Another hour-long episode takes the number 6 spot in the Top 12 Countdown and anime fans, you all waited for your time in the spotlight as the year continues to wind down, and here we are and coming in at number 6, much like with The Owl House, this series too had wrapped up its run, in the anime that is since the manga ended a few years ago, and that would Attack on Titan with “The Final Chapters Special 1” taking the number 6 spot in the Top 12 Countdown.
And right off the bat for this episode, this special, and this is what in the community would call it the “ultimate fuck around and find out” moment for the nation of Marley upon the arrival of Eren and his hoard of Colossal Titans making landfall after leaving Paradis to enact genocide but not before we start the episode with the scene from the very first episode of Eren waking up from under the tree and Mikasa asking him to get going and noticing Eren crying from his sleep as if we’re rewatching the first episode but with a different animation style, so there’s that. Right after that scene, right off the bat with how the episode started with Eren and the Colossal Titans making their way to redraw the landscape of every continent and country in the Attack on Titan universe and people going into panic as they’re about to be sent to the lobby and the lines for the afterlife is going to be a long wait.
And we saw that with the first two victims in this episode when it comes to people being stepped on by the Colossal Titans like they’re bugs and that is the refugee that the scouts came across during their infiltration mission years ago that led to Eren leaving the scouts, that being Ramzi and his brother Halil, who just hiding their collection of coins, only to end up taking it with them to provide for their family. And Eren...Eren, that apology speech to Ramzi after dropping him off at the cliff where the refugee camp is, and whether it’s Yuki Kaji in the Japanese Dub or Bryce Papenbrook in the English, goddamn, what a chilling performance by either actor when it comes to that scene with Eren in tears apologizing to Ramzi for what is about to come, especially when we get to the moment where the bag of cash falls to the ground and for Hamil to pick it up despite Ramzi’s calls to leave it while trying to run for their lives, what a performance and it’s chilling with that apology from Eren for something he didn’t do after saving the kid despite leaving him alone when getting beaten up in the alley. And the moment where you have Ramzi seeing Ymir in the background right before being trampled by the Colossal Titan alongside his now-dead brother because of the rubble...like...holy fuck, man. Brutal for sure but for a show that is heavily depicted for violet scenes like this one, then I don’t know what show you’re watching.
But why stop there? Because for the next 10-15 minutes of the episode...good God, this is where shit hits the fan, y’all. From people running from their lives to buildings crashing and burning as a herd of Colossal Titans led by Eren transform the landscape and trample the entire population of each city on the continent and beyond the inside of Marley territory, it looks stunning and at the same time, terrifying. The visuals alone for these scenes at the start of the episode with Eren’s reign of terror made things look apocalyptic when it comes to an apocalyptic event like The Rumbling. The red sky trying in with the sunset and the fires that erupted from each of the towns as well as the smoke that clouded the Colossal Titans, as well as sounds of terror from each of the townsfolk either running away from the action or just gave up and accepted their fate, it made things look so real. And what’s even wilder is that one scene while the whole thing was going on with Liberio where you have Zeke and Eren’s grandparents being detained courtesy of Zeke’s betrayal to Marley getting caught in the crosshair as they get trampled. Like...there are no other words to describe the beginning of this episode but to say “holy fucking shit” when describing the beginning of the episode with The Rumbling entering Marleyan soil.
And the icing on the cake, Eren’s speech about him feeling what true freedom is. Describing his and Armin’s dream of one day venturing outside of the walls and seeing stuff that they can only see in a book that Armin brought with their own eyes. Watching a young Eren feeling the wind of him finally feeling free despite the massacre of the masses at his watch. It’s total insanity when watching the first 10-15 minutes of the episode of seeing a genocide being unfolded and to top it all off, you have a kid version of Eren asking present-day Armin through the Paths on what is going on. An insane couple of minutes to start the episode and I gotta say, a million chef kisses to this scene. All this is because of Eren wanting to protect his friends and his homeland, though we’ll get to his actual reasoning in the finale, and don’t worry, it’s somewhere in the remaining spots of the countdown.
But after what was an insane first 10-15 minutes of the episode of seeing the horrors of what The Rumbling is capable of, we had to cool things down with everything starting to set up for the final battle to stop Eren and put an end to the Rumbling. And that's pretty much the first half of this hour-long episode. You have the boat scene with Annie and Armin talking to each other where you have Annie thanking Armin for visiting her while she was cocooned inside her hardening shell throughout the past four years, though you have Armin blushing and don’t know if that was Bertholdt doing the talking since Armin does have his memory along with him taking the deed of the Colossal Titan. I mean, you have Armin blushing but you also have Annie blushing in return for a bit in what might as well be them trying to deny their feelings for each other despite that everyone is dealing with a world-ending event that is fresh on everyone’s mind. And you have Annie saying to Armin that he only visited her in the past four years that he has a gentle soul and it was only right for him to visit her in captivity. Saying that he’s a good person and let’s face it, she killed a lot of people during her time before hardening herself into a crystalized cocoon. But let’s be real, Armin isn’t a saint either because he killed a lot of people too. And that’s just him transforming into the Colossal Titan to blow up the port and the civilians that were caught in the crosshairs at the behest of Eren to have himself a high kill count. But it’s not just Armin that Annie had talked to leading up to the final battle...
You also have Mikasa talking to Annie once they arrive on the island to place the plane in the workshop to stock up on fuel and ammunition with Annie already making her decision to not join the fight against Eren because of the loss of willpower over the worry of her dad being caught in the crosshair of The Rumbling and with everyone losing precious time with Eren now in Marleyan territory and now with Magath sacrificing himself, alongside Shadis, to get everyone out of the port from the Jaegerists, that’s more than enough for Annie to not get her hands on the ODM gear and join in the fight. And Annie did have a point when it come to the outcome if the Rumbling were to stop. Going out and saving the Marleyans who persecuted the Eldians from the Rumbling and even if they do stop Eren, it’s going to cause the Marleyans to hate the Eldians even more, even after saving them from being taken out. And the Marleyans, despite being scared shitless after seeing Eren and the herd of Colossal Titans with thinking that all the Rumbling is Eldia’s retribution, they’re not going to brush it off as if it’s going to pretend that didn’t happen. Oh yeah, and you also have Annie’s supposed reason for not going with her saying that she said quote-on-quote “wanting to live peacefully”, which is more than enough for Mikasa to find out that she has feelings for Armin and she knows how Annie feels because of her emotions towards Eren.
So after all that prep work throughout the night, ranging from fueling the plane for the morning to having Gabi and Falco to be stay put with Kiyomi and the rest of the Azumabito alongside Annie to Hizaru, as well as a flashback with Yelena and Eren plotting with Eren, of course, alongside Floch to play the role when agreeing to Zeke’s offer to team up to end the bloodshed, the morning arrives and uh...yeah, Levi...it might be getting to the point when seeing this episode when it came out that he might be washed but leave it to Levi to say that he can get around and say that two fingers is more than enough to be useful in the battlefield. But besides all of that, everyone is preparing to go their separate ways with the crew ready to board the plane to make their way to Eren, from Armin and Annie saying goodbye and still trying to hide their feelings for each other to Hange...oh Hange, wanting to ride on Pieck’s Titan, only for Pieck to deny Hange’s request, we should be good to go...right, gotta talk about this scene.
Floch...fucking Floch. Ladies and gentlemen and others, this is what in the community is what we call pure dickriding. The definition of dickriding because we all thought that Floch had died after getting shot to death by Gabi back at the port. That is what we all thought at first, but nope, he somehow survived despite looking badly injured and losing a massive amount of blood. And you know what the crazy part of all of this was? This motherfucker attached himself to the ship from one island to another in the ocean. Not a lake nor a river nor a pool even, the entire ocean. So, the fact that he not only survived the hit by Gabi that sent him to the ocean and lost an excessive amount of blood from his body leaking into the ocean, but to attach himself to the ship and followed them from one island to another baffled a lot of people, including myself. All to stall progress by shooting the plane, resulting in disrupting the fuel insertion, and make sure everyone doesn’t leave the island so that they won’t stop Eren from what he thought would do Eldia a favor to get back at Marley.
And then...we get to Hange. Talk about an exit and a bittersweet one at best. So, right after Floch disrupts the progress to get everything moving to stop Eren and now with the herd of Colossal Titans now making their way to the workshop, everyone becomes sitting ducks. Having no clue on what to do to buy everyone time. So after everyone has their “I am Spartacus” moment by wanting to volunteer to take on the herd, you have Hange taking up to the place, and here comes what is going to be Hange’s swan song. Her declaring that she’ll be the one to take down a few or more Titans to buy everyone time to get the plane moving and at that moment, she may have signed her death warrant by sacrificing herself for Paradis. But not before naming Armin to be her successor as the Captain Commander of the Survey Corps and later coming across with Levi one final time, her telling him that this was the moment she was waiting for and for someone who had a fascination with Titans, seeing a herd of Colossal Titans with her very eyes, so have that to be crossed off from her bucket list. And the moment Levi put his fist onto Hange’s chest, telling her to dedicate her heart with Hange being surprised that Levi dared to say it but said it with respect as if he knew that it was the end of the road for her...yeah, this is pretty much the end of the road for one Hange Zoe.
And...let’s not kid ourselves, this was a fantastic scene. An amazing scene with Hange going out in a blaze of glory when taking out every Colossal Titan one by one to buy everyone time to get the plane ready for takeoff. The visuals, the animation for the ODM with Hange going left to right to take out each Titan with her thunderspears...the music choice for this scene...holy fucking shit, this was amazing but at the same time, bittersweet when seeing someone who had been around for the past ten years making their grand exit and what a way to go out in a blaze of glory. Literally, because her cloak got caught on fire when doing the job and knowing that the Colossal Titans had the ability to produce steam, the cloak being made out of flammable material, not to mention the gas being used for the ODM gear and being made out of metal, much like with Armin’s sacrifice back in Season 3 to buy Eren time to seal the hole on Wall Maria, you know, before being brought back to life by Levi, thus having his death to be pushed by 13 years, this was a sacrifice done beautifully. And the reaction on everyone’s faces from inside the plane to the boat, mourning the loss of Hange after making the sacrifice to get everyone out of dodge. And Levi...Levi, the look on his face, losing another comrade, and not only that, with Hange out, he’s the sole remaining member of the old guard in the Survey Corps. Let that sink in, he’s the sole remaining member of the old guard after Hange made her farewell. But other than that, it’s a fantastic and heartbreaking scene to watch with Hange going out in a literal blaze of glory and uh...yeah, pour one out to a real one. R.I.P. Hange.
So, right after the plane took off and everyone minus one on board making their way to where Eren is heading, you have the crew coming up with a plan to find a way to get Eren to stop whatever he's doing with Armin still believing that talking him out of it would still be the best viable option. But once everyone entered the Paths through Eren’s psyche and despite a lot of convincing coming from Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Connie, and, of course, Levi for a bit, yeah...as Levi put it, it looks like going for a diplomatic solution isn't going to cut it. Especially when going after someone who is pretty much a complete psychopath who is currently wiping out everyone and doing it to rival an asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. Hell, Eren even said to everyone that if they’re going to stop the Rumbling, they’re going to have to kill him. Sucks for everyone but it looks like they don’t have any other choice but to do what Eren told them to do the job.
You have that small scene with Annie and Kiyomi on their way to Hizuru with Kiyomi already fearing for the worse with the worry that her country may have fallen by Eren enacting The Rumbling and apologizing for her and Hizuru’s part to help Paradis because they didn’t even know that this would turn out this way with Eren given the keys to start The Rumbling. Regretting coming up with the idea of having Zeke and Eren teaming up...well, that and also being a-ok with Historia wanting to volunteer to take the Beast Titan, as well as the Azumabito, well known by the world as money grabbers, laying their eyes on a precious resource only found in Paradis. The talk, however, gets interrupted by Gabi and Falco when wanting to talk to Annie about something important that Falco may have encountered in his dream, rather in Zeke’s dream because of the spinal fluid that a portion of the wine that was tainted landed in his mouth after Nicolo attacked him with it and finding out that each Titan has their own special ability and it appears that Falco may have found his with him finding himself flying, which will be seen in the next episode later in the countdown.
Going to the final few scenes of the episode where we have the Eldians who were in the internment zone escaping the Rumbling and making their way across the desert with Annie’s Dad holding a Marleyan soldier hostage with a gun pointing on his back to get to safety. And it’s not just Annie’s Dad who made it out alive, but you also have Pieck’s Dad, Falco’s parents, Gabi’s parents, and Reiner’s Mom who also made it out alive when everyone noticed that the blimps are leaving where the base are at as if everyone is heading out in panic. Shocking everyone including the Marleyan soldier to speed the train up but once arriving, it was already too late but there was a reason why the blimps had left the station and it was revealed that they were using the blimps to go make a b-line for Eren and the Colossal Titans as the last line of defense. One of the commanders, named Müller, announces on the PA system that the blimps are going on the offensive to take on Eren and telling the masses that Marley’s persecution of the Eldian race and how society failed them because their hatred towards the Eldians produced Eren to be their downfall and hoping for one day, all that hatred would go away, leading to that small flashback with Reiner’s Mom raising Reiner to go through the idealogy when living in the internment zone from the day he was born to the moment Reiner inherits the Armored Titan. The blimps make their way towards Eren and...
Well, there goes Marley’s last line of defense because apparently, the herd of Colossal Titans doesn’t seem to be the only concern for the military because Eren decided to pull something out of his ass by having the Beast Titan, Zeke’s Beast Titan coming from his back, pretty much tells you that Zeke is somewhere inside Eren’s Titan. So yeah, everyone is fucked now that the last set of blimps is now destroyed by Eren, and uh...yeah, everyone at the base are fucked and I mean FUCKED all caps. Nowhere to go and become sitting ducks...or so we think.
After ten years of being on the air, we have finally reached the final battle of the series, or at least the next episode, and might as well have this scene be the set up, where we finally have the crew making their way from the skies with fuel running low and now, one of the engines damaged thanks to...I guess a stone version? AI version of Zeke’s Beast Titan? The state is set for the Scouts and Eren...the Scouts skydiving from the plane looks amazing by the way, the stage is set for the final episode, and yes, another long wait when the episode first came out back in March but at least we didn’t have to wait for a year this time around.
So with this episode in the thoughts section, the start of the episode and the ending to it with the Scouts jumping into the back of Eren’s Titan, along with Hange’s sacrifice were the highlights for me in my opinion. And I think we can agree on that. The start of the episode with Eren enacting hell on Marley was fantastic. Dark, horrific, violent, and incredible scoring and visuals, it was an insane start to the second-to-last episode of the anime and the studio went all out on that to get everyone to be indulged in the episode, knowing that we’re in the endgame when the episode first came out. Also, can MAPPA please treat their workers with better treatment? Putting it out there. Hange’s death was also fantastic and they did it perfectly. Again, the visuals, animation, and everything that was built for this scene and in this episode as a whole despite being a set-up episode for the finale was incredible. And I can already see y’all question me why I have it at number 6, but it’s my list and it’s already too late to make changes. Again, a great episode, and what a way to set up the final episode.
This wraps up the number 6 spot on the Top 12 Countdown of the year 2023. What do you think about this episode? Should it be higher, lower, or stay put on your list? Put it in the comments below as we prepare to go into the Number 5 spot of the Top 12 Countdown. Which episode and series will be taking the fifth spot? Find and see sometime tomorrow. Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. And y’all should know the drill by now...
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