10 Second Anime - Shingeki no Kyojin S3 - Episode 55

Armin and Erwin are miraculously still alive, but Levi has only enough Titan Serum to save one of them.

Episode 55 - "Midnight Sun"

Hmm.

Ree! Drama! This was so well written, so well acted, so well directed, and I loved it all. We got one of the Big Questions of ethics and morality, with a countdown timer too - How do you measure the worth of a life? All the normal rationalizations were here. All the normal emotional reasons were here. There was even an irrational curve ball thrown in to unbalance the momentum of the argument. Who should live? Erwin or Armin?

Ultimately, it came down to a chance reflex from Erwin to remind Levi of their last conversation. Erwin was happy to give his life because he was done playing the Devil, the conman, the gambler with other people's lives. His own personal reason to fight the Titans was rooted in the resentments of the past, for his father getting disappeared for thinking the same things Armin does. But Armin looked toward the future, with hope, with excitement.

That little scene the night before they set out for Shiganshina, where the Scouts got to eat meat and celebrate, when Levi overheard Armin talking about the world beyond the Walls made him smile then and it probably still makes him smile thinking about it. Levi knew how much Erwin regarded Armin too, as "one of the Great Weapons of Humanity." What would his friend think of Levi, if he were to be revived at the expense of Armin, after he had been given his final orders to die so others may live? Erwin wanted to see something locked in a basement, while Armin wanted to see the vast ocean beyond the Walls. Which vision of fighting the Titans would people rather hear?

But still, it came down to a small moment for Levi. All the big ethical questions were just mere noises delaying the decision. Erwin had decided to give up his life for his friend and it was up to Levi to accept his gift. It was time for Erwin to rest after such a great victory against the enemy Titans.

Heh.

So much going on, there's no time for the opening credits sequence.

Eren is at a loss from Armin's apparent death. Me too!

Armin doesn't lose because he doesn't run away.

Zeke is running around with the Transport Titan.

Zeke recognizes Eren Jaeger. Zeke reminds Eren of his father. Hmmm...

Oh boy. Lots of big hints for future plot developments. Zeke says Eren, "looks nothing like his father, we're both his victims, he brainwashed you, and I'll come back to rescue you." Wow! Is Zeke Eren's uncle, or half-brother? There's definitely a family resemblance between Zeke and Grisha.

Oh ho. Levi isn't done yet. But he is out of gas and blades.

Ah! Armin is still alive! He breathes!

I like how the Scouts know how to deal with Titan pilots now. Cut off their limbs so they have to heal before transforming again. Sorry for all the pain we put you through, Eren! (Sorry, not sorry.)

Reiner is getting interrogated by Hange, but she'd rather just kill him. He has a letter from Ymir to Christa. He tried to destroy it, so it might have had a map or coordinates for how to meet up again.

Jean worries about keeping the Titan power for themselves, but they only have one dose of Titan serum. They need to find someone close to death to use it, and that's not happening at their location. Mikasa needs to find out what's going on with Eren and Armin, since they actually took down Bertholdt.

Gah! Mikasa is horrified at Armin's burned up body, but he's still alive!

There is no background music at all going on in this episode so far. This is real time drama.

Geez! Zeke just stole Reiner away.

And what? That little whiner Floch found Erwin and took him to Levi. Now Levi is going to turn Erwin into the Colossal Titan.

This is where we left off from last Summer. It's a big old fight about whether Armin or Erwin gets to live. Lots of dichotomies. Young vs. Old. Future vs. Past. Experience vs. Idealism. Charismatic Leadership vs. Strategic Decision Making. Blonde vs. Blonde. Oh, wait.

The arguments between Levi and Eren are understandable, even the emotional ones, but what the Floch! That Floch guy wants Erwin revived because the Devil needs to live a little bit longer in the Hell he created? That struck a cord in Levi, but not in an obvious way.

Whoa. Thank goodness for Hange showing up before anybody actually cut up somebody else. There's two bodies near death on that roof. They don't need any more.

This voice acting and animation directing is so raw. I love it.

Hange got pushed into a well, which is how she was the only survivor of her group when Bertholdt transformed.

If only the characters' faces were as consistent as the background art during this heartrending scene. I know that's an artifact of the source material, which is why I'm anime only for this story. I like knowing who I'm looking at when they're on the screen.

Ah. Now there's background music as Levi finally decides on who gets the Titan Serum. He knows he has to follow the Commander's final orders.

Eat shit and die, Bertholdt. It can't be helped, right?

That is not an Erwin Titan! Levi chose Armin, for the future. Who would have thought Levi was an optimist?

Levi says goodbye to his best friend too. Wow, this development was so satisfying.

Oh, so what the hell did the episode title mean anyway, other than an evocative oxymoron referring to the debate over life and death between Armin and Erwin?

Next time, we're finally getting into that basement after almost six years of broadcast time.