Well, we knew we were moving on from the previous arc but this episode felt like yet more transition and catching people up on how things fit together rather than actually moving onto anything. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing given the three seasons have been spread over a large period of time and we’ve recently been hit with a whole stack of revelations so the characters taking time to process and giving the audience time to process is kind of nice, even if it doesn’t make for exactly compelling viewing.
I am actually starting to like this new and subdued Eren. Honestly, I’m kind of hoping he doesn’t ‘snap out of it’ anytime soon because a thinking Eren who contemplates and actually tries for others rather than going off idiotically and brashly while shouting his ideas is a lot more bearable as a character (again, not quite as interesting given he doesn’t tend to do much, but there are other characters who can fill that void).
This episode gives us a brief look at Historia as a Queen who seems to be taking a very hands on approach to working with the masses which is fine and all but it does leave you wondering who is making the actual big administrative decisions while she’s doing manual labour. It does however at least give us some sort of hope that things might improve inside the walls (which is probably just so they can later dash that hope into small pieces).
We then transition to a scene with Eren and his crew eating soup very slowly and the other recruits making a bit deal of how much they’ve changed in the months since they became scouts. It took me by surprise to given for me its been years and the change seemed really slow, but I guess in the in story time it isn’t that long. This also leads Eren to figuring out that the training commander guy knew his dad so Levi, Hange, and most everyone who has remained relevant ride out to the training grounds for story time.
If I seem a little flippant about this it is because while it eats a large chunk of the episode time, we essentially don’t get much from this guy. I really quite like Hange’s reaction to his story. While I’m kind of certain that maybe something he said will later become relevant (now there’s a clear sentence), it all just felt like a very drawn out red-herring.
So yeah, I’m not overly sold on this episode even though there are some nice ideas and touches in it. Really it will depend where this goes as to whether this works or not (another case where maybe binging would improve the story – or maybe it wouldn’t, hard to know until later).
Previous Reviews:
- Attack on Titan Series Review
- Attack on Titan Season 2 Series Review
- Season 3 Episode 1: Why Not Add Another Faction
- Season 3 Episode 2: Whatever It Takes
- Season 3 Episode 3: Rewriting the Past Won’t Make It Go Away
- Season 3 Episode 4: A Time For Everything
- Season 3 Episode 5: Yourself or Humanity?
- Season 3 Episode 6: So Many Puzzle Pieces
- Season 3 Episode 7: Two Things I Didn’t Think Possible
- Season 3 Episode 8: They Finally Remembered Eren’s Basement – I’m So Happy Right Now
- Season 3 Episode 9: To Kill A Titan
- Season 3 Episode 10: Choices Made
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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I have to agree. I just watched the episode myself, and so far this is my least favorite episode of the season. It’s okay though, seeing that the rest of the season so far has been very good. Like you I also loved Hange’s reaction (and I honestly have to say that she really is becoming a favorite character). It’s interesting to see how Eren really does seem to be changing. No idea if this will remain like this, or he will end up returning to his old ways. The only thing that I am still hoping for is seeing Mikasa returning to a bit more prominent role. She hardly has anything to do, and that really is beginning to get a little bit annoying seeing as she is such a great character 😊
Yes Mikasa has really just been benched this season so far (I know she was in the fight at the start and in the cave but she didn’t exactly have a lot of screen time in either and she was mostly just one of the group).
Yeah exactly. She was such an awesome character in the first season, but it’s almost as if she doesn’t exist anymore. And that makes me sad. So I hope she will return to the character she was in season 1😊
I’m also appreciative of this new Eren. Hope this sticks. I also think I may have misunderstood the moment where everyone else noticed the change. I thought it was mostly because they had to fight other humans instead of titans but when you look at all these events in general, that makes sense too. Good read. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
The having to fight humans certainly didn’t help but looking back it really has been non-stop fighting for them since the graduated and made the decision to become scouts. Makes you wonder why anyone signs up for that job.
That’s a good point
Yeah, an quiet Eren makes so much of a difference.
I wonder how long it will last, because the dynamic of the show is just better when he isn’t screaming all the time (most of this season in point of fact has been truly pleasant despite all the other characters having plenty of shouting moments).