10 Second Anime - Shingeki no Kyojin S3 - Episode 56

Eren, Mikasa, with Levi and Hange, enter their family basement and find proof of other people outside the Walls away from the Titans.

Episode 56 - "The Basement"

Hmm.

We had a bit of decompression from all the stress of demoralizing combat and the family drama of choosing which person to die so the other may live. How convenient that Armin didn't remember anything after Bertholdt transformed... Setting that aside, I always enjoy Levi's interactions with the main three. He's totally kicking Eren like he's his older brother now. Of course, nobody wins against Sasha when she starts to whine.

The other bit of decompression was Eren and Mikasa's trip through their old neighborhood as they made their way to their house. They relived happier times as they recognized landmarks, but as they drew closer, they also began to remember their most recent memories of the day the Titans attacked. That was a nice way of seeing just how far these two characters have come too.

But we were all here to find out what was in that basement! After a big tease with the key not fitting the padlock, we finally saw what Grisha Jaeger had been hiding from his family all these years. It looks like three books, perhaps diaries, or a memoir manuscript, with something the Wall People had never seen before - a photograph. No wonder Zeke talks about baseball and tennis. It also looks like that's Zeke in the picture with Grisha's first wife. Well, we'll find all those details out in due course.

But the epilogue with Grisha and his younger sister Fay shows us that we're in for an extended flashback next episode. From the few minutes we saw, I'm ready for some rampant speculation. Rampant! It looks like Grisha was in a Jewish ghetto in Nazi Germany, with armbands, zeppelins, and barbed wire on top of walls. So, here we go!

I think the "Jews" overtook and overpowered "The Evil Race" by stealing their Titan Powers, banished them to some island with dumb Titans running around to exterminate them, but the "Jews" were just as bad as the "Aryans" when they took power and Grisha rebelled, eventually sneaking into "Aryan" prison. I'm split on whether Grisha is a Jew before the rebellion or an Aryan after the upheaval. I think I have all the elements at play, but I don't know exactly how they're assembled. I'm anime only, so please don't talk to me about what the manga says. I gave up reading that thing when I couldn't tell which characters were talking because their drawn faces were so bad. Let's see how close I got after the next two episodes.

Heh.

Armin wakes up, after dreaming of Bertholdt. Eren didn't go through this, but then he was just a little kid and he ate his father during a crazy Titan attack.

Armin thinks Erwin should have been revived and he only remembers up to the point of Berhtoldt exploding when he transformed. That's kind of odd.

Levi laid Erwin to rest in some random house. I remember from long ago that's how the Scouts buried fallen ones in the ruins of towns.

Levi, in his own gruff way, says Armin deserved to be revived, so don't let anyone regret it.

Time to go to that basement!

Eren and Mikasa relive their childhood as well as the last day they were there during the Titan attack.

Finally, the basement!

D'oh! The key isn't for that padlock! Levi solves that problem quickly.

Thorough search. Ah! A drawer with a false bottom. That's seems right.

Books with something that Hange says smells like peppermint and charcoal. That could be important later.

Oh. It's a photograph. That looks like Zeke in there with Grisha!

Here is Erwin's proof that people existed outside the walls, at least up until the time Grisha sneaked in. Hey, they could all be dead after 20 years, but at least we know the 100 years of Walls keeping Humanity safe was a lie.

Flashback to Erwin asking about people beyond the Walls, to complaining about history books being so emphatic giving the Royal version, to the Council now waiting for Erwin's return. Erwin was pretty much right about everything.

Ah. Heroes Welcome. The Scouts have returned. Eren has three books with him.

Uh oh. Extended flashback for the epilogue. Grisha is going to explain where it all went wrong and how he ended up with the Wall People. I don't think we're going to get to know that little sister Fay for very long...