Attack on Titan Season 3 – Episode 39 – “Pain”

Shall we begin where we left off in the last episode? Last week, Levi saw two of his subordinates get their faces blown off. Literally. It was all thanks to “Kenny the Ripper” and his squad. Well, it continues from there with the two of them fighting. Levi throws his weapon at Kenny, but he deflects it away and shoots at Levi. He dodges it and escapes as WIT shows off some very great escape animation with the ODM gear (More on this at the end.) After the OP, we see the wagon that is carrying Eren and Krista/Historia. The wagoner hears gunshots as Kenny’s squad has caught up to them. They use their gear to rip the wagon up, revealing the two. Eren grabs a gun, but one of the people shoots Krista and then Eren. Don’t worry, they weren’t actual bullets. They were tranquilizer darts.

Unfortunately, the wagon guy is shot to death with actual bullets, and a woman takes over the wagon. Luckily, Levi is on their tail and catches up. However, 3 more people from their squad appears and start to fire. Levi avoids their gunfire, but Kenny is also there. As he avoids his gunfire, he wonders why Kenny of all people is in the Military Police. A very short flashback is shown, which goes into another detailed chase scene involving Levi. He can’t avoid all the blasts, as some ricochet off the walls/crates and hit him, but he still uses his gear to fly right into a bar of shocked bar attendees and a scared owner.

As the bar people see it’s Levi, he knows he will lose Eren and Historia if this continues. Well, that will have to wait since Kenny can smell the filthy rat that has entered the bar, and he has the law on his side to “exterminate the vermin.” Levi can’t believe that not only is Kenny alive, but he joined the MPs. It’s something that Levi wouldn’t understand, since he’s still a kid and it’s stuff adults do. It’s basically a “Levi is short” joke (get used to them this season). Kenny, who taught Levi all his fighting, does want to see him fight, even if Levi is cornered with Kenny’s squad waiting everywhere outside. He also throws a chair, smashing a bunch of bottles. Kenny believes he also knows why Levi joined the Scouts. He had no place to live in this dump of a world, and to go about living in this hell that hurts, he needed a hobby like Kenny did. It what saved them both, even if said hobby involves killing people. As he goes on, Levi grabs a bottle, and shows it to Kenny. He then takes out a shotgun the bar owner has for self-defense and shoots at Kenny. Kenny throws a chair in the way at the right time, but still takes most of the shotgun blast as it sends him flying out of the bar.

As he thanks the owner, Levi smashes open a window. One of the squad members fires at it. However, Levi threw a chair to break it. He emerges, then shoots the guy with his ODM gear, getting the dude in the throat. He gets on the roof where 2 more are, and they start firing, but Levi uses the poor bastard as a shield and slices the other 2 dudes’ throats as he advances. Sasha can hear gunshots in the distance and think something happened to Levi. Mikasa finally gives us the message he told her: “They’ll be fighting humans too, not just Titans.” The others are shocked, as Mikasa takes off. As Kenny lays on the ground, his first mate wonders if he has died. He hasn’t clearly, but does see the “runt” has grown up, as it means his dream is getting farther away.

As the others see the wagon Eren and Krista/Historia are in, Levi catches up. They then shockingly see him take out another dude with his ODM gear and slicing him up good.

Levi tells them to chase the wagon and be prepared to fight them, since they took out 3 of his squad members. They can’t hesitate or they’ll be killed, but only Mikasa understands this. Levi takes out one of the people on the wagon as Armin and Jean go to secure it. The woman aims at them, but Mikasa knees her in the face. She lands near Jean who tells her not to move. However, he is shaking like crazy with his weapon, and she easily knocks it away. She aims her gun at his head, as Mikasa can’t catch up in time. A gunshot is heard, and someone falls to the ground, with the camera shot covered in blood.

In the Capital Mitras, the King’s Committee is disappointed that nothing happened to Erwin, that they still don’t know Eren and Historia’s location, that freezing the Scouts didn’t do much, and they still don’t know if Pastor Nick snitched. They also can’t say much or they’ll reveal a lot themselves, but they will deal with the scouts under the law they have. They do get a message from Lord Reiss: he has Eren and Historia, and since they’re moving against Erwin, they don’t need to do much now. Speaking of, Erwin has most of his things taken. He is talking with an old comrade named Nile. He knows the world is gonna change soon, but to what. Will the government decide humanity’s future? Who will decide and who do you trust? Erwin is gonna take a big gamble.

We then meet back up with Armin and Mikasa. She’s consoling him, as he’s throwing up in a river. He tearfully apologizes to her. Why? Well, that gunshot from before? That was from him. He shot the woman dead to save Jean. Even so, there were still more of Kenny’s squad chasing after them, but Levi and Sasha save the two. The squad takes control of the wagon and head out of town. Mikasa tries to chase them, but Levi stops her as she screams Eren’s name. In another place, Armin is still feeling the effects of shooting the woman. He can’t understand how he shot her in time. Jean knows, as Levi points it out too. She hesitated, just like Jean did. Jean is sorry for it, but Armin knows. He thinks he shot a nicer, better human. Levi, however, tells Armin that he can’t go back to who he was after this, and he must embrace it, because if he remained clean, then Jean would be dead. Armin saved one of his comrades, so Levi thanks him. Jean thought it be wrong to fight and follow Levi’s orders, but he knows now and will shoot next time, but Levi tells him there’s no right or wrong. Jean may be right, for all he knows.

But enough of this. They got someone tied up. It’s the baldy from last time (along with his son as well.) Who is he? Do you remember that one dude from Season 1 who blocked the route in Trost, and Mikasa nearly cut him down? It’s him. He is Dimo Reeves, President of the Reeves Company. Reeves was following the MP’s orders, but it doesn’t matter now though. The MPs will either hunt down everyone in the company or make them go bankrupt. Levi does point out how the company helped Trost thrive after the attack, and few will survive the winter without them. All they need is info on where Eren and Historia are, and Levi and co. will help them out. Back with Erwin, Hange meets up to tell them what happened in town, but she has bigger news that involves what Eren remembered between Ymir and Bertholdt. That news makes them need to catch up with Eren quickly, beause if they don’t, Eren will be eaten.

The Reeves dudes are transporting the two MPs from the last episode, Sannes and Ralph, to a destination. They stop, Sannes checks, and he sees that Levi and co. got them surrounded. They’re knocked out and taken hostage. The two aren’t safe yet because of this, but Reeves does tell his son to sniff out a profit for the future, bite it, and don’t let go. Now that they’ve got them, Hange and Levi are now torturing Sannes like he did with Nick, but they’re pulling out his nails without asking questions. So Levi asks them:

• Where is Eren and Historia?
• Why are they after Historia?
• What is the Reiss family?

Not answering quickly, Hange pulls off another nail (not shown though), while his scream terrifies and sickens the others. It’s also louder than when Levi did it. Armin knows they’re criminals now. They’re the enemies of people with different view points instead of people with giant appetites. They’re not good people anymore.

Hange apologizes for being an amateur torturer, as Sannes has lost count of how many nails he pulled out. He then confesses that the First Interior Squad has dirtied their hands for a long time to keep peace within the walls, be it from teachers, air balloon flyers, or just whores from the boonies. They did this all for humanity, but even in his situation, he still believes in the King and peace that can continue. He just wants Levi and Hange to torture him to death, like he has always done. Levi calls for a break, and they leave him be, but they keep the door open. It’s then they get his partner, Ralph. He only had one nail taken off before he snitched. Ralph tells them that everyone hates Sannes and his talk of the King, and they can kill him now. However, unknown to Sannes, Hange is making Ralph read from a script to set him up. After awhile, they re-enter to torture Sannes some more, but he finally gives them the big secret: The Reiss Family is actually the true royal family.

Back to where Erwin is, Reeves is having a smoke break as his son, Flegel, is taking a piss. As the moon hides in the clouds, a person approaches and grabs Reeves. It’s Kenny. He tells him that merchants shouldn’t be sellouts and slices his throat. Kenny’s first-mate sees he didn’t give enough time to reveal where Levi is, but Kenny knows he’ll show up. That’s how he raised “Levi Ackerman.” Flegel is then seen hiding but crying for his dad. The others in Levi’s squad finally learn who the true successor to the throne is. It’s Historia herself. They also learn that she and Eren are in the same place as Rod Reiss. It then shows Rod hugging his daughter, apologizing to her, as a tied-up Eren watches close by.

Now, before I go on, I have to say this.

Linked Horizon did the ED for this season. Are you people happy that they’re still here?

Okay, moving on, this episode was a damn thrill ride at the beginning. The whole fight scene between Levi and Kenny and his squad was absolutely spectacular and better than anything the manga could do, especially the chase scenes that involved the ODM gear. My god, it was one of the better animated scenes from this series, and WIT did a good job hiring a director that knew what they were doing. Seriously, look at this.

The chases throughout the town, the brutal deaths, destroying Armin’s sanity once more, it was all there. The first 9 minutes were as fun in how animation is done right as any you will see in any anime this year, and then some.

Even so, I was still disappointed with some of the things on here. Let’s go back to Armin’s moment for a second. Now, I know this show is already brutal and edgy and whatever, and it always has been, but they did do something here I didn’t think was possible. They cut out some of the brutal moments that were in the manga. Like when Armin shot the woman. There, we know he shot her, gun in hand and all.

However, they didn’t show her face when he did. In the manga, they show him popping one in her skull.

They also did this with some of Levi’s victims (The shot above where he’s slicing that dude? He sliced him into two in the manga) and with Reeves’s death as well, and while I’m happy they kept Hange torturing Sannes on here, we didn’t get to see her removing his nails and accidentally snapping Sannes’s finger during it. She said she was an amateur. They also cut most of Reeves having a sort of bigger role in this than they showed. Yes, Kenny does kill him with Flegel watching, (that’s not different), but it’s where in the story after all that happens with them that is gone. Maybe it’s for the best, because it may have bored audiences. I still didn’t like how they also came up with a new way they caught the MPs. The manga version was a lot funnier than smacking them out cold with guns. There, they had Reeves and Flegel drive the wagon off a goddamn cliff into a ravine below to get them. I liked that a lot more.

Now, even though I had these issues, the episode was still pretty good. The first half was absolutely terrific, and Kenny is gonna be a delight for anime peeps. He might be a dick, but he’s very enjoyable. As said in the last recap, the first episode skipped over Krista/Historia’s backstory. Next episode, it looks like we are going to get that. Look for that as the new season chugs along faster than a woman steering a wagon with a head full of lead.

Too soon?

Attack on Titan Season 3 is licensed by Funimation. New episodes can be seen on Crunchyroll and Funimation at 2 PM ET Sundays. The dub version is premiering on Toonami on August 18th.