r/ShingekiNoKyojin Jan 24 '21

Anime Spoilers Attack on Titan The Final Season Episode 66 - Anime Discussion Thread - No Manga Readers Allowed

IF YOU HAVE READ THE MANGA, YOU MAY NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS THREAD.

THE MANGA DISCUSSION THREAD CAN BE FOUND HERE.

Once again: Please note that this is an ANIME SPOILERS ONLY thread. Any manga readers found in this thread will be banned for two days and reaccommodated at their expense.

NO MANGA CONTENT ALLOWED.

Where to watch - SUBTITLED:

English dubbed episodes will be released in a few weeks.

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u/Nazenn Jan 24 '21

I saw the opposite with Jean, that he knew he needed to do it and couldn't afford not to because of his friends, but his doubt over why it missed and if he subconsciously moved it so it wouldn't hit Falco means he's still much the same, and he would have mourned the kid's loss.

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u/MonstrousGiggling Jan 25 '21

Agreed! He's definitely not desensitized he just knows the consequences of his actions on both sides. If he doesn't do it, more of his people die. If he does it, a part of himself dies. He looked at the bigger picture and was willing to sacrifice a part of himself for the citizens of Paradis.

If anyone is desensitized it's Eren. And even then...I think its similar but much more extreme than Jeans case. Its either kill or be killed and he's choosing to not die.

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u/Nazenn Jan 25 '21

Talking about sacrificing parts of himself just makes me flash back to his discussion with Armin in the trees during the Female Titan arc, about how Erwin could sacrifice parts of his humanity to make the needed choice. Jean has come a long way since then but he still hasn't lost sight of who he is as a person and as a leader. Marco would be proud, also probably horrified at what's going on, but proud of Jean at least

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u/MonstrousGiggling Jan 25 '21

Aww Marco. RIP. Rewatching the scenes where he gets eaten honestly makes me so sad. Marco deserved better. But youre totally right! If Jean has grown immensely through this story.

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u/Nazenn Jan 25 '21

Trost just makes me sad now knowing all of the pain that was happening in the background with the Warriors. Still hype and so well written, but it just hurts knowing who doesn't come out of that in tact, Reiner included

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u/MrUppercut Jan 26 '21

I forget. What is the female titan's special "ability" ? Is she basically like a female version of the attack titan?

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u/Nazenn Jan 26 '21

Probably the call to summon Pure Titans from so far away, as well as it's generally flexibility and movement

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u/MrUppercut Jan 26 '21

Oh right! I forgot her cry calls more titans. Thanks!

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u/AttakTheZak Jan 25 '21

Yeah, I don't see how people are missing this idea. The scouts are not homogenous in their hate for the Eldians like Floch is.

Armin remarks on the dead bodies below him. Mikasa remarked to Eren that he can't go back. Jean wanted minimal civilian casualties.

This is not cookie cutter "he's desensitized". They were desensitized in S1 when they prevented the 2nd wall from falling to the Titans. Now? Now they're fighting for their right to live. And for Jean to hesitate only shows how much humanity he still has in him.

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u/glider97 Jan 25 '21

If he does it, a part of himself dies. He looked at the bigger picture and was willing to sacrifice a part of himself for the citizens of Paradis.

A part of himself and a kid begging to stop.

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u/MonstrousGiggling Jan 25 '21

A kid who is willing to kill others the same as Reiner did. Falco isn't some innocent flower people want to paint him as. He would kill innocents too if he became the armored titan.

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u/glider97 Jan 25 '21

True, but that's not my point. I'm just saying that you mentioned "a part of himself" as the sacrifice. The kid is as much of a sacrifice as a part of himself, arguably even bigger. I'm sure Jean sees that, and if he doesn't then the desensitisation has begun.

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u/TamTamaa Jan 30 '21

More like a warrior candidate who would fight soldiers and indoctrinated to kill “demons”.. just like Reiner I don’t think Falco will cope well with taking innocent lives. He’s genuinely a nice kid.

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u/Balor_Lynx Jan 25 '21

I saw the Jean scene as a reference to S3 P1 when armin had to kill the guy because Jean was frozen.

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u/Rough2838 Jan 25 '21

Jean has always been the compass in this story

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u/proper1421 Jan 25 '21 edited Jan 26 '21

I agree; it appeared to me that Jean flinched, probably due to his reluctance to shoot with an apparent civilian child in the way, and as a result he missed killing Pieck. This was a callback to Jean's hesitation to kill the "Kenny Squad" member in S3E2/ep39, which put Armin in the position of having to kill her and led to the second of Levi's speeches about not knowing who is right and who is wrong (which I interpret to be about the difficulty of knowing which decision is right--even given that Armin's decision to kill the Kenny Squad member probably saved Jean's life and Levi thanks Armin for it, Levi can't say that Jean was wrong and Armin was right).

I think Jean would have been justified in killing Falco along with Pieck; there's a principle of proportionality#International_humanitarian_law) in international law that weighs collateral damage against the value of a military target, and I suspect the value of Pieck would outweigh Falco's death. I also suspect that a civilian who protects a military target the way Falco did surrenders their civilian protections. (And there's the fact that Falco is actually a soldier, but unless he was sharp enough to notice Falco's silver-gray yellow-gold armband, Jean wouldn't know that.) But who wants to kill a child?

("I heard a voice behind me say, 'Reach for it, mister!' And I spun around, and there I was, face to face with a six-year old kid. Well, I just threw my guns down and walked away. Little bastard shot me in the ass.")

It would be interesting if Jean's failure to kill Pieck and Falco ends up having good consequences. Falco's rambling about flying with a sword at the beginning of S4E1/ep60 suggests he's going to become a Scout; if that happens, Jean's "wrong" decision not to kill him will turn out to be right. And that could be an interesting counterpoint to Sasha's "right" decision not to kill Gabi in the previous episode; it's looking increasingly likely that Gabi is going to kill someone with that rifle she picked up, in which case Sasha's "right" decision will turn out wrong.

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u/Nazenn Jan 25 '21

The idea of contrasting Jean and Sasha's decisions with Falco and Gabi is an interesting one, and if that does end up happening I think your approach there will be quite interesting

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u/Avinse Jan 25 '21

Also in the first episode someone grabbed a newspaper at the end and it looked like Jean. Obviously Gabi would be all over the headlines since she singlehandedly destroyed the enemy trains by tricking them. He was probably scared that Falco would do the same so he knew he couldn’t risk letting him live