Tag: marco bott
Attack on Titan – 52 – Hoover Hardens his Heart
On the eve of the present battle, Bertholdt and Reiner recall the Battle of Trost when Marco Bott overheard them talking about Titans and their mission, simply by chance. They tell him they were just joking, but know Marco is sharper than that.
Annie soon joins them as they restrain him, and Reiner decides to remove his ODM gear. Shortly afterward he's found and eaten by a Titan as the three watch in horror and remorse. Their secret was safe for a little longer, in exchange for their friend and comrade dying horribly.
Back in the present, while having coffee with War Chief Zeke (the Beast Titan) and discussing Annie's capture, Zeke questions their commitment, but they resolve to end this with him tomorrow. At dawn, Bert and Reiner go to their separate positions, with the latter chiding the former for being so timid when he's perhaps the most powerful Titan of them all.
Reiner encourages Bert to think for himself and not just wait for others to give him a signal to act. That's all well and good if you're the Armored Titan, but it's a little different when your Titan is so big his transformation is basically a nuclear bomb.
Back to the latest point of the battle up to now, with half of Reiner's head blown off, his Titan still manages to call out, which is the signal Bertholdt, hiding in a barrel, was waiting for. The Beast Titan tosses the barrel into the town. Irwin, Hange, Levi, Armin, and everyone else watch as it sails over them, and Armin realizes it's Bertholdt is in there and they've got to get away.
But just when he seems ready to transform, which would be game over for everyone in the town, Bert spots the KO'd Reiner and hesitates. He fires up his ODM instead and rushes to Reiner's side, where he learns Reiner transferred his consciousness to his nervous system as a last resort. Bert asks Reiner to flip himself over to protect his exposed nape when Bert transforms.
While Armin wasn't able to negotiate with Reiner, he wants to at least try with Bertholdt, probably assuming the more timid of the two will be more willing to listen. But while Eren's been mastering physical Titan hardening, Bert has been busy becoming mentally tougher, and meeting with Armin is the last bit of proof he needs to confirm that he's finally ready to take the next step.
Bertholdt has no ill will towards Armin or his other former comrades; indeed, he regards them as "precious". But they also have to die, because that's what needs to happen. That's the plan of all Titans, and those they serve. That it's unfortunate doesn't change the fact it's inevitable truth that not even Bertholdt can avoid any longer.
Mikasa tries to take him out of the equation all together with a sneak attack, while Armin mentions Annie to try to throw him off emotionally, but Bertholdt shows he can and will deal with all psychological comers, and that he can live with whatever the result of this battle.
With that, Bert transforms, unleashing the nuclear-esque explosion virtually right on top of Hange Squad, while Levi and Armin's squads just barely get to a safe distance. But no distance is safe once the transformed Colossal Titan starts scooping up flaming bits of town and launching them into the air, creating a kind of meteor shower for all surviving scouts to contend with.
Armin freezes up a bit, as the original plan to retreat back to Irwin and fight the Colossal in a battle of attrition will no longer work; not when Bert can put a wall of flame between Irwin's forces and the Beast Titan. Armin's only choice is to fight and defeat the Colossal Titan there and then, with only the forces he has. Needless to say, it will be a colossal undertaking, and they're colossal underdogs.
Author braveradePosted on Sun, 12 May 2019 Categories Anime Reviews, Shingeki no Kyojin Season 3 Part 2, Spring 2019Tags armin arlert, armored titan, Attack on Titan, battle, beast titan, bertholdt hoover, eren yeager, erwin smith, explosion, 進撃の巨人, hange zoe, hardening, jean kirstein, marco bott, mikasa ackerman, nervous system, nuclear bomb, regenerating, reiner braun, sasha blouse, shiganshina, shingeki no kyojin, transformation
Attack on Titan – 16
The mystery of who killed Sonny and Bean remains that this week, as an investigation turns up no culprits. But there isn't time to worry about that now; the Scout Regiment must prepare to head out beyond Wall Rose to retrieve the secret in Eren's basement, which is a potential MacGuffin if I ever heard of one.
While last week focused entirely on Eren settling into his new assignment, this week gets back to his fellow 104th cadets, who must still choose which regiment they'll join, despite being profoundly traumatized by the battle and the clean-up that followed. Some are sure of where they're going—Mikasa and Armin to the Scouts, Annie to the Police—but Connie, Sasha, and especially Jean wring their hands a lot more.
When the night of the choosing is upon them, scores of cadets head for the hills after hearing Erwin's stirring but not altogether encouraging speech, curtly informing them that in the last four years, 60% of the Scouts have been wiped out, and he can't guarantee those losses will go down just because they now have Eren.
What Erwin does do, without sugarcoating anything, is lay out their plan to return to Shiganshina, in hopes the answer to defeating the Titans for good lies there (a huge assumption, but one made by desperate people).
The ones who remain, less than two dozen, include all of the cadets who hung around Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, except for Annie and Marco. I'm gradually learning their names, but to be honest there are so many and they get so little time on screen it's tough keeping track of them all, aside from the very distinctive Sasha, Connie, and Krista.
There's no rest for the weary, as the newly-minted Scouts are immediately integrated into Erwin's plan to do a practice run outside the wall to test whether getting Eren to Shiganshina is possible. This means Eren is reunited with Mikasa and Armin, and to the show's credit, Mikasa demonstrates her undying devotion to Eren by neither forgiving nor forgetting what Levi did to him.
Eren is surprised to see Jean, and almost disproportionately devastated when he learns Marco died. But Marco, it would seem, is one reason Jean joined up, despite lacking what he perceives as Eren's "death wish."
Marco died quietly, ingloriously, and no one witnessed his end, nor will any songs be sung. It just happened, like it did with countless other humans, be they soldiers or not. He also died without Eren ever noticing, until he was told by those who saw his body. I guess Jean took another look at himself as a military policeman after all he'd been through, and heard the words of praise from a comrade, and decided "I can contribute more directly to the cause."
By doing so, he figures to die in a manner more likely to be remembered. But he'd rather not die at all, which is why he implores Eren, who still isn't sure he can control his Titan form, to please, please don't let them down. Don't let any more of his comrades end up like Marco. Jean tells Mikasa not everyone can die unconditionally for Eren like her. Jean has conditions. If he's going to die, he wants it to be for a good reason, and for someone to notice when it happens.
As the Scout Regiment storms out of the gates with purpose, in search of glory and salvation, there's a good chance those conditions will be met.
Author braveradePosted on Mon, 7 Dec 2015 Tue, 17 Nov 2015 Categories Anime Reviews, Attack on Titan, Spring 2013Tags annie leonhart, armin arlert, choice, cleaning up, connie springer, enemy, eren yeager, erwin, erwin smith, 進撃の巨人, fear, hange zoe, jean kirstein, krista lenz, levi, marco bott, mikasa ackerman, mystery, sasha blouse, scout regiment, shingeki no kyojin, survey corps, survival, titans