Episode 26: The Beast Titan
We definitely kicked things off well in this episode of the show by introducing two major plot points in the manga. The Titan that was seen in the crack of the wall Annie made at the end of Season 1 and the newest Titan-shifter, the Beast Titan. We also don't see a lot of Eren, Mikasa, and Armin during the episode, all of whom are inside Wall Sina recuperating (particularly Eren) after his titan fight with Annie. Along with them Captain Levi and Commander Erwin, all typically major players are left aside this episode. I think this was definitely a good thing, source material says that happens regardless but I know that because of how much we will be seeing of those five, giving them an episode off helps us yearn to see them in action once again. I can't go, "good on the animators for this smart decision" because they're essentially following a storyboard already made for them but regardless I like what they did and it's going to help down the road.
After dragging away the frozen Annie, Hange and other Scout Regiment members notice this face in the wall and shortly after the head priest of the Church of the Wall starts to freak out saying don't let that face see the sun....this face....
But the real attraction is what the episode is named after, The Beast Titan, the newest to the list of Titan-shifters and why you know is because of the coolest reason yet. With the exception of a small few, all of the Scout Regiment, specifically new recruits were stationed in an outpost in the south just near Wall Rose. The reason, it's quiet so keep them all secluded and find out if any new recruits besides Eren are Titan-shifters. It's a logical conclusion to come to considering Eren is and from his same Cadet class so was Annie, so why not make sure no one else is, but they're unable to figure that out because titans breach Wall Rose and head towards them. They are led by this huge, gangly, hairy titan: the Beast Titan as he will be known as.
The new Scout members take their horses and go warn villages within the wall and when they pick and divide into teams is when my only gripe with the episode occurs. They make it WAYYY too obvious who the next "bad guys" are, they're too conspicuous and make it to clear to each other and since I already know all the shifters it makes it even more facepalmingly painful to watch. I know it may be because I know who they are but it's still pretty clear, if not and you read all the way to the end, you'll know what I mean.
So ya, the Beast Titan is the main villain of the season and technically going forward because he's the leader of the Titans, yes they are co-ordinated and he's the big boss, how can you tell ?? He talks. Yes, he is the only titan that is able to verbally communicate with people. "What is this device you use to fly around with ??" and "I guess you discovered that we lie in the nape of our necks". He sees what humans are doing, he knows what they are thinking now and that helps give the titans more of an edge. It's terrfifying that a titan can speak in such a cool, collected manner, it screams....this guy is going to be trouble for humanity. He also killed a horse and you're automatically a bad dude for killing a horse. I wondered based on the way I read his voice to be in the manga and how scruffy he looked in there if they'd pull it off better in the anime and they did. They gave him a way better voice than my head did and they touched up his look enough to not make him as rough and lame as he did when I first saw him in the manga.
So major spoilers ahead....
This might disappoint some of you guys, but this isn't going to be as action packed as season 1 and that's because the manga progresses fairly slow going forward, there will definitely be some cool action scenes like Eren fighting the Armored Titan but it's slower paced. Add to that if they progress too far they risk catching up to the manga and you have the reason this season will only be 12 episodes long instead of the usual 24 episode season.
One thing I mentioned is that they made it way too painfully obvious as to who the other bad guys were because of how eager they were. It's Reiner & Bertholt. Reiner is the Armored Titan and Bertholt is the Colossal Titan, and that girl that hangs out with Christa (the small blonde) ya that tall brown haired girl she's a Titan too. Eren is the only good-guy titan-shifter and he has a major connection to the Beast Titan as well but that I won't add to this spoilers list. The only other thing has to do with the titan in the wall, all 3 walls: Maria, Rose, and Sina what that priest was hiding is that they are all made up of skinless titans. The walls themselves are made of titans and as long as they aren't exposed to sunlight the walls will stand because the titans can't move during the day but if they received sun, they would destroy the walls and crush humanity.
There's a lot more I could "spoil" but those are just the things that are in association with the plot points they addressed in episode 1, so here's a picture of the shifters in the Scout Regiment & Military Police just to illustrate who they are for sure.