Attack on Titan Episode 62

The Door of Hope

Attack on Titan: The Final Season episode 62 ended a lot earlier in the story than I expected it to. I forgot about all of this Reiner backstory, so I figured that the ending scene was going to be more towards the beginning of the episode. But that’s fine, I still have plenty to talk about this week.

So, let’s start off by going over the current generation of Warriors and where they are now.

1. Bertoldt was the Colossal Titan before being defeated by the Survey Corps and eaten by Armin who is now the current Colossal Titan.
2. Annie is the Female Titan and is under guard somewhere within the capital of Paradis while encased in titan armor.
3. Reiner is the Armored Titan and is currently in Marley awaiting his next mission.
4. Porco is the Jaw Titan. He was originally passed over for a Warrior position but became one after the death of his brother, Marcel. Marcel was eaten by Ymir, who was then eaten by Porco.
5. Pieck is the Cart Titan and is in Marley.
6. Zeke is the Beast Titan and is also in Marley.

It’s safe to say that things haven’t gone so well for the Warriors. At the start of the series, Marley was in control of six of the Nine Titans. There were two (the Attack and Founding Titans) under Paradis’s control and one (the Warhammer Titan) under control of the Tybur family.

But now, Paradis has three of the Titans under their control due to their gaining of the Colossal Titan. And if that wasn’t bad enough for Marley, the Female Titan has been captured. At this point, they only control four Titans.

Tying Up Loose Ends

In this section, I want to go over a few things that you may have forgotten or missed. The first is the transfer of the Jaw Titan, which I already briefly mentioned. I don’t remember it being as clear in the manga as it was in the anime, but maybe I’m just forgetting some panels.

Anyway, the Jaw titan was originally Marcel. Marcel was the comrade of Reiner, Bertoldt, and Annie when they originally landed on Paradis Island. However, Marcel didn’t make it to the walled city because he was eaten by a wandering titan as we saw in this episode.

That wandering titan was Ymir, who then became the next Jaw Titan. But as you may have noticed, Ymir’s Jaw Titan form didn’t look like Marcel’s or Porco’s. That’s because the Nine Titans have different appearances based on their users (usually). Marcel’s and Porco’s Jaw Titans probably look the same because they’re brothers.

Now, the part I didn’t remember from the manga was when Ymir was shown to be eaten by Porco. This happens after Ymir agrees to be taken back to Marley by Reiner & co. It was definitely at least implied in the manga, but I don’t remember it being explicitly shown or stated.

Moving on, something you may have missed is the relevance of the story that the man who hung himself in this episode’s flashback. Reiner, Bertoldt, and Annie meet a man within the walls who tells them of the titan attack and how he escaped before ultimately killing himself.

This exact story is what Bertoldt later tells Eren and the other military cadets when introducing himself, Reiner, and Annie. I just wanted to point that detail out, because I think it’s really cool to see callbacks to earlier parts of the story like that. It’s interesting to see how everything is related.

The Price of War

Oddly enough, I’ve seen some people who think that Attack on Titan as a series glorifies war. I really don’t see that considering all of the horrors that have been featured throughout. This week’s episode focused on a different horror of war, however: The mental price paid by those who have seen war.

We’re given two slightly different views of this in the episode. The first one from Reiner, and the second from the wounded soldier who befriended Falco. With Reiner, we see the toll that years of war have taken on him directly. He’s watched his Warrior comrades die, he’s betrayed his Survey Corps comrades, and he’s killed innocent civilians along the way.

All of this has led to Reiner contemplating taking his own life. He doesn’t end up doing it because he’s reminded that he has to be there for the next generation. But, I’m not so sure that he would have done it anyway. Part of Reiner’s character is that he’s a bit of a coward to acts tough.

Even if Reiner wasn’t actually going to kill himself, Falco banging on the wall and bringing Reiner to his senses was probably the best outcome. If that hadn’t happened, Reiner probably wouldn’t have been able to tell himself he’s living for the next generation.

The injured soldier who Falco talks to isn’t as (mentally) broken as Reiner is. He’s injured, but he’s still sane. That can’t be said for the other soldiers at the hospital though. As the man points out to Falco, the horrors of war are enough to break anyone — and if people really knew the cost of war, they would never go to war.

It’s probably safe to say that Reiner would never have wanted to become a Warrior if he knew then what he knows now. I think the combination of seeing what Reiner is going through and being told how war affects people by the injured soldier is more effective than either would have been on their own.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan: The Final Season episode 62? Should the Warriors have continued on with their mission after losing the Jaw Titan? Would they have not lost the Female and Colossal Titans had they chosen to turn back? And did you catch the callback to season 1? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.