I haven't reviewed the previous seasons, I plan on doing so soon, but I have a lot more to say about the first part of the final season, as I just finished it not long ago and have a lot more to say then I do have to say than any of the previous seasons. So to put it short, it's fucking fantastic.

I will have spoilers in this review, but they will be marked as spoilers, but I will not put any spoiler tags on anything I will reference from previous seasons, so if you haven't seen the previous seasons of Attack on Titan, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! And i have a lot to say lmao.

Story/Plot

Picking off 4 years after the scouts have won back Wall Maria and reached the shoreline, we see ourselves in the nation of Marley, where we can easily say that the enemy to the people within the walls are here. The first few episodes has a slow start but it works wondrously in order to get the viewer/audience to understand what happens within the walls and how life is. As opposed to other series' like "Steins;Gate" which takes 12 episodes to let the audience know what they are doing, how they are doing it, and what rules are being established, this season has a slow start to make us compare and contrast the life of Marley to life within the Walls. And it shows us specific characters that is telling us that we should empathize and get to know said character. Trying to avoid spoilers in this part, I won't say much, but we could all tell that eventually, sooner or later, the scouts and Eren were going to attack Marley, but it was really just going to be a matter of time. Skipping certain details to avoid spoilers, the attack will eventually lead to a bigger problem, with the major nations of the world eventually, and you can tell, going to attack the people of the walls soon.

Something I like to think to myself is how the series starts off with the titans attacking the citizens of the Wall, and being believed that titans are enemies of humanity and that those within the walls are the last few humans left... But as the series progresses on, we go to think that there are certain people within the walls who have titan powers for evil uses, then later we see that the people within the Walls were manipulated, to seeing that their enemy is the rest of humanity beyond the walls... and now we see that side of humanity... It's no longer humanity fighting for survival, but war on a global scale...

Spoilers for plot

Spoiler, click to view

As I said earlier, I really loved the slow start, making us empathize with the people and wanting to understand their reasons as to why they are sending titans to the people of Paradis island. Having been shown the past history, you can't help but feel bad for what they have gone through and that they are just trying to protect themselves, but yet again, they are the ones who made the people of Paradis Island suffer for a century, living in constant fear of titans and believing that they are the last ones left. When it comes to two different sides, people always stick with their side and see the opposing side as the enemy, but when you see both sides, you can do nothing but watch as both sides fight, and this is why I love the addition of Gabi and Falco, which I will get into later. Moreover in terms of plot and story, I can see why Zeke and Eren have their own plan and seems like they have their own side as opposed to the scouts and Marley, with Zeke's plan being to truly bring peace to the world by making the Subjects Of Ymir to stop giving birth so that the never-ending hatred can finally end. It's noble and it's true that if they were to disappear, there won't be any more future wars and bring a brighter future to the world, but there are consequences to it, yet Eren goes with it regardless, and being aware that the island will be attacked one day. This is something I love and makes you question how the story will progress with this plan.

Characters

Let's cut it short, the characters are outstanding as always. Reiner is someone who I feel like has gone through the most internal conflict, from being in Marley, to being within the walls, being friends with them, then coming back home with a completely different mind, making me feel really bad for him, knowing damn well he broke the gates in the first season. Eren is someone who I would say has gone through the most change (and I ain't talking about appearance), avoiding spoilers, he doesn't feel or act the same ever since knowing the truth about humanity. From swearing and fighting titans until they are all gone to... this (avoiding spoilers again lmao). Zeke, aka the Beast Titan, is someone who I changed my viewpoint as well, from destroying the walls to revealing an entirely different motivation that Eren eventually finds out. It's really good shit.
However, there is one character, or I guess two, that I believe is to be part of the season's highlights. That is Gabi and Falco! Which I won't get into here because I would walk on spoiler territory, so more on that later.

Anyways, spoiler time.

Spoiler, click to view

As mentioned earlier, Eren is the one who seems to have gone through the most change in terms of motivations. I really feel like Eren is the definition of the phrase "you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." And that's what he feels like, the villain to his own story. Anyways, as opposed to Zeke who was hiding his original motivation, Eren changes from fighting the enemy, to working alongside his brother-from-another-mother, Zeke, who wants to stop this ongoing war by making the Subjects Of Ymir stop reproducing in order to eventually and finally bring world peace, and humanity is on the line with it as well lol. I can understand Eren's and Zeke's motivations, and I can definitely understand why Marley and those in Paradis Island are in constant war, because of their past, so Eren and Zeke doing their plan is what I love to see. Although I don't know how Zeke is now considering he just tried to blow himself up and take Levi down with him... and get stuffed into the stomach of a titan. And then there is Reiner, who is someone I feel pity on, having to go to the walls, break them, befriend the soldiers in the area and then feel bad for losing some of his friends due to his actions, and inevitably having to bear the sins he made and have it bite back on him when Eren shows himself in Marley.

The Highlight (Falco and Gabi)

As I said, earlier, the highlight of the series is Falco and Gabi. Yes. I'm talking about the kids. If you think I'm memeing, nah, I'm dead serious.

Gabi and Falco are both young warrior candidates to see if they can inherit the power on one of the nine titans, with Gabi being more likely to win the Armored Titan ability. They have their own beliefs and think that the people in Paradis Island are devils and must be killed, Marley for the win, fighting for my country, etc. That's how they are, that's what they believe and that's what they are willing to do until the very end. So, why do I like these 2 characters so much? Well here comes spoiler time!

Spoiler, click to view

Well let's start with Falco, one of the young kids who is trying to get the power of a warrior but is not doing so well in training and has slim chances of getting one. He was tricked by Eren to send letters to his comrades, believing it was letters to his family while "Eren" is in disguise. Eventually, when the festival is going to begin, Falco tells Reiner to meet up with an old friend, unaware that it's Eren in disguise. As stated earlier, Reiner does feel bad for what he did to Eren and the rest of the people, and when his sins came back to bite him in the back, he looks traumatized and scared, something that Falco picked up on and quickly finds out why Eren, the Attack/Founding Titan, is in Marley. Falco is almost killed by Eren transforming, but is saved by Reiner, where he then promises to get help for Reiner. He is a good kid with a good heart who is experiencing war open up in front of him with Eren rampaging through the plaza. He then says to Reiner he would go get help and runs into Gabi. I will come back to Falco in a bit, and switch to Gabi and her point of view.

Just like Falco, Gabi is wanting to become a warrior, inheriting one of the Nine Titan's powers, and unlike Falco, she has a greater chance at getting one. She is confident and is willing to sacrifice herself to save her nation, and it's very clear she would go to such extents, as seen in the battlefield with her throwing bombs in the middle of the war. When the festival comes, she sits at the crowd and sees 2 of her friends get killed by Eren's rampage, and witnessing a titan inflict fear and destroy the town. When she tries to take one of her friends to a hospital, but fails to save her friend's life, she swears that she would go kill Eren Jaeger. Does this sound familiar? It should, as for Gabi is a perfect mirror of Eren Jaeger himself when titans attacked Wall Maria and killing his mom, where he swears he would kill every titan. Main difference between Gabi and Eren is that Eren lived for 9 years, fixated of killing the enemy, first on titans, then on humanity (at least until Zeke came along), while Gabi is about to witness her enemy within a short time, compared to Eren. Gabi runs into Falco, but as stated earlier, Falco was able to tell that Eren was there for the sake of revenge and is able to imagine how they felt when they attacked them, as they are experiencing what he felt with their own eyes. Gabi, doesn't think about it and tries to get revenge solely for attacking Marley.

The two board the scout's fleeing air ship, kill Sasha (RIP Potato Girl ;_;) and are off to their enemy's territory. And when they are arrive, they are imprisoned, kill their guard, escape, and run into a resident of the island, and Falco is trying to be as cooperative as possible to their enemy, but also, feeling bad for the people because they are just fighting for themselves, as their nation has. Unlike Falco, Gabi is not hiding the fact that she is their enemy and is witnessing the enemies territory, life, military, and everything else, just like Falco. However, Falco is more sympathetic to people in enemy territory and is more open-minded than Gabi is, so he is able to understand completely everyone's anger, fear, aggression and beliefs, where as Gabi, would not hesitate to call the residents "devils" and admitted to killing Sasha in front of her family. This is why I love these characters so much. They have seen what life in Marley is like, but now they are seeing the life and havoc that is unfolding within the walls because of what their nation did. And they saw both sides within a very short amount of time... This is what I found to be the highlight of the series, the kids experiencing both sides of the conflict and witnessing the harsh reality of the world they are living in and have created.

Conclusion

Well that was a long one. I had a lot to say about it, more than I thought, but whatever. I really am enjoying this series, and when I first started watching the series I went "is this gonna be generic/basic series where they just kill and fight for the sake of humanity" but as the series progressed, it changes the tables by saying that they were tricked, there is more outside, and that their enemy is not titans, but humanity itself. And here we are now, where now the fate of humanity lies within this final battle. This is the Endgame. This is the beginning of the end. I can't wait for the final part to come out, and I will give Attack on Titan Final Season Part 1 a nice big 90/100.