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The latest episode of Attack on Titan — Season 4 Episode 6 — lived up to all the hype that I had built up in my mind. I haven’t read the manga, so I’m going into each episode with fresh eyes, having no idea what to expect. “The Warhammer Titan” was nothing short of phenomenal. From the return of Levi and Mikasa to the epic battle between Eren and The Warhammer, there was so much to absorb that in many ways, I’m still processing what I saw. We are indeed witnessing a classic being made right in front of our eyes.

This recap and review will have spoilers for Season 4 Episode 6, but the article itself is manga-spoiler-free. Please don’t add spoilers from the manga in the comments. Thanks. 🙂 

Willy Tybur’s Propaganda War Continues Even Through His Death

The episode started with a successful attempt at humanizing Willy Tybur. We saw him with his children, looking positively heartbroken about saying goodbye to his family. It gave us a window into what he is giving up in order to die for his cause.

The heartbreaking part is this is a false cause. Willy Tybur is part of the “ruling class” Eldian family that allowed all their fellow Eldians to suffer unspeakable abuse at the hands of the Marley government, despite actually ruling the Marley government. And on top of that, the Tyburs lied to the Marleyan people (and the world) all this time, claiming that Helos killed and drove off the Paradis Eldians, rather than revealing that King Fritz himself desired peace and was no longer a threat.

So all this time, they’ve been killing Eldians by turning them into Titans and sending them at Paradis. And now he’s only come clean because Paradis has resources that Marley needs, so he wants to get all the countries on his side to attack them.

Willy Tybur is very committed to his cause — even willing to die for his cause — but his cause still seems grounded in being nothing more than a power grab when you dig down deep enough.

Next we hear Tybur’s discussion with Magath about his plans for his speech and how he expected to die — and for many innocent people to die too — so he can smoke out the infiltrators from Paradis. He said they had been working on building the Eldians’ reputation and watching Paradis, but the Paradis Eldians still infiltrated Marley.

“When you rebuild the military, the party will approve whomever you choose,” he tells Magath, which is dark foreshadowing. Tybur’s goal is to make themselves look like victims so everyone in the world will rally against Paradis. And just who WILL they install in that military leadership position? That’s the most disturbing question.

In the very next scene, Eren eats Tybur and it is dark, epic, and oh-so disturbing. Tybur died, but his propaganda lives on. The people will believe that the Eldians of Paradis really, truly are devils, no matter what Reiner experienced himself. It’s another successful step in the propaganda battle to continue a chokehold of control over the people of Marley (and ultimately beyond.)

Unfortunately, many innocent people did die. Eren didn’t really have a choice (in my opinion) about emerging the way he did. Tybur had declared war and he already had the world governments on his side. Marley is going to enslave even more people if given a chance, even though they are doing this because they still remember how they were once enslaved. But all this doesn’t make Eren’s choice without its own ethical quandary. As the show reminds us, the world is cruel and it is sometimes forcing people into becoming “devils” themselves.

Eren immediately set to wiping out the military, but despite a plan to minimize civilian casualties, he killed quite a number of them. The heartbreaking cost of war. 🙁

Gabi Is Going to be the New Eren

Gabi is quickly heading in the direction of becoming the new Eren. This was her “Eren” episode. She’s young and has always admired her cousin Reiner and the other Titan warriors. She wants to be one herself. And now her hometown has been destroyed by a Titan, she’s seen close friends die before her very eyes, and she wants blood in exchange. She saw Udo turned away because the hospital was at capacity and his wounds were too bad to be treated.

You can see it in her eyes after the military men are killed right in front of her by Sasha. She wants to kill these Titans, just like Eren wanted to kill the Titans of Marley.

I think the only chance she has of not going down Eren’s path and perpetuating a neverending cycle is Reiner. We didn’t see Reiner for this entire episode, but he is very familiar with the fact that he caused Eren’s hatred, and is the cause of what has happened to his hometown. (Technically, the Tyburs and Marley are the cause, but Reiner is their tool.) Perhaps he will be able to turn Gabi from the road she seems hellbent on going down.

The Warhammer Titan Is Revealed

We learn that Tybur’s sister is the Warhammer Titan. She dwelled in relative obscurity so no one would guess that she had such an amazing power. She watched her brother die and said, “Brother, you fulfilled the Tyburs’ duty admirably.”

And then it was time for her to fulfill her own duty.

The battle was everything I hoped for. Eren has control of his powers to an amazing degree that he never had before. He took the first hits on the Warhammer right away and seemed to be in control until she unleashed the full strength of her powers and almost killed him. In fact, things seem lost until Mikasa appears.

What’s interesting is that it’s debatable that she might truly have intended to simply kill Eren rather than eat him. If that’s the case, then the Founding Titan’s power would have been reborn in a random Eldian (unless it would rever to the Founding Titan’s royal bloodline again, I’m a bit unclear on that point.) It’s odd that she seemed to go against the military’s plan, or at least appeared to be planning to do so.

Meanwhile, the Marley military is bringing in the fleet and its military from the mountains to engage in the war. In my opinion, this would be the time to attack Paradis, when the Titans are focused on Marley and have left Paradis, but they’re all converging to stop Eren at Liberio instead.  What bothers me is Magath repeating the line about every nation fighting Paradis after the massacre. We had just seen Willy Tybur already secure the nations’ compliance in starting a war on Paradis. This is hardly making it worse, in my opinion. The war was already declared.

As for the Warhammer Titan, we learn that this Titan can encase its host in a protective shell that is connected by a long tentacle to the actual Titan. It’s a power that no other Titan has right now, but Eren was able to quickly pick up the clues to figure this out. (Did you notice how quickly he was able to heal and turn into a Titan again? He is way more powerful now.)

The interesting part was when he was ready to EAT the Warhammer Titan’s host in the encased, armored shell. Does that mean that he could have eaten Annie too?

Mikasa & Levi Have an Epic Return with the Survey Corp

One of my favorite parts was the epic return of Mikasa with the Warhammer Titan, and later Levi with a similar return to take out Galliard aka the Jaw Titan.

But Eren seemed surprised when he says, “You guys actually came.” So this leaves us wondering if he did some of this without the planned backup of his friends. He did send letters to them through Falco, so they were prepared for this to happen. But he must have moved forward without the knowledge that they would definitely be there to back him up.

Mikasa, ever the protector, wants Eren to know that he killed civilians and children. “You’ve done things that can’t be undone,” she says with eyes brimming with tears. But this is war, and did Eren truly have a choice?

Seeing the Survey Corp in action, with their new gear, was amazing. The entire team is even a step beyond the team that Levi had assembled in earlier seasons. They are fortified, they are professional, and they are ready to kick ass. Jean, Mikasa, Sasha, Levi — everyone is outstanding. Jean is much more confident and assured than I have ever seen before, and he’s comfortable with discomfort and not knowing what to expect next.

Mikasa's entrance
Sasha's entrance
Levi's entrance
SQUADS ENTRANCE

MAPPA COME THRU#AttackOnTitan pic.twitter.com/v08mK4lzmo

— J|Zezha{Read Jujutsu¦Play FFXIV} (@jNelajus) January 17, 2021

I was especially impressed by the scene where they are all coordinated as a well-orchestrated group, flying in to take out Galliard the Jaw Titan. I did scream out loud when I thought the Jaw Titan was killing Eren and biting into his nape, and then I quickly cheered when Levi appeared. That was a roller coaster of emotion for sure.

“These guys are just humans, yet they’re coming to kill me?! These guys… They’re the devils of Paradis!” Galliard realizes. An epic quote to be sure. The only reason our Survey Corps people have these skills is because Marley has been sending Titans to them all these years. Ironically, Marley was training them to battle their greatest weapons successfully. Galliard probably shouldn’t have been so shocked, consider that Reiner might have told him what he learned as part of the Survey Corps. But perhaps hearing about it and witnessing it are two very different things. Remember, the other countries can only fight their Titans with anti-Titan weaponry — not with individual people.

If Eren successfully ate the Warhammer and Levi killed the Jaw Titan, we’re still left with the Beast Titan (Zeke) and the Cart Titan (aka Peick) and Reiner, wherever he is. The battle is really just beginning.

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Stephanie

Stephanie Dwilson started Post Apocalyptic Media with her husband Derek. She's a licensed attorney and has a master's in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].

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