Attack on Titan 4x2 Reaction Extended (YT link below)

Pick's pose on the couch tho :D

Dorney_Sunraint

Reiner pats speak the loudest

Alex G

Thanks!

Alex G

HAHAHHAH

Aray YIKAMACI

Well... with all the flashbacks lmao

Nick

there's actually a spin-off show called "Reading with Eren" where you can learn how to read with Eren. but unfortunately no, he never learns in the actual show.

Lulu

Damn, that scene with Reiner joining/head's pattng the warrior's kids feels good. It's humanize Reiner in a sec better than 100 speeches.

Clément

"I'll see you next time for season 3 and potentially the attack on the Island" Wait, what? Are we going back in time and forward in time at the same time? Is that how time travel works in this show? hahahha

This season its a lot more complex than previous ones so its normal to not get everything at first. regardless you´re doing a great work for most of the episode :D

Sh3nx

There's also an interesting dynamic in that, because Marley is the only country in the world that uses Titans as weapons, Marley is the only country in the world where Eldians are useful and thus the government has incentive to keep them loyal. Also because of Marley using the Eldians against the entire rest of the world (they're kind of basically just an inverted Eldian Empire when you think about it?), all the other nations hate Eldians that much more, like Udo said this episode. We see that Marleyans hate Eldians, but every other nation hates Eldians FAR MORE than Marley does. Truly all of the fully-human races of the planet want the titan-people extinct, besides of course the people who depend on them for their global dominance. So between the increased hatred for Eldians abroad, and the fact that Marley is incentivized to keep Eldians loyal and caring about their nation, Marley is in a twisted way the *best* place on the planet to exist as an Eldian. Especially the Warriors and their families, who earn special privileges to incentivize them sending their children to war — Reiner's family, for example is living the best life an Eldian can possibly have anywhere in the world. Besides, of course, Paradis, but everyone knows that that is a small island which every nation in the world has their eyes on to eradicate when the chance comes.

a. tree

The next few episodes are really something else. I dunno how you’re gonna feel about them. I think you’re gonna have a few more “Descent” moments before this is over haha.

Jk844

I mean there is some precedent for people of subdued and marginalized groups turning on each other under pressure of the subduers. In nazi concentration camps, there were certain Jewish prisoners who received „special rights" and privileges to watch over their fellow prisoners, punish them and tell on them if there’s something to tell. The special rights weren’t that great, maybe you weren’t starved to death as badly or got a blanket sometimes, but it’s reported that these prisoners could be very violent to their fellow inmates in order to prove themselves. And honestly I think it’s just a survival mechanism. You’re doing this to protect yourself, cause I’d say that almost every human being is, in their core, self preservatory and egoistical. I don’t mean that in a bad way btw! I think we have loads of compassion for others, but if that compassion would be at a detriment to ourselves and to the benefit of total Stranges, I could see how many would choose to protect themselves or their immediate family. Of course everyone would like to think they wouldn’t, but yeah. Similarly, in the German population during the time it was common for neighbors to spy on each other and report everything that didn’t align with nazi ideas and ideologies. The same happened later in the DDR in eastern Germany. These eldians in Marley have been told their entire lives that they are devils, but that they have the capacity to become "good devils" and rid the world of the evil ones to redeem themselves. And i also think Theres a kind of resentment, because the eldians in paradis left them behind under Marleyan rule. Also, looking at the marleyan titan weapons, they all have special armbands and the cadets as well, and Falco said something about becoming an "honorary marleyan" so cooperating with the marleyans gives you and your family special benefits. If I was living in the internment zone, I wouldn’t behave out of line. And it seems like the marleyans Are also pretty smart about governing the eldians. Sure, it’s terrible and terrible circumstances, but living in the internment zones themselves seems fine. Not good of course! But they aren’t starving, they have jobs (grishas dad) and families. These are circumstances that most humans can live with, and ignore the rest. We can get used to almost anything, and as long as Marley isn’t making every aspect of their life like hell, most people would choose to follow the rules to avoid worsening their situation. Sorry for that essay xD and I’m of course not saying that Marley should govern eldians or anything, this is clearly an unjust state and id always sympathize more with rebellious groups in this case.

Anna Lena Ciplajevs

If there’s any AOT season worth rewatching, it’s definitely this one. It has so many “blink and you’ll miss it” moments, like that soldier committing suicide during the episode which was only illuminated for a split second by the lighting strike. There are many more, arguably more important moments like that which are difficult to catch/make sense of, especially on the first watch-through.

QuillerKeen

A crack in Reiner's psyche? A chink in the armor?

ArmdVctr

I think they might have gone a bit ham with the blur filter in some parts this season but the fluid animation with this episode was something I liked, especially with the Udo scene and the part were Gabi realizes she came very close to not being alive anymore. I think it helped to draw some really interesting contrasts between the surroundings or what's being said. I think you're right that they stopped later on I'm not sure why? But I do feel that the first two episodes of this season involved MAPPA doing the most animation-wise in order to flex their creative muscles, so to speak.

a. tree

I think we're safe there

Alex G

But what's his special way of wiping his ass? Now I must know

Alex G

I didn't catch how hard he was working to keep up appearances. That adds a lot

Alex G

The Tybur family are the smart ones! Also, I think you mentioned a spolier.

Yusuf

now would be a great time to mention that there is an after-credit scene in episode 4!

Mahni Alizadeh

Reading.... if there's anyone I wouldn't want with that power, its you Eren!

GraphicsCow

I think there are not completely good or bad characters, but I think that there is a higher moral code that can be applied to actions, and within that code there are I would say rights and wrongs. And maybe even some shades of gray. But the main gray area is not necessarily whether something should or should not be done to people, it's more so that we understand how people got to the point of these decisions, and in understanding the value systems and the things that characters care about and the lies/truths they've been told or experienced, we are able to come to understand how they came to these decisions. For example, killing innocent people is wrong. Reiner did a wrong thing. But we know that he cares about his family, and we know that he wanted as a kid to stop the threat coming from the island and save the world, so he's sympathetic and it's harder to view him as a "bad person." Like Armin said at the end of Season one.

a. tree

The delusion is due to brainwashing since childhood. The power of brainwashing since childhood cannot be underestimated, it is extremely powerful. Exposure to the truth sometimes strengthens the brainwashing. Being exposed to the enemy and truth is in most cases not enough, even if you have made deep connections.

Yusuf

We already know Zeke’s Big secret. It’s that since Dina is his mom, he has royal blood.

Eddie

Not-so-fun fact: according to some dialogue from Falco which didn't make it past the cutting-board floor for the animation (I read up to where we are now in AOT once the season's done and there are some great moments that didn't make it!), after Reiner returned from Paradis, the military leaders of Marley were calling for him to be executed and his Armor given to a new warrior (probably Colt?) immediately upon his return due to his tremendous failure including the loss of two powerful Titans. The way that Reiner avoided being killed four years ago is by using his Titan to help Marley conquer a couple other enemy nations, thus re-establishing his loyalty to the country as well as his usefulness. Once he did this, his honor as a Warrior was restored and he was even promoted to vice-chief, right under Zeke. Something that this episode does really well is show, through our knowledge of the incongruities of what people are saying and what Reiner knows about his job, exactly how repressive of a state this is. But Reiner's been around a long while; he knows the game he needs to play well — Don't say this about being a Warrior; They're listening to you in these places when you're talking to these people; Interrupt Porco when he starts talking poorly about these people; If the window's open, make sure you say disparaging things about these people; And if they doubt you, just double down on your performance. This episode does a great job of establishing the rules of this place by contrasting what is said with what's *not* said or what people explicitly express should not be said... for Reiner, he weight of this act that he has to put up is weighing on him a bunch; you can even tell in how much older and weathered he looks.

a. tree

There's no absolute good or bad in this series, the world is just cruel :(

Tea-Spin

Yeah I missed it a whole bunch somehow

Alex G

Alex: "I'm really curious about Reiner's psyche right now, I wonder what-" *Scene changes to Reiner having a PTSD moment* Sometimes the stuff you say is so perfectly timed

Nick

Not sure if you picked up on this specifically, but the significance of the newly introduced and rather mysterious Tybur family is that other nations won't necessarily rally behind the Marley empire that has been conquering the world using titan powers. Meanwhile, the Tyburs are famous for helping overthrow Eldia (whom everyone hates) AND not involving their titan in Marley's wars of expansion.

KJ Gaona

I think what's *more* important is that we still don't know Zeke's special secret ass-wiping technique. Historia has enough royal blood, anyway.

a. tree

7:14 its only been a few months since i watched S4 but the blurred background will never not bother me also the fluid character movement and the 3D rotating nonsense: none of it makes sense it annoys the ever loving crap out of me it just looks so unnatural @.@ I think they stopped doing it later on or i just super used to it because holy heck i never noticed it when Zeke and Colt were talking Where was I? where was my brain when they were being talking about colt throwing up Pieck's kindness all over the train LMAO cuz that's cute i love that, i somehow missed this entire conversation XD "The war hammer titan? what does it do?" oh ya know...war hammer things...

Brimmy

That scene is simultaneously hilarious because of Reiner's conviction with the potato angle, and so sad because you can tell that Reiner searched his soul deep for something awful to say about these people, because he knows that that's what he's supposed to say. Yet the best he could pull out is that thing with the potatoes. The days he spent with the 104th were probably the best days he's had or will have in his life, (which is going to end in a few years because of Ymir's curse), and even though he feels tremendous guilt over what he's done to them — which his mother and Gabi have sort of picked up on but not been able to completely put their finger on — Reiner's guilt, in itself, is a SERIOUS crime. A Marleyan Warrior can't feel sympathy for those people; they're not even supposed to refer to them *as* people. If anyone knew that that's how he felt, like he said on the train, his ENTIRE family would be subjected to eternal torment as pure titans until they got chopped up by Levi on the island. And what makes it even sadder to watch is he has absolutely nobody to express his true feelings to because the only ones who would understand are his comrades who went with him to the island who are all either captured or dead — which, again, Reiner also blames himself and feels guilty for. Something I like seeing in this chapter though is that Gabi wants to be that person; she has a line that didn't make it to the animation about "if I inherit your memories, I'll be able to understand the things that are too painful to put into words." The great part about her being a kid is that we can see she's still trying to wrap her head around the way the world works: she wants to understand exactly who the "island devils" are, but that angle is shut down by her aunt; she wants to understand how Reiner feels about his time as a Warrior and why he feels that way, but Reiner knows he can't share that burden with her. But as for Reiner, you're right about him not wanting to feel the things he feels, but that's driven not just by his own fear of experiencing those feelings, but the deeply-established knowledge that those feelings put his family in true danger.

a. tree

Something super dark about the train scene is that, at the same time that Reiner is telling Falco that he needs to surpass Gabi (Reiner's cousin) in order to be chosen instead of her for the Armor, Colt is openly praising Gabi and aggrandizing what she did in the war. It could be just that he's drunk, but also, in the same vein as Reiner, Colt has a vested interest in Gabi receiving the Armor, rather than his own brother Falco — we can see why it's good for Colt that everyone views little miss Braun as the natural choice to succeed her cousin. Both Colt and Reiner know that this is a death sentence, not an honor, and the twisted only way that they can save their direct family is by pushing the succession off on another of the kids, who they care about as well. And like Alex said, there is good in Reiner. I think he feels guilt about doing this to Falco among the many other things he feels guilt for, which is potentially why Reiner is teaching him lessons like this about what he can and can't say, and generally trying to develop a more truthful rapport with him.

a. tree

Right... or that Zeke himself was never told by his parents that he has royal blood!

a. tree

you didn't catch the suicide!!

51Art

I thought that's who those kids were

Alex G

Marley #1

Alex G

Thank you! My gut sense was it was a suicide but I somehow missed that scene

Alex G

Reiner saw a flashback of Behrtolt, Marcel, Galliard and Annie when the 4 kids were walking away and also you missed the soldier jumping off the roof when the lightning struck.

Christian Medeiros

i'm not sure if anyone mentioned yet but we already know zeke's secret. the sentence before he mentions having one colt said "it's not like you have royal blood or anything" which we know he actually does. so, we're supposed to infer that he's hiding that fact from marley and it gives his beast titan some sort of special attributes that he plays off as an unknown abnormality

joe martin

And now you know the TRUE GODDESS, Pieck. I think you didn't notice but Falco lastname is Grice, like the guy that "recruited" Grisha. As you can see, brainwash is real and terrifying. You also didn't notice the guy jumping from the roof, he was one of the "mentally affected" soldiers.

Carlos Salazar

Gist I'm getting so far is Marley good and everyone we've known for the last 3 seasons is bad! Go Marley!

benj

“Are they Eldians that get special privileges” sure…sure

hays collins

this season made reiner one of my favorite characters

Keegan Brakhage

There is a lot of nuanced scenes in this episode that can easily go over your head in first watch. The scene in the train when Reiner scolds Falco about his remark, then he himself suggests that Falco should save Gabi from the dark future of becoming one of the nine is Reiner saying "You should watch out when you say your real thoughts out loud like that, if you say it to the wrong person you and your family will become titans but yes I do agree with you." Also at the end where the warriors talk about the plan with the Tybur, Galliard is complaining and being blunt but Reiner cuts him off before he gets too far and says some marley propaganda stuff, probably because he is aware that theyre always being listened to so he kinda saves Galliard before he says too much. I am really looking forward to the next couple episodes, Reiner is one of my favorite characters and I am curious to see your opinions about him in the future.

Mert

A lot of people find it more humorous than anything, but I love when Reiner is describing his time on Paradis as if it was this horrific experience, because that's what it SHOULD have been, but really he's just talking about... People. People with flaws, with quirks and different personalities. You see the horrified faces of his family when he finishes, not because they were appalled by the supposed savagery of the island devils, but because Reiner, whether he meant to or not, was describing them as perfectly normal people.

Jo

Zeke is 100% the best character in the series

Polygon

During the raining cutscene, there was thunder and it showed someone jumping off the roof of a building. That's what the crowd was talking about when they said "that's awful". They also said they heard it was a soldier, so it is presumed that one of the Eldian soldiers with emotional trauma committed suicide.

MooTuu

Zeke is for some reason, one of my favourite characters lol

Jabez Katsak

'I'm really concerned about Reiner's psyche'. Guy's not the same as he once was, couldn't be more obvious. He's been in a real rough place ever since Paradis. I love how the story shifts at the start of this season, almost placing Gabi, Falco and Reiner into a position as the protagonist for a little bit.

Zac Rushton

Finally best girl Pieck has arrived!! Unprecedented that such a strong candidate for best girl would appear in the final season and in the Cart Titan of all characters who did not make the best first impression but that's the power of AOT. Zeke's secret is something the audience already knows: that he has royal blood from his mother's side which marley seemingly doesn't know. Also I'm not sure how far ahead you're filming these but ep 4 has an important post credits scene!

malikparah

Something that's really important is that Zeke has royal blood. His mother was Dina. His "secret" for having more powers than most Beast Titans is because of his royal blood.

themightyabe

let's gooo I'm excited

Was about to take a nap, but then this.

Dominic Caciappo