The Smiling titan

The final episode of the second season of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan), entitled Scream, begins when the last episode ended. As Reiner throws titans at the scouts, they get up and begin to attack them. Ymir rescues commander Erwin from a titan, while cursing him for ruining her plan.The smiling titan attacks Eren and Mikasa, but Hannes intervenes. How he manages to physically take a hit from the titan and stand tall is beyond me, but he does.

He quickly engages the titan, hoping to get revenge for Eren’s mother. Hannes holds his own against the smiling titan, managing to cut the achilles of the titan, however, its at this moment that he’s captured . I’ve been predicting that Hannes was likely going to die, but the manner of his death was striking. His death is almost shot for shot the same as when Eren’s mother was eaten.

Eren’s Scream

Witnessing Hannes death, Eren becomes distraught, as he foolishly bites chunks of his own hand, attempting to transform into his titan form. Eren tearfully decries how nothing has “changed,” he yells at himself, calling himself “useless as ever.” Mikasa tells him that “it’s untrue,” she tells him that “he’s always been at her side.” She talks about how he wrapped the scarf around her and thanks him. Eren faces off against the smiling titan, letting out a scream. However, he doesn’t manage to transform but all the titans refocus their attention towards eating the smiling titan. Ymir and Reiner confirm that this is a power called the “Coordinate.”

Ymir’s decision

Since revealing her titan status, Ymir has been questioning where she belongs and what to do regarding Historia. She finally makes her decision that now that Eren is revealed to be the coordinate, there’s hope for Historia within the walls. Watching as Reiner and Bertholdt are besieged by titans, she chooses to save them. When Reiner and Bertholdt ask why she helped them, she admits that she owes them for killing their friend. At this point it seems that Ymir’s purpose in the series is over, and it’s unclear that Bertholdt and Reiner will return.

Overall, the series remains a one of the top anime of all time. The series manages to balances emotional intensity, action and good plot development. This season did focus on some of the characters, mainly Ymir, Reiner, Bertholdt and Erwin. However, Levi took a major backseat, I hope he’ll return to the forefront in the following season. The season ended with a mild cliffhanger, introducing a new character. Luckily, we would only have to wait a year to get the next season.