Previous episodes this season had shown quasi-cryptic exchanges between Ymir and Christa. It seemed that they had some history and bond that was never alluded to. This episode gives us a glimpse into that, providing some context for said conversations. This is done, of course, through flashback.
This wouldn't be a problem for me, but it is getting tiresome jumping all over the timeline. While dialogue (and the clearly different circumstances) let you know that this takes place back during the team's training, some text at the top or the bottom of the screen would have been nice.
In any event, Ymir and Christa find themselves lost in the woods during a blizzard. They are dragging an injured scout member named Daz in the hope of getting back to base before they freeze.
Once again, Ymir doesn't come off very well. First, she suggests leaving Daz for dead and going on without him. She later says that they should toss him off a nearby cliff and just hope that he survives.
There are moments here and there that paint her in a better light. She's astute enough to note Christa's intent isn't so much to save Daz as to die trying to save Daz, and her subsequent denouncing of the "blaze of glory" death does have its merits. She also keeps Daz safe by jumping off the cliff with him and ensuring his safety via her titan form. Alas, it didn't really become enough to overtake the more apparent negative traits.
We do see the other cadets defying orders and venturing out into the woods anyway. It was rather heartwarming how none of them even hesitated. Fortunately, the lost cadets got back just as they were about to leave, but the sentiment was still nice.
A part of me was expecting the whole episode to be flashback, but the second half returns us to the tower, where Ymir is now leaping from titan back to titan back and ripping out the napes of their necks. I have to admit, it was pretty cool to watch.
The reveal that Ymir was the titan who ate Reiner's friend went nowhere. I'm not even sure why they bothered with it. If Ymir had survived (spoiler alert: she doesn't) I would understand it as there would be awkwardness and antagonism between the two. As it stands, it was a waste of time. Even the questioning of Ymir's loyalties or Reiner's pressing Christa for information still would have fit into the script just due to Ymir's status as titan. As to Reiner's friend, that could have been any one of countless titans. It did literally nothing.
I did like how the present day scenes tied into the flashback, with Christa reminding Ymir that dying a hero won't accomplish anything. At first, I thought that Christa's demand to rip the tower apart was stupid, but Ymir was still cognizant enough to get them off the roof before it fell. Oh, and she can talk too.
Having Eren and his group swoop into save the day did feel like a bit of a deus ex machina cop out. Looking back, they were looking to find Christa, so I suppose it makes more sense than I gave it credit for.
On top of that, titan-Ymir was losing and the others had no other means to fight or flee. Thus, this was the only viable option.
I did find it odd that Eren was geeking out over his first titan kill. I'm pretty sure he's killed lots and lots of titans by this point: both in his titan form and human. They could have just had him get cocky and mess up the same way he did without that.
All in all, this episode was OK; though not great. The fact that it was more character driven worked, but I found it a shame that it was used on a character that I was never all that crazy about. I think that having two of the sub-groups uniting will work to the show's benefit, so I'm looking forward to seeing more streamlining as we move closer to the end of the season. There was some plot progression, but there were also some things that really made no sense. We'll have to wait and see how things progress from here.
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