Attack on Titan

Episode 30

You would be forgiven for thinking that Eren and company had taken back their roles as the central figures of Attack on Titan, as this week's episode begins with their visages materializing through a haze of snowy mist. Then again, that comes only in flashback, after this episode opens with a rousing moment of last minute heroism that just barely manages to escape feeling cheap. Before the erstwhile protagonist of our series can return, Ymir and Christa still have plenty to answer for, including providing a resolution to last week's bonkers cliffhanger.

I'm getting ahead of myself again, which is funny, because that's exactly what AoT is trying not to do. After weeks of slowly introducing Ymir and Christa to the main cast, and then dropping the bombshell reveal of Ymir being one of the covert Titan shifters, the audience has finally been provided a flashback to give us a little insight into who these women actually are as characters. This is as perfect a time for a revealing dive into the past as any, and the episode definitely uses the moment to its advantage.

Picking up in the middle of a winter training exercise, Eren and the others are mostly secondary to a story about Ymir and Christa trying not to freeze to death. Christa willfully endangering herself to rescue their ailing comrade Daz initially seems noble, but Ymir is able to recognize a tendency of Christa's that will follow her all the way into the ruins of that damned castle. Christa's awfully keen on heroics, but she's not terribly concerned with whether or not she'll survive them. In a bit of slightly rushed backstory/exposition, we learn that Ymir knows something the audience (and the other trainees) haven't been privy to: Christa is actually the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman, who was banished to live a common life rather than disgrace her family name. Christa's flagrantly suicidal predilection for grand heroic gestures seems, in Ymir's eyes, to stem from Christa's own self-loathing.

The relationship these women form is one of fascinating if not questionable codependence. Ymir obviously works to provide the self-confidence Christa needs to not try and martyr herself on the battlefield, but Christa's significance to Ymir is a bit more nebulous. Last week, Reiner mentioned that he assumed Ymir's romantic preference did not lie with men, so it seems that Ymir's fixation on her little blonde companion could be more than platonic. Either way, the bond is powerful, compelling, and more than a little dangerous for them, somewhat mirroring Mikasa's own dedication to Eren (which is notably also romantic in part).

Another mirror to Eren's situation is Ymir's ability to transform into a Titan, so the show can indulge in a little Titan-on-Titan mayhem. The episode's central action scene definitely delivered on the promise of last episode's cliffhanger, and even a few stiffly animated portions and slightly askew shots couldn't detract from the scene's overall thrilling execution. The squat and feral design of Ymir's Titan form resembles a fairy tale troll more than any of the other Titans we've seen, and its stature leads to some creative and exciting choreography. The way Ymir flips about ripping out the napes of other Titans out reminded me of a rabid Yoda circa Revenge of the Sith, and I loved how she crawled along the tower wall, tearing out bricks to lob at enemy skulls.

This fight also signaled a change in tone that's been coming for a few weeks now, cemented by the appearance of the ever-capable Scout team with Eren and Mikasa. As they went to work slicing and dicing the Titans, inadvertently rescuing Ymir from a gruesome fate, I noticed that this was the most “Season 1” that AoT has felt since season two began. This is a good thing, because it gives context to the relentless horror and dread of the past few weeks, and the result is a new sense of hope, allowing for the possibility of victory. Our humans are still fighting a bloody war against terrifying monsters, but now we've finally been reminded that victory is still possible. Eren isn't the only secret weapon their team has anymore.

Of course, even if Ymir is another Titan-shifter, nobody knows where her true loyalties lie. Reiner and Bertholdt recognize two things from the start. Number one, Ymir's abilities are quite unlike Eren's, in that she seemed very in control of her powers, which means she knows more about this war than she has ever let on. Number two, Reiner has seen Ymir's Titan form before, and it was more than happy to eviscerate humans, which means she cannot be trusted blindly. Ymir's stand against the Titans may have won Reiner's crew their lives and earned enough trust from Christa for her to reveal her true name (it's Historia), but if there's anything this season has taught us, it's that this war is not going to be finished any time soon. The rubble will be cleared, the survivors will go on to fight another day, but Ymir will also have to face her comrades sooner or later. When she wakes up, there won't be any taking back the truth she unleashed in that flash of blood and steam. Her friends are going to need answers, one way or the other.

Rating: A-

Attack on Titan is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

James is an English teacher who has loved anime his entire life, and he spends way too much time on Twitter and his blog.