[EREN grunting]
[EREN] Shit!
Oh. You’re awake. I’m glad.
Just hang in there for a bit. We’ll be okay.
[EREN] At least Historia’s all right.
[CHRISTA] Eren, listen.
My father has always been humanity’s ally.
His only goal is to keep the people within the walls safe.
It’s clear to me now that we misunderstood him.
He didn’t deny anything.
It’s true that he went after the Scouts,
and his people did kill Pastor Nick.
But he did that because he had no choice!
Everything he’s done, he did for the sake of humanity.
[ROD] Thank you, Historia.
Please let me explain the rest.
[EREN] It’s coming back to me.
Yeah. The last thing I remember is the two of them.
How long has it been?
Captain. Armin.
What happened to the Scouts?
[EREN gasps]
[EREN] What’s the deal with all these glowing pillars?
They just keep going.
I can’t even tell if its day or night.
[EREN] Wait, there’s something else about this place.
It feels familiar somehow.
Have I been here?
[ROD] If you were wondering, no.
You’ve never been here before.
Although, you may recognize it nonetheless.
[EREN] What’s that supposed to mean?
Um, Father? Could you explain to Eren?
Of course. I intend to.
But before that, there’s something I’d like us to try.
This could make him remember without us saying a word.
[EREN gasps]
[EREN] What is this? Who’re they?
These aren’t things I’ve seen.
No.
Whose memories are these?
[EREN] The key!
No. Why?
[TITAN roars]
♪
Dad? What happened to you?
[yells]
[ROD] Well?
Do you remember?
Have you learned of your father’s sin?
♪ Opening Song
[birds chirping]
[FRIEDA] That’s amazing, Historia!
Just look how well you can read now!
Thank you, but I only learned how
because you were here to teach me.
Ah. That runny nose of yours needs some tending to.
I guess the next thing I should teach you
is how to act more ladylike.
Blow into this.
Ooh! Now that’s what I call a job well done.
--[CHRISTA] Hey? --[FRIEDA] Hmm?
[CHRISTA] What’s it mean to act ladylike?
[FRIEDA] Hmmm. I’m not exactly an expert,
but... I’d say the young lady in your book has it down.
[CHRISTA] Christa?
Yeah. Is she one of your favorite characters?
[CHRISTA] Mhm.
Christa’s always thinking about other people
and helping them out in whatever way she can.
That’s what I think makes a proper lady.
You’ll find pain and suffering
everywhere you look in this world.
So do your best to make things better.
Treat people with love, and they’ll love you in return.
Well that’s how you act. So I wanna be just like you.
Huh?
Do you think that if I try real hard
I can grow up to be like you?
[FRIEDA exhales] No need!
You’re already perfect! No need to change a thing!
[BOTH laughing]
I’m sorry, Historia, but I have to go now.
That means you need to forget all about me again.
Until next time.
[CHRISTA] Huh?
[CHRISTA] Huh. I wonder who that girl is.
What’s wrong? Are you all right?
How could--? How could I forget? In all that time.
I was never alone. I had her.
She was always there for me.
She gave me books. Taught me to read and write.
She was so kind to me.
So how could I forget about her?
I take it you’re talking about Frieda.
[CHRISTA] Frieda?
If it was a kind-hearted young woman
with long, black hair,
then I would imagine that it was Frieda Reiss.
She was your half-sister.
She must have been worried and gone to
check up on you from time to time.
If she was erasing your memories,
know that she did it to protect you.
So, that’s why I forgot her?
That’s right. But touching him seems to have
brought those memories back to you.
An unexpected side-effect.
Father, where is she?
Do you think we could visit her sometime?
I’d like to tell her thank you.
If she hadn’t been there for me, I--
I wouldn’t have had anyone. I need to thank her.
[ROD] Frieda is no longer of this world.
At one time, I had five children.
But five years ago, my wife and our children
were murdered by a man named Grisha Jaegar.
Your sister was killed by Eren’s father.
[ROD] Grisha had the ability to transform into a Titan.
I still don’t know where he obtained it.
But his goal was to steal something from the Reiss family.
What Grisha sought to obtain was power.
[FRIEDA grunts]
[ROD] The power of the Reiss family
which resided within Frieda.
[TITAN GRISHA roars]
[ROD] Frieda’s Titan was by far superior to all the others.
In theory, she had unsurpassable power.
However, at her young age,
she lacked the experience to wield it properly.
And because she couldn’t unleash her true potential,
Grisha ate her, and in doing so, stole her power.
But that wasn’t enough.
He then turned his gaze to the children.
He wanted to eradicate the Reiss family.
He started by crushing Dirk and Abel,
who were fourteen and twelve.
He trampled my wife as she held our ten-year-old Florian.
He squeezed the life from my eldest son, Ulklin.
Through some curse or miracle, I alone managed to escape.
It’s not fair.
She didn’t deserve that.
Why would he do such a terrible thing?
[footsteps]
[KENNY] Hey, hey, hey! What’s the holdup?
Whatever you’re talkin’ about, we don’t have time for it.
Thing’s are goin’ straight to hell outside.
Do explain. What’s been going on?
[KENNY] Well, the Scouts started a coup d’état,
and all the other regiments have taken their side.
Everyone found out that ol’ King Fritz was a fake.
And now his whole council has been arrested.
Yup, it’s been a royal shitshow.
[BOTH gasp]
[KENNY] Matter of time ’til they show up here.
So you’d best get a move on.
All right then, I will.
Now take the Anti-Personnel Control Squad
and defend the entrance at all costs.
[KENNY] Uh...
[ROD] I already told you that the ceremony can’t be done
in the presence of you or your crew.
[KENNY] Aww! Where’s the trust, Your Majesty?
Did I make ya mad?
Fine. Sorry. I’m just so worried about you.
I trust you. It’s because of that trust
that you’re here. Now go.
I feel the same, Your Grace.
[KENNY] Tch.
[ZACHARY] From now on, whenever you eat,
you’ll be digesting your meals from the bottom up.
As always, you’ll wear the finest of clothes,
but only from your feet to your knees.
And so you don’t get lonely,
I’ll take you out once a week to be paraded to the public.
It’s so beautiful. This may well be the finest
work of art man has ever conceived.
All those decades of planning it have finally paid off.
Just wait. Art must be completed by its audience.
You must be seen by the people, the same ones you tyrannized.
And that will be my masterpiece.
[AURILLE] Zachary! You’ll pay for this tenfold.
The blood of slaves runs through your veins,
and nothing’ll change that!
You will never be the equal of a noble like me.
[groans]
Soon enough, you’ll forget any of this happened.
I bet you’ll even forget how to shit!
As long as we’re on the subject,
why don’t you tell me if you nobles really do shit gold?
I’m sorry, what was that? Your mouth’s full!
[PYXIS] This could end badly.
All the members of the king’s council
are telling us the same thing.
It’s just as your late father speculated.
The Reiss family has the power
to alter people’s memories as it suits them.
From what I’ve been told,
aside from those of a few noble bloodlines that’re immune,
whole cities could be affected at once.
[gasps] So they could still--
In the event that Lord Reiss is able to obtain Eren’s "Scream,"
this uprising of ours will amount to absolutely nothing.
If you ask me, that’s why the council members
have been so cooperative.
They don’t think it’s worth getting beaten.
[ERWIN] Right. Because if this ability should come into play,
we’ll forget everything they told us.
Although, I’d imagine that they’d prefer
whatever torture we could throw at them
if they knew what would await them
once they’re given up to Zachary.
I don’t understand him.
To think that he would dedicate so much
of his life to such a morbid goal.
So then, you knew what he was planning?
[PYXIS] Mmm. ’Twas a slip of the tongue.
I suspected.
At the very least I knew his motives were perverse.
And unlike you, I’m none too fond of gambling.
Also, unlike you...
...I’m willing to die if it means protecting
what’s left of humanity.
The only reason I backed you was because I believed it
to be the best choice for the human race.
Had the government passed my little test,
I was prepared to make a stand against you and Zachary.
To think, we just stood as comrades in a coup d’état,
and I’m already talking like this.
I once heard in a song that someday
humans would stop fighting.
When will that be?
[MALE SOLDIER 43A] Commander! The wagons are ready, sir.
Troops are standing by.
We await your command.
Peace between men will never be certain.
Not until our numbers fall to one or less.
[PYXIS chuckles] Shit.
Here I was hoping you might have something optimistic to say.
[ERWIN] Your attention!
Soldiers of the Survey Corps,
our mission is to recover Eren and Historia.
We will now make for their location,
believed to be the chapel on Reiss’ land!
[LEVI] You should understand. This is Kenny the Ripper.
If he’s there, he’s our biggest obstacle.
In terms of his threat level, it’s like you’ll be fighting me.
Or wait. With those weapons of his, he’ll be stronger.
Then he’s unbeatable. At least for us.
Maybe we should wait and meet up with other soldiers.
No chance in hell.
Right. Course not.
If we wait for reinforcements, then Eren might get eaten.
You know, based on what the captain just told us,
the odds won’t be entirely in Kenny’s favor.
--You really think so? --Yeah. His squad is
well-trained, but we have way more combat experience.
Have to ask. How is it that you lived with
Kenny the Ripper but know next to nothing about him?
Did the two of you never talk?
Not much. I only just learned the man’s last name.
Dunno if you heard, but it’s Ackermann.
Might be a relative of yours.
[gasps]
I remember my parents saying that
my dad’s side, the Ackermanns,
were persecuted when they lived in the cities.
My mom said her ancestors were eastern.
Her family’s appearance made it difficult for them to fit in.
Both groups were chased deep in the mountains
near the edge of the walls. That’s how my parents met.
But my father never told me
why the Ackermanns were persecuted.
He looked the same as all of you,
so I don’t think he was of a different race.
Tell me this: Have you ever suddenly felt
a "power" awaken inside you?
[gasps]
I have.
[LEVI] This has happened for Kenny Ackermann as well.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, he felt an absurd
amount of strength surging through him.
And in that moment, he knew just what he needed to do.
And it’s happened to me too. Makes me wonder.
[KENNY] Fess up, Gramps.
C’mon. You’re dyin’ anyway.
Ah, Kenny. I take it you were just out
killin’ more of the Military Police.
[KENNY] Yeah. If you’re talkin’ about those goons
what were snoopin’ around here,
they’re in the ground helping the trees grow now.
[coughing]
Speakin’ of trees and such,
there’s a branch of the family that moved south to Shiganshina.
Guess they should’a changed the name when they left,
’cause they’re still gettin’ screwed with.
So of course, they’re still poor as dirt.
What in the hell happened to us?
I thought that the Ackermann clan
used to be the king’s personal bodyguards.
Now the whole damn family’s on the verge of extinction.
So why don’t you tell me what you did to piss off the king?
C’mon, won’t ya tell your sweet grandson one last story?
[KENNY’S GRANDPA coughs]
What sweet grandson are you talkin’ about?
Surely not the infamous "Kenny the Ripper"
who’s been terrorizin’ the capital.
It ain’t that the monarchy hates us or has any cause to.
They’re just afraid of us, is all.
Reason bein’ we Ackermann’s are one of a few families
the king can’t quite control.
What do you mean by that?
[KENNY’S GRANDPA] Can’t tell ya the whole story,
’cause I don’t know it.
But it’s true that our family was once
honored and trusted by the king.
More than that, from what I was told,
we Ackermanns were once the king’s sword.
For generations, each king has passed
the Power of the Titans to his successor.
Huh? Power of the Titans? What’s that?
[KENNY’S GRANDPA] I don’t know how it works,
or what all else there is to it,
but this power allows the king
to wipe out human memory. To erase the past.
Only a few noble bloodlines are immune.
Among them, there were two groups that decided
to turn their back on the king.
One of these groups was the Eastern clan,
and the other was our own Ackermann clan.
Hence all the persecution.
And nothing can end it.
[coughing]
[KENNY] Ain’t the heartwarming story you wanna hear
on your deathbed, but I found my little sister.
Kuchel’s been working at a brothel in the underground.
She got knocked up by a customer.
I couldn’t convince her to get rid of the thing.
[coughs]
[KENNY] Oh, hell. Who’d wanna be born into this
piece of shit world, anyway?
There isn’t a dream you could have worth sufferin’ through it.
[HANGE] Found it. A hidden door.
Reiss and Eren should be inside.
Hopefully the layout’s close to what I predicted.
[LEVI] These presents better pay off.
Considering the time we spent prepping them.
[CAVEN] We count at least seven enemies,
and you can bet Captain Levi’s among them.
As you all know, last time we caught Levi by surprise.
And then he killed twelve of our comrades.
The government’s been overthrown,
which means we’re the fugitives now.
So I wouldn’t count on getting any backup.
We’re in some deep shit.
In this tiny, screwed-up world,
dying is preferable to what we would get
if we decided to surrender.
But here’s the thing: That’s what life in the walls
has always been. Nothing’s changed.
We’ve got a foe we can’t beat.
So we stand by and wait
for them to break through our walls and kill us.
We fought to be Military Police, and then Interior Police.
And now we’re Kenny’s elites.
We did this to find purpose in our meaningless lives
in this meaningless world.
I see no cause to stop believing now.
If Kenny and his dream can’t turn this game around,
he’ll flip the board.
’Kay. We should be ready to go now.
All right then. Is everyone here ready?
’Cause you’re all about to dirty your hands.
♪
Guess that’s a yes.
♪ Closing Song