The Twisted Feelings Created By A Twisted Tale
Episode 6
I know exactly what emotional impact Attack on Titan was going for this week and I know exactly why it missed the mark for me. While I can respect the effort and I think a lot of people will be happy with how it all unfolded, I end up feeling very much like Armin’s sacrifice in episode 5 has been completely undermined.
Which of course, might very well be the point. Armin formulated a plan, he put it into action, he resigned himself to the outcome, and he held fast right to the end. He as a character had more control over his fate than almost any other this narrative has thrown at us and he didn’t die screaming and pleading for his life or in a puddle of tears and piss. He died a true hero.
Only, Attack on Titan doesn’t really like heroes. Or at least that’s how it seems. It is a world where the horrible and the scheming rise to the top and the honest and noble are beaten down or killed before they have the chance to succeed. So in that sense, undermining everything that happened at the end of episode 5 may very well have been the point in which case it succeeded admirably but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Armin has long been one of the few characters in Attack on Titan I’ve liked and seeing his will getting overthrown like that was pretty depressing.
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However, if we take Armin out of the equation, this episode did an excellent job with Levi. Also with Mikasa, and Jean, and Hange, and even Eren. Emotionally each of these characters faced choices that truly have no right answer and all of them have horrendous repercussions if they make the wrong choice and yet each of them, in their own way, stepped up to the plate. It is rare that I say that I admire these characters for anything but their absolute guts in the face of insanity, but episode 6 brought out the best in them even as they almost tore each other apart.
Armin or Erwin, who to bring back? Erwin, who sacrificed every scout essentially for the chance to maybe bring down the enemy and a chance to peek inside the basement or Armin who sacrificed himself and thought of how to save the others so that they might continue the journey. I kind of agreed with that random scout that Erwin should not escape this hell so easily, but Levi’s point that Erwin was the character they made him be was understood.
So instead of moved or caught up in the story, my head is spinning with all the what-ifs and maybes and questioning each of the character choices up to now and in this moment. The one thing that is true is that this episode was very Attack on Titan. I don’t know how I feel about it. I don’t know if I’ll ever sort out the mess it just created when I think about this situation. I do know though that I’ll be watching the next episode as soon as I can because at this point I just have to know what is in that basement.
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Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
Overall I did enjoy this episode’s showcase of the characters’ emotions. The anger Mikasa showed, the sadness and pain Eren and Mikasa felt, the cool-headedness of Levi that almost cracked with his ruthlessness and drive for what he thought was best (although I think his loyalty to Erwin is still a bit extreme)…it was all wonderful. Their predicament between who should receive the injection threw so much of the Scouts’ trust out of balance I didn’t quite know how to feel.
However, I tried to make their choices as simple as possible. Who should get it? Erwin, the man whose drive is pushing them toward the basement in hope to uncover a secret that may or may not even exist at this point to save humanity; or, Armin, who wants to see the ocean (main drive) and has come up with many plans that don’t (or wouldn’t) cost Scout lives at the scale Erwin’s plans to defend humanity.
Erwin’s militaristic, strategic might that has been able to save Scouts, capture titans, and much more. Armin has been counted on by Erwin, Hange, and Levi for his mind and how he handles situations after going through possibilities.
And even with that, the choice isn’t easy. It’s hard all around even with the simple question of “what’s each character’s drive?” This episode showed the struggle that the Scout Regiment are under and I don’t know the answer.
I think the episode did a great job of making what could be a simple question one of the hardest questions humanity has had to deal with in their current state.
I still think it took something away from Armin’s sacrifice, not that I’m unhappy one of my favourite characters is still going to be in the story. But yes, they did an excellent job with a lot of the characters this week.
That’s understandable. If I were able to focus on that in a deeper way I could see how it took away from Armin’s sacrifice, but my focus is drawn to everything else that happened for some reason. Armin sacrifices himself and is almost burned to death, and people are bickering about who to save? He had a plan, he took down the Colossal Titan with Eren, and should be kept alive, right?
If I think about it that way everything else takes away from that, and even him being saved in that way takes his willpower and sacrifice away. Okay… I can see it in a way.
I love that one episode of an anime has so many people talking though and we’re all just kind of thrown as to how we’re supposed to feel. Nicely done episode.
I just want to say that the voice acting in this episode was on another level. Cause Eren’s and Mikasa’s voice acting was so amazing this episode that it just felt as if I was standing their too with them. I was tearing up like there really was no tomorrow this episode. This arc will be forever in my top three of all time. Cause I have never had a arc that has move my emotions multiple times in a single season.
There’s definitely been a lot of emotion this season to the point where I just don’t even know what I’m actually feeling right now.
I feel you on that.