Attack on Titan is back and I am back with another recap for episode 34 named Opening.  Fans get a little bit of the confrontation we have been dying for with Eren and Reiner and Bertholdt.  Here is my recap for Opening.

I thought this episode was a slower episode, but a good look into Reiner’s psychology and the past of Reiner and Bertholdt.  I also liked the subtle shift of alliance that Ymir has, but I will get back to this.  So this starts with an injured Hange.  She is trying to get off the wall and get a horse so she can investigate Conny’s village as some clues to the recent developments may rest there.  She is clearly injured, a fact that a relatively new Scout member Moblit tells her, and he tells her that he will go in her stead.

The scout regiment led by Erwin are racing towards the forest where Hange rightly predicted that Reiner, Bertholdt, Eren and Ymir would have taken refuge.  And all the characters we have grown to love are there racing towards the forest: Mikasa, Armin, Conny, Jean, Hannes, Sasha, Christa and more.

The scene then switches to Eren who awakes to find that his arms have been bitten off by Reiner.  He sees an injured, but awake Ymir healing just as he is.  Reiner and Bertholdt stand a bit off wearing ODM gear.  They are at a distinct advantage, and, like Hange predicted, they did take refuge in the tree tops from titans that have them surrounded.  There are two abnormals watching their positions as well as a handful of the normal titans below them.  The situation is not in Eren or Ymir’s favor.  Eren does not seem to care as he tries to bite the stump of his hand to transform and realizes that he can not.  Reiner says that neither one of them can transform as their bodies are using all their remaining strength to heal their injured limbs.

It is in this part that fans actually get to see Eren stay calm and think rationally about what he next course of action should be.  He even weighs out his chances of whether or not he can escape them in his titan form with his captures having ODM gear, uncertainty of where Ymir’s loyalty lies and what the titans below them, especially the abnormal titans, will do.  It is really nice to see Eren use some caution and rational thought as he is known to be a bit too reckless.

We switch back to the Scout regiment as they start to get closer to the forest.  Using Erwin’s deployment formation, the formation manages to avoid most of the titans around them.  Mikasa is racing along as well until Hannes has to tell her to slow down as she is getting out of her position in the formation which may lead to the formation being broken up.  He reminds her that Eren will not let himself be taken without a fight and that it is up to them to stay calm and be there for him.  Hannes words seem to get through to her which I really liked as we see a more reliable and courageous Hannes in this season.  His determination to save Eren can be clearly seen.

We switch back to the forest where we get to see the real problem with Reiner and the first signs of his split personality.  I think this was a key part in this episode.  Ymir asks Reiner for water to which he says he does not have any and then he goes on to start talking about how hard they have been working to protect the wall and how they deserved to be promoted.  He even mentions the canon that Ymir and Christa pushed down the stairs at the titan a few episodes back.  Reiner’s speech completely confuses Eren and Ymir, and horrifies Bertholdt as he knows what is going on.

It seems that there are two Reiners: the Reiner we have loved that saved Conny in the tower and the Reiner that took Eren.  The Reiner we love always responds to the word soldier versus the harsher Reiner that Bertholdt started his mission with responds to the word warrior.   The stress of hiding who he really was and the terrible things he had done had gotten to Reiner so much so that his personality split in two.  He basically had a psychological breakdown and the only way he knew how to cope with his overwhelming guilt over what was happening and all the lives he had ruined was to create another Reiner, the big brother everyone grew to love.  This is an interesting concept and something I could see a character that I really do believe is good would go through.  I also think this makes Reiner’s character infinitely more complex and interesting.

Eren is not having any of this and tells Reiner this, but the good Reiner is confused as to why Eren is mad at him.  It seems when the warrior Reiner is out, memories are suppressed.  The good Reiner is still thinking about the night the castle was under siege though it was at least a day ago in this time frame, and he has no idea that he has taken Eren hostage.  Again this makes quite an interesting twist in his character.

Ymir puts things together faster than Eren and asks Bertholdt to tell them what is going on as what Reiner is saying and doing does not make sense.  Bertholdt uses the trigger words by saying that they are not soldiers but warriors.  When he mentions this, repressed memories come back to Reiner as we get a small glimpse into what happened to Marco in the first season.  As many fans remember, Marco was a likable character who was close to Jean and it was Marco’s mysterious death that pushed Jean to join the Scouts and to be a better person overall, but Marco’s death has always been shrouded in mystery.  One moment he was alive and the next Jean is finding his half-eaten dead body.

From Reiner’s surge of repressed memories we see that he may have had something to do with Marco’s death and knew what had happened to Marco but told no one as the good Reiner watched in horror as Marco was eaten.  We see a very visible shaken Reiner as he remembers this horrible memory.

Ymir then explains to Eren about Reiner’s split personality, but Eren could not give a crap.  Eren then confronts Bertholdt about everything like his mother’s death as it was the colossal titan’s kick that sent debris onto Eren’s house which lead to his mother’s death.  He asks Bertholdt why he would even befriend them and how he felt when Eren told him about what happened to his mother. This is quite a heavy conversation, but one fans knew Eren would have with Bertholdt as it is something fans have been wondering on as well.  Bertholdt told Eren that he felt bad for him and that was all he says.  Eren says what many fans probably felt at this point that they were not warriors or soldiers, but mass murderers.  This statement really seems to effect Reiner as he knows that is what they are as we see the warrior Reiner come out again.  Eren then threatens to make them die the worst way possible and says they have it coming to which Bertholdt does not say anything to.

Ymir then switches the subject and talks about the Beast titan as she asks Reiner and Bertholdt about it.  She knows they know what it is and she explains to Eren that the Beast titan is what started all this latest fiasco and the reason why titans are sprouting on this side of wall Rose.  When she asks what they know and what the Beast titan is, Reiner responds that she should know the answer to this.  This rightly suggests that Ymir knows more what is going on, but has stayed silent.  Eren urges her to tell him more information and Ymir tells him that killing Reiner and Bertholdt will not stop anything.  Eren asks her who the real enemy is and Ymir is about to tell him until Reiner stops her and pulls the Christa card.  He knows that Ymir will do anything to protect Christa.  He also states that there is no hope left in the safety of the walls.  Basically, Reiner makes Ymir make a choice between siding with Eren or with them with Christa being the one at stake as he says that Christa’s future is more secure with them then with Eren.

When Eren pushes her to tell him who the real enemy is, Ymir decides to side with Reiner and Bertholdt and remains silent once more.  They then see the first flare of the scout regiment as they are drawing closer to the forest and that is how the episode ends.

I definitely thought this was a character development heavy episode, but I also think it was a really interesting look into Reiner and we get more tidbits of what is really going on which I really liked.  Since I have read the manga, there are a lot of little clues they dropped this episode but not as much as to be a major spoiler.