Attack On Titan - General Discussion

[Sandman87]

If I understood the episode correctly, all the action so far has taken place on a big island, with the Titans being a double-edged weapon of war. Substitute the word "yoma" for "titan" and it sounds a bit like the backstory of Claymore.

[PotterOtherP]

I am really happy with the fairy-tale aspect of this story and the origin of the Titans. This is like an inverted version of the Garden of Eden myth. Most other writers would have gone with some ridiculous techy sci-fi backstory involving military experiments gone wrong or mad scientists who took things too far. Ironically, it makes suspension of disbelief easier to go straight to the supernatural.

[Lantern7]

Okay. So Grisha and his sister was a part of an oppressed minority, and she wound up getting killed by a Nazi parallel. He joined a movement, but they were all rounded up . . . and not only were they turned into Titans, they became Titans from the first season (for instance, the bearded guy was the one that chomped Eren's arm off). His wife was transformed into the Titan . . . that killed his second wife? Probably the one that birthed Eren? Meanwhile, Zeke turned in his parents (dick move), but he winds up becoming . . . Beast Titan? I think I'd need charts. And lots of them.

Also, would the Titans have wrecked civilization that quickly? If not, does that make Grisha immortal? Slowly aging?

[Vermicious Knid]

I had to read a few descriptions trying to explain this whole thing and I'm still confused. The story is that Ymir made a deal with the Devil and was given the power of the Titans. Ymir's descendants (and is that literal, biological descendants or figurative?) become the Eldians and create an empire on the mainland. Ymir dies and her power passes to 9 special Titans. Then all of a sudden there's a Foundation Titan in the story and where did that come from? So we are then given two histories. In the Marleyan one they rebelled against the evil Eldians, captured/suborned seven of the nine (Ha, 7 of 9) and used them to win the war and now keep the Eldians oppressed for the good of all mankind. The underground history is the Titans were used to build an enlightened civilization and the Marleyans wanted it all and managed to win the war. The last king decamped to a very large island (because he was a pacifist?) with the Foundation Titan, created the Walls with embedded Titans, and set up the story of this being the last remnants of humanity. Presumably the Royal family used their ability to wipe memories to make sure everyone believed it. What part is true? Well it does seem all Eldians carry the genetic ability to become Titans.

I don't think it's an accident there's an Ymir running around that can titanize and doesn't remember her past.

[PotterOtherP]

That looks correct. I don't think the Eldians are all the literal descendants of Ymir, just her subjects. The Founding Titan will be explained more in the next episode.

The person we know as Ymir does seem to remember her past, as a street orphan who was picked by a cult to be a living representation of the founder Ymir. Whether she has more significance than that is unknown so far.

[lathspel]

I feel like this “the king just got tired of war” story is unlikely.  More like he picked a more defensible position.  

I had missed that we’d seen more than one of this ep’s Titans before.  Seems a little coincidental - maybe they were drawn to Grisha somehow?

[Vermicious Knid]

Huh, does this mean same sex marriage is legal in that world? Not sure about that 13 year deadline, Ymir figured she was in Titan form for about sixty years. But I guess she's not one of the special Nine?

This still doesn't explain where the Foundation Titan came from.

[Sandman87]

As far as I'm concerned, nothing that was revealed about the history of the Titans is believable until it is shown to be true on the screen where I can see it. For example; that "deal with the devil" bit sounds like a metaphor for the Titans being created by reckless scientific research.

[lathspel]

18 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Huh, does this mean same sex marriage is legal in that world? Not sure about that 13 year deadline, Ymir figured she was in Titan form for about sixty years. But I guess she's not one of the special Nine?

This still doesn't explain where the Foundation Titan came from.

What I recall is that Ymir was originally a pure Titan, then she accidentally ate Rheiner and Berthold’s friend, becoming one of the nine.  I think the clock only started then.

The marriage comment was fine, but to me it felt a little like the writers trying to make the show topical.  It took me slightly out of the moment just because it seemed they were trying too hard.

(Also it’s never been quite clear to me that Historia reciprocates those feelings the same way, but I admit I don’t catch every detail of characterization. )

Ymir is going to flip sides before the end, I am positive.  

Edited July 24, 2019 by lathspel

[Lantern7]

For all the angst and suffering this anime has given us, it was pretty satisfying to see the Scouts reach the ocean. Just a mix of awe and slackened jaws all around, as well as the realization that salt water can blind. I know the final season will probably be wall-to-wall death and general mayhem, but seeing Armin and Eren finally getting to see thee ocean? It was nice.

[Lantern7]

Found this. Had a good laugh.

[lathspel]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:38 AM, Lantern7 said:

Found this. Had a good laugh.

The JoJo reference really brought it home. 

[Lantern7]

Trailer for final season has been released. And it looks like AoT will be going big this fall.

[PotterOtherP]

It really hurts that they couldn't finish off Reiner and Zeke. I think about this a lot.

[PotterOtherP]

Season 4 starts Sunday night in Japan, and presumably on Crunchyroll.

[lathspel]

On 12/3/2020 at 4:48 PM, PotterOtherP said:

Season 4 starts Sunday night in Japan, and presumably on Crunchyroll.

The trailer looked nuts -

Spoiler

fully armored steampunk Titans?

 

[ZoqFotPik]

Season 4 premieres this Saturday (1/8) on Toonami.

[Iguessnot]

16 hours ago, ZoqFotPik said:

Season 4 premieres this Saturday (1/8) on Toonami.

Ohh that was quick. I started watching on Crunchyroll but I'm two weeks behind already.

[PotterOtherP]

Four episodes have aired on Crunchyroll, there was no episode yesterday due to the holidays, so Toonami will be four weeks behind.

[Lantern7]

Saw the episode. Not sure what to make of it. I didn't delete it off the DVR just yet. I'm thinking it takes place years after the third season finale. It didn't help that I saw this from clip WatchMojo AFTER I viewed the episode.

That one girl on the Marly side is way the fuck too ambitious. She risked her risk to cripple the opposition, all in an attempt to become the Armored Titan.

ETA: Forgot about the dropping of dudes out of a zeppelin and having them Titan out over enemy territory. Apparently, Zeke can roar to activate the transformations. Also, the Marly troops take warfare about as well as you'd expect. Lots and lots of shell shock.

Edited January 11, 2021 by Lantern7

[lathspel]

Was she sad at the end because Reiner died, or because the Armored Titan essence was lost?

It’s probably supposed to be really strange that the Marleyans have a love hate relationship with the Eldians. 

[PotterOtherP]

Reiner didn't die. It was a little confusing - the ships fired back, and Reiner blocked them.

Marley is committing every war crime in the book. I have been wondering if this whole story is an allegory for Japan and China. There's a small island nation, currently peaceful, but with centuries of warmongering and atrocities in their history. One of their former victims is now emerging as a top superpower, and will use any policy to achieve dominance, no matter how ruthless.

[lathspel]

Somehow I saw it that Reiner sacrificed himself to save Zeke (I love how that autocorrected to Zeon on this site), but he was in the next ep preview so I got it wrong.  
It took me a while to remember that for Gaby to become the Armor, she’d have to become a Titan and then eat Reiner.  It’s been long enough that I’ve forgotten the rules.  

[lathspel]

So far this season’s doing a reasonable job making me sympathize for Reiner, which is pretty surprising really. 

[PotterOtherP]

He's a child soldier who was manipulated into committing genocide. Kind of like Ender, although Ender didn't spend three years living with his victims before trying to finish them off.

[lathspel]

That was Erin at the end, right?  I’m loving the “infiltrate Marley” angle if so.  

[PotterOtherP]

That reminds me - don't forget to watch all the way to the end of the credits

[Nande]

This season is already shaping up to be my least favourite out of the 4

[lathspel]

This season started oddly, but I smiled for the whole time the Survey Corps was on screen this episode.  Even if I now have some sympathy for the Eldians also.

It’s been a while but as I recall Eren doesn’t possess the Founding Titan, he just has access to it since he touched Historia once, right?  The Marleyan’s have generally good intel, I’m surprised they don’t know this yet. (Or I’m misremembering.)

[nomodrama]

On 2/15/2021 at 7:04 PM, lathspel said:

It’s been a while but as I recall Eren doesn’t possess the Founding Titan, he just has access to it since he touched Historia once, right?

I'm very confused about the Foundling Titan, where and who it is, but I thought that Eren was only able to use the Foundling Titan's power because he touched the Titan that was his dad's first wife (can't remember her name), who was at that time the heir to the royal family. I guess this was all before Historia was recognized and then some received it? Or was it lost when Grisha's first wife was killed? 

I'm on episode 65 or Season 4 Episode 5 and I still have more questions than answers.

One of the things I wonder is, if Ymir had the Jaw Titan then why did it look different than the Jaw Titan looks when Galliard has it?

Also the 13 year thing...seems awful inconvenient. Did they ever explain why this happens, does being a human Titan just wear the heck out of your body? 

The Female Titan is the only Titan to have distinctive female features (breasts)-  if a Male person eats Annie.....will he still transform into a Female Titan? 

My 13 year is obsessed with this show, so my husband and I started watching it to make sure she was watching something age appropriate. Now we are complete hooked! This show is like a more fascinating Walking Dead....only about 100 times more depressing. Of course humanity will try to destroy each other even when the world goes to hell and supernatural beings whose sole purpose is to wipe humans out roam the earth. Its always going to be Human vs Human vs Thing Killing Humans. I find the way the characters in this show have zero self awareness....Eren's on a killing rampage and the Eldians in Marley are all horrified and disgusted like "how dare they.....they're monsters." Umm you just mercilessly killed hundreds of people like two days ago.

I'm fully on Team Paradis and just want them to get a win, a real big win when the season is over. The King however wrongly he went about it, had the right idea, to get as far away from the rest of the Titan's as possible. Paradis was totally peaceful and just trying to survive against mindless killing machines being thrust upon them. I have zero sympathy for the Marleyians or the Eldians (Non Paradis Eldians). 

[PotterOtherP]

I've wondered the same thing about the Female Titan. Maybe a male who possessed it would just not be able to transform at all.

The 13 year lifespan is supposedly because the original Ymir only lived 13 years after gaining the Titan powers, so it is a kind of curse.

Eren has been in possession of the Founding Titan and the Attack Titan since he inherited them from his father.

Marley's intelligence-gathering and general strategic abilities are highly questionable, starting with their decision to send four 12-year-olds unaccompanied on a mission to commit genocide.

I almost wrote a bunch of spoilers before remembering that this thread is four episodes behind Crunchyroll...

I've been wondering what a happy ending for this story would look like. Maybe if all Titan powers are re-combined in one person, they would be able to bring an end to it all. I suspect there will be some more major twists before this is all over.

 

 

[Lantern7]

I need to go to bed, so I’ll ask a question.

If a Titan eats a Shifter, the Titan becomes human again, with the power of the Shifter eaten. Would there be a set amount of time for that to happen? I’m just thinking back to the beginning, when Eren got swallowed up by a Titan, and he spent time angsting in its stomach before he shifted to Attack Titan.

Lots of hardcore shit, but I’ll save that for another post. 🤓

[PotterOtherP]

That was anime time, in which a character can think an infinite amount of thoughts in an infinitely short timespan.

[Lantern7]

 Chain restaurant in Japan now offering AoT-themed meals. The stuff sound weird, but I’m obviously not the targeted demo.

[Zonk]

I'm on 4x10. Is it just me or does the current storyline not make sense?

They said they needed the founding titan (that's Eren) and a titan with royal blood and are acting like that is an obstacle. But Zeke has royal blood and he is the beast titan. So they had a titan with royal blood all along. Why didn't they act three years ago? Am I missing something?

Edited March 1, 2021 by Zonk

[PotterOtherP]

You are correct that it doesn't make sense. Zeke should have defected as soon as he learned that someone named "Eren Jaeger" had the Founding Titan. At that point, he should have realized that his father's mission was a success. Also, at that point ALL of the Titan shifters except the Warhammer Titan were present on Paradis Island. Zeke had Reiner, Berthold, Ymir, and Pieck under his command and could have just delivered them to the Eldians easily.

Granted, he was also unaware of the political situation, since Reiner and Berthold ran off before the coup. From his perspective the royal government would have been just as much an enemy as Marley. But instead of assessing the situation and taking action, he sat and waited for the Scouts to attack him. Meanwhile, Eren came within a hair's breadth of getting eaten, which would have undone all of Grisha's efforts.

Zeke continued to fight for Marley for four years, slaughtering enemy troops and sacrificing thousands of his own people, turning them into Titans, etc, and for what? He went to a lot of trouble to make it look as if he had been killed by Levi, but the Marleyans saw through that within a few hours. I think we're still waiting for an explanation that makes all of this make sense. If there is one.

[PotterOtherP]

Now that I think about it some more, Zeke's actions make more sense if acquiring the Warhammer Titan is an essential part of his plan. So I'm going with the real plan being to unite all Titan powers in one person.

Edited March 2, 2021 by PotterOtherP

[Iguessnot]

God bless y'all. I love this show but somewhere during season three I got totally confused about so much and I haven't emerged from my befuddlement. Enjoying every minute though.

[Lantern7]

I’m thinking the final season is basically people doing things they know are bad, yet they keep doing bad things. Except for Gaby. Gaby boarded the invading zeppelin, and she shot and killed Sasha. Gaby is so much worse for doing that. Levi can close his eyes, pretend she’s Eren, and beat the shit out of her, and it wouldn’t be enough for some people.

There are a ton of awesome moments, though . . . like Armin going Colossal Titan and killing scores from the transformative wave. Oh, and Eren’s Attack Titan punching the lady where she was transforming into War Hammer Titan. And then Eren using the Jaw Titan to break her seemingly Unbreakable cocoon. I find it balances the inevitable vibes of hopelessness.

[lathspel]

So Toonami just ran the same episode two weeks in a row, right?

[Lantern7]

16 minutes ago, lathspel said:

So Toonami just ran the same episode two weeks in a row, right?

From their Facebook page:

Quote

Attention AOT fans! Due to past weather conditions in Texas, production has been a bit delayed. So tonight, Toonami will be re-airing episode 68 from last week. Launch into this episode of Attack on Titan, tonight at 12:30a!

 

[nomodrama]

On 3/6/2021 at 9:05 PM, Lantern7 said:

I’m thinking the final season is basically people doing things they know are bad, yet they keep doing bad things. Except for Gaby. Gaby boarded the invading zeppelin, and she shot and killed Sasha. Gaby is so much worse for doing that. Levi can close his eyes, pretend she’s Eren, and beat the shit out of her, and it wouldn’t be enough for some people.

Not trying to argue but Gaby is a bit of a crazy zealot who would probably willfully keep her head buried deep in the sand rather than evolve from her indoctrination. She seems to have incredibly violent tendencies, and zero hesitation to kill anyone. She's a danger to anyone who is different from her. 

I'm watching on Funimation, seems like its several episodes ahead of Toonami, can anyone update on what episode that is on so that I don't accidentally post spoilers. 

[Lantern7]

Saw the latest episode on Toonami. It’s official: I ♥️ Hange. She’s just the most eager of beavers, y’know? And we got to see Sasha pound down some lobster. RIP Potato Girl.

[Lantern7]

I lost track. What is "The Rumbling"?

Gotta give props for Gabi for staying on-brand. You'd think Warrior Candidates would be trained on how to act behind enemy lines. "Try to blend in, as opposed to reaching for the nearest improvised weapon." On the flip side, you'd think the Paradis folks would've been warned about the Candidates. Then we wouldn't have had Gabi kill a rando hanging off the zeppelin, and Sasha wouldn't have gotten killed after that.

[Iguessnot]

14 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I lost track. What is "The Rumbling"?

Gotta give props for Gabi for staying on-brand. You'd think Warrior Candidates would be trained on how to act behind enemy lines. "Try to blend in, as opposed to reaching for the nearest improvised weapon." On the flip side, you'd think the Paradis folks would've been warned about the Candidates. Then we wouldn't have had Gabi kill a rando hanging off the zeppelin, and Sasha wouldn't have gotten killed after that.

I think the Rumbling is when the Titans burst out from the walls.

[PotterOtherP]

My thoughts on the conclusion of the first half of the season:

 

Spoiler

What the fuck? Now we have to fucking wait another year to find out what happens? God damn these cliffhanging bastards.

 

[Vermicious Knid]

Not surprisingly, AoT the Final Season Part 2 has been announced. I've found this finalish arc to be very disappointing; waited so long for answers  and it's something so...stupid. And this is directly adapted from the manga so it was intended to be this way. Maybe the point is that people will commit evil in the pursuit of the Greater Good, while justifying everything to themselves. I was refreshing my memory on some of the characters and plot points since it's been like 1 1/2 years before I started watching this last batch and ended up reading some material further in the manga,

Spoiler

I'm intrigued by the Titan factor being a parasite or symbiont. That's interesting, but I'm so over all the political bullshit.

 

[lathspel]

Prior episodes - what I find hardest to believe is that command officers spend so much time including low level troops in their plans.  

This episode - I like the callback to a much older season.  It was Mikasa who saves the girl using an axe, right?

[PotterOtherP]

No, that was Sasha.

I can buy that Zeke's plan is what it is. What I can't buy is that anyone else would ever be on board with it.

[nomodrama]

4 hours ago, PotterOtherP said:

I can buy that Zeke's plan is what it is. What I can't buy is that anyone else would ever be on board with it.

If they are attempting to make me feel any sympathy toward Zeke, it's not working....he's the worst. 

I can never figure out what is up with Eren....he switches sides so much and is so easily swayed. 

Poor Hange, must be awful to be in her shoes.