Attack on Titan has finally returned and I am excited to be doing a recap of the episodes as they come out.  Here are my thoughts on the major points in episode 26 called Beast Titan.

SPOILERS AHEAD!  If you have not seen the episode do not read any further.

First thing I wanted to say is that Attack on Titan came back with a bang.  The art work is incredible and the music is still amazing reminding fans of all the reasons why we love this show to begin with.  I don’t usually watch the intro and end credits of anime series, but I did this time.  I liked how the intro shows some of the epic scenes we can expect to see.  I especially liked how we saw a focus on the three main titans: the Beast Titan, the Colossal Titan, and the Armored Titan as they will play a major role in this new season.  The intro showed us what is to come.

Now the ending credits was interesting because it looks like they showed us scenes from what has happened in the past.  It gives us an interesting look at the events that may have lead to the titans creation and an origin story.  It was intriguing as I saw scenes with the church, and it showed a long line of exiled humans at one point.  This may just be my interpretation of the ending credits, but I definitely thought I saw glimpses of an origin story.

As for the episode itself, it starts with a distinct separation of the main characters in the Scout regiment as story lines diverge.  One group (Erwin, Levi, Hanji, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin) are in the Stohess district dealing with the fall out with the fight between Eren and Annie.  The distinct other group is outside the Stohess district in forts that the Scout regiment own (Sasha, Connie, Section Commander Mike, Reiner, Bertolt, Jean, Krista, Umir).

Zoe Hanji and the crew in the Stohess District

So the episode starts with a nice refresher on what has happened in season 1 which is appreciated as it has been four years since season 1 aired.  Just as it left off, Annie is taken prisoner in her crystalized form.  It also revealed that there are living titans in the wall, and Pastor Nick, a recurring religious zealot, reveals that he in fact knew about the titans in the wall.  It is he who tells Hanji to keep the revealed titan in the wall out of sunlight suggesting that he knows quite a bit more than most people including the scouts.  It soon becomes clear to Hanji, and Erwin that there are people who know critical information about the titans and have been silent about this information.

In a tense confrontation on the wall, Hanji holds a frightened, but stubborn Pastor Nick out over the wall threatening to drop him if he doesn’t start talking.  Pastor Nick stubbornly refuses to talk and is willing to die in order to protect his secrets.  What secrets does the church hold about the titans?

It is around this time that the Scouts in Stohess get the information (from a Scout riding hard to Stohess) that titans have somehow breached wall Rose.  And a recovering Eren learns of the news from Armin.

104th cadet squadron

For the first time in Attack on Titan, we get a flashback montage where we are taken back into time by twelve hours.  We are taken outside of the Stohess district to a fort controlled by the Scout regiment where the rest of the 104th rookies are being held.  We get to see our favorite secondary characters like Sasha, Connie, Reiner, Bertolt, Krista, Umir, and Jean as well as get reintroduced to some of the experienced Scout regiment members primarily Section Commander Mike and Nanaba.

The rookies we have grown to love start out by sitting bored in plain clothes in the fort, but it is only the rookies, a point that Reiner mentions.  We learn that both Connie and Sasha’s villages are nearby (Connie’s is to the South and Sasha’s is to the north), and Connie wants to ride south to visit.  Reiner even offers to help him sneak out to do it.  Reiner mentions the fact that the experienced scout regiment members are armed to the teeth even though they are supposed to be in safe territory behind wall Rose.  We learn later in the episode that the experienced soldiers were monitoring the rest of the rookies, unbeknown to them, due to the fact that now two people who can turn into titans (Eren and Annie) have come from this squadron.

Sasha, being bored, lays her head on the table, and that is when she hears the thud of giant footsteps with her sharp ears.  Her outspoken fear is confirmed when Nanaba tells the rookies that there is a small horde of titans coming from the south towards their fort.  They are ordered to get their horses ready, and are not even allowed to suit up as the titans are bearing down on their location.

Reiner looks worried and shocked when he hears news of the titans and turns to Bertolt asking if Wall Rose has fallen.  This will be important later, but everyone now assumes that somehow the titans have broken through Wall Rose, even though there had been no report of any such thing happening.

Under Section Commander Mike’s guidance, the rookies and the experienced soldiers form four groups that are to ride out and warn the surrounding villages of the impending danger.  When he asks who knows the area, Sasha tells him that she is from a village from the North of the fort and knows the land well as well as Connie who is from the South.  Connie is shell shocked as the titans were coming from the very direction his village is said to be in.  Sasha is tasked to guiding the group heading north and Connie is tasked with helping the group going south.  Reiner and Bertolt both decide to go with the terrified Connie as he travels South to discover the fate of the villages, including his own.

It is at this time that the titans coming towards them do something very strange: they start sprinting towards them as if they were ordered to.  Section Commander Mike takes it upon himself to leave the group that is going South (which is the group in the most danger) in order to lead the titans away from the main force.  He puts a man named Gerger in charge of the Southern group while Nanaba is in charge of the Northern group.

The four groups separate as Mike rides ahead to distract the nine titans coming at them.  He is said to be second only to Levi in battle prowess.  This fact is quickly shown as he single handedly takes out five of the nine titans.  Mike feels that he has done enough to distract the titans and calls for his horse with a sharp whistle.

And that is when we see the beast titan for the first time.  Mike sees the titan and knows he is an abnormal, but up until now the Beast titan has not engaged Mike and is just walking around.  Mike thinks he is in the clear as he sees his horse riding hard towards him.  He doesn’t think his horse is in any immediate danger as titans have never gone after animals, but in this instance he was very wrong.  The beast titan snatches the horse as it is running up to the house that Mike is standing on, crushes the poor creature and throws its mangled body at Mike.

Mike dodges the horse, but falls off the roof into the hands of one of the remaining titans that lay in wait.  Fans watched in horror as the titan starts to gnaw away at Mike’s legs as the beast titan walks up.  In a surprise moment that shocked the non-manga reading attack on titan fans, we hear a titan speak for the first time as he orders the titan that has Mike to “wait!”

The titan who has Mike disobeys the Beast titan and is destroyed by the beast titan.  A now crippled, but alive Mike looks up in horror at this new titan.  Fans watch as the beast titan asks a terrified and shocked Mike about his omnidirectional gear.  Too stunned to say anything, the Beast titan takes Mike’s gear and walks away leaving a crippled Mike on the ground surrounded by titans that are curiously not moving.

Mike recovers some of his dignity and bravery and picks up his swords.  He screams at the Beast titan who is walking away because there is very little Mike can do.  It is at this point that the Beast titan says “You can move now!” and we realize that the titans that were not moving were under the Beast Titan’s control.  They descend on Mike like vultures and we watched a beloved character meet one of the most brutal Attack on Titan deaths to date.  We watch in horror as Mike is torn apart.

And that is how the episode ended.  This opening to season 2 was action packed and an emotional roller coaster.  I really liked Mike as a character, and am really sad to see him go especially like that.  I can’t wait for next week’s episode which will focus on Sasha.