Allies, enemies, and allies again gather around the fire in episode 84 of Attack on Titan, titled “Night of the End”. A slower-paced episode focused on character development and further questioned the motives and humanity of the main characters.
Hange, who is perhaps the last Scouts’ Commander, faces the harsh reality of what Eren has done. Unlike Jean, Hange refuses to entertain the idea of justifying Eren’s actions and firmly follows the ideals installed by those who gave up their lives for humanity. One visually interesting thing about the 84th episode of Attack on Titan is the emptiness in many of the shots. Each of these characters lost something and the scenes convey it successfully.
Gathered around Hange’s fire and stew, everyone has an opportunity to look into their past and actions that led them up to this point. And as always, Isayama spares no one. The beauty of Attack on Titan may never lie with its art, but the story and the writing are the things that will always make it stand out as one of the best. The current hype will come and go, but after the anime is truly over I fully believe we’ll be able to look at it as a whole and accept that it is a story that holds a valuable lesson that will withstand the test of time and be remembered as one of the defining moments for our generation of anime/manga fans.
Jean gets to find out how Marco died and as Reiner apologizes, he loses his temper and attacks him. Gabi comes to Reiner’s rescue but surprisingly enough, she apologizes, for the first time admitting that they did what they did so that the rest of the world would accept them. Magath, who tends to play the savior card, reaches out to her but stops himself. After all, he has no right, as he was the one directly sending children to fight.
Perhaps the most surprising of all was Yelena’s big revelation. As it turns out, she is a Marleyan who dedicated her life to fighting for Zeke’s cause. This sheds new light on her but doesn’t do much to affect how the viewer sees her. Regardless of where she comes from, she will always be in it just for Zeke.
In the end, it is Marco’s final words that unite the group. “We haven’t even had time to talk this through” became one of the most important themes in Attack on Titan. Isayama himself said he was inspired by the lack of human ability to properly communicate, and although this scene was not shown in the first chapters of the manga nor the first season of the series it was clearly always meant to be there.
Episode 84 of Attack on Titan is streaming on Crunchyroll and you can also vote for it on Anime Corner’s weekly polls. This week’s featured illustration focused on Hange and the stew. It was drawn by animation director Akari Minagawa:
© Hajime Isayama, Kodansha/”ATTACK ON TITAN” The Final Season Production Committee