Attack on Titan – Episode 40 (Review)

By: ThunderheavyarmMiss my review last week? You can find it here!

Spoilers ahead!

Last week, Eren and Historia were captured by government forces and Levi came under attack from Kenny, his old mentor. After battling through Trost, the scouts—minus Eren and Historia—captured two members of the Military Police Interior Squad and tortured them for information. They learned Historia was in fact the true heir to the royal line and the family of Lord Rod Reiss. In addition, they also found out that Eren would be devoured so the government could attain his power to coordinate titans.

Summary

In a moment of flashback, Historia explains her story to the scouts the night before they arrived at Trost. Her mother was exceptionally cold to her, and hated the fact that she even had her. One night, Lord Reiss arrived to take her to live with him, only to have men in black kill Historia’s mother. In an effort to save Historia, Reiss suggested she take on the identity of Krista and live a quiet live elsewhere.After obtaining information from Hange, Erwin has hatched a plan to overthrow the government. He believes that putting forth Historia as the legitimate ruler would cause the puppet currently on the throne to step down. However, Erwin is arrested, because in the last episode he was blamed for the assassination of Erwin Reeves, who assisted the scouts. Then, the entire scout regiment is arrested for conspiracy. Hange, now in command of what remains of the scouts, goes into hiding to evade the military police while Levi’s team, hiding out in the woods trying to sneak into Lord Reiss’s lands, is approached by a squad of gun-wielding military police.

Review

The mystery becomes revealed in this episode as we get to build on two other characters: Erwin and Historia. Erwin is a bit of a new look at things since we can see his motivations for trying to gain power. The episode also sheds light on why he has resisted the command of the government so vehemently in previous seasons while others kowtow immediately. The only complaint I have is that the revelations brought on by looking into their past were too short. Both of these characters could have easily been given their own episodes, something I suspect probably happened in the manga version.While this one is much lighter on the action from last week’s episode, the break is appropriate. New information has come to light for people that don’t already know about the greater story, and needs to be developed. That being the only complaint that I had for this episode, I feel it was very well-rounded. Plus, the promise of action next week seems like a good pattern if the story maintains it. That said, having a few more back-to-back action episodes wouldn’t be unwelcome if the story actually called for it.That’s all for now guys, until next week. GG!