How would you rate episode 36 of

Attack on Titan (TV 2/2017) ?

As everyone in the Attack on Titan universe should understand well and good by now, there is one rule to respect above all others. More important that knowing a Titan's vulnerabilities, more valuable than mastering the use of ODM gear, and beyond even working to defend the Walls of the city, there is a single lesson you must learn in order to survive:

Never, ever get between Mikasa Ackerman and her Eren.

There is a moment that perfectly encapsulates the tone of this season's penultimate episode, captured clearly in the thumbnail above. Bertholdt is stowing away with Eren, safe in the cusp of Reiner's Titan grip, and he catches a glimpse of Mikasa, who has arrived along with the rest of her crew to rescue Eren. What Bertholdt sees is a wealth of rage, desperation, and unadulterated loathing captured in our heroine's gaze, transforming Mikasa into a creature of savage and terrifying vengeance whose expression would be right at home in the pages of a Junji Ito manga.

In that moment, Bertholdt realizes that he broke the rules of their bond as comrades, and the consequences will be unfathomable.

The past couple episodes have put most of their thematic pressure on the traitorous Titans, showing us the humanity and emotion that fuels the underhanded actions of Bertholdt, Reiner, and Ymir. That trend continues this week, but with the added wrinkle of finally giving our human recruits the opportunity to join the dialogue. Ymir and Christa hash out their feelings for each other and the loyalties that follow, and Mikasa gets many opportunities to make it clear that she'll mercilessly slaughter anyone who gets in the way of rescuing Eren. Even Sasha, Conny, and Jean get the chance to confront the turncoats. Their interrogation is both heartwarming and terribly sad because it shows just how hurt they are by this betrayal, that they truly considered Bertholdt and the others their companions and friends. Bertholdt then turns the tables by not only admitting his guilt but embracing the self-loathing and regret that comes with it, making it clear that these boys are acting under someone's orders for some larger cause, and they take no joy in what they're doing. While we don't get much in the way of answers, the emotional discourse itself is valuable. For perhaps the first time, everyone's cards are on the table, and almost every side in the conflict has been laid bare on some basic level. Instead of the show giving us isolated moments of confusion and confession, the cast are all working through their grief and anger in real time, and it's wonderful (and awful) stuff to see.

Thankfully, the episode also managed to balance out its heavier discussions with some good old-fashioned spectacle, in this case the most grand-scale human-on-Titan conflict we've seen this season. Though the first half of the episode is largely Mikasa and the others trying to take on Reiner, all bets are off when Erwin unleashes a horde of Titans on the group. Bodies begin flying, soldiers are devoured, and Erwin himself gets a badass moment where he commands his troops to charge forward while his arm is being swallowed by a hungry adversary. The chaos and confusion has a real war movie kind of vibe, with some shots of disoriented soldiers wandering about amongst the carnage directly echoing films like Saving Private Ryan. It's an intense and thrilling sequence that mixes horror and the thrill of battle in the way that AoT does best, and it's a perfect way to lead us into the final episode of the season.

Despite this week's numerous “oh crap!” moments, I was more than surprised when Armin gave us the most chilling and harrowing exchange of the episode. When he pondered what he needed to sacrifice in order to save Eren, I immediately realized it was going to be something akin to his integrity, and of course the boy proceeded to emotionally attack Bertholdt with tales of Annie's capture and brutal torture. The horrifyingly gleeful look he has on his face while he does so is another one of this season's truly horrific moments, and it works on a number of levels. It demonstrates just how far Armin is willing to go to save his friend, that even though he may be lacking in Mikasa's superhuman combat prowess, he can prove his loyalty with other strengths, even if it ends up breaking him. The scene also does an excellent job of putting us in Bertholdt's shoes. We feel Bertholdt's anger and rage, we hear Reiner's inhuman scream that follows, and for just a moment we understand exactly how the enemy feels. This season has been all about complicating and blurring the lines between the narrative of war and its harsh reality, and nothing is more effective at that than instilling empathy for the enemy.

Honestly, I don't want this season of Attack on Titan to end. Everything great about this series has been turned up to eleven, and seeing the series take another break right when it's reached its peak is going to be bittersweet indeed. I will be the first to admit that the larger scale of storytelling resulted in no less vagueness and messiness than last time; heck, we're eleven weeks out and the show has still barely touched on the Church conspiracy or the Titans in the walls, that kicked off this whole season in the first place! But the week-to-week and scene-to-scene storytelling has just been so damned good that I'm hard pressed to be too angry about it. There's one episode left, and I absolutely can't wait to see what this season of Attack on Titan has in store for its grand finale.

Rating: A

Attack on Titan is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

James is an English teacher who has loved anime his entire life, and he spends way too much time on Twitter and his blog.