“The Rumbling”: An Attack on Titan Review
March 3rd was a special date for anime lovers. On this day, the one-hour special episode of Attack on Titan season 4 part 3 aired. As always, the audience had high expectations. This is not surprising because this anime now offers the highest quality to its audience.
On March 3rd, once again, countless people gathered from all over the world and had the opportunity to watch the epoch-making anime series. The activity in various social networks was unstoppable. For the viewers, every minute was profound and significant, and talking about it was a relief and a release from those emotions. We have similar experiences with previous seasons as well, but now, as the series finale approaches, these feelings progressively are intensified. Intrigue and interest also are increased, and all this ultimately gives us great pleasure, for which it is really worth admiring this series. You will probably agree that, because of these wonderful feelings, AOT really deserves to be admired by crowds of people.
Discussions about this series continue on such notes. In this article, I will go over the various important details that I think were significant from this wonderful episode. I will try to show the reasons for each character’s actions, their goals and their views. I would like to emphasize that these characteristics became especially visible in this episode, and that is why a deeper analysis of them before the end of the series would be useful for a better understanding of the series.
Of course, the article contains spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the final episode yet, refrain from reading.
The first moment of the episode begins with childhood shots of the two main characters of the series — Eren and Mikasa. Eren says that “it feels like I just had a really long dream”. This continues with Eren starting to cry, which comes so naturally that he can’t realize it himself. In this dream, we can assume that he sees the future, and when he wakes up, because he cannot remember, only tears remain, which he cannot explain at that moment. And the future that Eren sees is complicated and difficult to understand, which is why this detail shows how painful it is for Eren to realize what he had done at any age.
A very important panel that will help us better understand the ideology, beliefs and ideals of Eren’s character in this episode is Eren’s monologue to himself where he says: “Later, though I’m not sure exactly how far in the future, I massacre these people. Before too long they’ll all die. No, I kill them. It’s already determined that I do. I imagine we never found a way for Paradis Island to survive. Everything here will be gone: The homes, the people, the animals, people’s lives, their dreams…What would Mom think? Shouldn’t we Eldians be the ones to die? In some way, the king of the walls chose a path that led to death. At the very least, the death toll on the island would be but a fraction of that of the rest of the world. It’s also true that if Eldians completely die out, the Titan problem goes away. I just can’t accept things ending that way. It appears the future doesn’t change. I’m the same as you, Reiner. A half-assed piece of shit. No, that’s wrong. I’m worse than that.” Here again, it is emphasized that Eren is worried about what he is doing.
Seeing two young parents, he remembers his mother and says: “What would Mom think?” And after that, we see a turning point in his character and we get a glimpse of him as he really is. He helps a little boy who knows that later he will die by his own hand, and he asks him for forgiveness and cries.
After that, it is clear that the widespread view about Eren that he just wants the Rumbling and enjoys killing people is invalidated. And we perspicuously see how sad he is that he cannot see any other way to protect his country and people. At the same time, Eren is walking alone in the city, feeling lonely, where he has a monologue that blames himself for everything. It’s incredibly heartbreaking, painful and depressing. Also, his deteriorated mental health condition is clearly visible here.
All things considered and especially after this monologue, we can boldly say that not even Eren himself was on his own side.
Annie and Armin’s dialogue on the ship was quite loaded with important details, because here we also heard Armin’s and Annie’s views on various issues. Armin, as he says himself, in the background of everything he did (killing Marleyans and the Yeagerists), he becomes a monster. At the same time, he says: “Some part of me thought that one day, the promise Eren and I made to explore the unknown world together would become a reality.” This indicates Armin’s loyalty to Eren and his desire to fulfill his childhood dream. Also, his optimism should be emphasized because, despite: “It was different from the world we’d dreamed of”, he still believes that something good will definitely happen. “I want to believe there must still be something beyond the walls that we don’t know about.” Armin’s persistence in the midst of a war certainly shows a glimmer of hope and also emphasizes this good quality of his personality.
The biggest sadness this episode brought to all Attack on Titan viewers was the death of the ultimate leader, fearless fighter, innovator, and just plain, honest and good friend — Hange Zoë. In my opinion, she was one of the most beloved anime characters of all time and of the series. In her speech, Hange explains why she decided to go on a suicide mission and sacrifice herself: “We can’t afford to expend another shred of Titan power, I’m the one who led you this far. And we killed many friends and comrades to get here. I’m taking responsibility for that.”
It seems that Hange, as well as Eren and the other characters, have a hard time with what they have been doing and because of this, and of course to protect their friends, they and Hange, too, are making decisions that destroy them spiritually. In this way, she feels her share of the responsibility and obligation which she has as a leader.
In the end, Hange turns out to be a selfless friend and a great leader. She and Erwin will go down in history with golden letters as defenders of humanity, who sacrificed themselves to bring peace to the world. Hange sacrificed herself to buy time for the Survey Corps to come up with a plan, which highlights an idea that runs throughout the series: to die fighting for a cause you believe in is noble. Hange, like Erwin, clearly chooses to fight, she never gave up hope that they would succeed, never gave in to despair even when she was tired, beaten and hopeless. Her mental and physical powers were very impressive.
Hange’s death certainly broke everyone’s hearts and we wish we had the commander back, but as surprising as it is, I’m happy with how she died. The fact that even in the last moments of her life Hange was able to give meaning to her life and contribute to the realization of an idea that she believed in until the end, means that her death was dignified and that her short life was more valuable and beneficial than those who lived many years.
Hange lived with energy, curiosity, a love of life and respect for humanity. She maintained a positive attitude even when facing death. It is for these reasons that Hange won over death and when I said I was happy with how she died I meant that. To die believing that you did everything right and take part in building world peace is a victory. Hange and Erwin really emphasized that.
Hange’s life had a meaning and her death had a meaning, and that is why future generations will remember her with dignity and respect.
