Assassin’s Bullet
Episode 8 of Attack On Titan Season 4 begins with Reiner entering the battle… until he’s quickly dispatched. With the Marleyian forces in tatters, Mikasa arrives and convinces Eren and the others to leave Liberio. When Gabi realizes the airship is leaving, she’s not happy. Eren arrives back on the airship but immediately finds himself at the mercy of Levi, who wastes no time kicking him in the face. While Eren explains he sent letters to them informing what’s going on, the other soldiers celebrate their victory. Or, well, their first victory to be more precise. Back on the ground, Gabi rushes off desperate to get her revenge. With hands wrapped tightly across her gun, she reflects on those they’ve lost thanks to Eren and the others. She refuses to stand by and do nothing in the wake of this devastation. It’s here Falco breaks the news that Titans attacked the island. Well, given they didn’t actually see this for themselves, Gabi embraces the propaganda she’s grown up with, telling Falco “They’re all just island devils who threaten world peace. Cruel devils who deserve to die.” These words obviously hold more meaning for Falco now, as he reflects on what Eren told Reiner down in the basement about being the same. He can only watch as Gabi takes off. In fact, Gabi decides to fight to the bitter end. She takes out one of the soldiers, a man named Lobov, snatching up his ODM gear and flying up toward the airship. Falco grabs hold of the dead body too, as both Gabi and Falco make it onboard the airship. And just like that, Gabi fires her gun and strikes Sasha straight through the heart. The soldiers are enraged and begin beating the pair down. Jean struggles to control his rage but eventually thinks twice about throwing the pair of kids outside. Instead, he decides that Eren should talk to them. As they’re marched up the airship, they notice that Zeke happens to be on the airship after being captured. As Hange arrives and calls him Zeke Jaegar, both Gabi and Falco realize that he’s related to Eren. This battle has cost more than Marleyian lives. The trust Eren’s friends have placed in them has caused many good lives to die. This, in turn, means the group have lost faith in him. Despite capturing the Beast Titan and surviving, their victory is a hollow one thanks to Sasha’s death. Her last word, “meat”, hits Eren hard as grits his teeth and realizes her death is on his conscience.
The Episode Review
While the majority of the episode takes place onboard the airship bound for Paradis Island, it’s ultimately Gabi who takes the spotlight here. What’s particularly interesting though is just how much she parallels Eren’s mindset back in season 1. Just like Eren, she’s blinded by rage and hatred for her enemy, clinging to the idea of gaining her revenge no matter what. Her ideals may be different, but it’s clear that the Marleyian forces are supposed to parallel the Nazis. The red and yellow armbands and the uniforms are clearly there to deliberately display this and just like the Germans in World War II, these are just soldiers doing their job. Apart from Himmler and the SS of course, those guys were just pure evil. But I digress. There’s ultimately going to be a lot of people who dislike Gabi for what she’s done. Understandably, her mid-air no-scope shot to kill Lobov felt a little farfetched but if this season has taught us anything, we have to see both sides of an argument. Gabi lost her friends and her home was destroyed. She’s been told for years, indoctrinated from a young age, to believe that the Paradis Island devils are inherently evil. She’s willing to die for her cause and as we’ve seen numerous times through history, beliefs are powerful things and when push comes to shove, can lead to violence. These ideas are illustrated beautifully in Attack On Titan’s final season. The way these are blended together against the horrors of war ultimately shows that there really are no victors here. What will be interesting though is to see whether Gabi and Falco are swayed by those on Paradis Island to switch sides to join them in the final fight. And will the others ever forgive them for what they’ve done?
