English Dub Review: Attack on Titan “Brave Volunteers”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Back from their attack on Marley, Armin sits down in front of the crystal still holding Annie and tells her about what led to that. Three years prior, the Scouts had already been luring in scout ships from Marley and trapping them with Eren and Armin’s titans. But this time they snagged a boat with soldiers from nations already conquered by Marley who wished to fight back using the Eldians, all on the orders of Zeke Yaeger. Through these new allies, Yelena and Oyankopon, Paradis was soon caught up on the technological advances of the world, as well as being better acquainted with groups that wished to ally with them against Marley. They also learned a bit about cuisine, as a captured Marley soldier, Nicolo, ended up cooking meals that Sasha loved. Still, they’re hesitant to help Zeke with his plan: to use the Founding Titan and himself, a Titan of royal blood, to activate The Rumbling with the Titans in the walls.

In the present, the aftermaths of Marley attack have only cemented the world’s view of Pardis as terrible monsters. The tensions between them and their Marlyean allies have only worsened, even among friends they’ve made, like Nicolo mourning Sasha’s death. Zeke is brought to a forest to keep him from transforming, while Gabi and Falco are imprisoned. All the while, Eren, also locked up, seems to be scheming something.

OUR TAKE

After the blood drenched ending to the last arc, it seems fitting to finally have a bit of a breather, which also acts as a good opportunity to fill in the blanks between the end of the third season and the beginning of this one. Paradis has been pretty busy since reaching that shore, both gathering allies and strengthening themselves against the inevitable showdown with Marley. Part of this we’ve heard hints about already, specifically the bits about scout ships getting lost out there, and it was pretty easy to imagine to them. Now we get to see these tactics, as well as how they have led to Paradis making its first steps outside and into the greater world. Finally, this civilization that had been handling themselves with more or less technology from the 1700’s (aside from the ODM gear) is now learning about aerial combat and global diplomacy.

The jumping between the past and present this episode (and for a few episodes to come) also helps to better highlight just how much things have changed for the characters we’ve been following. In one scene they’re just the same as the kids we’ve watched join the Training Corps in Season 1, and then in the next, they’re even more war torn and traumatized than would be thought even possible. I am a bit mixed on how they’re using Sasha for this, what with having killed her just last episode but now getting flashbacks about her time here and introducing a possible retroactive love interest, but having seen where this is headed to an extent, I realize it serves a few purposes. One of those is to highlight just what has been lost as a price of this war, which Sasha’s absence does a sufficient job for. The other is further emphasis on the impact of killing someone out of revenge, which we’ve seen plenty of focus on so far in this season, but will become increasingly apparent as it pertains to Gabi and her killing Sasha.

And while I said that this feels like a breather, really it’s more of a calm before the next storm. As we can see in this episode, Eren’s demeanor has been steadily changing these past few years to become the man we met when he arrived at Marley. We still don’t quite know what happened to get to that point, but it’s clear to see that it’s not leading anywhere fun for anyone involved. Plus, to really bring home the distance Eren has brought between him and his friends, Armin feels the only one he can spill his guts to is the still crystalized Annie Leonhart, who finally returns to the story after being gone since the end of the first season (aside from appearances in flashbacks). If anything, we’re now on the ramp up of this roller coaster to the next big drop. It won’t come quite yet, but the dread and anticipation are only going to get worse from here.