Attack on Titan

Episode 31

After weeks of consistent and continuous tension, this week's episode feels like a much-needed breather at first. All of our heroes are together in the same place at last, taking stock of all the twists and trying to figure out where they must go next. Ymir's identity as a Titan infiltrator is a shock to everyone, and after the losses and revelations that have been heaped on everyone over the last five weeks, they need time to process everything. Of course, given how quickfire this season has been, I knew any moment of respite couldn't last for long. So what does Attack on Titan do to shake things up this week? It drops one of its most thematically rich, game-changing reveals so far.

Each of the Titan reveals so far have had, if you'll pardon the awful pun, titanic consequences on the series' momentum. Eren's transformation was the first and most shocking, and the fact that a single human could transform into a weapon of such frightening power completely upended what both the characters and the audience thought they knew about the Titans. Annie's role as the female Titan changed things further, proving that not only was Eren not the only human capable of transforming into a Titan, but that their enemy was capable of tactics beyond just wanton destruction, like long-term subterfuge. Any one of the humans around them could be in on this conspiracy.

Ymir's transformation was the least surprising of these reveals, mainly because her character was only developed beyond a background face in the corps over the past few episodes, but the twist still served an important function, planting the seeds for an idea that bleeds into this episode. Whatever her motives, Ymir was willing to betray her secret to protect her friends, something Historia passionately reminds Hanji of this week. She argues that Ymir is too simple and earnest to be part of some grand conspiracy, but even though Hanji agrees, that doesn't necessarily make things easier for the war. The Titans are the most comprehensible as an enemy when their goals are simple. They eat humans, they destroy walls, and they ruin lives. When things are black and white, the fight is simple, but Ymir's allegiance lies in an uncomfortable gray area.

This brings us to Bertholdt and Reiner. I almost couldn't believe that this season would be so brazen as to answer one of its biggest mysteries with a throwaway line, information dropped so casually that it comes across as a joke. The Colossal Titan has long been the mascot of the Titan forces in general, the figurehead for everything they represent to humanity, the first Abnormal Titan in the show alongside the Armored Titan. I had long assumed that the series was going to take its time revealing these Titans' identities, but Reiner just decides to let that information go as if he were making small talk about the weather.

Then the show does something pretty smart. It immediately gives us a flashback revealing that everyone already knew that Bertholdt and Reiner were up to something. They enlisted from the same region as Annie, and Reiner's role in the details of Annie's attack last season paints him in a pretty suspicious light. It's a nice reminder that these kids are soldiers and tacticians after all, and they've done their homework in figuring out who might be the mole in their defenses. But by positioning the reveal before this flashback, the audience is put into Eren's shoes emotionally rather than intellectually. Even though he knows that they can't be trusted, Eren still tries to brush off this confession, because come on, that's how we're going to find out? No six-episode-long battle, no gory interrogations, no monologues explaining the Titans' true plans? It's just so anticlimactic, and that's the joke.

Except this anticlimax isn't just a joke; it's an entire statement unto itself. I think this is the message that Attack on Titan has been building up to for dozens of episodes. War doesn't make concessions for dramatic reveals or narratively satisfying twists. War puts men and women, in this case even children, on a battlefield to slaughter each other with cold calculation. Reiner and Bertholdt are Titans, but they are also human soldiers, and regardless of the secrets they've been chosen to hide by unknown forces, they've been pushed to their breaking point as people. They're demoralized and desperate now, so even as they transform into the most infamous Titans of the series, their humanity remains front and center. Sometimes a soldier just can't take it anymore. Sometimes a burden is just too much to bear. To quote a certain sailor, they've had all they can stands, and they can't stands no more.

When Bertholdt and Reiner finally make their move and attack, they aren't cunning villains finally executing some kind of intricate master plan. They're terrified young men, and even though their motivations might be murky, their shell-shocked and tear-stained faces tell us exactly why they're making their move now. They're tired and scared, and they possess power so great that it seems to be driving them mad.

This is what makes Hanji's fears of “complication” ring so true. Any historian will tell you that the most effective wartime propaganda dehumanizes the enemy, making them uncanny enough to kill without remorse. The Titans are essentially living analogues of propagandic dehumanization; their deformed proportions and animalistic behavior serve as nightmarish mirrors of racist or nationalistic artwork that the nations of Earth whip up to drive the worst of our wars. Time and time again, each side turns their human enemy into some kind of colossal, misshapen creature that is hellbent on destroying civilization. It's easy to kill a foe that mindlessly consumes and destroys. It's easy to dispose of people when you look at them like some lesser kind of creature. It's easy to know that you're the good guy when the bad guys are so clearly monstrous.

But what's going to happen when the good guys find out that those monsters feel love? What happens when you watch as two of humanity's greatest enemies buckle under the weight of their own terror and desperation? It's the problem that Attack on Titan seems to have been foreshadowing for a long time, but only now can we clearly see the bigger picture. Only now do our heroes have to look the enemy in the eye and ask the most terrifying question for any soldier:

What if the enemy is only human, after all?

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.