Previously on Attack On Titan:

Eren regains consciousness after returning to his human form only to find weapons pointed at him, Mikasa, & Armin. After remembering what happened to him, he is able to use his new found power to save himself and his friends from a cannon shell. Spoilers Ahead.

After using his powers to save himself and his friends, Eren uses the confusion in order to plan his next move with Armin & Mikasa. He tells them that he plans to go back to his house within Wall Rose in order to use the basement key his father gave him, thinking that the basement holds the secret to defeating the Titans. He also comes to another decision, if Armin can convince Commander Kitz that he is not a threat to humanity, he will stay and use his power to help defeat the Titans. He then turns to Armin and tells him that the decision is up to him.

There is virtually no action in this episode, but that’s ok as this is the episode where Armin really gets to shine. He’s had a few moments in earlier episodes, but this one is the one where he really shows his stuff. He once again begins to think that he only held Eren & Mikasa back and that they would better off without him, but when Eren hands him control of the situation Armin realizes that his friends never thought of him as weak, and this allows him to be a total bad ass and persuade the Garrison to not kill Eren in a very rewarding scene for the blonde haired soldier.

Eren obviously has more development as he begins to further understand the powers given to him, which are activated when he bites his left thumb. He also gets angry that his father abaonded him without telling him why he did what he did to him and also possibly holding out on info about the Titans. He & Mikasa also get into an argument when she wants to go with him to the basement but he adamantly refuses telling her that she doesn’t always have to follow him around, but she counters that she doesn’t have to do what he says. Nice to know that these two can still argue while having guns, cannons, and swords pointed at them.

We get a small look at the other Trainee’s as one of them starts freaking out about what happened at Trost and saying that he felt no emotions when his comrades were killed, scared out of his mind. Sasha is also still dealing with the fear from 2 episodes again when she fakes a stomach injury to be counted among the wounded.

We see the reemergence of Commander Pixis, head of  the entire Southern District, when he halts Katz’s second order to fire. He is shown to be an “extreme eccentric” which is shown when he takes the three up to the wall to look at the Titans on the other side, drinking down alcohol from a flask as he comments hat he would love to be eaten by a “beautiful Titan woman”. He also asks Eren if he can move the boulder in order to block the flow of Titan’s into Wall Rose using his Titan form showing that he does have some kind of plan in mind.

Pixis

“Response” is another excellent episode from this so far stellar series. The tension is thick, the characters are relatable, and the drama is pretty well executed. Armin definitely steals the show but the other characters aren’t left behind in the dust either. The war to survive continues next week, as Eren puts Pixis’ plan into action.

4.5/5