Review: Attack on Titan Episode 421, “From You, 2,000 Years Ago”

After speaking with his father for the first time since childhood and learning of his horrible premonition of the future, Zeke is more determined than ever to enact his plan to euthanize the Eldian race, thus saving the world from further ruin. But Eren has his own plan. Who will Ymir obey, and just how did the diabolical power of the Titans fall into her hands in the first place? All these questions get answered on this week’s episode of Attack on Titan, “From You, 2,000 Years Ago.”

I hope you didn’t get your fill of flashbacks last episode, because this one has a second course of backstory for you. Returning to the Coordinate after a brief dialogue with Grisha, Zeke orders Ymir to sterilize all Eldians, but Eren breaks free of his chains and chases after her. As he does, we are treated to a lengthy sequence depicting Ymir’s life two thousand years ago.

As it turns out, Ymir was a mere village girl taken slave by a marauding cavalry of Eldian soliders. Sentenced to be hunted for sport after being blamed for letting a pig escape, Ymir manages to eludes her pursuers by hiding away in a large tree in the forest. There, she comes in contact with “something”, and the first Titan is unleashed upon the world.

Seeing the utility of this beast, King Fritz retakes ownership of his slave and uses her to build roads, clear the wilds, and trample the surrounding kingdoms. Fritz breeds with her, and the Titans multiply.

That’s the first half of the episode. There’s more, but if you haven’t seen it I’ll spare you the spoilers because it’s quite a doozy.

Attack on Titan fills in the gaps

For now, what do I think of this episode? Well, for starters, I like getting more backstory on these legends and myths. Thousands of years ago, the original King Fritz was as tyrannical and power-hungry as the rulers of Marley, and his greed for domination is what led to the spread of the Titans. On Marley, we are told Ymir made a deal with a demon to obtain her power. In reality, it was a chance of fate. Through this, we see how narratives are invented to suit a belief. Subtext aside, it’s also a fun deviation from what’s been established, and it makes sense. History and facts are a hard thing to know, and where there are gaps, humans write stories.

The show makes some visual interesting choices so the far past stands out from the present. Everyone in the flashback has blank white eyes with black lines, just like Ymir. Additionally, no one speaks in the flashback save King Fritz. That was a very clever choice, underlining how Ymir was — and still is — a slave to the King and his will. Of course his voice is the only one we can hear.

The remainder of the episode takes place in the present, where we get a huge development in the story. Expect a lot of action and drama next week, but for now it’s just a cliffhanger.

While important in the overall story, “From You, 2,000 Years Ago” is not too great an episode on its own. Mostly it’s an information dump. But hey, it’s a long series anime; it’s meant to be watched in sequence.

Grade: C+

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