ANIME MONDAY: Attack On Titan – “Where The Left Arm Went – Defense of Trost Pt. 5” Review


Previously on Attack on Titan:

The Trainee’s used the Rogue Titan in order to take back their Supply HQ and get the gas needed to scale the third wall to safety. However when they arrived outside, the Rogue Titan was down, and from it’s neck emerged Eren. Spoilers Ahead.

Eren’s Dad doesn’t like spoilers too much

Trost has fallen to the Titans, the survey corps (the most elite troops of the Garrison) led by Captain Levi were currently on a mission to retake Wall Maria before being called back to Trost to deal with the recent Titan invasion. Meanwhile inside Wall Sina, Eren, Mikasa, & Armin are being held at gunpoint by soldiers of the Garrison, who accuse Ere of being a Titan. As Mikasa & Armin try to defend him, a confused Eren recollects how he came to where he is, and where his mysterious new power came from.

As usual we get character introductions, character moments, and revelations this episode. Let’s break it down and speak out new characters first.

We start off by taking a step backwards to before Wall Rose fell as we are introduced to the Garrison’s survey corps and their captain Levi (or Rivalle depending on translation) in full. They were breifly touched upon in earlier episodes but we get a better look at them here. These are the people that explore the world OUTSIDE the walls, which means that they engage Titan’s on a regular basis. This corps is made up of the Garrison’s most elite fighters and it is also branch that Eren aspires to join. Captain Levi, hates the adoration given to him by the people, but is fiercely loyal to his subordinates and shares Eren’s goal of killing all the Titans. He is also very good at dispatching Titans as he takes out 2 Titans on his own, his skills rivaling or possibly even surpassing Mikasa’s.

Levy

Mikasa gets minor but effective scenes in this episode when she stands off against 20 or so soldiers all poised to kill Eren. As usual she is fiercely loyal to her brother and she has a pretty badass line here: “My specialty, is tearing through flesh. If necessary, I am willing to demonstrate at any time. If anyone would like to experience it firsthand, I invite them to be the first to approach.” Now that right there is a pretty BA speech, it shows her loyalty and love for her brother and later she tells Armin that it’ doesn’t matter who she has to kill, she won’t let anyone kill Eren.

We get a small look at Connie & a few other trainee’s as they successfully fleed Trost. Connie, who wasn’t there when Eren was revealed to be a Titan, questions Jean & the others who did on what happened. Jean shrugs him off saying that it’s no use telling him since eventually everyone will know what happened within the walls. We also get a small flashback to how Eren, Mikasa, & Armin ended up where they were as Jean and the others were ordered to leave him be so he could be questioned and executed.

Finally we get the answer to the question we’ve been asking since last episode…”How in the hell did Eren become a Titan?”. We see what happens right after Eren was swallowed by the Santa Titan (yes I’m calling it that) way back in episode 5 and it is pretty unsettling. Literally stuck in the belly of the beast Eren is surrounded by the floating corpses of his comrades who had been eaten as well. He begins to angst having failed in his goal to kill the Titans until he hears a girl call for his mother to save her. This triggers flashbacks of his own mother and why he made his vow. He reaches his left arm (the one that was chewed off) towards the monster throat and suddenly his Titan arm emerges. He turns into a Titan and kills Santa along with another small Titan.

Back in the wall Eren has no recollection of what happened and is confused as to why he is being called a Titan chalking up his acgtions as one as a dream. However, he soon has a memory of his father and the key he was given in episode 1 and remembers just how he became the way he is now.

While not being as good as last episode “Where The Left Arm Went” is still a good episode that fills in a few holes for us. While the explanation of how Eren became a Titan is a bit rushed and confusing it still manages to be a nice little reveal and leaves some avenues for Eren’s development, as he has become what he’s sworn to kill. The war between Man & Monster continues next week as Eren & his friends decide what to do with his new found ability.

4/5