452. Attack on Titans

Title: 進撃の巨人 / Shingeki no Kyojin
English Title: Attack on Titans, Advancing Giants
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic
Episodes: 25

Summary: The story of Attack on Titan revolves around the adventures of Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, and their childhood friend Armin Arlert who once lived in the town of Shinganshina. But when Wall Maria is breached by the Colossal Titan with the Armored Titan further compromising the town, chaos ensued as the Titans enter Shinganshina with a mass evacuation. Having watched in horror as a smiling Titan eats his mother, his father having mysteriously disappeared after giving him a key to their basement, Eren vowed to kill all the Titans and enlisted in the military with his friends following suit.

Five years later, the three cadet graduates are positioned in Trost District, one of the border towns jutting out of Wall Rose when the Colossal Titan appeared and history repeats itself. In the ensuing battle, Eren appeared to have been killed when he sacrificed himself while saving Armin from being eaten by a bearded Titan. Things appeared bleak until Mikasa and Armin encounter a Titan that uncharacteristically attacks the other Titans with raging fury, the creature ultimately revealed to be Eren. Though considered a threat by some despite helping take back Trost District, the following military trial ruled that Eren will be taken in by the Survey Corps' Special Operations Squad under Captain Levi.

In an expedition to Shinganshina to make use of Eren's abilities, the Scouts are attacked by a Female Titan who attempts to capture Eren while wiping out Levi's subordinates. Though Eren was saved, the expedition ended in failure while Armin determined that the Female Titan is fellow cadet from their class named Annie Leonheart. While Annie encased herself in crystal when her capture at Stohess is assured, the collateral damage reveals the walls are formed from Titans. Eventually, Eren learns that their fellow cadets Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover are the Titans who compromised Wall Maria as they and Annie are revealed to have been sent by an unknown party to capture Eren as he possesses "The Coordinate" which allows him to control Titans. The event also revealed another cadet named Krista Lenz to be actually Historia Reiss, the illegitimate daughter of the city's true ruler Rod Reiss. Reiss has the Military Police track Eren and Historia and brought to him, revealing that the former's Titan abilities were result of his father Grisha having stolen the power of the Reiss family during the chaos at Shinganshina and allowed himself to be devoured by his son.

While Historia learns her father intends for her to become a Titan and kill Eren to claim her birthright and restore the old system, she refused and aids the Survey Corps in overthrowing the monarchy while personally ending Reiss's life after he turned himself into a Titan. The ordeal allowed Eren to gain a new power that allows him to create massive and permanent structures, which the Survey Corps used in their next expedition to seal the breach in Wall Maria. But the group are ambushed by Zeke, the man who Reiner and Bertolt serve under. The Battle of Shinganshina which ensued resulted in the deaths of commander Erwin Smith and most of the expedition members, Armin only able to survive when he is turned into a Titan and devours Bertolt to become the new Colossus Titan.

Before returning home, the survivors reach the basement of the Yeager residence where they find the truth Grisha wanted them to learn: That human civilization is thriving despite what they had believed and that they are descendants of some of the Eldian people who fled to Paradis to escape oppression by Marley, a world power that seeks to acquire Paradis's natural resources by force. The Titans are revealed to be exiled Eldian prisoners. The Marleyans used to keep the Eldians within the walls from expanding their territory prior to sending Zeke, who Eren learns is his older half-brother who had their father exiled to Paradis. But events led Grisha to acquire the power of the Attack Titan which he later passed to Eren along with the Founding Titan, nicknamed the "Coordinate" by the Marleyans.

The series then jumps to four years after the Battle of Shinganshina and the reclaim of Wall Maria. As the Marley's military hegemony declines and all attempts to scout Paradis end in failure, Willy Tybur, patriarch of Marley's most influential and highly respected political clan, openly admits his family have secretly controlled the Marley government and had an alliance with King Karl Fritz, a descendant of the first Progenitor Titan Ymir Fritz who orchestrated Eldia's downfall. Claiming that Eren's possession of the Founding Titan is a threat to the entire world, Willy holds a ceremony to rally the other countries for an alliance to invade Paradis. Eren and the Survey Corps launch a surprise attack in the middle of the ceremony, with Eren successfully killing Willy and obtaining the power of the Warhammer Titan by consuming its owner.

After retrieving the War Hammer Titan, the Survey Corps retreat on an airship piloted by a foreign dignitary. Eren is immediately arrested for insubordination by Levi. As the Survey Corps celebrate what it seems as a victory on their invasion to Liberio, an enraged Gabi - Reiner's cousin and expected successor to the Armor Titan - manages to kill one of the Corps and uses the maneuvering gear, along with her friend, Falco, to gain access to the airship. Gabi shoots the celebrating Corps and unfortunately, the bullet hits Sasha Blouse on the chest. The infuriated Corps sends Gabi and Falco to the holding area where Zeke is being held captive, revealing that things are working according to as planned except with some minor miscalculations, pertaining to Gabi and Falco. As Sasha succumbs to her wounds, Hange castigates Eren for his recklessness and abuse of the Corps' trust, while Jean lets Eren know that blame for dragging the Survey Corps into the conflict, and Sasha's death, lies solely with him, to which a regretful, grief-stricken Eren breaks down weeping.

Through a series of flashbacks, it is revealed that Zeke made contact with Paradis four years previously through an emissary, Yelena, who was conscripted into the Marleyan army after her homeland was invaded. With the help of Yelena and a number of her fellow conscripts, the Paradisians receive training in modern weapons and technology, as well as assistance in making contact with enemies of Marley to build alliances. Meanwhile, a rift develops between Eren and Armin, as the latter begins to realise his friend is becoming increasingly numb to violence and killing, and that he fundamentally opposes Armin's desire to negotiate for peace. Two years into the modernisation process, Yelena introduces Paradis to the Nation of Hizuru, a former ally of the Eldian race who now hope to rebuild their alliance, and take advantage of Paradis's vast resources in return for financial and diplomatic assistance. Upon meeting her, the Ambassador reveals that Mikasa is the last surviving descendant of the former Shogun of Hizuru. At a military committee meeting, Yelena reveals Zeke's long term plan, to hand over his Beast Titan to someone of royal blood, who could help Eren unlock his Founding Titan powers. Because of the 13-year lifespan of a Titan, the chosen person would have to produce as many heirs as possible to ensure a line of succession in the 50 years it would take to modernise Paradis fully. Knowing that she is the only option, Historia accepts this burden, but Eren, wanting to protect her from this fate, angrily demands an alternative option be found, or he will not accept Zeke's deal.

In the present, as the squad mourns Sasha's death, Eren is confined to prison, as are Gabi and Falco. Armin ruminates with the still encased Annie that he no longer understands his former friend, and Mikasa begins to worry about his state of mind. In prison, Eren violently attacks a visiting Hange, knowing that Historia is now in her first coerced pregnancy, and demands to know if a new option has been found. Meanwhile, Falco and Gabi manage to escape their cell after killing one of their jailers, Yelena and her followers are taken captive by the military government, and Zeke is taken to a secret prison in the forest.