Judgment
Episode 17 of Attack on Titan Season 4 opens with Hange shocked at the devastation out in the field. Following Zeke blowing himself up, Levi is a bloody mess. Hange believes their captain is dead but before they can check his pulse, the titan nearby starts to exude steam. And wouldn’t you know it, Zeke comes tumbling out, very much alive. And very much naked. Is anyone going to offer him some trousers? No? Anyway, Zeke is shocked, reminiscing on how he felt like he was in a strange place where a girl was creating soil from his body. He was forced to watch all of this take place and for him, time appeared to melt away, feeling like an instant and an eternity at once. Meanwhile, following the Jaw Titan’s sneak-attack, Eren bursts into action as Pieck confirms to Gabi she’s not a traitor after all and this was one big set-up from the start. Transforming into the Cart Titan, Pieck takes Gabi to safety, away from Eren and to Commander Magath. Reiner and the other Marley forces appear from their airships. Eren ignores Armin’s pleas to hide underground, and with the combined power of the Founding and Warhammer Titan at his command, approaches Reiner and the others. Reiner transforms too, setting up a colossal (no pun intended) fight between the pair. While they trade blows, Magath and the other soldiers deduce that the only way for them to win the war is for their Titans to eat the Founding Titan (Eren) and control the fate of the world themselves. The Jaw Titan jumps into the fight, setting up a 2 on 1 slugfest. The thing is, the Warhammer Titan powers allow Eren to send spikes through both Titans and leave them impaled. Unfortunately, Marley forces have their own Anti-Titan soldiers, and they rush in with their packs and slam into Eren, slicing him. The Cart Titan, led by Magath’s command, holds a large cannon on its back which hits Eren while he’s recovering. This does eventually allow Reiner to recover and slam the same spike he was implead with into Eren. Meanwhile, Onyankapon pleads with Connie and the others to let him go. He knows Eren is in danger and urges them to hear him out. He had no idea about the euthanization plan and the spiked wine. He wants to build Paradis into a peaceful place, where both Eldians and Marleyians live in peace. This way of thinking obviously goes against the ideology here and it’s enough for Armin to believe he’s telling the truth. They’re going to stop Eren and Zeke’s plan, making sure this doesn’t come to pass. That obviously leaves Mikasa in quarte the conflicted state, given her affection for Eren. Armin deduces that Eren may well have lied, just to get on the same side as Zeke and Yelena. Perhaps he doesn’t want to kill all the Eldians after all. But is this really true?
The Episode Review
Attack on Titan is back and this episode roars into the thick of action, picking up right where we left off from before with Eren fighting Reiner and all hell breaking loose. The impassioned speech from Onyankopon is arguably one of the best moments of the episode, showing how there are people here on both sides of the conflict that just want to live in peace, away from this bloodshed that’s gripped the land. However, the ideology in both areas – the island and the mainland- is strong and it’s hard to shake that sort of indoctrination after so many years of hatred and bloodshed. Either way though, Eren’s fate is hanging in the balance and with a consistent amount of action this time around, the final season looks set to really step it up a gear. Whether this is actually the final final season or if part 3 will be teased at the end of this is anyone’s guess but this highly anticipated show is back. And that’s certainly a great way to kick off 2022!
