Attack on Titan S4, Ep. 28: On the Brink

As we reel from the news that, once again, we’ve been faked out on the series finale, we do at least have a season finale of Attack on Titan to explore. I’ve gotta say, I really wish they had just been honest with us from the start regarding the plans for the final run of episodes instead of teasing it out again and again, but with the final arc being called, well, The Final Arc, I guess we can finally trust that this next batch of episodes will actually encompass the end of the epic series.

As it stands, “The Dawn of Humanity” begins on something of a baffling note. As Mikasa stands ruminating about Eren on the trip to the Hizuru hangar, we flashback to a trip the core scouts took to meet with the Azumabito prior to Eren’s rogue move on the city of Liberio. It’s hard to parse out exactly what this trip is and whether it’s even real at first, as Levi is uninjured and Sasha is still with them. Still, as the episode progresses, the timeline of Attack on Titan is ironed out and rounded in some surprisingly impressive ways.

What we really get here is two perspectives on the final moments the scouts spent with Eren before everything changed, one from Mikasa and one from Eren. The biggest surprise comes in Mikasa’s section, where Attack on Titan seems to confirm a long-held suspicion from fans that Mikasa has romantic feelings for Eren. Zeke’s words in Eren’s recollection that “maybe she likes you enough to rip apart titans for you” echoes this sentiment further.

On the flip side, we see Eren seemingly doubling down on his feelings for Historia. She and Floch were the only ones who were actually privy to his secret plan to unleash The Rumbling and destroy all of civilization outside of Paradis. And, if there were any doubt that The Rumbling could indeed devastate the entire world, it was put to rest in “The Dawn of Humanity.”

The most spectacular sequence of the final episode of this Attack on Titan run sees a last-ditch alliance of naval fleets and cannon garrisons attempting to eradicate the marching titans before being completely overrun and crushed without mercy. In an incredible juxtaposition, we hear Eren swearing again to “wipe them all out,” only this time he means the entire world.

If like many, you missed the post-credits scene from the previous episode, you can watch it here, though, without any subtitles. The long and short of it sees the allied Marley and scout forces receiving news that Liberio will be wiped off the map. Annie, in particular, is devastated by this news, and, surprisingly, it is Mikasa who comforts her.

So, how many episodes will there be in The Final Arc of Attack on Titan? Well, that remains to be seen. I, for one, am happy to learn that the series will at least be ending on TV rather than as a rumored feature film. With presumably as many episodes left to MAPPA as they want, we should, at the very least, get a satisfying depiction of the ending from the manga series.