Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 79

Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 79

What Did They Do to My Boy?

Allow me to preface this review of Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 79 by saying that I’m a fan of Attack on Titan. But that doesn’t mean I should have to blindly say everything about the series is good. That’s far from the truth.

Look, I know I’ve made fun of the direction the story takes towards the end of the manga (we’re getting there in the anime). And I know there have been a lot of people online who made fun of the animation in prior seasons of the anime.

But can we just all agree to make fun of the art in this latest episode? I don’t know if a bunch of amateur artists were working on this episode, but it felt like Eren was extremely off-model for about half of the shots he was in. He looked like an alien at times.

Eren within Grisha Yeager's memories from the anime series Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 79
Eren within Grisha Yeager’s memories

I’m not going to put those shots in this review because I generally like to include nice-looking images. However, I think a lot of scenes in this episode lost their impact because of the way Eren looked in them. It was honestly distracting.

And, yes, I realize there were specific spots in which the characters were supposed to be off-model. Those aren’t the parts I’m talking about. I’m talking about when Eren’s just standing there and he looks like he would fit in The Promised Neverland 2nd Season.

Eren’s appearance will probably be cleaned up for the Bluray release of the season. But, still. I’d rather the season be delayed for another 3 months and air with better quality control.

The Attack Titan

We already knew about the existence of the Attack Titan. Eren currently has three Titans within him: The Attack, Founding, and Warhammer Titans. He’s always had the Attack and Founding Titans ever since he first received the power of the Titans from his father.

And I believe we first learned of the Attack Titan the first time we saw Grisha slaughter the royal family back in Season 3 (I think). At that point, we knew Grisha had a Titan and he obtained the Founding Titan.

However, it’s not until this episode that we learned what the Attack Titan’s true power is. Each of the Titans has a special power, with most of their powers being relatively obvious. For example, the Armored Titan’s ability is just that it has the best defenses of the Nine Titans.

Eren influencing Grisha through his future sight from the anime series Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 79
Eren influencing Grisha through his future sight

So, what is the Attack Titan’s ability? Well, it’s twofold. First, the Attack Titan can’t be effectively controlled by outside sources. This includes the royal family and the curse of Ymir. Second, it allows its users to see the memories of its future users. It’s that second ability that we really care about.

When Eren touched Historia’s hand a while back, he was able to see a glimpse into his own future (don’t question how). He then used this knowledge to allow his father to see cherry-picked portions of his own memories so that he could influence his father.

This is a fairly cool concept if you don’t think about it too much. But if you do think about it too much, you’ll realize that we’ve ended up in a time travel paradox.

Eren is only able to influence his father using his own memories because Zeke takes him into their father’s memories via Paths. But, Zeke only takes Eren into their father’s memories because of what Eren has achieved thanks to influencing their father’s memories.

You can’t have it both ways.

You Either Die a Hero…

Ever since the start of the Final Season, Eren has been the antagonist of the series rather than the protagonist. That’s one of the reasons I like Attack on Titan so much. Eren has amazing character development throughout the whole thing. I love his transition into being an antagonist.

Okay, so you could probably still make an argument for Eren not being a true antagonist. But, think about his position right now. The Marleyans are against him. The Paradis Eldians are against him. And now even Zeke, the leader of the Yeagerists, is against him.

Eren has made enemies of everyone (except his closest friends who still want to save him). And on top of that, Eren has repeatedly shown that he’s not interested in peace or working with anyone else. He’s not afraid to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.

Eren looking down on Zeke within the Paths from the anime series Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 79
Eren looking down on Zeke within the Paths

But, what is Eren’s goal at this point? It’s the same that it’s always been. All Eren wants is to be free. He killed the human traffickers as a child because they threatened his freedom. And he joined the Survey Corp. so that he could kill the titans and be free from their oppression.

I brought this up in a recent review, I’m not sure if it was for Episode 78, but when Eren reached the ocean for the first time, he also mentioned freedom. He asked if they’d be free if they killed all their enemies across the ocean.

And then, when Eren brought the war to Marley’s home soil, he was simply following through. Eren wants and has always wanted freedom. But his chosen path to freedom has always involved killing those who stand in his way, which is how he became the person he is now.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 79? Were you as put off by Eren being off-model so much in this episode as I was? Are you willing to overlook the Attack Titan’s time-travel paradox? And at what point would you say Eren crossed the line to become the antagonist? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 80 is available now.

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