Attack On Titan Cliffhanger Turns Eren’s Friends Against Him

Attack On Titan season 4 saw the bloody declaration of war between Paradis Island and Marley come to a tragic end – which ends up sparking some much larger carnage to come. “Assassin’s Bullet” chronicles the Survey Corps enacting their escape plan from Marley, after Eren Yeager staged his savage ambush of Marley’s military and political leaders, seizing the power of the War Hammer Titan in the process. The Survey Corps plan to escape by an airship piloted by Hange and a few key Armin, who cleared the seaward path by annihilating Marley’s navy. But when that plan goes tragically sidewards, Eren finds his friends turning against him!

Warning: Attack On Titan Season 4 Episode 8 SPOILERS Follow!

The Survey Corps end up leaving Marley having struck a significant blow to their foe – despite the high-risk danger of Eren’s surprise attack scheme, which nearly comes undone by the Armored Titan’s unexpected return. The various Survey Corps characters (Eren, Mikasa, Levi, Sasha, Jean, Connie…) all make their way onto the airship, where the Survey Corps recruits rejoice in the first major victory of their great war as New Eldians battling the oppressive Marley Empire.

However, down in the streets of Marley, the young recruits of Marley’s Warriors are not taking the annihilation of their unit too kindly. Gabi is all but crazy with bloodlust, after losing several of her fellow recruits, and even some Marley soldiers that protected her, despite the fact that she’s Eldian. Falco is desperately chasing down Gabi, hoping to stick to his vow of sparing her from harm.

Gabi manages to take out one of the lingering Survey Corps soldiers and uses his ODM gear to board the airship, hellbent on a suicide mission to take out any of the “Devils of Paradis” she can. Gabi does get the drop on the celebrating corps members and takes out one of their ranks: Sasha.

Sasha was the bright shining light of The Survey Corps and Eren Yeager’s inner circle of friends. No matter how bleak the situation inside the walls, Sasha was always looking ahead to that next great meal, with plenty of good, cooked, meat to fill their bellies. Her horrific untimely death is a powerful metaphor for the dark and final run the Survey Corps (and Attack On Titan) are now on with this war. The ambush in Marley cost the corps more than they ever bargained for; the moment Sasha dies, Eren’s entire mission fails horribly, even in its success.

Eren’s ambush of Marley was a unilateral move. Eren snuck into Marley and sprung the ambush on his own volition; he sent a last-minute message to his Survey Corps comrades to send in the calvary, banking that he was too valuable to leave in Marley’s hands. In short: Eren forced the Survey Corps to attack Marley without their consent or agreement, and it cost them one of their most beloved members. The episode ends by making it clear that Eren’s friends (and fans) in no way plan to let him ignore or forget he got Sasha killed. And now Eren is shaken in his resolve to do what is necessary to take Marley out for good.

Attack On Titan Season 4 is streaming new episodes Sundays on Funimation and Hulu.