Thaw

I really enjoyed this episode.

It's like we're back at season 1 and 2 and the gang is slaying some titans and we're seeing another titan invasion like the first seasons in the perspective of ordinary people and it's scary af.

The og gang gets more screen time again and the action with that music feels really good and reminds us of the time when everything in AOT was as simple as a "giants are attacking us and we have to kill them".

I'm really liking the turnaround of the character of Gabi and where it is going.

I also didn't expect that last scene, it was really surprising as I had completely forgotten about that character, I don't even know how Armin remembered.

Overall it was a really enjoyable episode with some great dramatic scenes and character-driven storytelling. Some great actions of titan slaying that felt really nostalgic. And new interesting subplots has been putting into motion.

This was YET Another great episode! Though not as great as the three previous episodes, this episode still delivered! The episode contained some great character moments, both in terms of action and dialogue! The scouts fighting titans while "Barricades" played, was just PERFECT for me! Really nice ODM gear animation and some great humans vs titans action! Brought me back to season 1 and 2! The last minutte just made the wait for next sunday, almost unberable.

This episode was phenomenal!!!!! Beautifully animated with a LOT... Of tension inbetween scenes, I'm generally amazed. This episode does a really great job with continuing on the aftermaths of last episode, and Mappa has slayed once again 10/10!!

As usual, Isayama hits us with a double entendre (or triple?!) in the title. "Thaw" aptly refers to the thawing of the situation after the initiation of the rumbling, but also serves as a metaphor for the breaking of the walls, and by extension, the "thawing" of all hardening including Annie's crystal in the end. Likewise, the metaphorical "walls" between Kaya and Gabi have broken down as their relationship heals (since walls are a metaphor for the obstacles hindering mutual understanding, similar to Mr. Braus's speech on children of the forest), thus their relationship can also be said to be "thawing".

As the situation "thaws", so begins the Rumbling arc. I urge everyone to pay attention to this seemingly uneventful stretch of episodes to come as they serve as important build up to the soon approaching finale of the season as well as the entire show. The discord between the Eldians of Paradis mirror our fandom quite nicely as people are conflicted about whether to support the MC we have been following up till now or to oppose his actions (which honestly speaking, makes more sense to). Gabi proceeds to protect Kaya which reminded her of Sasha's selflessness, leading to Niccolo's reaffirmation of Sasha and her father's ideology in stopping inherited conflict by getting out of the forest, including a nice hint of shingeki Idealism. The MVP of this episode would be Gabi and Niccolo, but I'd honestly give the award to Sasha as I see her arc getting completed in this episode as it all comes full circle to connect back to the theme of the children of the forest.

Highlights of the episode includes Sakura san's excellent voice acting as usual as well as the cliffhanger showcasing Annie's return. Other than the nice ODM sakuga cuts, animation this episode seems to be on par with 4x17 "Judgment" and 4x18 "Sneak Attack" which is very nice, showing that the production has improved quite a bit this time compared to the Final Season Part 1, that they were able to maintain the same high quality animation as in the first two episodes this year.

All in all, this was a solid episode to kick off the final arc of Attack on Titan, and I'm very excited for the next few episodes to come as we continue to develop more characters other than Eren, Zeke and Grisha.

The ending cliffhanger has made a lot of people happy, as it made me, i'm quite sure. The OGs v Titans were chills-inducing, particularly Mikasa. And with "Barricades" soundtrack made it even more epic. The Titans' character designs looked cheap tho. I was hoping to see a "Saul Goodman" titan Cameo from the manga where it looked original but here it doesn't even match or look-alike. But yet another amazing AOT episode.