Thread by @vincent5126

Episode 48: Bystander
11/10
Definitive version

Attack on Titan's core message gains full meaning in a seemingly fruitless conversation with a bystander
Above all, it shows the ordinary has the answer to life's mysteries, be it Titans or humans
Hence this arc matters
#AoTVincent

Episode 48 adapts:
Chapter 70: A Dream I Once Had (pages 1-17, 26-41)
Chapter 71: Bystander
As expected, some sections were trimmed but this time for better pacing while others were moved around
Like Friends, this episode is quite high quality in art and storyboards
#AoTVincent

The faces of those who return to the place they once lost
After 5 years, humanity witnesses empty homes
As the sun behind them shines on a new dawn, the Scouts prepare for the Return to Shiganshina
18, the coming of age
And of the harsh, necessary truth
Volume 18
#AoTVincent

For the events of Chapter 71, I have already covered them on this thread
Please check it out
I will expand on what the anime contributes to this section later on
#AoTVincent

It is fitting to discuss the full episode today on its 4th anniversary
There is not much to cover in Chapter 70 but it centers of the calm in the Walls as they adjust to a new regime and answer new questions
But I gotta say, Isayama really loves making his meme faces
#AoTVincent

Historia is a constitutional monarch
Key to Uprising's realistic politics
To counter absolutism, restore consent to be governed
Her charity role does evoke certain queens
Part of noblesse oblige but also Historia being herself
Using a limited role in a heartfelt cause
#AoTVincent

Armin reminds us the Military, people from the old system, rule
Revolutions do rely on members of the old system to apply force against the system itself
Yeagerist fascism had appeal bec it broke from that, only for 139 to remind us they have not learned from history
#AoTVincent

Historia being queen ironically let her choose to be proud of herself amidst culturally-ingrained constraints
As a person, part of the World (Heidegger's term for circumstances)
They remain part of life so she cannot be separated from them
She is born into this world
#AoTVincent

I cover more of Historia's circumstances in this thread, which makes her an archetype akin to a Biblical accused woman whose being is judged by the powerful patriarchy
She created a better Paradise for those born into this world
#AoTVincent

Just praising the visuals of this episode, not the kinda misleading "shippy" scene here (with the "blush" but let's give people what they want)
Bihou's cloud game was strongest this season, as we will see with other scenes
#AoTVincent

The anime's narration really minimized the impact of the epistemological/knowledge transition
This is both a consequence of losing the Hange training scene from the start of Uprising and of not mentioning that the Interior Squad kept documents of advanced research
#AoTVincent

The Reiss cave is seriously more than a gold mine
The "limitless energy" being the luminescent rock is a shortcut to the light bulb or electrical power, showing the natural advantages of Titan science and expanded opportunities for both common people and foreign trade
#AoTVincent

A "convenient power-up" aligns with the narrative
The hardening serum was one of many secrets the Reiss kept from humanity, part of their experimentation with Titan diversity
And it is how Eren could help reclaim Wall Maria and Hange build a life-saving mechanism
#AoTVincent

Just like how Grisha took the Founder to free Eldian fate from a conservative cliche, Eren and Hange's reclamation of Titan secrets was their way to complete the Wall Maria mission and helped humanity rise beyond the Titans by this point
Regardless of plot convenience
#AoTVincent

One of the few times any adaptation employed one of AoT's flashback styles
Usually we just get a full scene but this was easy to do
An example of the ship focus this episode but I like this one as they warmed up to each other more the whole arc
Plus they are cute
#AoTVincent

Slight rearrangement I like is we get introduced to Floch later on
Jean remarks that the excited recruits lack practical experience
Floch is more distinct in the anime bec his hairstyle was clarified
This scene fits Floch due to who he is
An ordinary guy in the Forest
#AoVincent

The manga goes more into this
Floch's timing is important because it was the SUCCESS of the Scouts that brought him in first
He was not given the allure bec, like all ordinary people, he was not sure
Don't forget he was of the Garrison too
Ordinary soldier
#AoTVincent

Yes he grows in the culture but since his first experience with the Scouts is extreme, he becomes devoted to a fanatical realization of that success, that a "devil" is needed
Admiration of the devil kept him from understanding him, like Floch's admirers in the fandom
#AoTVincent

The manga also slightly goes into the process of the gang slowly coming to the realization that the Titans were more than some infected zombies or cursed by nightmares, as Armin notes that there is more to the world beyond the walls
#AoTVincent

As for Eren realizing Shadis was the man he was looking for, it is pretty fun how he goes about it, him wishing the instructor specifically headbutted him since no one knew the conditions for memory unlocks
And by mentioning Shadis, he saw the bald man in the odd man
#AoTVincent

Mid-info card is on the...did Hange actually name the Titan guillotine that?
Sheesh letting out the edgy out of the bag
#AoTVincent

The anime presents the events of Bystander quite cleanly
Certain background shots and the storyboarding of Grisha holding Eren in particular felt really powerful
Evoking the mystery of Grisha but also of the "curse" Shadis felt of his own static existence
#AoTVincent

The melding of Akatsuki no Requiem was perfect
Expressing that feeling of knowing you are born into this world
Your existence means you are free
Eren never giving up was the moment the Bystander failed the lesson
Yet also where he saw humanity at its freest
Struggling
#AoTvincent

Finished the review
This was a lot shorter than expected but I explained more about Bystander in the chapter review
Hope you all enjoyed it