Attack on Titan might rely on its violence to shock fans from time to time, that’s not the only trick the series has in its arsenal. In fact, fans just learned the anime isn’t afraid to get political, and audiences were left stunned by its big turnaround this weekend.
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Not long ago, Attack on Titan posted its latest episode, and season three went live with a big coup d’etat. With Erwin’s life in the balance, the Survey Corps were summoned to the soldier’s trial before the Royal Assembly. With the king watching, Erwin failed to convince the counsel of his innocence, and they would not hear Ewin’s plea about Wall Rose. So, when news broke that Wall Rose had been breached by Titans, everyone looked to the Assembly for guidance.
Unsurprisingly, the nobles were unwilling to tarnish their district and refused to let refugees flee into Wall Sheena. The selfish choice revealed the true nature of the royals, and as it turns out, the breach was a simple hoax created by the Survey Corps. The soldiers wanted to test the morality of its leaders, and as fans were shown, the Assembly failed colorfully.
Just as Erwin planned with Dox Pixis, the Survey Corps went forward with a coup d’etat to overthrow the corrupt nobility ruling over Paradis. Darius Zackly was quick to arrest the Assembly for their crimes, and it was even brought to light that the group placed a fake king upon the throne who would approve their every command.
“Supposing your actually cared about saving as many people as possible, I would have been fine sending Erwin to the gallows. Of course, depending on your decision, all of us were prepared to forfeit our heads. However, the answer you’ve given us is very clear,” Pixis tells the Assembly before they are put under arrest.
“We may be ignorant about the Titans and their powers, but I daresay, we in our ignorance can save far more people than you ever could!”
By the episode’s end, the royals had yet to fight against the military coup, and the turnaround pardoned the Survey Corps of their crimes. Hange was the first to relay the information to Levi’s squad, leaving Mikasa and the others to process the big change. However, they are still far from learning the actual location of Eren and Historia, so the group still has lots of work left to do.
Did you see this coup coming? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
For those unfamiliar with Attack on Titan, the series was originally created by Hajime Isayama. Starting its run in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009, the series has been collected into 23 volumes as of 2017. It’s set in a world where the last remnants of humanity live within a walled city in order to escape the danger of the Titans, a race of giants monsters that eats humans. Eren Yeager joins the military with his two childhood friends Mikasa and Armin after the Titans break through the wall and attack his hometown.
Attack on Titan can be found in Japanese with English subtitles alongside the series’ release in Japan on Crunchyroll and Hulu. Funimation has confirmed the new season’s English simuldub will begin in August before it airs on Toonami.
