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ATTACK ON TITAN SEASON 2 EPISODE ANALYSIS - EPISODE 6 (EPISODE 30)
Since we only just resolved this season’s first arc, I had assumed that this episode would consist solely of characters’ reflections on past events and set up for future ones. I am happy to report that this episode is a little more eventful to say the least.
First though, we do need to recover after last week’s emotionally draining conclusion and recap exactly where we are at. On that note, I am so, so happy to see that Ymir is alive (though comatose). I was genuinely saddened at the thought of her being dead, even if that death made logical, emotional and motivational sense. Still though, it definitely makes sense that Ymir has survived - I mean, if Eren could survive being almost digested, surely Ymir can survive losing a chunk of her digestive tract? Titan shifters are clearly made of much sterner stuff.
With Ymir out of commission so to speak, Christa (or should I call her Historia?) has to explain the situation to Hanji and defend Ymir’s actions. As Historia argues, even though Ymir hid vital information, in the end she used her powers to save her comrades, proving her loyalty. Furthermore, while Ymir concealed many vital secrets, she was motivated by the simple (read: selfish) aim of protecting herself, rather than any nefarious conspiracy. Hanji, too, completely understands that Ymir has the potential to be a great asset to humanity, as long as they can ensure that she is first and foremost an ally.
I feel like we’re seeing the psychological impact of Christa reasserting her identity last episode as she successfully convinces Hanji; Christa is really coming into her own as Historia (I’m still getting used to writing that name XD)! Historia’s gentle appearance and manner has always belied her fierce determination and formidable strength, so I love seeing this strong side.
There’s still something else hanging in the air that needs to be addressed though. As Hanji brings up Christa’s true identity, Historia Reiss, a pained, pensive expression crosses Historia’s face. For Historia, this name brings a painful weight, along with countless bad memories. So when Hanji comfortingly pats her shoulder and says “nice to meet you”, this oppressive weight almost immediately lifts and the mood changes palpably. In this one line, Hanji reframes Historia’s reclamation of her name, not as a resurrection of pain and strife, but rather, as a new beginning. Yes, it’s only a very short scene, but there’s always time for some character development!
But these brief scenes are basically all moot compared to the real meat of this episode; and that is Reiner. I thought I had a handle on who Reiner was as a person. Sure, there was a lot I didn’t know about him, but I still thought that after all this time I understood who he was in a general sense. Boy, was I wrong! The moral of the story is don’t get cocky, I guess.
We first see Reiner struggling to climb onto the top of the wall with his injured arm. Noticing this, Eren immediately goes to help him, holding out his hand which Reiner accepts without hesitation. By introducing Reiner here, this brief scene reinforces our basic understanding of Reiner and Eren’s relationship; they are comrades who unconditionally trust each other. The camera lingers on the shot of their gripped hands, a symbol of camaraderie, trust and unity.
This is all very basic stuff, but it is crucial setup for Reiner’s eventual betrayal. From the beginning, the show is hinting that something is up through multiple shots of Reiner (and Bertholdt) reflected in puddles. It’s a concise, elegant way too remind us that there is more to Reiner than meets the eye and that we will soon be seeing another side to him. This quick scene at the beginning of the episode quickly establishes a foundational understanding of Reiner’s place in the characters’ minds, which the show can now start to complicate, deconstruct, and, in the end, destroy.
Reflecting on the night’s events, Reiner begins to freak out about his very recent near-death experience. In my episode 4 analysis, I wrote about how Reiner exemplified the show’s critique of the ideal of heroic sacrifice. To recap, Reiner’s actions in episode 4, though superficially heroic, are ultimately presented as foolhardy, impulsive and unnecessary. Interestingly, Reiner realises this as well, reeling at his actions and blind heroism. In this moment, Reiner confronts his own mortality and he’s honestly not handling it well.
Reiner, as we have heretofore understood him, has embodied three essential ideas: bravery, loyalty and stability; basically the perfect soldier. In this one scene, the show begins to break this down by showing us that behind his brave actions lies very real fear and weakness.
Throughout this scene Bertholdt looks on with an intensely stressed expression on his face. As a side note, I have to say Bertholdt is perhaps one of the most enigmatic characters in the show. Until this episode, I would have simply dismissed him as unremarkable and frankly, forgettable. I mean, the only thing I could have said about him was that he is tall and strong – it’s almost hilarious how these two seemingly mundane facts actually function as clues to his real identity.
It’s hard to express how weird, awkward and generally unsettling this scene is, along with the episode as a whole. What should be a comforting moment of safety and contemplation for our characters never materialises, with everyone palpably unsettled, stressed and clearly still on guard.
This feeling only intensifies when Hannes confirms what we’ve known for a while now: there is no hole in the wall. In the face of such an inexplicable mystery, the only option is to retreat to Trost and regroup. As they start to walk off though, Reiner asks Eren to stay back for a moment and we finally get to the big reveal of this episode.
Now, AOT is a show built on shocking twists and turns and it’s really, really good at them. The problem with this however is that after a while the audience inevitably becomes accustomed to these reveals and they no longer shock like they used to; AOT’s unpredictability becomes, in a sense, predictable. Additionally, viewers get better at figuring out the twist well in advance. I think a lot of people had already figured out that Reiner is the Armoured Titan (it’s the hair isn’t it?). So how do you make a reveal like this shocking without the audience rolling their eyes and smugly thinking that they’re way ahead of the show? - Context and framing!
You see, AOT knows that after 30 episodes the audience doesn’t just expect a twist; they also expect a certain amount of melodrama and set up before the twist is revealed. Historically, information that is this important and this world shattering doesn’t just get told to us or to the characters. They have to fight tooth and nail, risking their lives for it.
So to have this twist calmly revealed by Reiner so unceremoniously with no setup or conflict whatsoever, it’s not only a surprise; it’s just wrong. Paradoxically, it’s how completely and utterly anti-climactic this reveals is that makes it so, so shocking and so effective. This is absolutely world-changing information, and both Reiner and the show itself are treating it like a run-of-the-mill conversation - like it doesn’t matter at all! In this way, even if the specifics of information aren’t necessarily shocking, the way in which it is presented to the audience definitely is! It’s using our own understanding of dramatic and storytelling conventions against us and it’s pretty genius.
This is all wonderfully and effectively supported by cinematic language. There’s no dramatic music, no intense, emotional close-ups; just a cold, disinterested distance. Every shot and edit all works together to express both the mundanity and the abruptness of this revelation, so I’m going to spend the next section unpacking it!
We start with a shot focused on Mikasa in the foreground as she walks out of frame, leaving Eren, Reiner and Bertholdt in the background. Now, this isn’t a good shot by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, it’s dreadfully ordinary and incompetent. This shot isn’t trying to be visually compelling though. Instead, it’s actively trying to misdirect and distract us.
By focusing initially on Mikasa, our attention is immediately drawn away from the three boys. Furthermore, the blocking of the characters is incredibly awkward and uncommonly inexpressive, with Eren and Reiner facing away from the camera. Every bit of this framing tells us one thing, loudly and proudly; nothing noteworthy is happening. The shot is literally telling us to not pay attention.
Then Reiner calmly says that he and Bertholdt destroyed the wall 5 years ago and that their ultimate aim is to destroy humanity. We’re not even shown his face as he says this! This is one of the craziest, most revolutionary reveals of the show, and it is presented to us, cinematically and contextually, as if Reiner were talking about the weather.
No time to register this information though, as the show immediately cuts to Hanji pondering how the titans could have appeared within the wall. We’re already taking a second longer to process what Reiner just revealed after we pre-emptively dismissed it; now, this medium shot of Hanji’s intense but irrelevant contemplation actively tries to distract us again.
Then, as Reiner admits that he is the Armoured titan and Bertholdt is the Colossal titan, we cut to a wide shot of the scouts walking away from this scene, highlighting their obliviousness to the traitors in their midst. At this point, we’ve caught up with the implications of what Reiner is saying, but with the multiple points of focus, giving us a lot to process visually. This, along with the lowered volume of Reiner’s dialogue further limits our ability to absorb the true implications of this information remains limited.
It’s all so masterfully done. I am consistently impressed by how well-made and thought out this show is, and how, against all odds, it manages to stay fresh after all this time. Bravo.
Now, as this scene unfolds, I assumed that everyone’s uneasy demeanour was just a general reaction to the frankly confusing situation they’ve found themselves in. However, as we flashback 12 hours earlier, we are shown that the whole scout corps already suspected something amiss with Reiner and Bertholdt. Thus, another layer of complexity is added to this scene and the charged atmosphere is reconfigured as a feeling of anticipation and hyperawareness.
For the 104th cadets, it’s important to understand just how much they trust Reiner. Reiner was like a brother to them, a rock of the team if you will. Their loyalty to him is so deep that they almost can’t believe that he could have been conspiring against them this whole time. Thus, this part of the episode works to further destroy one previously foundational aspect of our understanding of Reiner: loyalty.
As the facts pile up against Reiner, Eren continues to defend him though, becoming increasingly distressed at the mere suggestion that he could be a traitor. After all he’s been through with Reiner and Bertholdt, as friends and soldiers, it’s almost impossible for him to conceive of them as enemies. Tragically, Eren’s only error here is that he’s too loyal and too trusting. In any other situation, these would be admirable traits. But when everyone is a potential threat and the wrong decision could mean the eradication of humanity, Eren’s naivety means he is ill-equipped to deal with the situation at hand.
You see, Eren is inherently idealistic (or to be cruel, naïve) and truly believes in humanity and his comrades. This unwavering belief in the value of humanity is essential to his triumphs, as it gives him the strength to overcome impossible odds and prevail over the greatest despair. However, in order to retain this idealistic view of a cruel world, Eren has been forced to adopt an incredibly black and white understanding of morality. In Eren’s mind, you’re either intrinsically good and trustworthy, or you’re irredeemably evil and monstrous.
Crucially though, Eren naively assumes that reality reflects his view of the world and is unable to conceive of anything that falls outside of this stark dichotomy of good and evil. Dangerously, this blinds him to the reality of the world and makes him more vulnerable to manipulation. Additionally, because his worldview and ideals are continuously and cruelly challenged, with people proving themselves more complicated than this, Eren is inevitably traumatised precisely because of his strict adherence to such a rigid understanding of humanity.
So in the face Reiner and Bertholdt’s betrayal, let’s just say Eren isn’t going to deal with it well. Still, with all this in mind, he actually does a pretty good job defusing the situation and placating Reiner, trying to react as anyone would to such a preposterous proposal by playing it off as a delusion or even a joke. Bertholdt seems all too eager to use this as an out – he too is flying by the seat of his pants – and enthusiastically agrees.
However, Eren goes too far when he recklessly decides to question Reiner’s thought process. The only reason Reiner would have revealed his secret to Eren is because he seriously thought there was a chance Eren would agree to come quietly. Frankly, this is an irrational, illogical idea and any person in their right mind would know that this wouldn’t work, but not Reiner. It’s kind of innocent or even idealistic, that Reiner could possibly think that Eren would agree to his proposal, but also worryingly delusional. So when Eren points this fact out, Reiner is genuinely shocked, dismayed, and maybe even hurt.
Gradually, this episode has broken down every conception we’ve had of Reiner as a person. We believed Reiner was physically strong, so we were shown his emotional weakness. We believed Reiner was loyal, so we were shown his betrayal. And now, though we believed Reiner was stable, now we’re shown his instability. He’s not cool and collected at all, he’s irrational and volatile.
Visually, this episode has been tense and unsettling throughout, with stormy skies and violently waving flags, symbolising the constantly shifting situation at hand and Reiner’s unstable psyche. So when the flag pole suddenly snaps, we know that Reiner has made a decision. There is no going back now.
Suddenly, Reiner declares that he’s been here too long for his own good and he becomes deeply ashamed his naivety. Though he is committed to his cause, some part of him, I think, does genuinely care about everyone he’s fought with. In his irrational state, offering Eren an opportunity to come quietly and prevent the eradication of humanity seemed like a valid way to reconcile this his greater plan with his new ties. However, realising the impossibility of any compromise, he now feels his only choice is to commit to his duty as a warrior and see their plan through to the end, no matter the consequences.
Throughout the show, Reiner has described himself as both a soldier and warrior, and the difference between these terms is crucial to the choice Reiner makes. The term ‘soldier’ recalls ideas of strength, bravery, loyalty and stability; essentially, our past conception of Reiner. Crucially, unlike a warrior, to be a soldier one must be part of an army. Thus, the term ‘soldier’ also brings up associations of conformity, disciple and camaraderie. In contrast to this, the concept of a warrior exists independent of a larger group and thus symbolises individuality, agency and power. A soldier fights in an army for a community but a warrior fights for himself. Thus, in his decision to be a warrior, Reiner forsakes his community, deciding to fight as an individual for his own enigmatic desires.
This pace has been slowly quickening, building up tension, and now it all comes to a head as Reiner and Bertholdt put their plan into motion, transforming into their titan forms. Until this moment, I don’t think Eren truly believed or, at the very least, understood the implications of what Reiner revealed to him. He’s actually sobbing at what he is forced to face in Reiner. Treasured memories flash through his mind, of training with Reiner and Bertholdt, confiding in them and trusting them. Eren truly loved both of them.
But now, as Eren watches the world turn to chaos around him, Reiner’s status as titan and traitor finally sinks in and eradicates his conception of him as friend and comrade. But if they’re not his friends, then what are they? They are monsters, they are irredeemable traitors and they need to be destroyed. |