The very first thing that The Final Season Part 2 does is tell us that fan favorite Levi Ackermann is dead. Seriously. Hange, “escorted” by Floch and his cronies, comes across the mangled remains of the Captain. Hange confirms that he’s dead, but Floch is unconvinced, so he asks to confirm that himself, since he knows how to check for a pulse. Zeke emerges after his altercation with Levi, naked and completely regenerated, but he can’t seem to remember what happened. Amidst the confusion, Hange takes advantage of Zeke’s emergence to grab Levi and leap into the swirling river nearby. They try to stop her, firing bullets into the raging waters to no avail. Their hostage is gone. Why would she try to take the body with her while escaping? The only plausible reason is that Levi, dead as he seemed, might still be clinging to life.

The switch from WIT Studio to MAPPA came with a lot of complaints of the art style quality dwindling. As insane as it sounds, people were genuinely dissatisfied with the animation work that MAPPA put into the first part of The Final Season. Those people ought to know that MAPPA put even more work in, and it’s especially evident in the general appearance and movement of the titans. Not only that, but the art quality has seemingly increased overall. It’s a visual masterpiece, and there are simply no doubts that this season will maintain the aesthetic quality of previous seasons.

This first episode of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan): The Final Season Part 2 is an action-packed jaw-dropper as it depicts Eren Jaeger’s solo defense against a surprise attack from the forces of Marley! Among the forces are Porco Galliard, the Jaw Titan, and more importantly, Reiner Braun – the Armoured Titan. The damage they cause is extensive, and the defenses of Paradis are caught with their proverbial pants down. Their best bet at winning, Eren, is being fully overwhelmed by the combined efforts of the experienced Reiner, Porco’s small and tough Jaw Titan, and powerful anti-Titan artillery that leave Eren stunned for several minutes. The Paradis forces, mobilized by 3D Maneuver Gear, stand no chance against the sharpshooters of Marley, who, led by General Magath, find Pieck and Gabi and escort them to safety. Magath and the others are updated on the events that transpired, particularly the fact that Falco Grice has ingested Zeke’s spinal fluid, hence becoming the next in line for the Beast Titan. They wonder why Eren, who is in possession of the Founding Titan, has not yet flattened the world with “The Rumbling”. Gabi is able to fill in the blank in their information with what she heard Zeke say during her time on the airship. Now that they’re informed of Eren’s inability to perform The Rumbling without Zeke’s presence, Magath, Pieck, Colt Grice and the others commit to preventing the brothers from meeting at all.

Those of us who have been watching anime a long time will recognise the heavy metal inspired riffs and wails of the artist SiM, who is responsible for the performance of the opening theme of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan): The Final Season Part 2! The theme takes some getting used to, and the chorus is definitely its saving grace (as tends to be the case with SiM songs, the vocals are really good when it's just regular singing), but after a second or third playthrough, you can’t help but sasageyo vehemently while trampling everything in your path. On the other hand, the ending theme song is courtesy of Higuchi Ai, and it’s a beautiful song sporting a familiar melancholy and hopefulness we’ve seen in other Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) ending themes.