With the female titan now contained, the scout troop have a chance to catch their breaths and talk about stuff. For those thinking that the scouts are getting cocky, they do take the precaution of firing even more harpoons into the titan to keep it tied down. We see that one even penetrated the creature's skull and came out through her eyeball. With all of those impaling spears, you have to wonder how none of them managed to pierce her weak spot. We see that her hand is still there, but the way it's drawn, it seems like she should have been killed.
The team does try on their own, though. The intent isn't to kill the titan, merely to remove the human inside to find out who it is. It doesn't work, of course, as the titan can apparently shift the density of its skin, rendering it impenetrable. I guess this only applies to her hands? Otherwise, she could just put a shell around her neck and never have to worry about it again.
It's revealed that the person inside could be one of the scouts, who is actually in league with the titans. This was why those in charge kept the specifics of the mission so secret. I guess that makes sense, though I still have a hard time buying that this was all "part of the plan". While it's been a while, I do recall scenes suggesting that there was an infiltrator, so at least that plot point had the seed planted ahead of time.
The episode spends a lot of time debtating the merits of the plan. Eren calls it into question, as do scouts on the perimeter. I can see what they were trying to do, and it is a worthwhile debate to have, though the execution is lacking.
We see characters who have little knowledge weighing in and the way scenes play out, it looks like characters are sort of talking to themselves before we cut to somebody else in another group who happens to put forth some dialogue that just happens to be a fitting response. It makes the scene feel jumpy and disjointed, without the benefit of compelling philosophical debate.
Thankfully, the female titan provides the impetus that allows the episode to pick up the pace, as she lets out a blood curdling roar that draws the attention of the other titans.
It was nice to see Sasha get a stand out moment. Up until now, she's been comic relief, but she does offer very helpful insight when she warns Mikasa that the female titan's roar sounds very much akin to a cornered animal and that they should be very cautious about how they play things from here.
Even taking that into consideration, it's very strange to see the scouts, whose soul objective I remind you was to keep the other titans out of the forest, just sit there and watch as the swarm charges in. They react eventually, but the delay was very noticeable. This seems to be a recurring problem with them. I remember leveling this criticism at them before and it happened again earlier in the episode when one titan was learning to climb trees. Rather than move or attack it while its extremities are occupied, they just stand there, look down, and comment on it.
I suppose it's moot, at least in this instance, as the scouts are unable to fend off the horde. Interestingly, the titans do not aim to save the female. Rather, they eat her, insuring that the humans are unable to glean any more information from her.
While the titan was eaten, the human inside was not. At first, it's just conjecture, but we see that it is accurate as a figure in a scout's cloak attacks and kills another one of the scouts before disappearing back into the forest.
It made for a great cliffhanger and allowed the threat of the female titan to continue while also changing things up a bit in an intriguing fashion.
Alas, in the grand scheme of things, this episode was one of the weaker ones. The first half dragged and its structure prevented any of the lesser established characters to really make much of an impression. The moral quandary could have been worth exploring, but it fell flat. The only real plot progression came at the tail end of the episode, so it isn't like there was much in the way of advancement on that front.
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