This episode of Attack on Titan is brought to you by Law & Order… because it sort of feels like an episode of that. DUN-DUNNNNNN!!!
In the Capital, some of the citizens can see the military getting ready setting up gallows for Erwin’s “final judgement.” Erwin is in front of the King’s committee, trying to plead his case to them. Losing the Scouts is like losing humanity’s spear. If Wall Rose is breached, those people will flee to Wall Sina, making it a fight of survival when supplies run out. Civil war will break out between them, or if Rose suffers a food shortage, they will breach Wall Sina first, so the Scouts need to reclaim Wall Maria first. This all concerns the MPs but not the committee. He asks them if they have a secret plan in place in case something like this happens, but they change the subject at hand. They’re here for Erwin, as he violated the clause that prioritizes one’s own self over humanity (in this case, not handing over Eren). They see him sheltering Eren as too much a risk factor for one commander. Basically, they have enough down for Erwin to be charged with treason.
Since the Garrison squad risk their lives like the Scouts do, they ask Pixis if he is with Erwin. He tells them he doesn’t align with murderers, and, as he told his troops, one spark could engulf the world in little time. The Scouts could be that spark, and if so, they need to be broken up. He’s cleared, so with the King’s permission, the committee discusses Erwin’s sentence.
As Nile doesn’t want it to end like this, the committee comes to a decision. Erwin is sentence to death with the execution to happen immediately. Nile can’t believe this is what Erwin wants. However, he sees a smile on Erwin’s face. At that exact moment, a messenger comes in the room with some news.
She tells them Wall Rose has been breached, as both the Colossal and Armored Titans broke through the Calaneth District gates. Refugees from the East are fleeing to safety, as all this freaks the committee out. Pixis goes into action, telling them to establish a route for the escapees and having the Garrison troops defend the East. However, the committee has other plans. They tell them to close the gates to Wall Sina and not let anyone in. This will cause all of Wall Rose’s residents (half of humanity) to die, but it’s better than civil war in their eyes. Even if it’s a small possibility, they won’t allow themselves to lose all the control they have. They still have all the power, so they want to bide their time until Reiss returns. Seeing this, Pixis gives one of his messengers a nod, and she runs from the courtroom.
Nile is conflicted as the sides argue over closing the gates or not. He then remembers Erwin’s words about who will decide, and he decides himself. He won’t allow the gates to be closed, and neither will the guy who enters the room. Who is it? This guy.
He is Premier Dhalis Zachery, and he has his own armed squad with him. The committee’s response didn’t surprise him at all, but guess what is a surprise? That Titan breach. It was all fabricated. In fact, it was Pixis’ idea in the first place. This shocks the committee, as Pixis tells them that even though the Garrison isn’t aligned with the Scouts, they aren’t aligned with the committee either. Pixis in fact would rather have humanity’s future in the hands of the government than in Erwin’s hands. He would have even sent Erwin to be hanged, and himself as well, if the committee cared for saving everyone. However, seeing how they made their choice, it’s clear which side the committee is on. This is a coup d’état, as Pixis’ messenger comes back with news that the Interior Police have all been restrained. Zachery knows soldiers will obey their officers over a king, especially a fake one, so a new one is to be put in place. The committee thinks this is all a joke, but Erwin knows they literally violated the same clause that he himself was up against, and putting a fake king in to control the government? That’s punishable by death. The committee dude is mad and kicks the king’s throne to wake the old dude up, as he was sleeping this whole time. The troops arrest all the committee members. Erwin is let free as this is his victory, but he isn’t happy because he knows humanity is going down a far more dangerous path.
Where we left off with Levi and co., it seems the MPs are moving in. However, those MPs are Hange and Molbit. They have news of the coup being a success, with Zachery in charge now. Plus, it shows Flegel explaining how the murders happened as he’s convincing the old newspaper man involved how his families and friends won’t be left because of the Titans. They got all the truth out, including the Scouts acting in self-defense. Everyone is cleared, so they all celebrate as the mustached IP dude can’t believe that all of this worked. Levi is sorry that Hange’s troops were killed in his care, but she is more focused on getting to where Eren, Historia and Reiss are, and she may have it with a book she has.
The announcement of the regime change came right after the military seized control of the Capital and government, and it took place where Erwin was to be hanged. Nile explains to the citizens how they aren’t forcing in military rule and are just doing this until they find the new ruler from the true royal family, even if that may take some time to get used to. Erwin himself thinks the government should lead the way, as they did somehow keep humanity alive. Erwin begins to doubt if he even did the right thing for humanity, as Zachery can see Erwin’s duty is painful. Death would be easier for him, but Erwin didn’t choose death. Zachery tells him why he did it. It’s simple: He hated the committee members for so long. He dreamed of this day and says that if Erwin didn’t do this, he eventually would have before he died. Zachery couldn’t care if this coup was bad or not. Plus, Erwin is no different from him. He didn’t want to die, so he cared for himself more than humanity, but there’s a reason why Erwin choose this: because of the dream he had since he was a kid, as it shows his father’s class once more.
As Squad Levi heads out, Hange explains the report she got from Erwin about Reiss and the land he owns. There was an incident that affected the Reiss family 5 years ago, the day after Wall Maria got breached. Rod Reiss, a pretty popular regional lord, had 5 kids, and his oldest, Frieda, was a very pleasant girl that the people loved. However, 5 years ago, bandits raided the only chapel and set fire to it. The Reiss Family was in said chapel at the time to pray, and only Rod survived the massacre. Seeing as it happened a few days before the IPs killed Historia’s mom, Rod clearly went to find her, as they have the same blood. Hange may not know their family secret, but she does point out some weird things. The chapel was wrecked in some parts, but it was made of stone, so it would’ve taken some effort to destroy. Plus, if bandits did it, they would’ve gotten away quickly after taking what they got. Not only was Rod the only one who saw them, but he re-built the chapel with his own money afterwards. Seeing as there are traces of Titans left behind, it’s too suspicious not to check.
In a strange place, Eren is sleeping. His dream is of a women combing her hair in the mirror. He wakes up and sees he is chained up. He then sees he’s in a giant, blue luminous cave. As everyone involved gets ready to head out to Reiss’ land, Armin ponders over how Eren became a Titan with this Titan power transfer, and who did he eat to get his powers. As Eren struggles, he sees someone walk towards him. It’s Historia.
The government finally got what was coming to them, huh? I know so many people want this to happen in real life, but this is an anime and would throw everything into complete chaos if we got a sudden change so dramatically. Guess they’re going to have to deal with it and just make very shitty political jokes/memes. But moving on, this all did happen in the manga as presented here, with the political atmosphere, the back-and-forths, the surprise and trap laid down, and the end with the big cave Eren wakes up to. The only change was Eren remembering who that woman was. That actually should’ve taken place in Episode 38, where Eren remembered Ymir and Bertholdt, but switching it up to go here does work a bit better. We will see more of Frieda and see more of what the hell this cave is, as it’s a lot better looking than I thought it was going to be (Although, I pictured this cave would be either green or yellow in some way.)
If you’ve been kind of bored with all this political crap, don’t worry. The next episode is going to go big in backstory, as we get to see what happened to the Reiss family and even see Eren’s father for the first time in a long time. A lot of stuff is going to happen, so be prepared for it. Overall, this was a pretty okay episode that showed what happens when corrupt government folks get what’s coming to them. I did like how the King wasn’t awake at all through all of this. He’s a pretty heavy sleeper, and for those who hate watching subs and/or are too lazy to read, the dub of Attack on Titan is finally here, as Toonami is now showing it. It can also be seen on Funimation the very next day for the streaming peeps. I guess I’ll end this episode with some AoT fanart. That might also be a cute crossover.
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 can be seen Saturdays at 11 PM ET on Toonami.