As a massive fan of the MAPPA era of Attack on Titan - to the point of preferring it over the WIT era - I was incredibly excited to see how their conclusion to this monumental saga would turn out. And honestly, I think this is a pretty good set up for that climax - however, I don't think it's perfect, and it's definitely the weakest AoT release since the first season, which is quite disappointing.
First, I'd like to go over what worked with the episode: I thought the entire opening was incredibly well done, and I especially loved how Eren's conversation with Ramzi was intercut with the Rumbling. I think the entire scene encapsulates Eren's current state of mind and his tragically hypocritical worldview perfectly, and, after all this time, the much anticipated "This is freedom" shot felt like a gut-punch to the gut when I finally had the context for it - though I will say, it was visually somewhat disappointing; but I'll let it slide, as I do for most of MAPPA's Attack on Titan, because the storytelling present is still stellar. I also thought Hange's death was done very well, and the image of her blazing in the skies while she saves her comrades really impressed me. I also really liked her last interaction with Levi - though I unfortunately can't say the same about her interaction with Erwin, which I felt was done very clumsily. I also thought the choice of music for the scene was uncharacteristically poor for the series, though I didn't feel the same way about the rest of the episode as some others apparently did. I also liked the ending, it has me incredibly excited for the next episode - I'm glad that all of the action has been kept for the finale, with this episode serving as the last preparations for the final confrontation.
However, unfortunately, I think this episode also suffers from this - though not in the way I've framed it. I actually love episodes of Attack on Titan focused moreso on conversations than action, and it's why Season 4 is my favourite season - a lot of it is just characters talking to each other. The reason I like these episodes so much, though, relates to the content of those conversations - and unfortunately, that's also why this episode disappointed me. I found that, apart from the opening and (most) of Hange's final stand, the writing was incredibly disappointing - the standout being the Eldians' conversation with Eren in the Paths, which features perhaps the single worst line in the entire series: "You don't have to keep committing genocide for our sake". I think this actually highlights a problem I've had with this entire season - the Rumbling is treated incredibly inconsistently.
The opening to this episode contrasts to the conversation with Eren perfectly - it shows us exactly how devastating the march of the Titans is, conveys Eren's anguish over it, and highlights precisely how he has gone wrong in his pursuit of 'freedom'. The conversation in the Paths, on the other hand, does an incredibly poor job at all of these things - the Rumbling is treated as if it's an elementary school misdemeanor and attempts to show the struggles Eren is facing and the flaws in his character through dialogue so incredibly on-the-nose that it's too embarassing to even be considered as a genuine attempt at writing. This discrepancy with the treatment of Eren's genocide is also present throughout the rest of the season, as I mentioned, and I think it ultimately stems from the fact that the writing is treating Eren too preciously - I understand that he is the central character of the story and was it's protagonist for so long, but he is no longer in a position to be treated so favourably. He has been positioned as the final antagonist and there is no longer any going back on the atrocities he has committed - and while I am fully in support of exploring how this extreme shift is affecting him mentally, I do not think that the constant wave of sympathy he gets from other characters is warranted. Should he get such treatment from his fascist personality cult? Absolutely. Should he get it from our current protagonists? Absolutely not. I no longer think any of the main cast would be expressing the level of support for him that they have been if this was any other character that they were similarly attached to. I actually think Mikasa and Annie's earlier conversation regarding the scarf Eren gave her does a good job at this - yes, she is still attached to him, but their connection can no longer get in the way of what must be done. Unfortunately, though, I don't feel that this sentiment is carried equally throughout the rest of the episode or series - which is a shame, as I really don't think it was necessarily a difficult attitude to portray, particulary in their conversation in the Paths.
Ultimately, though, I think this episode is still a very solid way to set up what should hopefully be an amazing finale - even though it was somewhat underwhelming.
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