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Five Thoughts on Attack on Titan’s “Soldier”

By | June 15th, 2018
Posted in Television | % Comments

And on that day humanity received a grim reminder – of how awesome Attack on Titan is! Welcome back to the Multiversity Summer TV Binge. We will be diving, swooping, and swinging our way through Attack on Titan season two. Break out the sleeping bags and pour out a bottle of whiskey, because we’re about to get into season 2 episode 4: “Soldier!”

1) Nobody does it better (than Scouts)
After the last episode was relatively slow, we’re right back into it. And by it, I mean titan guts. There’s some flashback tomfoolery, but this episode fills in the gaps of what happened in the last. Castle Utgard is under siege, and the adult scouts leap into the fray to defend the trainees.

They get names, but as I predicted, none of them are long for this Earth. Still, they remind us why the Scouts are the freaking best. They’re all badass posing, understated one-liners, and truly solid teamwork. One thing this show consistently does well is follow its own rules. It would be hard to explain the intricacies of ODM gear and titan-fightin’ tactics to a newbie, but with so many episodes behind us, the viewer can easily understand the right way to handle this fight. That makes it all the more tragic when correct tactics and protocol aren’t enough to save all the senior scouts from a gruesome death.

2) Slumber party panic
Two hours before the attack, the rookies were having a little slumber party. Cute. It’s a nice quiet character scene, made even better with the knowledge that everything is going to go wrong any second. Connie is his usual dumb optimistic self, and Ymir is a curmudgeonly jerk. It looks like the worst sleepover ever, but I’m too into the characters to complain at this point.

One exchange is particularly notable. We see an extended look at Reiner and Ymir going through the canned herring. Reiner encourages Ymir to keep being a jerk. He says that it’s a great way to get people’s minds off of the real danger they are facing, which is an interesting and somewhat compelling philosophy. There’s also a quick exchange that acknowledge sexuality more explicitly than any other in the show. Ymir shoots some flirty banter at Reiner, who points out that he’s always assumed she was into girls. Ymir fires back that she always assumed Reiner was into boys. That’s as far as it goes, but their silence is an implied yes. Cool, nice to have something confirmed. It was clear that Ymir was into Krista romantic-style, but Reiner’s sexuality comes as a bit of a surprise. He’s never really been shown to be a character with any romantic interests.

We also see an extended conversation that indeed, Ymir is the only one who can read the ancient herring cans. More on this when we hit thought number five.

3) Berthold and Reiner: Cannon
Right on the heels of that thrilling Sasha vs the titan episode, we get another awesome fight involving unarmed humans. A small (like 12 or so feet) titan gets into the castle, and the rookies need to barricade themselves in. Reiner throws himself in front of Connie, saving the little scamp’s life, but getting his arm hella bit in the process. Then Reiner, with a titan gnawing on his arm, lifts the giant up onto his shoulders and throws it out a goddamn window! It’s in the top 10 coolest things I have ever seen, the very definition of hardcore. Like damn my dude.

As more titans pound on their barricade, Ymir, Connie, and Krista find a canon but no ammo. So they push the thing down the stairs, bashing the titans out of the way. We just established Reiner was interested in guys, and he and Berthold have always have a special relationship. Do you think them being saved by a cannon is trying to tell us something?

All subtext aside, that was lit.

4) One Last Drink
The poor, poor Scouts. They fought so valiantly and we hardly knew them. They kill titans left and right, but they start to get picked off one by one as pieces of the castle collapse around them. Alas, the final two Scouts (let’s call ’em Short Hair and Greasy Guy) run out of gas. Greasy Guy reveals his most fervent final wish- one last drink. I’m not a big drinker personally, so I don’t really get it but hey, it’s a dying wish.

Continued below

He even comes really close! As he lays dying he finds a bottle of booze, and it seems like a fitting end… but Krista already used the alcohol to disinfect Reiner’s wound! Oh irony of ironies! And Greasy Guy dies alone in fear and pain. It’s almost comical, in a blackest of black comedy sort of way, but no, it’s too messed up to actually find funny.

5) The Schnoz Titan
Earlier in the episode, we see a flashback as Reiner saves Berthold from a freaky big-nosed titan, but their nameless friend dies in the process. Berthold questions whether Reiner is a “warrior” or a “soldier,” an interesting distinction that I feel like may have been lost in translation. Well, we may find out soon enough because of the final moments of the episode.

The rookies are left alone, on the top of the collapsing castle. Ymir has been acting weird all episode, and yells at Krista but very lovingly. She takes a knife, cuts her hand, and jumps off the roof of the castle… only to transform into a titan! Ho. Ly. Crap. Not only that, but she’s the same titan that ate Reiner’s friend in the flashback. Wha!?

That’s how you make a perfect episode of Attack on Titan folks. 11/10.


//TAGS | 2018 Summer TV Binge | attack on titan

Jaina Hill

Jaina is from New York. She currently lives in Ohio. Ask her, and she'll swear she's one of those people who loves both Star Wars and Star Trek equally. Say hi to her on twitter @Rambling_Moose!

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