It’s more than a little frustrating when you have a character present who has answers to very important questions, yet refuses to speak up for rather contrived reasons. Though we don’t quite know why the priest doesn’t speak up I can’t really think of anything that would possibly be preventing him from doing so. This world isn’t advanced enough to have listening bugs or specialised bombs. And with him admitting that he will speak only to Trista of the scouting legion that suggests it’s not a matter of him being overheard either. I just can’t really see it as anything but a contrived reason to keep the audience in the dark. So I think this is the episode where this anime’s production values can’t keep it interesting for me. Though it seems like those are slipping as I notice more still frames in play. Perhaps my lack of interest stems from the fact that I read the manga and thus all this baiting for answers isn’t grabbing me because I know the answers. Though I also remember this was a round the point that I started to lose interest with the manga. Still what have we learned with this episode?
For one we learned that the material of the wall is made out of the same crystal material as the titan’s hardening which means that they could block the hole in wall maria by Eren making use of the technique. I am not certain if Eren made use of it before in the first season but Levi pretty much says for him to shut up and do it with hopefully will mean that Eren won’t be angsting up a storm about it. We learn that Connie’s village was apparently attacked by titans but oddly there isn’t any blood or signs of villagers escaping. Considering the rather bloodchilling “Welcome Home” Connie got from the immobile titan I think it’s a safe assumption that the Titans within the wall are the villagers of Connie’s town. What further proves this is that the wall has not been breached which pretty much means these titans somehow climbed over the wall or magically appeared within it.
I did really like the moment where during the check on the wall one of the soldiers was getting ripped up by the anticipation of an enviable titan attack. Being out in complete darkness and knowing that at any moment giants can come out and rip you to pieces is nerve wracking enough but agonising over when it could happen is sure to drive anyone mad. This show does lack subtle when it comes to character interactions so it’s pretty clear that Ymir lied to Crista over being with her because she wanted to be and clearly has a second agenda. Reiner was acting weird as well with just how hard he was trying to get Connie to ignore what the titan said but I admit I have difficulty determining if this was him covering up the truth or just acting really over the top for dramatic effect. Now that are stuck in a castle with Titans at the doorstep. But for good news this week, Sasha got a potato. Honestly that did make me smile.
