Attack on Titan Episode 68

Anti-Marleyan Volunteers

In Attack on Titan: The Final Season episode 68, Yelena and Onyankopon have finally been introduced. Yelena has been around for a few episodes now, as she was the one who trapped Pieck and Galliard before Eren declared war on Marley.

I remember a lot of people thought initially thought that was Armin. But no, it was revealed to have been Yelena in the previous episode when she took off the fake beard she was wearing. And, Onyankopon was also first shown in the previous episode as well. He was navigating the airship used to pick up the Scouts.

But it’s not until this week’s episode that we actually learned who Yelena and Onyankopon are. Pieck previously mentioned that she recognized Yelena as a follower of Zeke, but that didn’t really tell us much.

Yelena and Onyankopon are both members of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers. This group is made up of people who were conscripted into the Marleyan army after their home nations were conquered. They follow Zeke and view him as a godlike figure who will help bring about the downfall of Marley.

While not Eldians themselves, they’re effectively in the same boat as the Eldians. Their peoples have been persecuted by Marley, and so rather than viewing Eldians as monsters, they view them as brothers in arms.

However, it should be noted that not everyone who came to Paradis Island on the ships with Yelena and Onyankopon thinks as they do. Many aboard those ships were actual Marleyan soldiers or soldiers from other regions who still fear the power of the Titans wielded by the Eldians.

The Plan to Defeat Marley

Last week, Zeke mentioned something about his plan requiring both the Founding Titan and a titan with royal blood. This was expanded on a bit this time around. But, it’s important to note that we still haven’t actually been told what Zeke’s plan is. All we got was past Eren’s assumption of what Zeke’s plan is.

Though, to be fair, it’s a pretty good assumption considering what we know about the Founding Titan.

Eren’s guess is that Zeke wants to use this power to awaken the titans in the walls and start what’s known as the rumbling. Basically, the wall titans would just trample Marley, thus solving the problem. And the great part about this plan is that, theoretically, Eren and Zeke just have to come into contact.

When Eren was able to use the power of the Founding Titan in the past, he did so after merely touching a titan that had royal blood. And so, this plan could be put into effect at any time now that Eren and Zeke are both on Paradis.

There are some problems with this plan, though. The biggest problem that the military higher-ups see is that Zeke only suggested this plan after he was defeated by the Scouts and the Colossal Titan was stolen. This implies that he meant to steal the Founding Titan from Eren originally and carry out the plan with someone else wielding that Titan.

Why would he do this rather than attempting to work with the Paradis Eldians from the start? Probably because there’s something we don’t know at this point that would make it a bad idea for the Paradis Eldians to help him. For example, what happens to the civilians living within the walls if all of the titans awaken?

As you can see, there are reasons for the military brass to be wary of Zeke’s plan. Also, we don’t know if he’s even told them the full extent of his plan as of the present timeline.

Best Boy has Arrived

For this last section, I don’t really have anything important to talk about. Except, of course, for the most important thing in the entire Attack on Titan series. That’s right, I’m referring to Eren’s newly revealed character design. “Homeless” Eren is out and “beautiful man” Eren is in.

Eren’s adult character design in which he’s clean-shaven and has his hair pulled back into a little man bun is probably the best character design in all of anime/manga. Don’t get me wrong, cute anime girls are great. But man bun Eren is on another level.

I will say that I’m still a bit disappointed that they made his eyes green even after he awakened the power of the Founding Titan in the anime. The manga version (which is colored on the volume covers) gives him silver eyes that look way better, in my opinion.

One of the things I’m most looking forward to in the anime is seeing the greatest panel of the manga animated. There’s a frame in chapter 110, I believe, of Eren’s new character design and it’s probably the highlight of the series for me.

We should be getting that in two or three episodes, so you have that to look forward to. My guess is that anyone who can’t already see that this version of Eren is the greatest anime character design ever made will understand after they see that scene. It’s not even an action scene or super plot-relevant.

It’s just a panel of a beautiful man and I guarantee you’ll know it when you see it.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan: The Final Season episode 68? Do you like the introduction of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers? Do you think the Paradis Eldians should go along with Zeke’s plan? And what are your thoughts on Eren’s updated character design? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.