With Eren in the female titan's grasp, Mikasa vows to get him back. She is joined by Levi, who eventually agrees to help in the effort.
What's really striking about this scene is the way that physics seem to go out the window. The two are able to glide along for extended periods of time without having to worry about gravity or running out of line. Normally, they latch on to something, propel themselves forward, and repeat the process. Here they make no such effort. The fact that they don't appear to be going very fast makes it even more notable, as that's not how they should be moving.
I guess it was just foreshadowing for the fight, as Levi is able to do some kind of rapid spin move that's akin to Sonic the Hedgehog. It looks cool, I won't argue that, but it did seem out of place.
The attack sequence does give both Levi and Mikasa moments to shine. True, they don't end up killing the female titan, but it does appear severely maimed as a result of their efforts. Even better, Mikasa was able to retrieve Eren as the female titan didn't swallow, but simply stashed Eren between her cheek and gum like a piece of chewing tobacco. While nothing is made of it as of yet, the titan does appear sad that Eren is gone.
From there, the episode shifts its focus to another group as they try to tackle the question of what to do with the bodies of the dead. A majority of them are brought back, but a handful were left behind due to titan presence.
While Commander Erwin is presented as cold and callous for leaving a handful of bodies behind, I can't fault his logic. It was dangerous to go get them and the bodies were in such a condition that it would disturb the families to see them like that. The scouts wanting to bring their friends home is noble, but I kind of have to side with Erwin on this one.
I don't understand his insistence that they be categorized as "missing in action", though. Just tell them that the people died. It's sad, sure, but they'll be able to grieve and will eventually come to terms with the loss. This is just giving them hope for something that will never happen. It's actually crueler if you think about it. It's possible that people are able to read between the lines and know what "missing in action" really means, but if that's the case, then the facade is even more pointless.
Nevertheless, a few of the scouts go rogue and try to bring the bodies back. Not surprisingly, this results in them being chased by titans. The troops even race back to the main group so that the titans have more people to feast on. It was a very well thought out operation.
As the titans are gaining, it is eventually decided to chuck the bodies in hopes of distracting the titans long enough for them to get away. From what we see, the titans are unfazed. In fact, the way the music swells up, you'd think that this was supposed to be a big dramatic moment, as the titans are smart enough to avoid the obvious decoys and keep pursuing them.
Despite the fact that we see none of the titans stopping, one of the characters declares that the plan is working and they are able to get away. It's very much like how all those scouts died "slowing down" the female titan during her pursuit, even though she wasn't hindered in the slightest by their efforts. It would be nice if the script matched up with what we saw on screen. It's very strange that this is a repeated problem as of late.
You'd think that the characters would be chided for their rash decision costing even more lives, but you'd be wrong. One character points out that hundreds have been left behind over the years, but that's about as close as it gets.
When the scouts do return home, the welcome is less than glowing. People's morale is low and it seems like they are frustrated that so much effort and resources are being wasted on these missions.
Even the positive talk ends up being something of a bitter pill to swallow. At one point, Levi is approached by Petra's dad, who talks about how proud he is of her and how he can't wait to see her again. Levi remains silent all the while, but it's still not an easy thing to endure. It's a small scene, but it's quite heart-wrenching and oddly becomes one of the episode's highlights just due to sheer emotional poignancy.
This episode had great moments peppered throughout, but it wasn't able to come together as well as one would hope. It didn't seem like the plot had enough momentum to carry a full episode, yet a full episode was used anyway.
You'd think that with only a couple of episodes left this season that the pace would pick up a bit, but that didn't seem to happen. It did, at the very least, wrap up this mini-arc. Maybe the final three parter will make for faster pacing and a more impressive resolution.
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