ATTACK ON TITAN (Season 3) Episode 57
I am about to start editing my reaction highlights for episode 57 of Attack on Titan. As I edit, I'll make notes of any thoughts that come up for me, any unanswered questions or things I want to keep in mind going forward.
Grisha/the people behind the walls are all known as Eldians.
Ymir Frits was the woman who made a contract with a Devil to gain the powers of the titans.
I referred to this origin story as being a "religious" story, but that's not what I meant. I just meant it's like religious stories in that it tells a tale that sounds "unbelievable". Like how a woman made a contract with a Devil (e.g. like Adam and Eve were tricked by a snake/giant lizard).
Ymir died and her spirit was split into the Nine Titans - this I don't understand, how was her spirit split into nine physical titans? Could there be some other explanation, like her nine closest friends/family ate her to obtain her power?
These Nine Titans formed the Eldian Empire (so they were intelligent somehow). They saw other races as inferior and began to oppress them (including the Marleyens). "They stole lands and fortunes and forced other races to bear their children to increase their numbers" - so the children that were born from this, were they also considered "pureblood"? Is this the same blood that runs through Historia's veins?
Ymir (the character we know) also came from somewhere inside the walls, so was her name given to her by the cult that (essentially) abducted her?
80 years ago (from before Grisha learned about all this) there was a Great Titan War and the Marleyens won. Or did the Eldian King forfeit and leave many of his people behind? Why? Dina said it was because he refused to fight. "And so, these wretched days we live, all began when the king turned away from conflict".
When Grisha was older, he learned about the truth of his sister's death, and about a different history (or the same history told from a different perspective). He joined the patriots. From their perspective, Ymir made the continent a better place.
Dina Fritz looks a lot like Armin in my opinion.
So at the same time that the patriots were planning to overthrow the Marleyens, the Marleyens were planning something similar using Eldian people (to get that power from the people behind the walls). "Though Marley leads the world using the power of the seven titans, the end of their dominance is nigh." Marley wanted to get at the massive cache of fossil fuel underneath the Paradis - but the Eldian king left that warning - which is why the Marley wanted Eldians to fight for them (the ones left on "their" continent).
The Marley and Patriots had the same goal: to infiltrate the walls and recover the founding titan (the power Krista/Historia now has).
I find it... interesting? Ironic? how Grice turns on Grisha after their plan went to shit. As if it was Grisha's fault that things didn't work out. Grisha was, after all, a normal person just like them. They were the ones who put their trust in him.
At first I was confused about how they had this "titan juice" to turn the Eldians into pure titans - but now while editing I remembered that they have 7 titans/titan powers so they just extract the spinal fluid from them.
I wonder what triggered these memories (why did Eren remember them now and not earlier? did meeting his half brother force the memories to the surface?).
Lastly, I realise that we don't know yet who is telling the "right" history or who's perspective is more accurate. Did the Nine Titans really oppress people? Or was that just the history Marleyens taught Eldians? Did the founding titan really change the world for the better/improve the continent like the patriots believed? Isn't that usually how "colonisers" see themselves and their actions, even when what they are doing for improvement is at the expense of others? At this point, what happened back then is not as important as what is happening right now. Punishing an entire group of people, for the sins of past generations is wrong, whether the distinction is made because of them being a different race, religion or gender. That is the most important thing to remember here.
Edit: After watching my full reaction, one of my very first patrons, Spencer, tweeted this https://twitter.com/fijikokoi/status/1140540079569592320
When I read Armin's words again, I got goosebumps... Especially in light of the thoughts that came up for me about labeling in this episode. It's not like it came up for me just today, these are things I've thought about for a long time for various reasons and learned about through many personal experiences. Of course, I still have a lot to learn, especially about how to express my thoughts properly and less emotionally charged. But that's why I'm so grateful an anime like Attack on Titan exists. To say the things I don't always know how to put in words and to help us see the actual implications of our beliefs/systematic labeling of others.
Shared with me on Discord by Lalisa: "To add to what you were saying about the Marley people being blinded to the humanity of Eldians, I think it's not just their history of being oppressed by them that's fuelling that, but also because of the fact that Eldians can turn into literal man-eating monsters as well. For someone like Gross (psycho asshole), it's hard to feel remorse for monsters in human skin (IIRC, he literally says that in the manga but in the anime, the wording was changed up). Fear of the unknown or anything really can really blind people. In this case, it also makes Marley repeat the cycle and become the oppressor."
Shared with me on Twitter by @angelkuhnpost: "Fun Fact: Isayama specifically requested for the Sergeant Gross talking scene to make it look like Gross is talking to us, the audience. Basically, as he’s talking about how fun it is to see people getting eaten by titans, he’s breaking the fourth wall by telling us that we’re the same as well, as we’re watching this series. It’s a great meta commentary on the fascination that we as people have towards violence.
Never would I have imagined that we would see a fat Nazi calling us out, through the screen for watching this show. Isayama is a genius."
another one:"Fun fact: Isayama requested that Gross look at YOU, the viewer, when he was monologuing. Gross was accusing you of also enjoying watching people getting eaten by Titans.
You just got called out by a fat Nazi in a Japanese anime."someone else also noticed that Gross is breaking the 4th wall while standing on the 4th wall lol. That's not my note but I find it very interesting - Ángel
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