Attack on Titan 4x14 "Savagery" reaction & review
Added 2021-03-23 13:20:39 +0000 UTCHey everyone! Here's my reaction and review of episode 14 of the final season of AoT! Oh Lord!!!!!! What in the world was that scene with Eren, Armin and Mikasa?! I'm still in total denial over him truly feeling that way!!! While he makes some interesting points, particularly the one about Mikasa's devotion being instinctual, I cannot and will not believe that their love, friendship and support wasn't just that - out of love!!!!!!! I'm so mad at Eren right now!!! Meanwhile, Levi is making his own low budget horror movie starring Zeke!!!! What in the world lol. Also poor Levi for having to....well....get his hands dirty regarding that whole pure Titan situation. :( Looks like a heartbreaking origin story is coming next!!! Can't wait! Enjoy! ~ MH
Comments
As for the Mikasa stuff, a lot more lines were cut. "I learned about the Ackermans there too. The reason you’re strong Mikasa. For all their efforts Marley’s scholars barely know a thing about the titans. But they did discover there was an accidental by-product of Eldia’s experiments with the subjects of Ymir over the centuries. A bloodline that could partly manifest the strength of a titan while in human form. The Ackerman clan. Traces of that instinct still remain, so when Ackermans sense the presence of a certain host, traits that are inherent in their blood will activate. Not only did this heighten your physical abilities to an extreme. You gained the battle experiences of all past Ackermans by way of a path" This information about Ackermans being byproducts of titan experiments was meant to be mentioned in episode 2 since Zeke talks about it with Colt and Magath but they cut it so I assumed they'd include Eren talking about it but they didn't which is weird since this info will never be explained again so it's kinda weird they cut the origin explanation of why the Ackermans are the way they are. Not only that though but there were more lines where Eren also directly targets Mikasa's own insecurities. Her feelings towards him. "In other words, you only cling to me because of your instincts as an Ackerman." "What I’m saying is that the real Mikasa. Disappeared in that mountain cabin, at nine years old. Leaving only you behind, ever faithful to your Ackerman instincts.” Eren is telling her that she can't even trust her own feelings. He's making her question her every action since she first met him. Eren is literally making her doubt her entire being and causing her to have an existential crisis about her very own emotions. As for what he said about her only being attached to him and wanting to protect him because of her blood let's consider a couple things. Firstly the moment Eren talks about when she awakened her Ackerman instincts, Eren claims that it was because she obeyed his order to fight, though back in season 1 we saw inside her head and what she was thinking in that moment and it had nothing to do with Eren. She was thinking about how she had seen how cruel the world has been ever since she was born as Eren gets strangled, she thinks of her father bringing home a bird he killed to eat and she comes to the realization that she's living in a cruel world where the strong devour the weak and in order to survive you need to be strong, which is what awakened her strength and she became who she is. But that isn't what she remembers when she thinks back on that moment she thinks back on Eren wrapping his scarf around her and giving her a place to go home to. His kindness to her is the source of her love for him and why she protects him, not because of an order to. As for the headaches she gets, think back on the times she got them throughout the series. First time is after Carla is eaten she gets a headache and clutches her head when she remembers her own parents deaths, another notable example is when she finds Armin burnt to a crisp on that roof, she gets a headache and clutches her head. And the most recent example is her getting one after Louise reminds her of how she was saved by Eren which leads to her thinking back on that memory but in a different context, being afraid of the brutality Eren showed back then as he stabbed the kidnapper to death, showing how her perception of him that she's always had is changing after all of Eren's recent actions. The first 2 examples of these headaches don't even have anything to do with Eren. I've always believed Mikasa's headaches are just a common form of stress related trauma since painful migraines are a common symptom of victims when they remember their past trauma or experience something else traumatic, which seems to allign the best with Mikasa's headaches. So as to why Eren is doing this? Who knows. You're yet to find out. Regardless of whether it's true or not maybe Eren genuinely believes it and is lashing out at them because of it. Maybe he genuinely believes the stuff he said about Mikasa's attachment to him and is trying to free her from that connection. Or maybe Eren knows neither Mikasa or Armin agree with his actions and won't agree with whatever plan he's working towards and because of that wants to push them as far away from his as possible, severing his connections to them by personally attacking them and preying on their biggest insecurities so they won't have to involve themselves with him as he keeps moving forward. Maybe even giving them the push they'd need to potentially oppose him rather than clinging onto their bond to him and the strong love they have for him if Eren himself gives them no reason to care for him anymore.
Doccyy
2021-03-28 04:14:49 +0000 UTCUnfortunately the anime cut quite a few of Eren's lines in the confrontation with Mikasa and Armin, especially the stuff he said about Mikasa. Which is a very complicated conversation to unwrap since we're meant to question every line Eren says and be conflicted about what's true and what's a lie. Who's being controlled and who's truly free. For starters Eren was more harsh in the manga. A line that was cut when he was talking to Armin about him being "manipulated by Bertholdt" was "You weren’t soft like this before. You never backed the enemy. Your judgements always led us to an answer. But now all you can say is let’s talk. You’re absolutely useless.” Now let's see whether what Eren says here holds weight. Back in the Return to Shiganshina arc when Bertholdt appeared and Hanji's sqaud was getting ready to fight him, Armin rushed ahead because he knew it was his last chance to negotiate with the enemy and desperately tried to talk it out. The same has happened multiple times throughout the series like back when Annie revealed herself as the Female Titan Armin still desperately wanted to talk it out. So Eren suggesting that he wasn't like this before and he's changed after inheriting Bertholdt's memories doesn't really hold weight on the surface. Same can be said for Eren's point about Armin visiting Annie, suggesting that he's fallen in love with her because of Bertholdt. If you look back Armin and Annie already had a dynamic during the Female Titan arc. Armin called her kind because he believed she was trying to stop them from joining the Survey Corps to protect them. Annie refused to kill Armin on two seperate occasions when she was in her titan form. And Armin waited a month to reveal his suspicions about her to everyone because he desperately didn't want to believe it. Of course Bertholdt's memories will have a slight effect since naturally getting them will give Armin a wider perspective on her and how she grew up in Marley but it's not as if he randomly fell in love with her because of that. If that was the case Porco would be head over heels in love with Historia after eating Ymir. Armin most likely visits her crystal since she's the only person he can talk to about the burdens of being a shifter and about the trauma of having to slaughter innocent people when attacking enemy territory, since the only other person he could talk to who would understand is Eren but he's completely closed himself off from his friends and is not exactly in the right state of mind to have a nice chat with.
Doccyy
2021-03-28 04:13:23 +0000 UTCRight!!!!! I know that he's always hated the thought of being captive, and some of what he said is consistent with that....but on the other hand, it's so hard to believe that he's abandoned all of his caring for these individuals he clearly loved at one point at least. I'm not sure either, but maybe this is all a ploy to push them away for a bigger reason!!!! We'll see...!!
Melissa Moore
2021-03-24 12:10:06 +0000 UTCIt really is!! Thank you for not seeing my viewpoint as naive! I definitely think there are things that don't add up. So true that if this is based on getting his dad's memories, he would have become this way a lot sooner. It's also very possible that he's both lying to protect them and that he's changed. Either way, I love the thought that maybe he didn't truly mean what he said here!!! Thanks for the shot of hope there lol!
Melissa Moore
2021-03-24 12:08:46 +0000 UTCI don’t think it’s a coincidence that a few episodes ago, we saw the scene of Eren telling his friends that he didn’t want any of them to inherit his titans because he didn’t want them to shorten their lives, and now we see him pushing his two closest friends away. It doesn’t add up. There is a clear contradiction between what Eren was like a couple years prior to these events and what he’s like now. I think he sees that there is something to gain (or not lose) by making Mikasa and Armin hate him, though I can’t think of what it might be.
Jaeger
2021-03-24 02:59:11 +0000 UTCThis episode is such a traumatic experience. It's defintely hard to forgive Eren, for going out of his way to hurt his family. I don't believe that trying to make sense of it is merely naiveté though. Some things are not adding up, considering how Eren, defended Mikasa, is the courtroom in season 1, or how he defended Armin's, right to live in season 2. It's not unreasonable to hope that Eren, might just be trying to push them away, or make his friends hate him on purpose for some reason. Eren, has had his dads's memories since season 3, so it's hard to believe those memories are the cause of him abusing Mikasa & Armin. Also, both could be going on, meaning that he has both changed & is lying to protect them at the same time. I could totally be in denial though, because it's too upsetting to accept his behavior, but don't think so:)
TheMoonKingdom
2021-03-24 00:15:51 +0000 UTCYup, completely agree. If Eren was being consistent, this would mean the way his perspective of the world shifted after seeing his father's memories would mean he was being controlled - though I'm sure he'd argue he was ALWAYS consistent with "seeking freedom" or whatever. Eren seems to be taking a "the world's truths are self evident. No one else's "personal feelings" should alter your opinion of them" stance here; the coolest part is that as cold and repugnant of a take this is, it's completely consistent with his character, right from the beginning. Though when I read this in the manga, I did assume he was effectively saying "you're both being controlled in your own ways; both of you are not "free" and thus, pathetic to me". But the anime made me change my mind, I think.
Derrick C. Shields
2021-03-23 18:34:09 +0000 UTCA small clarification: he didn’t imply that Armin’s link with Bertholdt meant they weren’t friends or that he hated him. That was solely aimed at Mikasa (as far as the ‘since we were little’ thing) He just mentioned that, if anyone’s being manipulated, it’s them. Aka, Armin never visited Annie prior to eating Bertholdt. But in my personal opinion, just because you see and appreciate the past titan holder’s memories, which in turn changes your perspective towards the world or other people, that doesn’t mean you’re being controlled. Naturally if you see more of a person’s life and understand them more, your feelings would change towards that person. Seeing Zeke’s past in the next episode is a prime example of that.
Fizzle
2021-03-23 14:58:01 +0000 UTC
