English Dub Review: Attack on Titan “Idol – Attack on Trost Part 7”

Pyxis sure knows how to save someone’s ass, right? Pyxis gets Eren, Armin, and Mikasa out of the frying pan, and back into battle with the Titans. This time, however, Eren’s Titan abilities are on the field, so everyone should be okay. That’s the best laid plan, but we all know that anime characters aren’t able to have plans go right.

Eren agrees to try to move that boulder, but Armin is having second thoughts. It was a plan he said just to stay alive. And here we get that lazy stop motion frame panning, where nothing is really getting done. Meanwhile, the soldiers are getting word that the government is planning to go back into Trost, and they’re all losing their minds. Back on top of Wall Rose, Pyxis is walking Eren past some guards, where Hannes sees Eren. Eren motions for Hannes to get back to work, but Hannes is surprised that Eren is walking with the Commander. Pyxis offers Eren a swig on liquor, and Eren takes it.

Pyxis addresses the soldiers, telling him that the plan is to manually move the boulder. He introduces Eren, and tells the soldiers that their duty is to protect Eren while he moves the boulder. However, as Pyxis is talking Armin comes up with a distraction plan, where most of the soldiers gather in a corner, so they can lure the Titans away from the boulder. It’s all based on assumptions, but it’s the plan they have to try. The people are deserting in droves, but even Woerman wants to get them back in line. But Pyxis saves them with personal pardons. The people start to fall into place, and Pyxis confirms that the recon that happened years ago was just population control. He then goes on to say that turnabout is fair play, and that he will not do that again. Humans won’t do themselves in, and it’s up to the soldiers to make it happen.

The army makes preparations, and Pyxis orders Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenska and Mitabi Jarnach to protect Eren while he is attempting to move the boulder. Rico doubts Eren’s ability, and Pyxis turns it on them saying he’d rather take the unknown of Eren’s abilities over the known of losing to the Titans. Pyxis names Ian squad leader, and Rico and Mitabi agree with it. Eren is telling Armin to stop apologizing, and almost loses it again when Mikasa tries to be over protective of him. Ian walks by, and lets Mikasa on the squad.

At this point, even Mikasa is questioning Eren’s ability, but they see that the coast is clear, because all of the Titans are in the corner with the decoy squad. Rico tells Eren that if he fails, their blood are on Eren’s hands. She really bangs home that Eren’s first priority is to make sure that their sacrifice is not in vein. They get into position, and signal that they are ready to begin. Eren makes his way to the boulder, and transforms. Unfortunately for Mikasa, Titan-Eren turns and punches her instead of moving the boulder.

Wow, that was a surprise to end the episode. I’m starting to think that Eren’s target becomes whatever pisses him off before transforming. Think about it for a second. He was eaten by a Titan, so Eren goes on a Titan killing rampage before having to revert. Mikasa keeps pissing Eren off by worrying about him and not letting him do his own thing, so he punches Mikasa through a roof. I can’t argue with the move, because Mikasa is becoming more of a nuisance than the bad ass she was in the beginning.

I loved how Pyxis goes from a soft-spoken man that told stories to help Eren, to the loud commander who can address his army from 50 feet up and very far back. Pyxis is one of those characters that could be a real cog in the story going forward. I think I need to watch out, though, because he could be killed off quicker than a Game of Thrones character. A rogue Eren makes me kind of excited to see what happens next.

This was a decent episode, but another that was rather slow until the end. At least with this episode, the exposition was necessary to push the story along. So, it was a bit long winded, but worth the money shot at the end.