Rod Reiss transforms into a gargantuan Titan, collapsing the underground cave's ceiling. Kenny and his remaining men are killed, but a freed Eren manages to save Squad Levi by eating some "Armored" serum and transforming. Rod Reiss's Titan, massive and deformed, can only crawl towards Wall Sina, completely unapproachable due to its extreme heat. Squad Levi rendezvous with Erwin's forces and they decide to not feed Eren to Rod, choosing to destroy him once and for all. Historia is tasked with becoming the puppet queen after the battle is over, a role she accepts.
Tropes:
- Body Horror: Rod’s Titan is a mammoth fatass of a creature with disproportionately long and slender limbs, a maggot-like torso with ribs and spine visible through the flesh, discolored skin covered in glowing burn spots that make it look like it’s sloughing off his bones from the heat, and to top it all off, the thing so huge that it’s stuck face-down on the ground, giving us an uncensored view of his giant body stretching out like an accordion as he drags himself to Orvud District. Yeah.
- Brick Joke: Setting up the first half of one, Mikasa whispers to Historia that once she's Queen, she can sock Levi in the face (implying that she'd love to do it herself).
- Compressed Adaptation: Some scenes were cut out of this episode, some of them were revealed as flashbacks later on.
- Erwin orders that no citizens be evacuated, but the underlying reasoning is not stated: that the Aberrant is gunning for the largest population center and will breach Wall Sina, so they must defeat it outside Orvud District.
- Frieda Reiss's brainwashing is left out, with the brainwashing largely being a conclusion that the Scouts draw based on Rod Reiss's claim.
- Eren never attempts to desperately use the Coordinate on Rod Reiss's Titan to demonstrate that it won't work.
- Historia quickly agrees to becoming Queen in the anime, whereas in the manga she was physically coerced into it by Levi before her kidnapping. This makes sense, as she underwent some serious Character Development after her experience in the caves.
- Just a Flesh Wound: Hange appears to be mostly fine after her shoulder injury, though she is still taken out of the action for now.
- Kaiju: Rod Reiss's Titan is even bigger than the Colossus Titan, but has deformed limbs and has to crawl like a worm. It's rather disturbing.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Not only does the Armored serum save Squad Levi, it now gives Eren the means to seal the breach in Wall Maria.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Historia's only condition to taking the throne is being allowed to participate in the impending battle.
- Take a Third Option: Rather than let Eren get eaten, Historia argues that they can save humanity and Eren by letting him keep the Founding Titan and killing Rod Reiss to end the threat.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Squad Levi snaps Eren out of his Heroic BSoD with some tough love.
