Eren, listen. You've always been at my side. Thank You. You've showed me how to live with purpose. Thank You. And you...you wrapped this scarf around me. Thank You." With a resounding cry, Attack on Titan ends its second season with more blood and desperation than ever before. I would easily call it the best episode of the series, period - simply because it is the culmination of all the pent up emotion our characters have experienced, and here they are making their final decisions and their final discoveries. In my opinion, Eren has actually come out this end of the season looking much better as a character - he has calmed and he has become wise to the fact that not everything is performed on impulse, it must be carefully prepared with consideration and patience.
Star of the show was Mikasa as usual - someone who is usually straight in the action, but this time resolves to showing her love and gratefulness to Eren, which ultimately led to his resurgence as one of the most formidable weapons the allies have. Her outpouring of emotion, in front of some of the best compositions the show's had to offer was effective in the truest sense. Whatever effect it had on us, it was more than suitable to change Eren's perspective on the situation and gave him that extra power to fight back. The episode wasn't short of emotional moments - the pinnacle of which resided with Hannes' death - someone who was at the forefront of this show from the beginning, and had a great relationship with Eren, Mikasa and Armin. To see him devoured by the same Titan as Eren's mother, was heartbreaking, and yet in this show, despite knowing its danger, we are in a state of disbelief as to who could be next. For it to be Hannes is a cruel ending - and the fact that Eren could do nothing to prevent it was even worse. But, in general, the Scouts were on the back foot - Erwin had already lost his arm, Jean was dismounted by the onslaught of Titans and futilely protected by Armin in a nearby forest. But, character development-wise, seeing Ymir choose Reiner and Bertholdt over everyone else was an interesting turn of events, seeing as she exhibited herself as quite a neutral person in the whole scenario. What this might mean long term is hard to predict, but it's clear that there's more to this outside world, and more that these Titan-shifters can tell us. After the initial battle, which was possibly, in my opinion, one of the best action scenes the animators have ever depicted, we transition back behind Wall Maria, as everyone tries to get to the bottom of how they managed to escape. Eren's newfound power is hinted at by Reiner - something he refers to as the "Coordinate", which could be related to controlling Titans by will. As usual, Armin shows his mental ability by working this out by himself, but with all these sudden revelations, it's interesting to see how these things transpire eventually. I would like to see more Levi - he has a certain aura about him that shouts wisdom and capability, but he's unfortunately been rendered injured recently. But with him now contemplating Hanje's discovery about Connie's old home, and the entire population transforming into Titans, he could be anxious to get back into the battlefield. A fitting end to the second season, in what was a revelation-heavy period of twelve weeks. the emotional side of this series is its greatest strength - the way it can enhance its characters through the use of morality is impressive, and puts it up there with the quality of Game of Thrones' character development. As always, the intentions and motives of each character are logical and understandable, and it makes for all the more entertaining stories. With more lore and history, we could be looking at some exciting new revelations in the coming third season in 2018. 9.5/10 Season 2: 8.5/10
1 Comment
FF
5/2/2021 02:19:54 am
Thanks for this really fulfilling review
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AuthorA very passionate Welsh nerd... Archives
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