Attack on Titan Season 4, Episode 6: Recap and Review — Otaku Orbit
Episode 6 — “The War Hammer Titan”
I’ve been saying this all season, but it bears repeating. Attack on Titan has been to humanize the Eldian’s. Consider Willy Tybur, in episode 6, we see that he’s a father of 5. This successfully humanizes him. We think of his children as being fatherless. However, he goes on in his conversation with Captain Magath to show little concern for Eldian’s life. The sympathy he earns in the previous scene is relinquished and when Eren eats him in the following scene, we don’t care. Eren’s assault has a devastating impact. While the massacre’s the attendees, the warriors suffer losses. Zofia is crushed under rubble. Udo tries to save her and is trampled to death.
The tragedy has the likely effect of radicalizing Gabi. She can’t understand “why Udo and Zofia” had to die. The answer is they didn’t. However, Gabi is pushed further when Sasha kills a soldier in front of Gabi. Shocked by the violence, Gabi grabs a gun. I think Gabi will end up killing one of the Scouts, probably Sasha in revenge. However, Gabi’s not the victim here. She has killed plenty of people. She may be too young or too bias to release that she’s no better than anyone else. That is the theme that Attack on Titan is trying to make. There are no angels here. It’s tragic that it involves a child-like Gabi at all, but this is the world of Attack on Titan.
Look at what you’ve done, Eren
Lara Tybur is actually the War Hammer Titan. She quickly dominates Eren, when she impales him on a spike. The Titan can create any weapon it chooses. This makes the War Hammer titan a versatile Titan. Overwhelmed, it exposes Eren. When the War Hammer Titan asks “his last words,” he calls for Mikasa to take action. Mikasa arrives in a typically epic fashion. Soaring through the air with new armor, she fires eight Thunder Spears into the nape of the War Hammer. As she pulls the triggers, they explode, appearing to kill the host. Once reunited with Eren, she asks him to “come home.” Eren’s “mission” to invade Marley seems to have been another one of his reckless decisions.
The Marley’s army prepares for a full assault. Eren notices that the War Hammer function differently from other Titans. First, it doesn’t have the nape weakness. Eren notes that the titan appeared “from the feet,” instead of “from the head.” Lara isn’t inside the War Hammer Titan at all. She’s hiding underneath the stage attached to the Titan by an umbilical cord. Eren transforms a second time, pulling out Lara from her hiding place. He tears the umbilical cord and the War Hammer Titan collapse. As he prepares to eat the Titan, the Jaw Titan attacks him from behind. Before it can kill Eren, Levi arrives slashing the jaw of the Titan, preventing him from biting.
It shocks Galliard that the Survey Corps isn’t afraid of him. Titans had besieged Paradis Island for decades, resulting in the Survey Corps developing skills and means to deal with Titans. This has also happened to the nations that surround Marley. This episode tests us. As viewers, we are rooting for Eren as he slaughters the masses. The “masses” unfortunately include children. Soldiers are expected to die and have made victims of others. I won’t lie, I was enjoying this massacre, especially when Eren kills the soldiers. Attack on Titan has attempted to make us feel for the Eldians, but I think they needed more time. War creates victims of everyone. The Survey Core may win this fight, but they could lose the war or at least more of themselves. Of course, this is Attack on Titan, so they could get slaughtered in the next episode.
Originally published at https://otakuorbit.com on January 18, 2021.
