This. More of this. This was what we needed and wanted, the joining of hands between ex-enemies, setting aside differences and banding together to fight for the greater good to stop the genocide. Regardless of the fact that Hange & co. Stand to be beneficiaries of the genocide.
Hange's speech was very needed to combat the pro genocide narratives floating around ever since episode 5. No, Erwin would not have supported Eren or the Yeagerists, and neither would anyone else from the SC. The Survey Corps fought for the freedom of humanity, not just the island, to seek understanding through dialogue and diplomacy.
'We haven't even had a chance to talk this over!!'
A line that is brought up once more when the opportunity to talk things out finally arrives and all sides of the conflict gather at the campfire before they go on to fight Eren. Really glad to see all character dynamics come into play here, which I bet many were waiting for this kind of moment. 'I'm the same as you' is one of the most ubiquitous phrases in the post-time-skip and it's obvious why. The only thing separating them was a wall preventing communication from being established, and it all came crumbling down when push came to shove and the world's fate was at stake. And that's exactly why it's so satisfying when they all band together, to bring forth that miracle of friendship Uri chose to believe in, culminating in an alliance of ex-enemies in order to save the world.
The colour palette this episode was vibrant and colourful, with the entire campfire scene being pretty well adapted. Although I'd very much rather have the facial expressions and flashbacks from the manga adapted, our S;G storyboarder showed us his creative vision which cleverly utilises background shots and negative space to craft visual imagery for the theme of "Getting out of the forest" which is ever so pertinent for this episode. Since dialogue episodes are kinda my thing, this one is a clear favourite of mine.
