Attack on Titan - Episode 55 Discussion / Poll

[Kairin]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Attack on Titan, Episode 55.

Thread Guidelines

• Raw requests and offers are not permitted anywhere on this forum.
• Spoilers or hints about future events must not be posted in this thread.
  If you need to reference something that would spoil a future event, reply directly with a private message, or seek out a more appropriate thread.
• Discuss your expectations of the episode if it has not aired yet.
• Be polite to your fellow forum members.
• Please try to keep the discussion on-topic.
• Character bashing is not on-topic and will not be tolerated.
• Do not post multiple times in a row. Please edit your existing post if you wish to add additional thoughts.

Episode Thread Spoiler Policy

• Any comment that discloses events, characters, plot or other information before it is revealed in the anime is expressly forbidden whether or not it is behind spoiler tags.
  Spoiler tags should still be used where appropriate.
  Please consult the AnimeSuki Spoiler Policy for more information.
• Adding a Spoiler tag:
  

  Just highlight your spoiler and click the button found on the "Quick Reply" and "Reply to Thread" forms. Make sure that you include a useful title!

• Please use the Report button if you see any inappropriate spoilers:
  

  Click the button found to the left of the post, just under the poster's avatar. Using the Report button is anonymous and helps the Moderators locate and deal with problems quickly.

• Posting inappropriate spoilers may result in a ban.
  Note: Reporting a post does not mean the poster will be banned instantly.
  The Moderators will use bans if warnings are repeatedly ignored.

[Kanon]

Spoiler for episode:

RIP Erwin. UnRIP Armin.

Curious to see how anime only watchers will react to this.

Seeing that moment animated highlighted how ridiculous it was to have them argue for so long when Erwin and Armin were at death's door and could die at any moment. Of course, it made sense, since the characters were purely running on emotions at this point. It's only from an external point of view that you can tell things could have gone horribly wrong.

The anime gave a lot of additional hints (the flashforward last season, the OP showing Armin waking up and a shot of the CT's face right after) but it didn't seem like a lot of people managed to guess what would happen.

Other thing of note in this episode includes Zeke talking about Grisha and claiming Eren has been brainwashed by him. He also told him he wants to rescue him. Oh, and Reiner survived again. Truly the plot armored titan.

Next week: the basement.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler for episode:

RIP Erwin. UnRIP Armin.

Curious to see how anime only watchers will react to this.

Seeing that moment animated highlighted how ridiculous it was to have them argue for so long when Erwin and Armin were at death's door and could die at any moment. Of course, it made sense, since the characters were purely running on emotions at this point. It's only from an external point of view that you can tell things could have gone horribly wrong.

All I could think of was how hilarious it would've been if they both died because they spent so long fighting and arguing.

To be honest though it's not that much of surprise to me. Armin was always closer in the "main character orbit" than Erwin and Erwin's had tons of death flags on him for a while now. I distinctly remember a scene at the end of the previous cour where Levi was adamant that Erwin shouldn't go on this mission because of the risk and at the time I just thought "raise that flag higher, Levi"

But this is quite a boon for the protagonists now that they have Armin with Colossal Titan powers. Eren finally has a titan battle buddy.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Haak

Spoiler for just in case:

All I could think of was how hilarious it would've been if they both died because they spent so long fighting and arguing.

To be honest though it's not that much of surprise to me. Armin was always closer in the "main character orbit" than Erwin and Erwin's had tons of death flags on him for a while now. I distinctly remember a scene at the end of the previous cour where Levi was adamant that Erwin shouldn't go on this mission because of the risk and at the time I just thought "raise that flag higher, Levi"

But this is quite a boon for the protagonists now that they have Armin with Colossal Titan powers. Eren finally has a titan battle buddy.

Yep, it's not really surprising, but the drama felt a bit forced. Out of all the people who participated in this battle, those two just had to be the only ones that were close death.

[Wandering Soul]

The writing was very on the wall about Erwin being the one to die. The whole having his inner thoughts revealed about how much he wants to see the basement along with how he has been fooling all his allies sort of cemented his death.

[Nivek von Beldo]

Amazing chapter, the discussion about who live and die, when a little corny, feels very real, but as Levi say, Erwin got his chance out this hell, now the survivor have to fight for his sacrifice.

Reiner plot armour is so thick, would have been better if he was the eaten.

[frodonk]

Well, I didn't see that twist coming, I thought when everyone was joking about toast armin last week it meant he really was dead and crispy, and that they couldn't use the injection on him. The preview last week showed erwin's death so I knew they didn't use the injection on him either.

Based on last 2 episodes alone I'd say that AoT is the anime of the decade.

And now the ~7 year wait will be over next week

[Dextro]

Called it last week that they would use the shot on Armin (and yes, I'm 100% anime only watcher, always have been). To be fair it wasn't that hard to figure out if you just know how these shows are supposed to work, Haak said it best: Armin was always closer in the "main character orbit" so if they had to pick between him and someone further away the answer would always be obvious.

On the other hand the episode itself felt really good. Sure it's pretty cheesy to have that discussion and it's even more ridiculous when in reality both would have probably been dead long before the argument ended, but it still feels pretty much in character for everyone and the moment of the story to have all that blow up as it did (and resolve as it id as well).

Honestly these last 2/3 episodes have very much recovered my excitement to watch this show week by week after it waned a little bit in the begining of the season and now we get what we've all be waiting for next week: the mother fraking basement! Finally!

[Applehell]

So in the end even AoT doesn't have the big balls to kill one of it's principal characters.

Not that mind all that much eitherway, even if situation was a bit contrived that Erwin and Armin with both right at death's door at the same time to bring about this scenario. Well as from the fact Erwin didn't have the mc privilege, Armin has seriously contributed the most to efforts to save humanity. I also think only fitting thematically that Armin be one to eat the guy who literally nearly burned him to death. Besides Levi and more less got the message that Erwin's pretty much done even before this point.

And finally it's time for mystical basement we have been waiting for to be relevant again!

Good episode.

[Guido]

What makes a choice good or bad?
Are those that either encourage or discourage your growth as a person walking on the hazardous path that is life?
Or those leaving within you a foreboding sense of dread and fear forcing you to reflect back upon the circumstances that either you or external factors beyond your control precipitated to reach such choice, and then you ask yourself if you only had not behaved irresponsibly, if you only had the knowledge, or if you only had stood your ground instead of running away knowing full well that you had the means?
Back then would have had made such a difference had you taken a different decision? After all said and done, once a personal tragedy strikes us whether preventable or not regret is a very human response borned from our deepest dread and guilt.

What Levi chose to do was making the choice he would most likely regret the least once contemplating and weighing all that both Armin and Erwin each individually amounted to and accomplished whether for good or bad.
Because as he explained to Floch and just as Floch chose to feel at the moment he found Erwin barely alive but in agony, the Commander delivered his fair share at leading dozens upon dozens of lives at his charge to their deaths in order to secure a fleeting but conclusive victory for humanity, and this enterprise had to culminate with his death in order to reach that goal.
For Erwin, his punishment is dying without ever learning of the secrets of the basement that store the truth left behind by Grisha Yeager.
He asked Levi to make the choice for him, and Levi chose to order his Commander to lead himself (Erwin) along with the recruits to their deaths in order to distract the Beast Titan long enough so that he (Levi) could take him down.
I'm pretty sure that had Levi forced Erwin back into their hellish world after the Commander himself fulfilled his final mission, then Levi would surely had regretted it the most.
Precisely, because in exchange to forsake his dream and ambition Erwin died along with the troops to deliver a victory against all odds with virtual zero probability of survival, while for the moment Levi failed Erwin to kill the Beast Titan.
At that moment, Levi thought to himself he had no right to force Erwin back on hell to play again the role of a devil, because Erwin in exchange wished to be delivered and freed from that role if accomplishing his selfish dream was no longer possible.

In contrast, Armin is young and a naive opting to be opened for negotiation rather than resorting to violence against his foes. His cunning intellect and powers for observation and deduction have been maturing with each experience at death's doorstep ever since the Battle at Trost.
Will Armin become more in handy and resourceful for what's in store for the future?
We can't tell but the world is full of endless possibilities, and save for death nothing else is for certain. Nevertheless, what's in the grasp of the survivors is that Armin made it back thanks to Levi acquiescing following his initial choice at not bringing back Erwin, that they successfully stolen the Colossal Titan powers at the expense of devouring Bertholdt (it came full circle starting with their betrayal to let Marco die for the sake of covering their mission and ending precisely back to the start with a helpless Bertholdt screaming for help, but his former friends just stand idly without lending a hand), and, finally, ready to uncover at last the secrets of the basement.