Last time we ended with me all but certain Erwin was going to sacrifice himself in order to liberate the walled cities from a corrupt government. The actual events of this episode fall somewhere between a cop-out and a surprisingly well executed plan. I’m not salty about being wrong, but the misdirection felt, I don’t know, a little undeserved.
This entire episode focused mostly on the events of the interior wall and the execution of the coup plan Erwin put into motion. When the guy confidently said he had a plan to overthrow the government without shedding any blood, I was wholly expecting things to go sideways and for for Levi Squad to have to arrive to help out.
In fact, Hange and Levi hardly feature in this episode.
“Reply” starts with the council going through obvious motions before sentencing Erwin to death and the disbandment of the Scout Regiment. Erwin calmly reminds the council that without the Scouts to fight back against the titan threat, all humanity is doing is hiding, delaying their own extinction.
Before he can be dragged away, the doors fly open and someone announces the titans have breached another wall. Commander Pyxis orders the gates be opened and refugees be brought into the interior city. The council immediately countermand this order and tell them to seal the walls, leaving a huge portion of humanity to die to the titans. All in order to save themselves.
The attack, however, was a false alarm and the garrisons oust the government after their flagrant disregard for the people they are supposed to be watching over.
There is something incredibly satisfying about watching a privileged ruling class, who care more about their own personal comfort and power than the people they’re supposed to represent, get their hypocrisy thrown in their own faces. As satisfying as this coup was though, it also felt kind of anticlimactic. Everything just came off without much of a hitch.
Considering how many episodes the show took to build up to this moment, I thought there would be a little more drama to how it unfolded. I guess, for all the praising of this show I have been doing, and for how much it has kept my attention without having the action that helped it become a phenomena, I am getting a little antsy to see some more action now.
The episode ends with Hange figuring out a clue towards where Erin and Historia are being held. Then Erin is tied up in Lava Reef Zone 2 to be sacrificed in order to transfer his titan powers to another.
As much as I’m enjoying the show still, I am kind of itching to get back to some kind of action now. Political intrigue is fine, but it needs something else to offset it. Now the government are overthrown, I guess we can start focusing on fighting back against the titans and the likes of the colossal and armoured titan and wherever they come from.
A Richard Wood Text Adventure 