Thus, the second season reaches its conclusion. The preceding episode set the stage rather well, and this manages to take that momentum and run with it, delivering another high octane episode that will be sure to leave an impression for quite a while.
As the last episode showed, the smiling titan that killed Eren's mother way back in the first episode makes its return, and it wants to know what Eren's favorite scary movie is. No, it doesn't do that. Good news, though, we got that obligatory reference out of the way. We can move on now.
Seeing his nemesis throws Eren into an understandable state of shock. Mikasa is too hurt to fight, so it seems like the pair are in a tight spot.
Fortunately, Hannes swoops in in a rather glorious big damn heroes moment to take the titan on head on. He's more than willing to avenge Eren's mother and give our protagonist the sense of closure and justice that he so desperately seeks.
Hannes actually does surprisingly well. He effectively dodges the smiling titan's swats and manages to land some significant strikes against the monster. Alas, it isn't enough and he gets eaten.
It's a pretty heavy moment on its own, but its made worse by the fact that Eren tried to transform, but was unable to. I assume he still needs more time to recover, though his titan power does have a habit of failing when he needs it most. Even with purpose and self inflicted pain, he still can't seem to trigger a transformation.
The extent to which Eren is willing to bite his thumb is jaw dropping. Not only does he start to bleed profusely, but we see him actually ripping chunks of flesh off his hand with his teeth. It's pretty gruesome.
Eren's reaction to the whole thing is, oddly enough, the stand out moment of the episode. He fluidly moves from fury to grief to laughter and back again. It's a very "Killing Joke"esque moment, as Eren notes the fact that nothing's changed after all these years. Eren's gone into furies and moments of self doubt before, but this one really takes the cake. He legitimately does seem like he's losing it.
True to form, Mikasa pulls him back, using their history and bond. It's a rather tender and heartfelt moment. You can still see the chaos going on around them, but they still take central focus. It almost looks like a culmination, as the two seem like they're about to kiss....only for Eren to pull back at the last second. He does re-enforce their friendship and stands between Mikasa and the titan, so he doesn't completely snub her, but it was still a pretty big idiot moment for him.
A few episodes ago, Reiner made reference to something called "the coordinate". It was the reason that they took Eren in the first place. At first, it sounded like Eren was the coordinate, but Reiner's dialogue suggests that it's something that Eren has. This led me to believe that the coordinate was whatever is in Eren's dad's basement that was said to be the key to everything (yeah, remember that plot point?)
This episode reveals just what the coordinate is and why Reiner insists that Eren is the last person who should have it. We see that if Eren is pissed off enough, he can actually take control of titans.
It was nice to get a definitive answer on that front. It would have been easy for the writers to just keep that dangling, but doling out useful information actually helps keep us engaged and allows for new issues and questions to be addressed.
We also quasi-confirm that titans are, in fact, humans. Levi's reaction to this is particularly interesting. He was more than happy to mow down titans en masse, but this reveal does not sit well with him. He doesn't crack to the extent that Eren did, but it's still clearly visible.
The second half of the episode is oddly structured. It's largely an epilogue showing the aftermath of the big battle. The fact that so many lost their lives just to get Eren back doesn't sit well with anybody. While it was a win, it didn't come without its own costs. It gives the episode a very somber, down note feel.
Then, all of a sudden, Erwin says that the discovery about the nature of the titans is a step towards the truth and that humanity can still turn the tide. Cue the sweeping music while everybody stands in badass "ready to fight" poses before the credits roll. It was a rather bizarre bit of mood whiplash that I don't think the episode pulled off very effectively. It was nice to end on a high note, but it didn't gel at all with what we had seen just prior to it.
All in all, this was a satisfying end to the season. It balanced strong character moments with big, epic battle sequences. It was all very well animated and the emotional cues hit their mark. It's a shame we have quite a wait before season 3 hits. On the plus side, though, I'll be able to watch and discuss those episodes as they come out. That should be fun.
As a whole, this season was a mixed bag. It did do a great job of giving some of the peripheral supporting characters more development. They don't blend into the background nearly as much and knowing who's who goes a long way towards keeping you invested in what's happening.
The downside, however, is that it felt like there was next to no plot advancement. Even new points that were brought in this season were never really touched on. Titans in the walls? Nope. Beast titan? Not really. The whole thing with the church? Historia's connection notwithstanding, no. I think the third season will go back to a 25 episode run, so hopefully they'll be able to make up the lost ground there. With the characters more established, it'll make future developments more compelling. That was a problem with the first season, but this may have gone too far in the other direction. Hopefully, season 3 will strike a better balance, what with the third time being the charm and all.
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