Alright, gotta get back on the ball here, can't have another multi-year hiatus with this thing. The episode picks up where the last one left off, with Reiss transforming into a titan. Even by titan standards, this one's a big boy. His transformation alone is enough to have the ceilings start caving in, threatening to crush both the scouts and Kenny's troops under the rubble.
Despite declaring herself an enemy of humanity, Historia does still make a valiant effort to break Eren free. She sees a kindred spirit in him, even if his own spirit is pretty much broken. The revelations of the last couple of episodes prove too much and Eren is convinced that his own death is the only thing that can fix the situation.
Anime protagonists do have a tendency to get pretty angsty, but Eren takes it to a whole other level here. Even the other characters repeatedly tell him to stop whining and get his act together.
He ultimately does, at least enough to drink a potion that not only allows him to trigger a transformation, but to also develop crystal armor similar to what the female titan had. This not only allows him to create new pillars to keep the caverns intact, but Levi later notes that he'll be able to restore the walls and give humanity a new glimmer of hope.
Eren muses that this will also allow him to finally get to his father's cellar. I did find it amusing how Sasha hung a lampshade on how that plot point was important for a while, only to be forgotten, before springing back into relevance now.
Eren is also thrown another bone when the others realize that his father did what he did, not out of greed or lust for power, but to give humanity a chance to fight back against the will of the founding titan's legacy.
The fact that Historia can claim her rightful place on the throne also gives the remnants something positive to focus on. The others point out that this may be awkward, as Historia had renounced her father. The fact that she views herself as an enemy of humanity doesn't come up. It might make things weird later on, but she does still agree to do it. She even seems resolved to play it straight. You don't get the impression that she has some ulterior motive here, at least not yet anyway.
With Eren safe and the government coup successful, the team turns its attention to Rod's giant titan, which seems to be made of molten rock that prevents the scouts from getting too close. It's heading for one of the walls, which they know from the jump will do nothing to stop it. Oddly enough, rather than evacuate, Erwin says that he wants to keep everybody where they are. It's a puzzling move, to say the least, and it makes for a decent enough cliffhanger.
It was nice to see Hange survive, though it was also a bit surprising. More surprising is the fact that her injuries are presented as minor. She was just impaled, thrown into a wall, and fell a pretty good distance, but somebody actually says that she's in pretty good shape. Maybe it is more of a relative thing, but it was still a weird line.
All in all, this episode was OK. It was easy to follow, even after a good-sized break, it was well paced, and it moved the plot forward. It was good to get back into it, hopefully I can maintain the momentum this time around.
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