It's very strange how one minute, the titans are laying waste to a town, and then the next, they more or less vanish. Maybe they enjoy toying with their prey or something, I don't know.
In any event, the fight appears to be over, though it seems Armin was still in his quasi-catatonic state as it takes other cadets to finally snap him out of it. Suffice it to say, he's still wracked with guilt over what happened and laments that he can't be stronger when he needs to be. The feeling is only exacerbated when he comes across Hanna futilely trying to revive a fallen comrade.
As far as the overall episode is concerned, it's a brief scene that mostly seems to act as a bridge, but it is still fairly poignant. Even though connecting to many of these characters is still a struggle from the viewer's point of view, their anguish is palpable and it brings all the emotional weight the scene needs in order to work effectively.
From there, the episode's attention shifts to Mikasa who manages to slay a titan before it kills a bunch of refugees who are trying to get through a gate that is blocked by a cargo cart. The scene is very strange in many respects.
For one thing, the titan runs funny. It really undercuts the menace of these things when they not only look goofy, but move in rather cartoonish fashion.
On top of that, this conflict between goods and people makes no sense. Yeah, it illustrates that the merchant is a callous ass, but couldn't he pull the cart back, unload it, and have the refugees carry the stuff in? I guess the risk of theft is too high, but it seems like a way to solve both problems. It's not like they were having much success getting the large cart through the small door anyway.
It's a moot point , as Mikasa "persuades" the merchant to let the people through. It is here where the character decides to reflect on her past. The reasoning isn't clear, but it does lead to a flashback that not only fleshes out Mikasa's back story, but shows us how she came to live with Eren. It was an admittedly clever trick, as it allows us to see the character while still maintaining the cliffhanger regarding his apparent death.
We also see that Mikasa has a rather traumatic past, because of course she would. Don't get me wrong, the flashbacks themselves are disturbing and intense. It works very well on that level. As a result, this probably is one of the more memorable episodes of the show overall. Even if Mikasa's and Eren's survival is a foregone conclusion, you'll still find yourself on the edge of your seat as the events play out.
On the other hand, you could argue that it, perhaps, goes too far into grimdark territory. This also gives another instance of a character who works due to their positive disposition and gives them serious emotional issues and a penchant for violence.
Some might roll their eyes at Eren having to save her, but she does return the favor when the third thug is trying to strangle him to death. None of it felt forced either. The chain of events that unfold all make sense and are set up well enough that it doesn't become a problem.
The episode also does a fairly decent job of thematically tying in Mikasa's story arc with what happened to Armin during the early scenes. It isn't heavy handed about it, and they didn't try to shoehorn in anything like the writers did at the end of "Brave". It's just a couple of lines, but it helps the episode feel more consistent, where as the leaping from plot to plot could have made it feel more disjointed.
While I don't know if the show can afford to devote almost entire episodes to the back stories for all of the cadets like this one did for Mikasa, I wouldn't mind seeing more flashbacks like these for a few of the others. I think it will go a long way towards getting viewers (and by viewers I mean me) more interested and invested in the characters.
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