Attack on Titan S3: Midnight Sun

Welcome, one and all, to my latest weekly episode review for Attack on Titan Season Three. Today, I’m looking at the episode Midnight Sun. This mostly played out how I expected it to, and at its best, was a great episode. I’m going to start with something that I didn’t like though.

Reiner. Again.

Reiner survived again. Honestly, this is really beginning to bug me. The problem is, if the Titan Shifters are so unkillable, then there really is no hope for the heroes. The antagonists have more Shifters than them, so they win the numbers game. The rest of the humans? They’ll die eventually. I don’t dislike Reiner as a character, but that should have been it. When we saw him without limbs, and Jean stopped Hange from executing what was left of him, I actually groaned. Ugh.

Who To Save?

Moving on though, the majority of the episode was given over to the question of who to save. This was everything I wanted it to be.

Initially, the syringe is going to go to Armin, with the plan being for him to eat Bertholdt. When Floch turns up with a barely alive Erwin though, it throws a spanner into the works. Levi’s initial view is that the syringe should be sued on someone who can save humanity, which in this case means Erwin. He’s the leader of the Scouts, after all. This causes both Eren and Mikasa to attack him, leading to Hange turning up and grabbing Mikasa.

The reality of the situation is really hammered home for the characters during the next few scenes. Hange’s speech to Mikasa was genuinely phenomenal. They explained that there are literally hundreds of people she’d love to bring back. In the end, though, everyone has to say farewell. This whole thing is analogous with war, and while Hange is not happy about it, they’ve has accepted the realities of that. Hange also notes that Erwin’s leadership skills are part of what gives hope to those within the walls, and they don’t want to let that flame of hope die out.

Eren is the one that puts forward the best case for Armin. Of course, Erwin’s skills were important, but it was Armin who found the solution not many problems they’ve faced. He could be hope for humanity too. Meanwhile, Floch argues that Erwin’s plan to best the Beast Titan was good, but the soldiers died in fear. You need a devil to defeat the Titans, and Erwin is exactly that.

Levi sends everyone away so that he can inject Erwin, but when he starts to insert the syringe, Erwin bats him away. He isn’t really aware; he’s simply having a flashback to when he asked his teacher how they know there aren’t any other humans beyond the walls.

In the end, Levi chooses to inject Armin and said new Titan brutally devours Bertholdt, stealing his power. When he’s asked why he did it, Levi says that Erwin became a devil because of them, because that was what was needed. He deserves his rest now. The whole scene was played out with some beautifully fitting background music enhancing it. It was so, so well done. It also places us in the position that I had hoped for: Armin is still a potential future leader, and he now has Titan powers to aid in that. Well done Wit Studio for that one.

Other Things

Two minor things were also thrown into the mix this week. First up, Reiner was carrying a letter from Ymir that was intended for Christa. Hange did say that they’d deliver it to her, but only after they’ve inspected it themselves. I’m glad to see a little progression there, as I thought that Christa and Ymir were sweet together.

Meanwhile, Zeke also confronted Eren. He said that Eren looked nothing like his father and that they’re both victims of him. When he fled, he also told Eren that one day, he’d be back to rescue him. That was interesting as it really did show that Zeke is fully invested in his cause and views regular humans as the issue. His remark about Eren’s father brainwashing him was also an interesting one, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

So, those were my thoughts. But what about yourselves? Did you enjoy this episode? Do you agree or disagree with any of my observations? Let me know in the comments below.