The final stretch of Attack on Titan (Japanese: Shingeki no Kyojin) is almost upon us. In an announcement in January, MAPPA Studios confirmed that the Conclusion Arc of the popular anime will air in two parts: the first will premiere on March 3, while the second part is set to be released later in 2023.
First aired in 2013, Attack on Titan has grown massively to become one of the biggest anime shows of modern times. It started off as a purely shonen storyline where a group of young, fresh-faced recruits served as humanity’s last line of defense against gigantic, man-eating Titans. There was the Chosen One protagonist Eren Yeager, the strong and loyal potential love interest Mikasa Ackerman, best friend Armin Arlert, and warrior of few words Levi Ackerman.
Cut to season 4, and the show had turned almost every trope on its head, blurring the line between good and evil. Let’s take a quick look at the events of the previous season before heading into the new one.
Attack on Titan rematch: Eren vs. Reiner
Season 4, part 1 ended with Eren in his Attack Titan form preparing to confront the incoming military forces of Marley, who were seeking revenge for the attack on Liberio. Part 2 picks up from there, as the Marleyan forces, led by Rainer Braun, launch a full-blown attack on the island of Paradis.
Reiner transforms into the Armor Titan midair while jumping down from an airship. He comes face-to-face with Eren for the first time since the two had the hair-raising conversation in the Liberio basement.
The two have an epic rematch, but Eren soon gets outnumbered as Reiner is joined by Porco Galliard’s Jaw Titan and Pieck Finger’s Cart Titan.
Titans return to Shiganshina
Far from the battlefield, the Yeagerists and Hange Zoe discover a near-dead Levi and Zeke Yeager. Thanks to his Titan powers, Zeke recovers after getting hit with a thunder spear. The human Levi is in far worse shape. Hange manages to escape with Levi while Zeke joins the battle in his Beast Titan form.
Zeke goes for his trademark boulder bombardment and saves his half-brother Eren from a possibly fatal assault from Reiner. Remember: Zeke is playing for the Eldians now. He’s hoping to execute a plan where Eldians are eradicated, ridding the world of the power of titans forever. That requires him to cooperate with them for now, since Eren holds the key to putting this plan in place.
In retribution, Marley forces launch a sniper attack on the Beast Titan. Cornered, Zeke lets out his scream to transform all the Eldians who drank the tainted wine infused with his spinal fluid into pure titans. In a throwback to the earlier seasons, the streets of Shiganshina crawl with titans yet again. (On a side note, watching how easily Zeke can create Pure Titans gives an even darker shade to Levi’s dilemma over whether to choose Armin or Erwin Smith to revive.)
Back to the battle, we also see the heroic death of Porco, as he sacrifices himself to save the life of Falco Grice. Falco, who had drunk some of the wine and became a pure titan when Zeke screamed, inherits the Jaw Titan.
The Coordinates
Meanwhile, Eren breaks free from his hardening and runs toward Zeke. His strides are interrupted as Gabi Braun shoots his head off with an anti-Titan canon. The decapitated head of Eren Yeager flings forward to land on Zeke’s hand, thus bringing together the Founding Titan and royal blood.
If you don’t remember, Zeke inherits royal blood from his mother Dina Fritz, who was a direct descendant of King Fritz. He is transported to the Coordinates, where all the paths connecting all the titans converge. It is a place where time is both meaningless and infinite.
Here we properly see the Founder Ymir for the first time. Her small, disheveled figure here alone amidst the sands is tragic; she is slave til death and forever after.
It is here that Eren, who holds the power of the Founding Titan, can carry out Zeke’s plan to euthanize all Eldians and stop the power of the titans from wrecking the world. But Eren refuses, revealing that he never intended to follow the plan. Zeke tries to pull what is called an ‘Uno Reverse’ in meme culture, admitting that he tricked Eren and that the Founder only obeys someone with royal blood.