Children of the Forest
Episode 13 of Attack On Titan Season 4 begins with Zeke boasting. Specifically, he brings up how he enslaved those inside Ragako to do his Titan bidding thanks to a gas made from his spinal fluid. Levi interrupts though and comments how he doesn’t have a shred of guilt. However, Levi most certainly does. Given how many times he’s saved Eren in the past, with all the casualties that’s brought over time, he frets that this struggle was all for nothing. Meanwhile, Gabi and Falco seek out Nicolo, a fellow Marleyian who may be able to help. However, the Scouts arrive first. There’s clearly no love lost between them though, especially when they handle some expensive wine. Nicolo immediately snatches it off them, claiming it’s not good for Eldians. With Nicolo separate to the others, Gabi and Falco seize their opportunity and take him aside, telling him Marley is going to come under attack. They bring up the attack on Liberia and what’s brought the pair to the island – and to him. Wide-eyed, Nicolo asks whether they killed anyone. As Gabi boasts about Sasha’s death, Nicolo snaps and smashes the wine bottle – the same one that isn’t good enough for Eldians – straight into Falco’s face. This is a blow that was meant for Gabi of course, but Falco took the brunt of this himself. Scooping him up under his arm, Nicolo takes Gabi to Sasha’s parents, blood oozing down her face. With the girl on her knees, the Scouts stand at the doorway and watch silently as Nicolo tells them he’s going to exact revenge. Gabi pleads for her life but it’s Sasha’s Father who steps up with the knife. He tells them all they need to shoulder the sins themselves. While the adults restrain themselves, Kaya comes at Gabi with a knife. Mikasa stops her though and drags the girl away. Only, they have bigger problems to deal with. It turns out the wine actually has Zeke’s spinal fluid in. Yelena actually tasked Nicolo with feeding this wine to high-ranking officials. With the wine spread, Floch and his men arrive and let slip that they’ve known about Zeke’s plan this whole time. Eren shows up as well, sitting with Armin and Mikasa alongside Gabi who’s repenting her actions.
The Episode Review
Attack on Titan bows out with another pressure-cooker episode, one that develops each of our characters in a way that starts to show the bigger picture come into view. Zeke and Eren may have differing views but there’s undoubtedly a large line between them that extends all the way through this world, fracturing these two lines and promising everything to come spilling out in the most dramatic way possible. The reveal with Nicolo finding out about Sasha’s killer is a really nice touch and one that finally sees Gabi understand the gravity of her situation. Seeing her regret her actions at the end, in the midst of all this, works really well and definitely gives her an almost redemptive arc. With a cliffhanger ending and only a handful of episodes left, it remains to be seen exactly what will happen next in this one. One thing’s for sure though – you’re not going to want to miss this!
