Armin: After being attacked by a group of titans that suddenly appeared within Wall Rose, the cadets of 104th Survey Corps (including Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover) have met up with the Eren Yeager’s troop. While resting on top of the wall, Reiner and Bertolt confessed that they were titan-shifters. Using the outstanding power of the Armored and Colossal titans, Reiner and Bertolt captured Eren and Ymir and fled for the forest of giant trees within Wall Maria, where they were planning to recover and wait until night falls to avoid facing the titans scattered around the area.
Reiner: *heavy breathing* We’ve finally made it to here… Bertolt, how is Eren? Bertolt: Just like Ymir, he’s still unconscious. R: I see. It’s no wonder - both of his arms were gone when I ripped him out of his titan’s nape. I doubt he’ll be able to go on a rampage when he wakes up. It was so much harder to deal with him than I had imagined though. B: Yeah. R: I didn’t expect him to use those fighting techniques. I used to hold back on him during the hand-to hand combat training. B: Maybe he used some of Annie’s techniques? They often trained together. R: Whatever the case, we only captured Eren thanks to you. I wouldn’t have made it without you. B: It was only because you, Reiner, lured him to the perfect spot and gave me a signal. I had nothing to do with that. R: No, you have the strongest abilities of all. You don’t need to wait for my instructions all the time. You should act on your own, at least a little! B: Right… R: Ok… I think we should put on the vertical maneuvering equipment we took. It’s swarming with titans down there. B: If that crowd attacks us, even with our titan powers we won’t be able to reach the wall, especially if we have to carry Eren and Ymir with us. R: It means we’ll have to wait until night falls. We don’t have any food or water, and we haven’t slept since yesterday – we’ve been fighting without any shut-eye. But we won’t let them devour us! B: Yeah… R: It’s just a little bit more… We’ll survive and return home, no matter what it takes. B: Yes, we’ll return! We’ve at least made it this far. R: So traitors, huh? … B: It can’t be helped! We aren’t soldiers, we’re warriors! That’s who we always were! R: I know that, but… what will Connie, Jean and the rest say when they find out? B: Reiner… you’ve spent too much time living together with those guys! I mean, of course you’d feel this way, we’ve spent 3 long years there, after all! R: Yeah… I guess you’re right… we’ve been through harsh training together, we’ve had conversations about everything, we even promised to all go out drinking together if we all managed to get out of it alive… B: Yes. R: Oh man, Bertolt, the way they predicted the weather based on the unbelievable poses you made while sleeping! I still remember the “garrison officer is searching for the toilet” one! What a masterpiece! I’ve never laughed that hard in my entire life! B: When I woke up, I couldn’t tell why everyone was on the floor laughing… *chuckles* R: So many memories… B: Yeah… But… it’s all in the past now. R: True… You’re right… It’s all in the past… It’s all over–No. We have to end this with our own hands. B: Yes! R: Hey, Bertolt… do you regret it? B: You just said it yourself – we have to fulfill our duty, even if we don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong. We have to stay true as warriors and follow through on the decisions we’ve made until the bitter end. R: Yeah. B: Our fate was decided 5 years ago when we breached the wall and took all those lives… no, even before that – when we were sent on this mission. R: You’re right. Somebody had to do it. B: Of course, nobody does this because they want to. R: Bertolt… B: When I was pretending to be a soldier, I could escape from what I’d done for just a little while… I really could think of them all as my friends. You feel the same, don’t you, Reiner?: Yeah… R: Yeah… B: Not all of our words were lies… I know it may sound like a silly excuse. But it’s not surprising that they’ve labeled us traitors now. We’re not the people they used to know! R: You’re right… There’s no point in dwelling upon what’s already happened. We can’t and won’t turn back now. B: Yeah. That’s why we have to fulfill our mission as warriors and return home! R: Yes, we’ll do it, no matter what it takes!
Armin: In a few hours, Ymir regained consciousness, and then Eren followed suit, as well.
Reiner: Oh, Eren. Are you awake?
I love how we see more of Reiner and Bertolt’s motivation as warriors in this. Bertolt looking back fondly on his time with the 104th is especially bittersweet, and something we don’t see often in canon. ;-; It hurts my heart. These upcoming episodes are going to kill me, aren’t they?
