Review: Attack on Titan, Episode 413: “Children of the Forest”

Attack on Titan gives us a tremendous episode that challenges Gabi’s worldview and confirms Eren’s descent into villainy.

Recap

Attack on Titan has spent its last few episodes highlighting the tensions within the Paradis Island military, which reach a boiling point when Eren and the Jaegerists turn on their own comrades. It seems Dhalis Zachary isn’t the only person Eren and his followers are willing to sacrifice to achieve their ends, as this week sees them wrapped up in a dastardly plot against Commander Pyxis and the Military Police.

“Children of the Forest” opens not with Eren, however, but with a flashback of Zeke using his spinal fluid to turn innocent people into Titans. If fans needed a reminder of why Zeke probably shouldn’t be trusted, his discussion with Levi about this ability is here to provide it. Even Levi, who has seen his fair share of carnage over the years, points out that human life seems to have little value to Zeke. Unfortunately, their discussion is cut short by the news of Zachary’s death and Eren’s escape.

Following the opening scene, the episode picks back up with Gabi and Falco, who are still staying with Sasha’s parents and the orphans they’ve taken in. “Children of the Forest” sees the family finally taking Nicolo up on his offer to cook for them, with Gabi and Falco accompanying them. This leads them to the same place as the Scouts, who have questions for Nicolo about Eren and the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers.

Things are amicable at first, but Nicolo’s attitude changes when Jean jokingly suggests digging into some bottles of wine reserved for the Military Police. Nicolo’s reaction — to grab the wine and suggest it “shouldn’t be wasted on Eldians” — is the first sign something is awry. However, the episode doesn’t dwell too long on Nicolo’s uncharacteristic outburst.

On the way back to Sasha’s family — wine in hand — Falco and Gabi approach Nicolo, believing that he’ll help them because he’s from Marley. Unfortunately, Gabi reveals a bit too much about their situation, outing herself as the one who killed Sasha back in Liberio. Nicolo, still in mourning, attacks Gabi with the bottle of wine, though it winds up striking Falco when he tries to shield her.

Nicolo then drags an unconscious Falco and bloodied Gabi back to the dining room, where he tells Sasha’s parents what Gabi has done. Emotional and hellbent on revenge, he tries to convince Sasha’s parents that Gabi and Falco should be killed, causing enough of a stink that the Scouts rush in to see what’s happening. His back and forth with Gabi demonstrates that Eldians have lost a lot on both sides of this war, and it also forces Gabi to put herself in the enemy’s shoes for the first time.

Unlike Nicolo, Sasha’s father is inclined to show mercy to these two kids from Marley, despite how they’ve devastated his family. That sentiment doesn’t extend to Kaya, though, who attacks Gabi for what she’s done. Fortunately, Mikasa is there to stop things from getting fatal. She and Armin take Gabi out of the room, but the rest of the Scouts are forced to contend with another threat.

When the screaming match ends, Nicolo asks Hange to rinse Falco’s mouth out, since wine got in it and he believes the wine contains some of Zeke’s spinal fluid. Although he doesn’t have proof, Nicolo believes there’s a plot to turn the military police into Titans. Floch and the Jaegerists arrive soon after to confirm that this is, in fact, the plan, and that they’re all in on it.

With that knowledge, it seems Eren’s break from the Scouts is official. However, the episode ends with him showing up to speak with Armin and Mikasa. With his hand bleeding and ready to activate his Titan powers, however, it seems unlikely that the conversation is going to go very well.

Review

“Children of the Forest” drives home the point Attack on Titan has been trying to make throughout its fourth season: that Eldians on both sides of the war are victims of Marley. Gabi’s storyline brings that home, and watching she and Nicolo scream at one another over what they’ve lost is a truly heart-wrenching moment with A+ performances from both of their voice actors.

The fact that Gabi seems genuinely relieved that Sasha’s parents don’t “hate her” — and upset that Kaya has stopped viewing her as kindly — shows slow but steady growth for her, even though she’s been brainwashed to hate the Eldians on the other side of the sea. There are clearly still a lot of complex emotions Gabi needs to sort through, but she may follow Reiner’s lead and become conflicted about her role in all of this before the series is through. Either way, it was nice to see her relate to “the enemy” for a change.

As for the Jaegerist plot, “Children of the Forest” does a better job of building suspense than previous episodes have. From Zeke’s story alone, it’s clear something big is coming, and things become increasingly more uneasy as the wine situation unfolds. Viewers don’t yet know if Eren and his followers will succeed in eliminating the Military Police as an obstacle, but it seems possible at this point. If they do manage to use Zeke’s spinal fluid to their advantage, it could also spell trouble for Falco, who may wind up a Titan whether he likes it or not.

This turn of events also seems to confirm Eren’s descent into villainy — or at the very least to anti-hero status — as he’s far surpassed making questionable choices without the rest of his team. It appears he’s willing to sacrifice anything and anyone to get what he wants. And he doesn’t ever consider who might be caught in the crossfire.

It’ll be interesting to see how his conversation with Armin and Mikasa goes next week. All three of them look pretty grim as “Children of the Forest” closes, so this could be the final straw for both of them. Could Levi be right to wonder whether protecting Eren was truly worth all the losses they’ve faced?

Episode Grade: A

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