Attack on Titan Season 3 weighed heavy expectations amongst the fans, especially after its prior season hits; The series now follows Eren Yeager after being betrayed by his former comrades Reiner and Bertholdt of the Scout Regiment.
The season is oddly separated into two parts. That being said, it was indeed necessary to do so.
Each part is in contrast to the other; Part 1 explores a more political perspective jam-packed with betrayal, misuse of power, and chaos. And part 2 triggers a feeling of understanding, truth, knowledge, and valor.
Spoilers ahead
Part One
Although Season 3 starts to take a slower pace at the start, revealing the politics within the walls, it does an incredible job at keeping the audience gripped to the story.
If you are among the people who don’t like politics, do not fret, as part 1 not only portrays a darker truth within walls.
It also installs one of the best action sequences of the series, if not in anime history.
The action sequence flexes the captain of the Scout Regiment Levi Ackerman who fights ‘Kenny’ of the ‘Anti-scout Regiment’ whose sole purpose is to disavow the scouts.
Parallel to this conflict the commander of scouts ‘Erwin Smith’ strives to learn the true intent and the instigators of the Anti-scout Regiment.
The series does an excellent job on Erwin Smith as a character while we explore the making of the man himself and his last-ditch effort to stage a coup d’état against the selfish government that rules over the populous, whilst Levi and the Scouts investigate and reveal the true heir to the throne 'Historia' of the Reiss family and on how Eren obtained the power of the founding titan.
Part Two
After Erwin learned of the origin of Eren’s power and about the cellar in the Shiganshina District, Erwin devices an excursion to retake Wall Maria.
Once the scouts were deployed the scouts intended to defeat three titans, Reiner the ‘armored titan’, Bertholdt the ‘colossal titan’, and Zeke Yeager the ‘beast titan’.
Season 3 of Attack on Titan now takes a staggering turn as it painfully reminds its viewers of “the art of war”.
After Eren successfully seals the entrance of Shiganshina the sequence follows two battles occurring simultaneously on either side of wall Maria.
The squad leader Hange leading Eren and his squad against Reiner and Bertholdt on one side and Erwin Smith leading Levi and a squad of few elites and a platoon of rookie scouts against the beast titan and the never seen before quadrupedal /Cart titan.
Both sides of the scouts faced heavy losses, Hange’s squad was wiped out and all elites were reduced to non on Erwin’s side.
Just as the viewers were left thinking it couldn’t get worse, this part of the series gets all the more painful, after Eren and his squad took down Reiner of the Armoured titan no amount of battle experience was enough to take down Bertholdt the colossal titan.
Not after long Armin took a bold decision to risk his life to give Eren an opening to take down Bertholdt, unfortunately, Armin did not come out of it unscathed, the viewers were treated to a view of Armin left inches from death
With the battle against the beast titan, Erwin is forced to send what little soldiers he has to their deaths to give Levi the leverage to kill the beast titan.
In this act, the series contributes one of the most painfully satisfying moments of the series, A more poetic meaning to war using Erwin’s character.
Erwin uses the last of his charisma to spout the most inspiring and iconic of speeches in the series, words that bring chills down viewer’s backs,
“My Soldiers Rage! My Soldiers Scream! My Soldier’s Fight!”
Soon after which Erwin is hit by debris thrown by the beast and the rest of his squad is wiped out.
Just as reality hits the fan base, yet again the series charges in action with Levi swinging behind the beast titan and taking him down in a matter of seconds, sending fans into a rave of celebration almost as if Erwin’s sacrifice was worth it.
The series then spins a sense of disappointment as Zeke and Reiner were saved by the Cart titan while leaving Bertholdt captured and yet again forging a bitter taste of loss.
Season Finale
After Zeke and Reiner fled the scene using the Cart titan, Erwin was found close to death on the battlefield by a survivor, on the realization that the scouts need Erwin for humanity to win, the scout confronts Levi to use the Titan serum obtained from the Reiss family on Erwin to turn him into a titan.
Alternately Mikasa Ackerman and Eren throw a fit about using the serum on Armin instead, stating he is just as Valuable as Erwin.
The fans were left with a difficult reality, both these characters were important to the series and the weight felt all the heavier.
But all the pressure and despair were set to rest as soon as Erwin Smith shrugged Levi’s hand away and whispered “Sir, How Do You Know for Sure There’s Nobody on The Other Side of The Walls?”, the words Erwin once asked his father as a child.
At this moment Levi realized that humanity had driven Erwin to be a demon.
Levi took the selfish decision to grant Erwin’s wish and let him die as a human. A beautiful portrayal of how one’s life doesn’t matter after he is gone.
After the great loss, the rest of the squad explored the cellar under Eren’s home, and discover the true identity of Grisha Yeager, what lies beyond the island of Paradis, and the life span of anyone with the titan ability.
The last episode of season 3 of Attack on Titan explains all the incidents that preceded a year after the battle for wall Maria.
Hange took on the post of commander and then devised a weapon capable of kills all titans that approached the walls and within a year all titans beyond the wall were eliminated.
The scouts traveled to the ends of the island and discovered the sea. And just as we are given the delight of seeing the scouts play in the ocean waters.
Eren points out at distance and says, “if we cross the sea and we killed our enemies after that will we be finally free?”
Reminding us of what Is to come.
