The Ultimate Face-Off…get it?

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

As the Rod Reiss Titan drags its face towards the Orvud District, Erwin admits to local garrisons that evacuating civilians won’t be part of the plan. When they react understandably unwell to this, Hange explains that moving the population will only change the Titan’s target, so they’ll all need to stay where they are in order for the plan to work. There are countermeasures to make sure no one dies, but they’ll only be told it’s a drill. But when the next day comes, civil unrest begins to show itself when people in the crowds start thinking this is only a way for the military to show they’re in charge. They change their tune with the Titan arrives, though the resources they have to fight Titans are limited.

As the Scouts prepare to make their attack, Eren reflects on how the people of Orvud must feel like how he, Armin, and Mikasa did that day in Shiganshina, as well as how he’s viewed his powers in the wrong way this whole time. To make sure his old self is dead and gone, he begins punching himself. Soon enough, the Rod Reiss Titan reaches the wall and sits upright, revealing it’s torn of its own face during the crawl over. Eren uses this opportunity to take Titan Form and stuff his open mouth full of explosives that ignite in the steam, blowing apart the body. The Scouts then take to the skies in the ODM gear to find the vital point, which they need to destroy to ensure the Titan doesn’t regenerate.

Historia, who’s gained Erwin’s approval to fight, manages to find it and deliver the final blow. As she does, she experiences flashes of Rod Reiss’ entire life, including his unheard pleas to his father to stop the Titans, seeing his brother and oldest daughter overtaken by the First King, and him confiding in Alma, Historia’s mother. She crash lands into a wagon near a crowd and wonders if she’s still acting as someone’s tool, but decides she’ll embrace her new role and announces to the crowd that she is the rightful queen.

Kenny emerges from the wreckage of the cavern, burned, mortally wounded, and reflecting on all the decisions that led him to this point. He’s soon found by Levi, who knows his old mentor is at death’s door, but Kenny brings out a bottle of Titan Serum.

OUR TAKE

Farewell, Rod Reiss, we Rod-ly knew ye. When Attack on Titan needs to bring in new villains, it’s either go big or go home, and MAN did Rod go big. I would say this Titan fight probably makes up for the lack of them these past few episodes because he’s at least the equivalent of a fleet. Not only that but this once and for all lays out the connection that the Titans our heroes have been fighting this whole time are actually deformed humans, meaning any fights going forward are going to have a noticeable change in tone, even if they’re still going to kill them.

And of course he helped pave the way for Historia to finally take ownership of herself as she makes her greatest, and possibly last, Titan kills. Good luck to anyone who challenges her rule now, because this could not be any more of a storybook ending if they replaced Rod with a giant dragon. We still have a considerable amount of Erwin’s moral grayness during this plan, but they lined up a shot for her and damn if she didn’t take it. Having not read the manga, I have no idea how her rule will go, but I’d say slaying the biggest Titan in the history of ever is a hell of a first campaign rally.

Plus, to keep things consistent, we should also talk about how Eren is moving forward as well. Now that he can’t fall back on being Rod’s snack anymore, it seems he’s pretty set on improving himself. Even if that requires beating himself up…literally, at times. This is an interesting turning point for him, now that he no longer sees his powers as a God-given gift to fight Titans, but something that he has the chance to use in order to make things right for all the people they’ve wronged along the way.

Yet I can’t help but think we’ve already hit the highest climax we’ll get out of this arc, but with three episodes left to go before the break. Even with the ending here, I can’t see them trying to one-up the Rod Reiss Titan by fighting Kenny, or that there is really much else left to do besides putting Historia on the throne and make a proper plan to plug up that wall and enter the cellar. Things to look forward to next week, I suppose.

Score 9/10