10 Second Anime - Shingeki no Kyojin S3 - Episode 51

Erwin begins his chess match against the Titans. Eren faces off against Reiner again, but his Scout comrades have a new weapon to tip the match in his favor.

Episode 51 - "Thunder Spears"

Hmm.

I thought all the standing around using flashbacks to wallow in self-doubt was over, but I guess we never got Erwin his closure from the first half of the season. He worries that he's only fighting the Titans and using humanity's forces in the form of the Scouts for his own selfish reason of proving his father's scientific ideas about the world correct. His father was branded a heretic and then "disappeared," but that didn't stop young Erwin from espousing his father's theories. That was, until he moved further and further up the ranks of the military, and he inspired his troops with the secondary part of his aims, eliminate the Titans and take back the land.

Erwin shouldn't really beat himself up over this. It's alright to have a personal ambition to fuel his need to save humanity. Whether saving humanity is number one or two on his list of priorities, it doesn't really matter if he gets the job done. Step 1 of his plan to prove his father correct is literally to save humanity from the Titans. Once that's done, he can do whatever he wants in his retirement to get to Step 2 and see the world for himself and teach that the royal version of history was propaganda and lies. Step 1 is still a good thing and it helps to have hopes and dreams for after the fighting is done. That's very natural and it's the usual soldier mindset. Erwin's guilt over the mountain of bodies he's led to their deaths is also something military commanders have to gain some perspective over, but since he's always led from the front, he's hardly had time to wrestle with his own personal regrets.

Of course, in Japanese modern visual media, openly talking about those hopes and dreams for after the war is a death flag, so I can only wonder if Erwin is even going to make it to see the ocean. He's already lost an arm, so I don't know how much of the death flag he's already tripped.

Heh.

Ah. Thunder Spears. That's the thing that's firing in the opening credits and Erwin is talking about for another "great weapon."

That combination of kanji (雷槍) could also be interpreted as "lightning lance" but "thunder spear" captures the explosive nature of the weapon better.

Ha. The two sides are just staring at each other. So begins the chess match.

Oh, just let Reiner climb the wall. Erwin is so cool under pressure.

What the hell is that Titan carrying stuff? Nice duck face.

Erwin figures it's an Intelligent Titan and probably the scout who told Reiner and Bertholdt they were coming.

Beast Titan makes the first move - send the little Titans after the horses. It's a good way put the Scouts under siege and take Eren when everyone is weakened.

I love seeing the personalities of these Titans as they run.

Hee. Every season has a different take on how to make the graphics for the tactical explanations. Each one is fun and interesting with how they make the board game pieces.

Oh, now Erwin has decided on a course of action. Levi is the only one who gets to make jokes about him.

Thunder Spears!

Levi has a special mission to take down the Beast Titan.

Erwin and Reiner are just looking at each other. Erwin doesn't even care, because he knows Reiner has other things to do.

This animation studio does panning the right way - on the background art.

Oh ho! Reiner could have died by Levi's blade, but he used a high level Titan Skill to move his consciousness into his lower nervous system. That explains the weird thing about his eyes coming back up to look at Levi.

There's a real chess match going on between Erwin, Reiner, and the Beast Titan.

Reiner is still worried about Eren learning more about the Coordinate Titan because the kid learned how to use Hardening in only two months.

Armin is rightly worried that Bertholdt hasn't shown himself yet. Eren should keep his fight with Reiner away from the Walls.

Eren vs Reiner. Round 2.

This is Eren's town and it's time for revenge.

Marlo is seeing action against Titans for the first time.

Now it's time to see these Thunder Spears in action.

Reiner can't bite Eren out of his Titan, so he wants to use some other method. I don't think we've seen it yet, but he's probably not going to be the one to show us how it works. Bertholdt is still lurking somewhere.

Ouch! Someone is going to need a tetanus shot.

The Scouts need the right tactical situation to use the explosive Thunder Spears and this town's landscape is it.

The kids are still reconciling that Reiner is no longer one of them. They got over that quick.

Boom! And nice cliffhanger.

Next time, recriminations and regrets for Reiner, and Bertholdt is going to do something.