Attack on Titan S4E29-31: The Final Chapters, Part One / Recap - TV Tropes (2023)

Adapted from: Chapters 131-134

Chapter 1: The Rumbling

Ramzi shows his friend Halil a stash of money he had stolen in the hopes of getting the people in their refugee camp a better place to live. But it is for naught. Suddenly they see people fleeing the city. The Rumbling has arrived.

Eren reflects on the first time he visited Liberio. Back then, thanks to his future memories, he already knew he was destined to bring about the Rumbling and kill all of these people. While he accepts his grim duty, he's not happy about it. Even knowing that the Eldians of Paradis make up only a small fraction of the global population, and eliminating them would end the Titan problem, he cannot accept the idea of letting the Eldians be exterminated. Then he finds Ramzi getting beaten up by some thugs in an alley. Eren beats them up and rescues the boy, although wondering to himself if he has any right to act like a hero given what he's planning to do. He takes the boy back to his refugee camp, and breaks down in tears, apologizing for what's about to happen.

In the present, the Titans completely obliterate Liberio, Halil is killed in the chaos, and Ramzi gets crushed under a Titan's foot.

In the Paths, Eren in a younger form asks the present-day Armin what he thinks.

Armin wakes up in the real world as Annie asks him why he kept speaking to her all those times while she was in the crystal. Annie suggests it's because Armin is simply a good person, but Armin says he has killed too many people to call himself that.

The group arrives at Odiha where they begin preparation on the flying boat. Mikasa tells Annie to practice with the new ODM gear, but Annie says she's sitting out the fight, as she doesn't care anymore.

Yelena suggests Eren's next target will probably be Fort Salta, as he'll want to eliminate the threat the airships there might pose.

As the sun rises and the group starts to fuel the flying boat, a very drenched Floch stumbles in and shoots it. Mikasa fires an ODM hook through his neck. As he dies, he begs them not to stop Eren, still believing he's Paradis's only hope. He's punctured the fuel tank, and they won't be able to take off until it's fixed. But they're out of time. The Rumbling is here!

Hange places Armin in command of the Scout Regiment and takes off in ODM gear to hold off the Titans. Hange takes out several Titans before being incinerated by the extreme heat they're emitting. But it is enough, as the group manages to repair the boat and take off.

Hange wakes up in the afterlife, greeted by fallen comrades.

Chapter 2: Sinners

Aboard the flying boat, the group discuss battle plans. Armin wonders why Eren has not taken away their Titan powers. Suddenly, Eren summons them all into the Paths. Armin begs Eren to hear them out, saying he has already done enough damage to ensure Paradis will be safe for a long time and the people remaining might be willing to accept a peace treaty. Eren tells them flat out that he has no intention of stopping the Rumbling, as he won't take any chances with Paradis's future. He then says that while he knows he is taking away the world's freedom, he won't take away theirs. As they hold different unbreakable convictions, they will soon have no choice but to fight. He tells them that there is nothing to discuss; if they want to stop the Rumbling, they will have to kill him, and they are free to do so. They see that Eren is now in his younger form, with Ymir at his side.

Falco tells Annie that he had a dream of flying, and thinks he inherited something from Zeke's spinal fluid, and thinks his Titan might be able to fly.

A train carrying people fleeing from Liberio arrives at Fort Salta, where they hope to escape on a plane, only to find that all the airships there have taken off and are flying toward the Titans. The fort commander announces that the hatred of the Eldians they have been taught all their lives to cultivate has now created the monster that is coming to destroy them, and if he had a second chance, he would not make that mistake again. The airships launch a bombing raid upon the Titans.

But it's no use. The Beast Titan emerges from the Founding Titan's body, and starts throwing rocks at the airships, taking them all out. The people at Fort Salta watch in horror and despair as their seeming last hope is demolished.

Then the flying boat arrives. The Scouts and Warriors jump out, Reiner and Pieck transform, and Reiner grabs the Beast Titan. Armin asks Eren what about him is free.

Tropes:

• Adaptation Expansion:
  • The anime adds a few scenes of the Rumbling in progress, including how badly the population is taking it.
  • The anime also answers the question as to what happened to Grisha Yeager's parents: they were locked up because of Zeke's betrayal and left behind when the Eldians and Marleyans in Liberio ran for Fort Salta. They embrace each other before being crushed by the advance of the Colossal Titans, with Mrs. Yeager saying that this is repentance for their sins.
• Adapted Out: The episode adapts the entirety of Volume 33, but Historia giving birth, the Rumbling taking place in other parts of the world, and the scene where a crowd of people being pushed off of a cliff by the Rumbling try to save an infant.
• Admiring the Abomination: Before attacking the advancing Wall Titans, Hange takes one last moment to gush over them.

  Hange: Ah... Titans truly are marvelous!

• Alas, Poor Villain: Despite the irredemiably evil things Floch has done as Eren's right hand man his death is treated with a somber light, with his former comrades shocked that he dragged himself all the way from the port in Paradis to there. His last words, after having his throat pierced by Mikasa's hook, is to beg them not to kill Eren as his devil is their last hope, with Hange closing his eyes afterwards.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Armin intends to give one to Eren after they've defeated him and dragged him out of the Founding Titan.

  Armin: I have one last question to ask you Eren, once we drag you out of there. In what way are you free?

• Afterlife Welcome: After their Heroic Sacrifice, Hange is greeted by Erwin, Moblit, and all of their other friends and companions who had fallen along the way.

  Erwin: Yeah, you had it tough. You can tell us all about it.

• Better to Die than Be Killed: One man caught in the crossfire of the Rumbling chooses to shoot himself in the head rather than being trampled by the Colossal Titans.
• Big Damn Heroes: Just as the Beast Titan singlehandedly destroys Fort Salta's air fleet, the Alliance make their move to drop on Eren, with Reiner transforming to tackle the Beast Titan.
• Cliffhanger: The episode ends with The Alliance making it to Eren and preparing to go to battle to end the Rumbling once and for all.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The air fleet at Fort Salta is utterly wiped out by the Beast Titan.
• Defiant to the End: Critically injured and water logged after the battle at the port, Floch nonetheless gathers the last of his strength to try to kill the Alliance before he is finally killed by Mikasa with a hook to the throat. While his gunshots are sporadic, he did manage to hit the fuel tank of the flying boat, delaying their flight to Eren and requiring that Hange sacrifice their life to buy the Alliance time.
• Dissonant Serenity: To cope with the horrors of the Rumbling, Eren is imagining himself as a child soaring through the sky, the steam of the Colossal Titans resembling massive clouds, before saying "so this is freedom!" He asks Armin what he thinks, and we cut to the still-adult Armin looking in horror.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite how far Eren has gone, and the fact that he is willingly taking away the worlds freedoms by murdering them, Eren tells his friends that he won't take away their freedoms by using his Founding Titan powers to strip from them their free will and abilities. Eren tells them they are free to try and stop the Rumbling, just as he is free to continue his rampage, and warns them that, if they come after him, it will be for a fight.
• Extra-Long Episode: This episode is one hour long, composing the entirety of Volume 33 of the manga.
• A Good Way to Die: Before going off to their Heroic Sacrifice, Hange tells Levi that they're "giddy with the desire to make a supremely cool exit."
• Grand Finale: The first half of two Extra Long Episodes that serve as the conclusion for Attack on Titan.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Hange fights the Wall Titans to buy the group enough time to repair the flying boat and take off, and goes out in a literal blaze of glory.
• Heel Realization:
  • Eren has this in the flashback. After struggling to come with grips with his future annihilation of humanity and debating to himself why he will do the Rumbling, he comes across Ramzi being assaulted by some thugs. Despite knowing that he has no right to try to save him since he'll end up killing the boy himself, he does so anyway. Eren breaks down crying and apologizing that he's going to kill everyone because deep down, he was disappointed that humanity existed beyond the walls and he wished for them all to disappear.
  • The Marleyan commander in charge of Fort Salta, and the rest of the assembled Marleyans and Eldians, realise that by fostering their hatred and inadequacies upon the so called "island devil's" their very hatred has been reflected back to them in the form of Eren who now seeks to destroy them all. Many of the people assembled there burst into tears and the commander promises that, if the world survives, he won't make the same mistake again.
• Hold the Line: Hange, knowing full well that they can't kill all of the Titans, takes as many down with them as possible in order to delay the Rumbling long enough for the flying boat and the Hizuruan ship to leave port.
• Hypocrisy Nod: In a flashback to years prior, Eren admits to himself that it would be extremely hypocritical for him to save Ramzi, a boy he saw in his future memories, from a band of angry merchants, since the boy will die a much more horrific death in the Rumbling. Despite this, Eren still rescues him, berating himself for being like Reiner, a "half-assed piece of shit," but even worse.
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: Armin doesn't think he can be considered a good person anymore, as he has killed too many people.
• It Has Been an Honour: Levi gives a subdued, though no less heartfelt, one to Hange telling them to "dedicate your heart". Hange even notes that it is the first time they've ever heard him say that.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": The alliance has this reaction when they feel the Rumbling coming for them right after Floch damaged the fuel tank of the flying boat, necessitating immediate repairs before they can take off.
• More Expendable Than You: With the Rumbling close at hand Armin realises that someone has to stay behind to hold off the Titans long enough for the flying boat to leave port. Armin and Reiner both volunteer themselves but Hange tells them they are both too important for the fight ahead and goes out themselves to hold the hoard off.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Karina realises how much of a terrible mother she has been to Reiner by giving birth to him just so she could get revenge on his father. She even notes that she hasn't done one motherly thing for him his whole life.
• Not Quite Dead: It turns out that Mr. Leonhart and the rest of the residents of Liberio, Eldian and Marleyan alike, managed to board a train to Ford Salta and got away before the destruction of the Rumbling reached them.
• Scenery Gorn: The destruction of Liberio is shown in all its glory. We get to watch Ramzi getting crushed under a Titan's foot.
• Tears of Remorse: In the flashback, Eren cries and apologizes in front of a confused Ramzi, knowing thanks to his memories that he will eventually murder him and the rest of the world.
• Would Hurt a Child: In order to show that Eren will not stop his indiscriminate murder of the world, the first scene of the episode shows Ramzi and his brother being crushed by the marching Wall Titans, with Ramzi's head graphically being crushed in slow motion to emphasize the point.
• You Are in Command Now: Hange places Armin in command of the Scout Regiment right before their Heroic Sacrifice.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Hange holds off the Wall Titans just long enough for the others to take off.