Traitor
Episode 26 of Attack on Titan starts with Hange scouting the Jaegerists as they realize how quickly Floch has mobilized the troops. She quickly realizes this is a strategic move to occupy the dock, given the sheer number of ships and boats at their disposal. Specifically hat of the flying boat, which is being kept heavily guarded. Hange is concerned, realizing this puts them in a difficult position. As soon as their position is compromised, they’ll destroy the flying boat completely and effectively end any hopes of stopping Eren. They need the ship in order to stop Eren so the only way to do this is to work as a team, killing everyone in one fell swoop so the ship can’t be destroyed. That’s a tough deal though, given some of these men and women are teammates. Reiner tries to organize traffic, reflecting back on Eren’s words and trying to split the team into those who want to fight and those who can’t turn on their own kin. Hange soon interrupts. The Titans appear to have crossed the sea already and with so many already dead, thy don’t have a choice in the matter but to work together. The plan goes ahead but Armin and Conny head to thee docks, where they notice the flying boat has explosives wrapped around it, thanks to them receiving a tip-off about the plan. The detonator is disconnected but gunshots send the place into raptures. Mikasa, Conny and Armin are outed as traitors, and as a fight ensues across the dock, Mikasa realizes grimly that they’v got no choice but to completely kill all the Jaegerists if they have any hope of winning this fight. Daz reconnects the detonator as Samuel suddenly shoots Armin through the mouth. Conny s shocked and with all hope lost, Reiner and Annie jump in and tun the tide of battle, turning into their Titan forms to stop the Jaegerists. Conny eventually shoots Daz and Samuel in cold blood after an emotional plea, screaming to the heavens as the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
The battle-lines have been drawn and it’s certainly not a pleasant sight for some of these men and women to turn on their kin. Seeing Conny and Armin’s plight down on the docks is tough to watch while the whole plan rests precariously on whether they can secure the flying boat or not. There’s obviously a lot of hesitation to see this through to the end and that much is apparent from the way half these guys have sat out the fight in a bid to try and buy some time and find a peaceful solution. This episode actually works surprisingly well to show that these guys are going to have to make some difficult decisions if they’re going to come out of this in one piece – and on the right side of the conflict. Regardless though, Attack on Titan has been a solid watch this year and the agonizing cliffhanger leaves everything wide open for next week’s follow-up.
