Review: Attack on Titan, Episode 407: “Assault”

Attack on Titan has been building to a confrontation between the characters from Paradis Island and the ones from Marley, and this week’s episode delivers that assault non-stop.

Recap

“Assault” opens where “The War Hammer Titan” left off, with Levi and what remains of the Scout Regiment attacking Galliard before he has the chance to harm Eren. Pieck arrives in Cart Titan form to back him up, with the Beast Titan trailing right behind.

Things look grim for Eren and his comrades as he’s impaled on the War Hammer Titan’s ice. When the Beast Titan gives the order to kill them all, you can’t help but feel like they’ve walked straight to their demise, but it soon becomes clear that the Scouts have been training vigorously with their new weapons and won’t be taken out easily. Even Eren seems to have mastered his Titan ability, leaving one hardened Titan behind as he transforms yet again to fight.

As the battle between the Titans and the Survey Corps rages on, fans finally see what happened to Reiner and Falco. Reiner must have transformed and shielded the young Warrior candidate just in time, because Falco surfaces mid-confrontation relatively unharmed — though, oddly enough, Reiner seems to be unconscious and unreachable from inside his half-formed Titan.

Falco connects this to Reiner’s desire to give up and stop fighting, and after failing to rouse his friend, he finds Commander Magath and Gabi, both of whom are a little too close to the battle unfolding between the Scouts and Titans for comfort.

And even as Pieck insists that they have the upper hand since the Scouts seemingly have no way out of this situation, it’s clear the group will do everything they can to protect Eren as he attempts to eat and inherit the War Hammer Titan. As “Assault” continues, it becomes clear that the Survey Corps didn’t enter this situation unprepared either. Not only does Armin use his newly inherited Colossal Titan to annihilate Libero’s port and much of its population, but Hange arrives later with an air ship, intending to fly off with the Scouts and Eren once the fight is through.

And it doesn’t take long for the Scouts to regain their advantage and take out Zeke, Pieck and Galliard, much to Gabi and Falco’s dismay. Eren even uses Galliard’s powerful jaw to break the ice protecting the War Hammer’s human form.

In what is probably the most disturbing part of the episode, Eren successfully manages to ingest the War Hammer Titan. Just as he’s about to do the same to Galliard’s Jaw Titan, however, Gabi and Falco’s screams finally rouse Reiner, and the episode closes with the promise of yet another showdown between Eren and Reiner in their Titan forms.

Review

This week’s episode of Attack on Titan is the fourth season’s best installment yet, and it’s right up there with the anime’s best episodes overall. The back-to-back action, which is animated flawlessly, definitely makes “Assault” a suspenseful and entertaining watch — though, really, it’s the smaller character moments that take this episode above and beyond what’s come before.

Attack on Titan has done everything it can to invert its narrative during its final season, painting a picture that’s far more complex than good guys vs bad guys. With this assault on Liberio, Eren and his comrades have gone to unforgivable places, bringing them down to the same level as Reiner and the Titan Warriors who do Marley’s bidding. Small moments like Armin wondering if Bertholdt witnessed this level of destruction when he broke the wall underscore this parallel. And as Jean nearly kills 12-year-old Falco trying to take out the Cart Titan, it’s clear the anime is asking how far these characters are willing to go to defeat their enemies (and how much fans are willing to empathize with them in the process).

Eren’s complete and utter indifference to the pain he’s causing contrasts with Mikasa, Armin, Jean and even Levi’s discomfort about what Eren has dragged them into. The characters are in a very gray area morally, and not knowing who to root for only makes the fourth season more compelling and realistic.

Reiner’s refusal to wake adds depth to a character who, despite having done indefensible damage, is clearly done with the violence and just wants to rest. Unfortunately, he clearly cares too much for his friends to remain unconscious for long. With each episode, Reiner gets more and more interesting.

Manga readers will also appreciate the small moments of foreshadowing sprinkled throughout “Assault,” which I won’t get into for fear of spoiling what’s to come. What I will say is that the animators and writers have clearly done their homework, and there are quite a few lines and moments that have a deeper meaning than what anime-only viewers will see on the surface. The creative team certainly deserves props for that.

If “Assault” is only the beginning of season 4, I’d say fans are in for a worthy conclusion to this anime, especially those hoping for complexity and manga accuracy. (Let’s just hope there’s enough time to give every piece of Hajime Isayama’s story the same amount of care and dedication given to this battle.)

Episode Grade: A+

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