. Role call
This is our first time having our crew back and I thought it’d be cool to really take a second to appreciate them all. I could not be more excited for the return of my number one boy Jean, who seems to be the compassionate squad leader now. And that’s a very good thing because well, Floch is still around and has grown into a real psycho. The latter is real enthusiastic about killing civilians while Jean has become the group’s conscience. Beyond that we get introduced to nervous sniper Sasha! She slaughters a bunch of guys with the help of her spotter Connie, all right in front of a very traumatized Gabi. Are we headed for a Sasha vs Gabi vengeance duel? Why not!
The episode ends with Eren about to but defeated in a moment of hubris. But there’s one Paradis survivor we haven’t seen yet. Levi was biding his time, and he neatly severs the jaw of Eren’s foe, stylishly saving him at the last minute. We still don’t know were Armin and Hange Zoe are hiding, but in one swift strike it seems like the tide of the entire war has just turned!
