Previously on Attack on Titan:

Eren was put on trial to decide whether he would be turned over to the Survey Corps and live o, or be turned over to the Military Police and be executed. After a through beating from Captain Levi, Eren is turned over to the Survey Corps. Spoilers Ahead!

After being over to the Survey Corps, Eren is escorted to the Corps’ old headquarters within the forest of Wall Rose. Under the care of Captain Levi & his Special Ops Squad, Eren will begin to learn how to control his Titan abilities. Things seem to be going well until Hanji arrives and asks Eren to assist her in her Titan experiments.

Another episode with no action, but Attack on Titan has shown that it can handle exposition and development as well as action; and this episode is no different.

We learn more about Levi and the members that make up his Spec. Ops squad through Eren’s eyes, and it is kind of funny to see Eren almost fanboying over them as he talks about their stats. Besides Levi there are 4 other members: Petra Rall (sort of the mother of the group since she’s the only female of the squad; Kills: 10, Assists: 48), Oluo Bozad (cocky and talkative; Kills: 39, Assists: 9), Eldo Jinn (Kills: 14, Assists: 32), & Gunther Schultz (Kills: 7, Assists: 40). We also learn that Levi was a vicious thug before Erwin convinced him to join the survey corps. Safe to say that Levi’s entire squad is a few birds short of nest.

Most important part of the episode happens near the end when Hanji enters the picture and explains her experiments to Eren. This not only expands on Hanji’s character more, but we also get a lot of information regarding the Titans. Apparently they need sunlight to survive (the amount needed depending on the size of them), their bodies are quite light despite their immense size, they have vocal chords but don’t need breathe, eat, or drink; but why do they eat humans if this is true?

“Sonny” (Left) & Hanji

Hanji herself is shown to be exptremely obsessed with Titans despite their danger to humanity, opting to treat them more like humans than monsters so much so that she even cries when she has to test their pain threshold. She even goes as far as naming two of the Titan’s captured during the Trost battle (Sonny & Bean). Much to the soldier’s (especially Hanji’s) shock, Sonny & Bean are killed by an unknown soldier, prompting Erwin to ask Eren who the real enemy is…

Trust No One.

“Special Ops Squad” is a nicely paced episode that expands on Levi, his squad, Hanji, & the Titans. Despite the overall lack of action, is still a necessary stop before we start the next arc of the story. The war to survive continues next week as the hunt for Sonny & Bean’s killer begins.

4.5/5