Attack on Titan - Episode 17

It's out into the big, wide world we go, as the Survey Corps seek to find a path to the location which might just hold all of the secrets required to defeat the Titans.  Hold onto your hats!

Even travelling through the desolate ruins of Wall Maria provides some context for how dangerous this mission might be, with some tricky Titan attacks to avoid, but things are only likely to become more lethal once we leave those ruins and enter the wide expanses of the outside world, where 3D Manoeuvre Gear is far less reliable to use in combat.  Instead, the focus of the group is very much to avoid Titans rather than take them on, with a complex system of flares to send communications across the entire group to steer all and sundry around any threats.

At least, that's the theory, but as with any good plan there is always a potential sticking point, and in this case it's so-called Aberrant Titans that break from the normal conventions of these creatures.  Unfortunately for this particular mission, the group soon runs into two of them, and although one is easy enough to take down the next is a different proposition altogether.  Indeed, such is the speed, fluidity of movement and awareness of this Titan that it seems to be unbeatable, and an encounter with Armin leads him to deduce that it may well be another human in a Titan body like Eren, as it shows intelligence and an unusual drive towards achieving specific goals, even sparing Armin's life after checking his face.  With no chance of defeating it, and with an assumption that it's headed for Eren and Levi (wherever in the formation they might be), the only option is to try and stall this terrifying creature for long enough for the others to make their escape...

It was perhaps inevitable given its subject matter, but all of this combines to create another of Attack on Titan's standout episodes - fast-paced (but not averse to slowing things down when it needs to), with a decent dollop of action and another big twist in the wider show's plot all create a hugely satisfying and powerfully delivered instalment to validate the fact that everyone is going crazy about this series at the moment.  Given that it seems that the attack of this particular unique Titan is over yet either, hopefully there's more of the same to come next week too.