The episode opens with the series title before showing the immediate aftermath of Armin's Heroic Sacrifice. A distraught Eren asks Armin why he never runs away. Suddenly Warchief Zeke and the quadruped Titan jump down to a roof a short ways away from Eren and bound towards him. Eren takes Bertolt hostage and threatens to kill him but is left shocked when Zeke tells Eren that he looks nothing like his father. Zeke tells Eren that they were both victims of Grisha and Eren is being manipulated by his father. However before he can elaborate Levi appears atop the Wall having killed off the remaining Titans. A stunned Zeke decides to call the match between them a draw and leaves after telling Eren that he will save him from Grisha the next time they meet. Levi drops down to Eren and orders him to give over his remaining gas and blades to finish off the Beast Titan but before Eren can do so Armin starts coughing.
Meanwhile Hange is interrogating Reiner and asks what is in a capsule he was trying to reach before his limbs were cut off. Reiner says that it is a letter from Ymir that he promised to give to Christa and the Scouts agree to give it to her after checking its contents. Hange prepares to kill Reiner after the latter refuses to reveal any information but Jean argues that they should keep Reiner alive in case they need to inject someone with the Titan serum. After some deliberation Hange sends Mikasa to find Levi and assess the situation with him and to fire a smoke signal in case they need to kill Reiner.
It does not take long for Mikasa to see what has happened to Armin and fires the smoke signal to kill Reiner while Eren tries to convince Levi to inject Armin with the serum. However the hesitation to kill Reiner proves costly when the quadruped Titan appears and snatches Reiner away from the Scouts. Jean curses himself for showing weakness towards Reiner's impending death but Hange assures him that the decision was hers.
Levi hesitates to give Armin the serum which allows Floch to arrive with a badly wounded but still alive Erwin in tow. Faced with the terrible decision of who to save Levi decides to use the injection on Erwin. Mikasa and Eren attack Levi to try and convince him to use the serum on Armin but Levi refuses. Soon the rest of the Scouts appear and start arguing over who should be given the injection. Ultimately Levi refuses to relent and chooses to use the injection on Erwin as a sobbing Eren and Mikasa are forced to leave their childhood friend to die.
Levi remembers what Kenny said about everyone needing a dream to strive towards in order to continue living and remembers Armin's dream to see the ocean and Erwin's dream to see the basement. As he is about to use the injection a dying Erwin slaps Levi's hand away and starts asking his father questions about the possibility of humans living outside the Walls. A stunned Levi remembers his final conversation with Erwin wherein he promised to kill the Beast Titan if Erwin would give up his dream and die and the look of peace upon Erwin's face when he agreed. Steeling his resolve Levi makes his choice.
A limbless Bertolt wakes up to the sound of a Titan tearing up a house and looks up to see a Titanised Armin about to eat him. Bertolt screams for someone to save him but his pleas go unanswered and Armin consumes him. Floch asks Levi why he would sacrifice the Commander and Levi explains that, after so long being "the devil" for humanity, he didn't want to force Erwin back into that role after he finally found peace.
The episode ends on a bittersweet note with Hange declaring Erwin dead just as Armin is brought back to life as the new Colossal Titan.
Tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Once Bertolt realises he is about to be eaten by a Titanised Armin he desperately tries to appeal to his former friends from the 104th and when that doesn't work he calls out to Reiner and Annie. Suffice it to say, no help is forthcoming.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Of a second life variety. Erwin breaths his last just as Armin begins his second life as a Titan Shifter.
- Both Sides Have a Point: There are plenty of good arguments made for saving either Armin or Erwin with the Titan Serum. Armin possess a brilliant mind that humanity needs to succeed (as Eren points out, he has already saved the Scouts many times over with his ideas) and has hopes and dreams beyond Eren's basement, while Erwin is a more established leader and commander, has the confidence to make terrible decisions for the greater good, and has made many crucial strategic contributions himself.
- Character Death: Erwin dies of his wounds and Bertolt gets eaten by Armin in mindless Titan form.
- Cooldown Hug: Hange gives one to Mikasa after telling her that she too has hundreds of people she wishes she could bring back to life but that at some point they have to let them go once it seems that Armin will die.
- Crossing the Burnt Bridge: Out of absolute desperation, Bertolt calls out to his former comrades to save him after he turned down their last offer to pull a Heel–Face Turn. Unsurprisingly, they don't.
- Cruel Mercy: One of the reasons Floch gives as to why he brought Erwin back to be saved since he figured that if Erwin dragged the recruits into the hell of the Beast Titan's barrage Erwin deserved to experience hell again.
- Cryptic Conversation: Zeke makes some enigmatic remarks to Eren to the effect that he knows Eren's father and that they are both "victims" of him. Before he can elaborate, he's forced to flee, but not before promising Eren that he will return to save him.
- Death Glare:
- Mikasa gives Floch a crazed, furious look to shut him up.
- Eren gives a good one to Levi when the latter reveals his intent to use the titan serum on Erwin, and not Armin.
- Defiant to the End: Even when captured and seemingly about to die, Reiner refuses to divulge any information to Hange, besides the relatively inconsequential letter from Ymir. He gets rescued, however.
- Everybody's Dead, Dave: This episode confirms that with the exception of the 104th, Levi and Hange everyone else in the Survey Corps is dead reducing humanity's greatest soldiers to less then a dozen. Even Erwin ends up dying by the end depriving the Corps of its Commander.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Eagle-eyed viewers might notice that Mikasa flips her paring blade around to the non-sharp edge before getting ready to attack Floch. She might be willing to strike someone in her way ''hard'', but she isn't looking to kill if it can be avoided.
- Heroic Sacrifice: It's revealed that Moblit spent his last moments pushing Hange into the relative safety of a well before he and everyone else perished in the blast.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Serious example, where Eren admits that at the end of the day, he's motivated by rage and hatred, whilst Armin actually has dreams for what happens when they finally win.
- Hidden Depths: This episode more than any previous one reveals that there's a lot to Hange underneath her goofy Mad Scientist personality. She somberly recounts that she's hurting quite a bit from losing hundreds of her comrades and friends from mission after mission, and shows quite a bit of wisdom in calming down Mikasa.
- Hope Bringer: The Armin or Erwin debate basically boils down to who is more invaluable to humanity's survival, and whose mind will lead them to victory against the Titans. This is ultimately one reason Levi chooses Armin over Erwin, since Armin has hopes and dreams beyond Eren's basement.
- Irony: Floch's speech about Erwin being a devil might have actually doomed the commander, since calling him that made Levi consider that Erwin only became a devil because everyone needed him to be one, and that it would be far kinder to just let his old friend embrace the peace of death.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Floch certainly isn't the most sympathetic person in the room at that point but he does make a good point when he tells Mikasa and Eren that Erwin may be the only person who can save humanity from the Titans. He also accuses them of being selfish and biased for advocating for their childhood friend instead of someone who would benefit everyone else more, not completely without merit.
- Karmic Death: Karma for his indirect mass murder aside, Bertolt gets his comeuppance for personally taking part in leaving Marco to get eaten when he himself is left to be consumed for his Titan power.
- Know When to Fold 'Em:
- After he sees that Levi is still alive ever after having a horde of Titans send after him Zeke decides to abandon Bertolt to die and get out of dodge, recognizing that neither side is in any shape for another battle.
- After the quadrupedal Titan rescues Reiner from the Survey Corps, Hange decides not to have Conny pursue them, since they have too many casualties and are out of gas anyways.
- Lampshade Hanging: Zeke remarks to Reiner that he is very lucky, seeing as how he survived at least two should-be-lethal attacks and still managed to get rescued after his eventual capture.
- Locked Out of the Loop: The Warriors are completely unaware of the events of the Uprising Arc, as evidenced by Reiner still calling Historia "Christa", and it's unlikely anyone would tell them anyways.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Bertolt appropriately freaks out when he wakes up limbless and with a Pure Titan about to eat him.
- Zeke gets this expression again when he sees that Levi has caught up with him.
- Once More, with Clarity: The Stinger scene from the episode "Night Of The Battle To Retake The Wall" returns, revealing that the reason why Levi briefly clashed with Eren and Mikasa was because of the Sadistic Choice of saving Armin or Erwin.
- Sadistic Choice: Once it's revealed that both Armin and Erwin survived their assaults from the Colossal and Beast Titans the driving conflict becomes which of the two should be saved? And which one is more valuable to humanity? In the end Levi chooses to save Armin so his friend can die in peace.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Zeke is so freaked out by Levi's reappearance that he flat-out abandons Bertolt to die, though he does have the chance to rescue Reiner elsewhere afterwards.
- Shirtless Scene: Armin is bare-chested upon his rebirth. Evidently, even the physically weakest of the soldiers is still shredded.
- Survivor's Guilt: Floch is clearly in shock that only he survived the suicide charge instead of anyone else more deserving. He reasons that he must be alive for a reason, that reason being ensuring that Erwin lives.
- Taking You with Me: Eren threatens Zeke and the quadrupedal Titan with slashing Bertolt's throat if they come near them. This ultimately proves unnecessary.
- Title-Only Opening: Instead of the usual theme song this somber episode begins by showing the Attack on Titan season 3 logo before immediately beginning the episode.
- The Tooth Hurts: Levi knocks out several of Eren's teeth with a fist to the face. Yuki Kaiji manages to deliver a heartbreaking performance as Eren, while still sounding like someone missing said teeth.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: The Survey Corps can only look on in somber pity (or indifference) when Bertolt is finally eaten alive. Even Eren, who previously vowed to kill Reiner and Bertolt in the most painful way possible, doesn't feel a bit of satisfaction.
- Villainous Rescue: Zeke and the quadruped Titan save Reiner from being decapitated by Hange and Jean and beat a hasty retreat from Shiganshina afterwards.
- Villains Want Mercy: Bertolt begs the Survey Corps for help as he's about to be eaten. Given that he declared his intentions to wipe them all out and did, in fact, kill several of their number, it's small wonder that they don't.
- We Will Meet Again: Zeke promises Eren that the two will meet again and that next time he will save him from Grisha's will.
- Wham Episode: One of the biggest yet. Zeke reveals that he has some connection with Grisha and Eren and vows to save Eren's life next they meet, Bertolt is eaten by Armin in order to save his life and transfer the Colossal Titan powers to him, Erwin dies from his wounds and all that remains of the Scouts are the remaining members of the 104th, Levi and Hange.
- Worf Had the Flu: Normally, Mikasa would probably be unable to get the jump on Levi and pin him down if he were at full strength. As it were, however, she's fueled by rage and he is fatigued from fighting dozens of Titans.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Zeke is incredulous that Levi slaughtered his way through the rest of his Titans and still made it to Shiganshina to pursue him.
