Perfect Game

H-Hey...

Those houses will drop on us.

You think one of those houses... is Eren's?

Eren's house...

...is eavesdropping!

Sasha, could you smack Conny?

I don't think he knows our location.

Yeah.

He's making Shiganshina a sea of flames by scattering burning debris.

That b*st*rd...

This time, you think you can burn down my city?!

A-Armin! The fire! Your orders?!

Hurry it up!

I can tell.

You're standing there shaking so much, you can't do a damn thing.

Jean, can you take my place?

I just have no idea.... what to do...

I was wrong reading Bertholdt, and look where it got us.

Jean! You're better suited for this!

The river! Move to the river!

Everyone aboard Eren! Conserve our gas!

Eren.

At some point, we'll have to get Bertholdt's attention, but until then, don't let him see you.

Armin.

I'm all right at reading situations, but I'm coming up empty with a plan to get us out of this.

In the end, we're all counting on you.

"Perfect Game"

We're done cleaning up here.

The only small ones left are the ones way at the front.

Still, how will we take down the Beast Titan?

He's perfectly content sitting way over there, not moving an inch.

Yeah, it seems he's a coward.

Not like he's ever had balls to begin with.

You take a break.

We'll mop up the rest of the small ones.

Let's go!

Roger!

sh1t...

What was that explosion?

What happened to those guys?

Did Hange and the others avoid it?

I've gotta hurry to that side and...

Hmm...

That one was a little bit high...

Oh, leave it right there.

Well, the first pitch was a warm-up.

I'm going for a perfect game!

Frontal bombardment!

All troops, take cover!

Huh?

What was that?

sh1t! You guys!

What the hell was that sound?!

Does the enemy have cannons?!

If so, there's a hundred of 'em!

Calm down! You're scaring the horses!

The Titan's throwing boulders!

Captain Levi!

All of you, retreat to the wall with the horses!

Roger!

Hurry! Stay outta the line of fire!

Hey, stand up! You wanna die?!

Commander!

How's it looking?

Terrible.

His throws have destroyed the front line of houses.

If he keeps on throwing, everything will get leveled.

We won't have anywhere left to hide.

We can't retreat to the other side of the wall?

No...

The Colossal Titan is already heading this way.

Spreading fire all along his path.

Supposing we scale the wall to evade the stones, we'd have to leave the horses.

If we retreat here, there's no hope for victory.

What happened to Hange's group?

Is Eren all right?

I don't know.

But the majority of them were caught in that explosion.

We've been dealt a serious blow.

The Beast Titan directed the small Titans so our soldiers would group up in one place.

As such, while engaging the small Titans, Dirk Squad, Marlene Squad, and Klaus Squad were all wiped out by the bombardment.

In other words, our remaining forces this side of the gate...

...consists of you new Scout recruits, Captain Levi, and...

...me.

We're doomed!

Erwin... Do you have any sort of plan?

Yell at him, Eren!

Don't let Bertholdt get any closer to the wall!

He noticed!

What?! That b*st*rd's ignoring us!

Hey! What now, Jean?! At this rate...

I know that!

Eren! Go stop his lanky legs!

But still! How the hell are we gonna defeat him?!

His gusts of hot steam make our ODM gear useless! Right?!

You don't think I know that?!

But right now, we've got no choice but to try!

We've gotta figure out his weakness!

I'll do it. You guys distract him.

Conny, your Thunder Spear.

R-Right!

Armin, we need you to observe him from afar.

So quit your moping.

We gotta believe there's a way to beat him!

Right!

Now! Scatter!

Don't you dare look down on me!

You're nothing more...

...than a big damn wretched oaf!

H-He's shoving him!

Go, Eren! Knock him over!

There has to be some sort of way!

What?

Eren!

Hey... Is that Eren?

He got himself flung on top of the wall?

By him...

Eren's not moving...

He's not dead! Focus on the monster at hand!

That might have been pushing it too far...

If we run at him without a plan, that's what happens.

Unless...

Unless we can somehow turn the tables on him, this recovery operation, all of our lives, and the future of humanity will be doomed!

Having said that, I'm not about to sit around while we all get slaughtered!

Let's go on the attack!

He doesn't know about Thunder Spears yet!

Conny, Sasha, and I will distract him!

Mikasa will strike in the opening!

Roger!

Hey, moron! I'll poke out your stupid eyes!

You huge idiot!

You massive pervert lord!

This distraction is so obvious...

But if we nail him with a Thunder Spear...!

Guys!

Is it useless?

His hot steam even knocked away the Thunder Spears!

Conny!

sh1t! Breathing it in burned my throat!

Mikasa! You're bleeding!

I'm fine. A bit of shrapnel from the Thunder Spears got me.

Thought of anything yet?

Huh?

Have any clues for a counterattack?

Not one...

The Beast Titan has a good guess where we're at.

This place will look like a honeycomb soon.

Erwin.

If you're saying we've got no chance to counterattack, let's get ready to flee.

Wake Eren sprawled out up there.

Ride him and flee with as many people as possible.

At least we'll have some survivors.

Hey! The horse got away!

That was your job!

Shut up! Like it matters!

Excuse me?!

Those Scouts were insanely strong and they died in an instant!

You know as well as I do!

What good is protecting horses...

...when there's nobody left to ride them home?!

It all made sense at one point...

If humanity just hid behind the walls, we'd someday get slaughtered by Titans out of nowhere.

Somebody has to bite the bullet and risk taking action.

In order for others to not become victims, we needed people to become the victims themselves.

Who will be that brave soldier?

When I was asked that, I actually believed I could be that someone!

But I never thought...

...that being sent to my death...

...would turn out to be so utterly meaningless in the end!

Now that I think about it, I bet almost everyone ends up saying the same thing as me.

Why did I ever think that I'd...

...somehow be different?

What if whoever's left of the recruits and Hange's group scatter on horses...

...and try to make it home?

By using them as a decoy, you guys could escape on Eren.

Levi. What would you do?

I'm facing the Beast Titan. I'll draw him away...

Impossible.

You won't even get close.

Probably not.

But if you and Eren return home alive, there's still hope.

Isn't that the best we can ask for at this point?

What a huge defeat...

To be perfectly honest, I doubt a single one of us is making it back alive.

Yes, assuming we had no way to counterattack.

Is there a way?

Yes.

Why didn't you say that sooner?

Why'd you keep your shitty mouth shut?

If the plan goes well, you may be able to take down the Beast Titan.

But it will take the recruits...

...and myself to give our lives.

It's like you said.

Either way, most of us will die.

No, it's almost guaranteed we'll all be wiped out.

In which case, we can stake our heroic deaths on a slim chance of victory.

For this to work...

To ask these young ones to die, it would take an expert con man and a whole slew of lies.

If I do not lead the vanguard, none of them will follow.

And I will die before anyone else.

Without ever learning what's in the basement...

Huh?

I...

I want to go to the basement.

Everything I've done till now...

...was because I thought this day would come.

That someday, I could check if I was right.

So many times... I thought death would be so much easier.

But always, the dream I shared with my father flashed through my mind.

And now, I'm close enough to the answers to reach out and grab them.

They're right there...

But, Levi...

Can you see them? Our comrades?

Our comrades are looking at us.

They want to know what became of the hearts they gave.

Because the fighting isn't over yet.

Is it all just inside my head?

Nothing more than a childish delusion?

You've fought well.

It's all thanks to you that we've come this far.

I'm making the choice.

Give up on your dream and die.

Lead the recruits straight into hell.

I will take down the Beast Titan.

Charge!

Well, I figured they wouldn't lie down and die, but...

A suicide charge?

Here I was thinking they could do better than that...

Now! Fire!

Smoke?

Oh, it's those signal things...

Tsk! It's coming, move!

I'm announcing our final operation!

All troops, line up!

We will be doing a cavalry charge.

Our goal: To rush the Beast Titan.

Of course, we'll be making ourselves ideal targets.

So we'll wait until he's ready to throw and fire our smoke signals together.

That should reduce his accuracy somewhat.

While we're acting as a decoy, Captain Levi will kill the Beast Titan.

That is our plan.

What?

You want me to go after him with just ODM gear?

He's standing in an empty area.

There's not even a house or tree in sight.

Wrong...

There happens to be a line of objects at just the right height.

Sneak close using the Titans...

...and assassinate the Beast Titan.

I'm sorry...

Standing and waiting just means we'll be showered by more boulders.

Get ready on the double!

Are we all... heading...

...to our deaths?

Yes.

If we're gonna die anyways, you're saying it's better...

...if we die fighting?

Yes.

Wait... If we're gonna die anyways, no matter how we die, even if it's disobeying orders, it all means nothing, right?

You're precisely right.

It's all meaningless.

No matter what dreams or hopes you had...

No matter how blessed a life you've lived...

It's all the same if you're shredded by rocks.

Everyone will die someday.

Does that mean life is meaningless?

Was there even any meaning in our being born?

Would you say that of our fallen comrades?

Their lives...

Were they meaningless?

No, they weren't!

It's us who gives meaning to our comrade's lives!

The brave fallen! The anguished fallen!

The ones who will remember them... are us, the living!

We die trusting the living who follow to find meaning in our lives!

That is the sole method in which we can rebel against this cruel world!

My soldiers, rage!

My soldiers, scream!

My soldiers, fight!

For friends who gave up their hearts...

For friends who gave up their dreams...

Until everything burns out, they will continue running...

...inside the chaos and panic.

Next episode: "Hero."