10 Second Anime - Shingeki no Kyojin S3 - Episode 54

Following the plans of Erwin, Armin, and Jean, the Scouts give their all in taking down three Intelligent Titans.

Episode 54 - "Hero"

Hmm.

The name of the episode is "Hero," which makes the viewer ask, "Who is the hero?" Is it the amazing fighters who dealt the deciding blow in removing the pilots from their Titans? The ones who played their individual roles in the attack plan to deliver the victory? Or the ones who sacrificed themselves to achieve their aim? The answer, of course, is all of them!

However, the ones who matter most are obviously Erwin and Armin. The current master strategist and the future one just gave their lives because the King had to act like a Pawn to get checkmate. Using that chess metaphor is a good one, because each of them would say the King is Humanity and they were, at most, Knights in service of the King, and they had to be the sacrificial piece the opponent would take so their Rook or Queen could win the match.

This being a serial story, there's a lot of foreshadowing that Erwin and Armin are not dead yet. The principals in this show need to have their last dying breath with some eye contact, a last breath, a clasped hand, or dangling from the mouth of a Titan shouting, "Run!" I saw Armin's body with 3rd degree burns, and that whiny recruit looking over somewhere in the direction of where Erwin fell. Plus, the biggest clue neither of them are dead yet is that the flash forward prologue from the hiatus episode where Levi and Mikasa were fighting over having to kill someone. Eren was there watching, so who else could this pairing be so passionate about needing to live?

From the preview, we saw the whiny noob lifting up Erwin's body to the roof of where Levi appeared with his syringe full of Titan serum, plus the Transport Titan was yakking with them while Zeke was with him. There's going to be some big negotiation about who gets to keep these Titan powers. I still wonder what Titan power Ymir got. The Titan heretics figured out a way of making their own dumb Titans, and Ymir just happened to eat one of the infiltrators on Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie's team. If the Wall People can figure that part out again, without relying on the last shot of King Reiss' Titan Serum, there could be another Titan arms proliferation race. I'm still not sure how Zeke makes Titans, or if he even does. Maybe we'll get some more answers next episode.

Heh.

This was a three fist pump episode! Yeah!

Erwin looks like he's dead or dying after that barrage, but that is not the face of someone giving up either.

Zeke doesn't know what to make of this suicide charge. He blamed it on King Reiss stealing the their memories of history and how small people shouldn't even try to fight against Titans. These particular small people have had a hundred years of fighting dumb Titans, so...

He mentions that he's getting worked up about regular people like his father. I suppose we'll have to find out what that means eventually.

Aw. Marco loved Hitch.

Ha! Now Zeke thinks he's playing tennis instead of baseball. Game! Set! Not Match yet, though.

Zeke still hasn't figured out what the smoke clouds are for.

The smoke clouds are for Levi to sneak up on you! All his Titans are on the floor and Levi is coming! For you!

Fist pump! Yeah! Eat Levi's Justice!

Erwin was so right. Those tall Titans gave Levi a line of pylons straight to the Beast Titan's face.

It's his first time fighting ODM gear up close, and that it had to be the master Levi too. Bad luck, Zeke.

"Huh?" is right. Eat that big plate of anti-Titan skills. Levi is putting on a clinic on how to take down a tall Titan.

Levi purposefully injured the Beast Titan this way, so Zeke couldn't transform again as he healed. This is putting together everything he, Hange, and Eren have learned about Titans during this time.

Oh. Levi hesitated in keeping Zeke alive to transfer his Titan power to someone else. He even hoped it could be Erwin. Foreshadowing!

Gah. That Transport Titan is a good lieutenant.

Zeke still doesn't know how Levi fights. He thinks he surely must be out of his weapons. Dumb.

Levi just casually takes out the remaining Titans as the why recruit finds himself still alive.

That dude is probably going to find Erwin still alive. That's just how this story rolls.

And we got spoiled last episode. Armin pronounces Bertholdt "thinner!"

Armin's got a plan to take out Bertholdt. Jean better have a plan to take out Reiner to keep him away.

Jean expresses confidence in his friend Armin in his own way, "Took you long enough, dummy!"

Armin is wagging his mouth at Eren a long time. This plan is going to be tricksy.

Reiner still doesn't know about Thunder Spears.

Armin is lying to Eren for the first time in life... He says he's going to have to give up against distracting Bertholdt (probably from his steam attack) at some point, so Eren better hurry on his part. We all know how slow Eren is, so this doesn't sound good to me.

The plan starts now. Whoops!

Eren seems to be in okay shape, because the only part of him steaming from damage is the same wrenched elbow he had before he started. Armin and Eren are trying to fool Bertholdt about something.

Jean's plan against Reiner was good. They only need one Thunder Spear to get him from inside his mouth, so they need the two others to break his jaw and flap his mouth open.

Gah! Sasha missed when she got sprayed with debris. But Hange, out of nowhere, gets the other shot in, and Mikasa does her thing.

Fist pump! Yeah! Number two!

Armin's plan is working. His grapple is in a tooth, so that bone won't disappear as Bertholdt uses up his steam fuel. Plus, the Colossal Titan can't move while he's emitting steam. Eren, go!

This plan is all kinds of tricksy. Bertholdt can't tell that Eren made a crystal duplicate because the steam clouds mess with his eyesight. Armin, you scary!

Youch! Armin is getting seared to death.

Both Jean and Sasha got impaled by pieces of wood. Hange lost an eye from Bertholdt's explosion.

Oops. That's not Eren down there, Bertholdt.

Ha! There he is! Fist pump! Yeah! Number three!

Three Titan takedowns! Zeke escaped for now, though.

Damn. Armin is burned to a crisp.

Eren remembers how he first befriended Armin. He didn't lose against those bullies because he didn't run away. Too right.

Next time, some emotional negotiation go on about who gets Titan powers. That flash forward from episode 49 is looking pretty relevant now.