Synopsis of 2×04: In this Attack on Titan episode, Christa, Connie, Reiner, and Bertholdt hide from the throng of titans bombarding the castle. With death just moments away, Ymir sacrifices herself to save the others.
Connie speaks of his destroyed village and the only possibility being that everyone escaped before the titans arrived. He begins to recall the sense of familiarity he felt from the titan atop his home. Ymir makes him wish he hadn’t. It’s all good fun and her ridicule lightens the mood while also easing his fears.
Ymir goes scavenging for food and Reiner intrudes on her solitude. She finds some herring and passes the can to him when he asks to see it, but he can’t understand the language written across the can. When he’s unable to read it, he comes to some sort of revelation that he’s unable to finish accusing her of before the scouts call the trainees to the tower. Here’s to another mystery we’ll have to wait awhile to understand, if it’s ever alluded to again.
The trainees watch as the scouts leap from the roof, blades in hand, and tear through the titans with ease. During the battle, two smaller titans bash their way into the tower through the front door.
The trainees rush into the tower and Reiner volunteers to check the lower floors. He catches sight of a titan and bars the door against it. The titan breaks through the door and Bertholdt arrives to help push it back. The other trainees emerge at the top of the stairs with a cannon void of cannonballs and send it careening down the stairs straight into the titan. The cannon floors the titan but another one steps through the doorway as everyone turns to leave.
The titan lunges directly at Connie with his jaw outstretched. Reiner pushes Connie out of the way and takes the bite in his forearm. He braces himself and lifts the small titan like a bale of hay. He drudges up the stairs, planning to jump out of the window to take the titan with him.
Connie stops him and cuts the titan’s jaw open with a small knife. Reiner pulls his arm free, but the titan doesn’t fall from the window and begins to turn around on the ledge instead. For a moment, everyone remains frozen in fear and probably reluctantly embracing death. Ymir’s not having it and she kicks the titan from the window. No gear, no sword, just a good old-fashioned foot to the face.
Christa makes a make-shift splint for Reiner’s broken arm with a cloth torn from her skirt. His feathers get ruffled and he can’t look away, a look of grim shame plastered on his face. She’s apologizing for having nothing other than a dirty cloth, meanwhile he’s literally thinking to himself that he’s gotta marry her.
I’m shipping them harder than Eren and Mikasa. Henceforth, they shall be known as Chrisner.
Ymir subtly points out that she might have scraped her finger (lies!), but gets no attention other than Connie suggesting she spits on it, as an exhausted mother would tell a spoiled kid. Ymir’s obsession with Christa is amusing to watch especially since she’s generally snippy or cold to everyone else.
Vague Attack on Titan mysteries, vague Attack on Titan mysteries everywhere
Bertholdt claims that Reiner is no longer the warrior he once was, but even Reiner doesn’t know what he means. So we’re just going to gloss over that? Okay then, I guess that’ll become clear sometime later.
The scouts are clearing the yard of titans, and they’re essentially done, when a rock comes from a distance and retires two of them instantly.
The remaining two scouts run out of gas and blades pretty quickly. All the man wants is a drink before he dies, but the previously filled bottle is now empty when he holds it over his tongue. He dies sober. The woman’s death is so horrible, she literally has a mental breakdown during the slaughter and begs for forgiveness from her father.
Ymir’s been all kinds of dauntless this whole episode, but here’s why
Ymir takes Connie’s knife and leaps from the tower into the mass of titans below. I’m sitting here thinking: “What is she doing?! Well I guess she wanted to go out in a suicidal blaze of glory.” Lo and behold, as she falls, she slits her hand and transforms into a titan.
Best. Transformation. Yet.
I especially love how the blood splatters onto her eye, resembling war paint. A brilliant parallel between her unintentionally splattering her eye with blood as she dives steadfast into battle and how a warrior would dress herself with war paint before going into battle.
What did you think of this episode? Are you a “Chrisner” shipper or would you fancy a shot at naming Hollywood’s new it couple? If you think you’ve got a better one, in the words of the great floating heads, show us what you got.
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