So What’s In The Basement?

Attack on Titan 3B Episode 7
After so many big moments in the last couple of episodes, Attack on Titan made some smart calls at the start of this episode. Seeing the relief tinged with guilt Eren felt as Armin woke and Eren hugged him was perfect. Seeing Levi, the one who made the final decision, still seeming to be at war with his own emotions clearly conveyed just how big a deal the previous moment was. And then Armin. His horror at what had happened, his disbelief that he was chose and not Erwin, and then his near panicked response as he realised just what weight was getting dropped onto his shoulders.
All of this conveyed through a single scene that brought together the threads from last week when the characters were nearly at each other’s throats over the decision. Hange in particular asked the pertinent question of Eren and Mikasa. Whether they think they can do what they like provided they take the punishment?
Then we move from this quiet moment on the walls to the equally quiet and eerie walk through the town. I loved the juxtaposition between the young Eren and Mikasa running through the streets with the still and somewhat shocked older pair that walked almost mechanically toward the site of Eren’s house. The moment lingered uncomfortably long as we saw scenes of the people who used to live there before they faded away again leaving only broken buildings and the plants that were over-taking the town.

However, we then get to the moment we’ve been waiting a very long time to see. The basement itself.
I wasn’t actually surprised when the key didn’t work in the door. It seemed like the typical thing Attack on Titan would pull. So many characters dying to get this boy and this key to this door and it didn’t even work? Seemed like exactly the kind of thing this story would do.
Levi’s response was suitably measured given the situation and then we began the search through the basement in earnest. There’s really no words for how it felt waiting for them to find something. Knowing that even if it wasn’t going to be what the characters wanted, there had to be something in that basement or the story was literally going to fall over. Waiting then and knowing that the episode was going to conclude before we had more than a small taste was kind of torture.

I will point out that while I’m not a big fan of the ED this season, at the end of this episode I absolutely appreciated the journey for these characters shown throughout the closing credits. This season really is building on every step of that journey and it seemed perfectly fitting this week. Not to mention, you kind of have to hang around for the after credits sequence this week.
And now we wait for the next episode again.
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Karandi James
- Attack on Titan Season One Review
- Attack on Titan Season Two Review
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part One Review
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Review
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episodes 1 + 2
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 3
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 4
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 5
- Scott and Karandi Discuss Attack on Titan (Part 1)
- Scott and Karandi Discuss Attack on Titan (Part 2)
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 6
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 7
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 8
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 9
- Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 10
- Images from: Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2. Dir. T Araki. Wit Studio. 2019.