Attack on Titan - S1E15 - Eve of the Counter Offensive, Part 2
Previously, on Attack on Titan: “Eve of the Counter Offensive, Part 1”
The Scout Regiment is headed to the old Headquarters, a renovated castle that at the time seemed like a great idea. What makes it bad now is that it’s far away from the river and the wall. Which means they could be royally screwed if they were suddenly onset by Titans. But for the time being this is the perfect place to hold Eren. So Oruo says, as he’s giving Eren the gas for being the new guy. Eren looks about ready to shit himself until Oruo’s horse stumbles and makes him bite his tongue looking like a total idiot.
As they start to tie up their horses and get their gear settled, Eren looks at the other Scouts in Levi’s squad. Each of them were handpicked by Levi and all of them boasting impressive Titan kills and assists. Oruo is trying to imitate their squad leader and Petra calls him an idiot for trying. Two of the other scouts take in the sight of the castle. It hasn’t been used in years and it’s got to be dusty as hell. Levi gives the order to start cleaning.
Eren finishes his section and reports to Levi, asking where he’ll be sleeping. Levi says his quarters are in the basement as a safety measure. If he goes Titan in his sleep, at least he’ll be contained that way. As he leaves to check Eren’s work, Petra steps in and asks what he thinks about their squad leader. After a drawn out reply, Petra fills in his thoughts. Levi’s a badass, and it’s surprising to see that a bad ass of his skill actually take orders. What’s puzzling is Levi’s past. Rumor has this guy used to be a real unsavory character (but still a bad ass) in the underground of the Capital. But then he caved in to Commander Erwin. Before more can be said, Levi appears and tells Eren he needs to clean everything again.
So right now the plan is in 30 days, an expedition will be launched a forward base. What makes it even more sketch is that the newly graduated cadets will also be joining them. If, any new cadets join them, Commander Erwin makes a dry remark. Mike knows that whatever the case, it’s all feeling a bit rushed. The reality is that Eren’s treatment is only temporary. They need to demonstrate to the central powers that Eren’s titan abilities are beneficial. And they need to do this soon before the Military Police or someone else interferes again. Mike knows what Erwin’s talking about and subtly calls him out on his use of bullshit. Erwin smirks at him, knowing better than to pull that on him. Mike tells him even so, Erwin’s nose is sharper. Erwin will explain more later, when the time is right.
Levi and his squad sit in the dining hall, speculating what the next move in. There’s rumors flying around about a major expedition, bolstering the ranks with the rookies, (Oruo gets in a punk ass remark about them being scared shitless) and the idea that this is all too sudden. Levi says he knows about as much as they do and Erwin, whatever he has planned has put more thought into it than the rest of them. One soldier remarks that all hope seemed lost and the lives sacrificed rendered worthless when they had to seal off the gate in Trost. That was a route they worked hard to established. At least it seemed lost until Eren appeared as a Titan. Which is still hard to believe. Eren himself is still not sure how to explain his transformation. Levi tells them come off it. They won’t get anything else out of him. Not that Hanzi won’t try any way.
Enter Hanzi. She’s actually in charge of the two titans they caught back in Trost but wants to experiment on Eren too, being the only known one of his kind. Eren asks what these experiments entail and Hanzi eyes get really big. She was hoping he’d ask. Levi and the rest of his squad leave Eren to Hanzi’s lectures. She followed the same procedures that she had established before. Communication was the first step but that was a wash. The excitement alone of having Titan specimens was enough for her to forget her exhaustion. Now part of her procedure included a history of a clan of cannibals and naming the captured titans. Now they’re called Sawney and Beane. An experiment where they cut them off from the light yielded the following result; they don’t need food and water (at least that much was obvious when they cut open titan puke) and while they have lungs, they don’t need air either. They are completely reliant on the sun.
Eren speaks up, asking how can she be so calm when dodging bites from titans. She replies saying she used to fight the titans out of hate. She joined the scouts out hate, driven to exterminate them. That was until during one round of experiments where she kicked the head of a titan around. It was abnormally light, and so were the limbs. Her belief is that since they’ve tried an offensive plan that requires them to be vengeful and angry, she’s looking for an alternative. If they can understand the titans, that therein lies the key to turning the tide. Eren, spurred on by her remarks asks her to tell him everything. Which come sunrise was a bad idea. Eren is dead tired and neck deep in regret. Hanzi still isn’t done with her theories too. Before she can continue, a soldier bursts into the room to tell her that the titans have been killed.
At the yard where they were being kept, Hanzi screams over the loss of two valuable test subjects. It’s not every day you can capture one, let alone two. Everyone is making their speculations. There’s an investigation underway, but everyone is a suspect. They know it had to been at least two soldiers. They jumped in before dawn and took off by the time the guards noticed. Levi nudges Eren and says move out, the rest is in the hands of the MPs. Before Eren leaves, Erwin shows up and looks over at the now vaporizing corpses. He asks; “Who do you think the enemy is?� Eren is confused but Erwin apologizes. Remarking that it was a strange thing to ask.
Do you know who the enemy really is?
