♪ Opening Song ♪
Commander.
He's about to climb.
Soldiers!
You are not yet to engage the Armored Titan!
Maintain a safe distance.
[SCOUTS] Yes, sir!
[EREN] Hange.
Why doesn't he have us attack?
What's he thinking?
[HANGE] The enemy prepared quite the welcome.
He's watching their movements for now.
Erwin doesn't want to act until he understands their strategy.
[ERWIN grunts]
[ERWIN] That quadruped type has some kind of cargo on its back,
which tells me that it didn't transform just now.
[ERWIN] It's also likely that this was the enemy's scout.
But for it to take notice of our approach
and relay that information to Reiner...
That must mean...
They have one more intelligent Titan.
It's that quadruped type.
[LEVI, ARMIN gasp]
Though there may well be others.
[ARMIN] That Titan is carrying cargo.
What could it be?
[BOTH gasp]
[roars]
Get ready!
Multiple two- to three- meters approaching!
[ERWIN] This is just like the siege of Utgard Castle.
They'll start by targeting the horses.
Their primary objective is still to capture Eren.
But towards that end,
they intend to eliminate our only chance of escape.
[ERWIN] As of five years ago,
Wall Maria's perimeter is deep in Titan territory.
So, if they do wipe out our horses,
we'll have no means of getting back.
Not only would this block our escape route,
it would cut off our supply lines.
[ERWIN] It might take a week or a month,
but there will come a point at which none of us can move.
They'll forgo the risks of a proper battle,
and opt instead to take Eren once he's too weak to resist.
[ERWIN] I'm sure of it now.
The proof is in the fact that those larger Titans
are still standing in formation.
Their only purpose is to prevent our retreat.
--[SCOUTS gasp] --[ARMIN] Sir.
What now?
The Armored Titan is almost up!
Bertholdt hasn't shown yet, but he must be nearby!
Yes. I'm well aware.
[ERWIN] At this point, the thing I fear most
is that Reiner and Bertholdt will reach our horses
and slaughter them unchecked.
Therefore...
You finally ready to say something, Erwin?
Been waiting so long, I could've made breakfast.
Dirk Squad and Marlene Squad, too!
Join Klaus Squad and protect the horses at the gate!
Levi Squad and Hange Squad!
I need you to take down the Armored Titan.
Employ the Thunder Spears at your own discretion.
Do whatever it takes to achieve your objective!
This is our moment.
Our chance to strike.
The fate of humankind depends on this battle!
Lay down your hearts and lives...
...one final time, for humanity!
[SCOUTS] Yes, sir!
[KLAUS] Hear that?
We'll turn the tables on the Titans
as they come for our horses!
[SCOUTS] Sir!
Hey. Hold on, you two.
Hange can lead both your squads.
I'm going to need you right here, Levi.
So I'll protect the horses instead of Eren?
That's right.
And when the chance arises, you'll strike him down.
You're the only soldier I can trust
to dispatch the Beast Titan.
Understood, sir.
I wasn't fast enough to finish off the Armored one earlier,
but I'll atone for that by taking the Beast Titan's head.
[LEVI grunts]
[ERWIN] Armin.
I have a plan for the Armored Titan, too.
[ARMIN] Uh--sir.
We have to win on two fronts to secure victory.
I can handle one.
The other, I'll leave to you and Hange.
[REINER] There they are.
Gathered up in one place.
I'll kill the horses and make a break for it.
That's good enough.
No matter how strong Captain Levi is,
he's still no match for our War Chief.
[sighs]
[REINER] That was a close one.
If I was any slower in
transferring my consciousness to my body,
I'd've died instantly.
[REINER] How did they even think to check inside the walls?
[REINER] Armin.
Was it you?
[REINER] It doesn't matter now.
Once this is done, our long journey will reach its end.
[REINER gasps]
[REINER] Erwin Smith.
Can't let him distract me.
I've got to kill those horses.
[REINER gasps]
[REINER] Eren!
[REINER] Why would he show up when he doesn't have to?
They should be painfully aware
that abducting him is our main objective.
[growls]
[REINER] What is he thinking?
[REINER] Will he run south and climb over the wall?
As a Titan, he could circle around and escape to Trost
without a horse.
[REINER] Were that to happen,
we'd have no reason to stay here and fight.
Even if we did manage to annihilate the Scouts,
Eren mastered hardening in two months.
We can't let him back in the walls.
No way.
If he learns how to harness the Coordinate's full power,
we're finished.
[REINER] Hold on.
Something's off here.
If his goal really was to escape,
he would've used ODM gear to scale the south wall
and then transformed.
[REINER] But instead he transformed
right in front of me, in the center of town.
[REINER] I get it.
He's a diversion.
They're trying to change my target from the horses to Eren!
You're not giving me any time to think, Commander.
You clever bastard.
Makin' me get down when I just climbed up.
[EREN] Good. He went for it!
[HANGE] He wants to use Eren as bait?
Yes, that was the Commander's order.
[HANGE] Hold on.
So he's willing to risk Eren's capture
just to protect the horses?
You're kidding.
Even if we try it, Reiner might just go after the horses anyway.
[HANGE] No.
I'm sure he'll chase Eren.
If Reiner does go after the horses,
then Eren can continue running north
and wrap around the Beast Titan's formation.
With Levi, the Scouts, and Eren,
they can catch the Beast Titan in a pincer attack.
Erwin must've said as much himself, right?
[ARMIN] Um, yes.
Even if things don't go as we hope,
the enemy doesn't expect Eren to flee,
so it might confuse them enough to get them to break ranks.
The only question is can Reiner see that far ahead.
Knowing him, he should work it out pretty quickly.
Okay.
This is where we'll bring down the Armored Titan.
[ARMIN gasps] Wait a second!
There's one more factor we need to consider.
He's still hiding, but Bertholdt must be nearby.
The last time they fought,
Eren outmaneuvered Reiner and had him on the verge of defeat,
but then Bertholdt caught him with a surprise attack,
and he ended up their captive.
[EREN sighs]
[ARMIN] As a simple counter-measure,
do what you can to keep the fight away from the walls.
[EREN] It might've been a fluke,
but I've beaten you once before.
[EREN] And I'm stronger now.
[EREN] One-on-one, I can win.
[EREN] When it comes to hand-to-hand combat,
Annie makes you look downright weak.
[REINER TITAN grunts]
[EREN TITAN grunts]
[EREN] Do you have any idea where we're standing right now?
[EREN] This place...
[REINER TITAN groans]
[EREN] ...was my home.
Was our home!
--[EREN] But then you stole it! --[roaring]
[EREN] We're taking it back.
And you can't stop us.
[EREN] Get in our way, and we'll slaughter you all.
[SCOUT 51A] Recruits! Keep moving with the horses!
[SCOUT 51B] We'll keep the Titans off your backs!
--[FLOCH] Hey, Marlo! --Huh?
[FLOCH] Where do we tie the horses?
We were told to avoid putting all of them in the same place.
Just keep going, all right?
[SCOUT 51C] Two more small ones coming from the east!
So those... are Titans?
[LEVI grunts]
[LEVI grunts, pants]
It's Captain Levi!
Now's our chance! Hurry!
Finish killing the small ones already!
Get it done before the Beast Titan moves!
And no casualties!
Don't you dare get eaten.
[SCOUTS] Sir!
[panting]
[LEVI] Shit.
Who the hell am I kidding?
These kids are gonna drop like flies.
Shoulda left 'em up there.
[ERWIN] We struggle against the smallest Titans now.
The Scouts have grown weak.
Most of our veterans have been buried, burned, or...
[ERWIN] Still, if not for the lives we sacrificed,
we never would have made it half this far.
[ERWIN] When I was a cadet,
I told the others about my father's theory--
My faith in it.
I told them that once I was a scout,
I would prove he was right.
[ERWIN] But once I actually joined the Scouts,
I stopped talking about it for some reason.
No, that's wrong.
[ERWIN] It wasn't "some reason."
I'd realized something.
That of all my brave comrades,
only one was fighting for himself.
They bled and died for each other,
while I fought for a selfish dream.
[ERWIN] Then I came to lead my comrades.
Gave them orders and inspiring words.
Be brave.
Give your hearts to humanity.
I played them all for fools.
Myself, too.
[ERWIN] And now,
standing on this mountain of brave corpses...
[ERWIN] ...I have quite the view.
[ERWIN] Still,
Grisha's secret lingers in the back of my mind.
Even if this plan should fail,
there's a chance that I could still reach that cellar.
[ERWIN] Before I die, I'd like to see it.
The truth of our world.
[yelling]
[EREN TITAN yelling]
[REINER TITAN grunts]
[EREN] Those experiments paid off!
[EREN TITAN grunting]
[EREN] These fists are all I need to beat you!
[EREN TITAN roars]
[REINER TITAN groans]
[EREN] When I focus my hardening on one point, it gets stronger.
Since his armor's spread across his whole body,
I can smash it like thin ice!
[REINER TITAN growls, grunts]
You're too slow, you stupid oaf.
You won't win!
[REINER TITAN grunts]
[EREN] Damn it, no!
[REINER TITAN roars]
[REINER TITAN growls]
[REINER TITAN grunts]
[roaring]
[MIKASA gasps]
He needs our help!
[HANGE] Not yet!
Everything rides on our first attack!
We need to wait and trust Eren to give us a good opening.
[REINER TITAN growling]
[EREN grunting]
[EREN] Your new weapon is a big metal rod?
It's pointy, dumbass. That makes it a spear.
The Corps of Engineers
really came through for me with this one.
They've been going through a plethora of technologies
kept hidden by the Interior Police.
And I told 'em that while they were at it,
they should try to cook up a weapon
that'll work against the Armored Titan.
And that's what they came up with?
Our blades may as well have been made of paper
against that armor of his.
All we could do in our last battle
was watch Eren fight the Armored Titan
from the sidelines.
There just aren't enough openings in the plating
for us to cut through.
True enough.
Even at close range,
we couldn't do anything to make him let Eren go.
[CONNY] Back then, if the Commander hadn't
drawn that horde of Titans towards him...
[HANGE] Until now, the only attacks that've hurt Reiner
did so by working around his armor.
I'm referring to Eren's grappling techniques.
Also, Eren's been experimenting with a new "hardened punch,"
for which we have high hopes.
With that said, if those were our sole weapons,
this mission would be doomed to fail.
It's vital that we plug the holes in Wall Maria,
but what matters most here
is that we eliminate Bertholdt and Reiner,
ensuring that they can't breach the wall again.
Okay, so what's the plan?
We'll stab the Armored Titan with those spears?
Think I'll just show you.
Let's go outside.
[thud]
[ALL gasping]
It's powerful, as you can see.
Not far from a lightning strike.
Hence our calling them "Thunder Spears."
They're good weapons,
but are they enough to bring down the Armored Titan?
There's no way to be sure until we try.
These can tear a normal Titan apart,
but to do real damage against the Armored Titan,
it'll take some extra work.
[BOTH grunting]
[yells]
[REINER grunting]
[REINER] Shit!
[REINER] It doesn't look like biting Eren out of there
is something I can handle by myself.
[REINER] Guess it's on to Plan B.
[growls]
[HANGE grunts]
[HANGE] Go! Now!
[gasps]
[REINER] They're making a move?
I knew they've been gradually surrounding me, but...
...how exactly do they plan to hurt me?
I've got hardened plate armor
covering every vital point of my body.
Their blades can't even scratch it.
[MIKASA grunts]
[HANGE grunts]
[REINER gasps]
[roars]
[ALL gasp]
[EREN] Did we do it?
[HANGE] This just might work.
The Thunder Spears are so destructive,
they pose a danger to those who fire them.
If you anchor to the Titan itself
and move in as if to slash it with your blade,
you'll end up caught in the resulting explosion.
Which means the only chance to use Thunder Spears
is when the target is surrounded
by multiple tall, solid structures.
We can only attack with Thunder Spears
in situations exactly like this.
--[REINER TITAN groaning] --[HANGE] Right here and now,
[HANGE] we have to end it!
[SASHA grunts]
[ALL grunt]
[REINER gasps]
[CONNY yelps]
Good! We've got him!
The spears worked!
The armor on his nape is in splinters now!
[CONNY grunts]
Whoa, it really worked?
We can actually do some damage!
[HANGE] Do it again!
You each still have a Thunder Spear.
Use them to end this!
[CONNY, SASHA gasp]
But it's Reiner...
Come on, guys!
We said we'd do it if it ever came down to this!
So let's go!
[CONNY, SASHA, JEAN yelling]
[ALL grunting]
[REINER groans]
[REINER] No! I don't wanna die!
[roaring]
♪ Closing Song ♪
[NARRATOR] If someone had just said the right thing,
could the future have been different?
Lives in the balance,
weighing them down.
None can be saved, except through more death.
Next episode: "Descent."