Recaps

Kitz ordered the Garrison to fire on Eren, Arthur, Mikasa, and Armin, but Eren transformed into a Titan and shielded them from the shell. Arthur then seized Kitz as the dust cleared, leaving the soldiers under his control.

• Kitz ignored Rico’s objection and ordered his soldier to fire the howitzer at Eren, Arthur, Mikasa, and Armin.
• Eren bit his hand and transformed into a Titan, whose body protected the four from the shell.
• Arthur, Mikasa, and Armin refused Eren’s offer to escape alone, and Arthur planned to take Kitz hostage.
• Arthur used his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to reach the platform, disarmed Rico, and seized Kitz with a blade at his throat.

Arthur forced Kitz to disarm his soldiers, then exposed Kitz’s role in the fall of Trost District’s frontline defenses. After the soldiers turned against Kitz and Arthur reunited with Mikasa, Eren, and Armin, Pixis arrived to take custody of the disgraced commander.

• Arthur threatened Kitz until Kitz ordered Rico and the soldiers to lay down their weapons.
• Arthur confronted Kitz about treason and revealed to the crowd that Kitz had abandoned Headquarters, causing the supply route to collapse and the frontline to fall.
• The soldiers cursed Kitz, while Eren, Armin, and Mikasa joined Arthur on the platform.
• Arthur warned Kitz’s confidants not to resist and decided to hand Kitz over to Pixis.
• Pixis arrived and said he would take charge of Kitz.

Pixis questioned Eren and chose to spare Kitz by assigning him to the coming operation to retake Trost District. Arthur proposed using Eren’s Titan form to move a boulder and seal the breach, and Pixis agreed to consider the risky plan.

• Pixis ordered Kitz detained for investigation, but after Kitz begged for another chance, he assigned him to the suicide squad for the Trost operation.
• Pixis asked Arthur to explain his plan to retake Trost, while Rico stayed behind to calm the soldiers.
• Arthur proposed having Eren become a Titan and use a boulder to block the gateway so the trapped Titans could be destroyed.
• Arthur and Pixis discussed the threat of the Colossal and Armored Titans, and Pixis agreed that Arthur’s plan was their best option.

Eren agreed to transform and carry the boulder to seal Trost District’s breach, and Pixis prepared to announce the retaking plan. After Arthur and Mikasa reassured their comrades, Christa kissed Arthur in front of everyone, leaving Mikasa heartbroken and Arthur hurrying after her.

• Pixis asked Eren whether he would transform and help seal the breach, and Eren agreed to give it everything he had.
• Pixis entrusted the plan to Arthur and told him to gather the soldiers while Eren stayed behind; Arthur and Mikasa went to reassure their friends.
• Arthur and Mikasa returned to their quarters, where Christa tearfully embraced Arthur and the others celebrated their safe return.
• Christa kissed Arthur in front of the group, and Mikasa bit his arm before leaving in distress.
• Arthur said he would go after Mikasa and hurried away.

Arthur confessed that he loved Mikasa as a lover, and Mikasa accepted his existing relationship with Christa on the condition that he would not pursue anyone else. Mikasa and Christa talked through the arrangement and became close, leaving Arthur and Ymir astonished.

• Arthur found Mikasa crying on the wall and admitted that he had always treated her as a younger sister.
• Mikasa revealed that she knew Arthur and Christa had been intimate and confessed how much Arthur had helped her through grief and despair.
• Moved by Mikasa’s confession, Arthur kissed her and declared that she was his lover.
• Mikasa accepted Arthur’s relationship with Christa but asked him not to find anyone else, and Arthur agreed.
• Arthur and Mikasa returned to their quarters, where Mikasa and Christa talked honestly and reconciled as close sisters.

Arthur and Mikasa returned to Pixis as he prepared the soldiers for the Battle to Retake Trost District. After Pixis revealed Eren’s plan and the frightened soldiers nearly deserted, he persuaded them to return by warning that their families could face the Titans if Trost fell, and he officially began the battle.

• Arthur cautioned Christa to stay safe and asked Ymir to look after her before he and Mikasa returned to Pixis.
• Pixis assembled the soldiers and announced that Eren would transform into a Titan and use a boulder to seal Trost District’s breach.
• The soldiers panicked and resisted the plan, so Pixis offered to let anyone leave without punishment.
• Pixis warned that abandoning Trost could expose their families to the Titans, and the departing soldiers returned to the ranks.
• Pixis declared the Battle to Retake Trost District officially underway.

Pixis assigned Eren, Arthur, Mikasa, Rico, and Ian’s squad to carry out the plan to seal Trost’s breach with the boulder. After the operation began and the group prepared to move, Eren and his escorts set out for the mission’s most important objective.

• Eren confirmed that his basement held answers about the Titans, and Pixis said humanity would need to retake Trost before pursuing Wall Maria.
• Pixis assigned Arthur and Mikasa to Ian’s Advance Guard Squad to escort Eren to the boulder, and tasked Rico with relaying information using signal flares.
• Soldiers took their assigned roles, drawing most of the Titans away from the boulder despite suffering casualties.
• Arthur encouraged the nervous Eren to transform, move the boulder, and seal the breach, while asking Mikasa to protect him.
• Rico fired the signal flare to begin the operation, and Ian’s group prepared to move toward the boulder.

Eren transformed into a Titan to lift the boulder, but he lost control and attacked Mikasa, forcing Arthur to intervene. After Eren fell unconscious on the boulder and Rico signaled the operation's failure, Pixis refused to order a retreat and left the decision to the elite squad.

• Arthur’s group reached the boulder, and Eren transformed into a Titan as Ian’s soldiers took positions to protect him.
• Eren stood motionless, then attacked Mikasa when she approached, but she dodged his punch.
• Arthur slashed Eren’s eyes to stop him, rescued Mikasa, and watched as the blinded Titan stumbled and fell unconscious on the boulder.
• Rico fired a flare signaling the operation’s failure, while Mitabi and Ian reacted with dismay.
• Pixis’s aide reported the failure to the command post, and Jean saw the flare while Armin flew toward Arthur and the others.
• Pixis refused requests to withdraw the elite squad and ordered the operation to continue, leaving the squad to decide whether to retreat.

As Arthur and Mikasa fought off the approaching Titans, Armin found a way to reach Eren and awaken him from inside his Titan form. Eren regained control, lifted the boulder, and began carrying it toward the breach.

• Ian hesitated over whether to withdraw while Mitabi and Rico urged him to abandon Eren, and Armin arrived after seeing the failure signal flare.
• Armin asked Arthur to buy him time to awaken Eren, while Arthur and Mikasa charged the approaching Titans and killed them.
• Inspired by Arthur and Mikasa, Ian ordered the elite squad to resume covering Eren and keep the Titans away.
• Armin stabbed Eren's Titan nape to provoke a reaction and called to him about their mission and their promise to see the sea.
• Eren rejected the illusion of his family, regained control of his Titan form, and picked up the boulder to carry it toward the breach.

Arthur, Mikasa, and the soldiers fought to protect Eren as he carried the boulder through Trost, sacrificing themselves so he could reach the breach. Eren sealed the opening, and Rico fired a flare to announce the operation’s success and humanity’s first victory against the Titans.

• Arthur and Mikasa split up to clear Titans from Eren’s path and protect him as he carried the boulder toward the breach.
• Ian ordered the Elite Class to defend Eren, and Rico fired a flare to report that the operation was back on track.
• Pixis ordered combat units to converge on the Elite Class while other soldiers drew Titans away, and Arthur slew a hundred Titans as Mikasa and the others fought beside him.
• Eren reached the breach and slammed the boulder into it, sealing the opening.
• Rico fired a flare to signal the operation’s success as the soldiers recognized that humanity had won its first victory against the Titans.

After the breach was sealed, Arthur collapsed and gained a mysterious power that killed the Titans threatening him, while Mikasa carried him to safety. Levi arrived in the battle and rescued Eren, Armin, and the remaining soldiers.

• Pixis ordered every available reinforcement unit to support the elite squad after the victory signal went up.
• Arthur collapsed from exhaustion, and Mikasa struggled to reach him as Titans closed in on him and on Eren and Armin.
• Ian sent Mikasa to rescue Arthur and rushed to protect Eren and Armin from two Titans.
• Arthur heard a mysterious voice offering him power, accepted it, and regained his strength as his eyes turned scarlet.
• An invisible force killed the Titans reaching for Arthur, and Mikasa carried him to a safer rooftop.
• Levi arrived, slew the Titans attacking Eren, Armin, Rico, Mitabi, and Ian, and asked what had happened.

After waking from a three-day coma, Arthur learned that a mysterious power had appeared inside him and discovered he could summon a black humanoid apparition that obeyed him but drained his stamina. With Eren’s trial set for the next day, Arthur returned to the dormitory determined to help protect him.

• Arthur woke in the field hospital, reassured Mikasa and Christa, and learned he had been unconscious for three days.
• Mikasa told Arthur that a black apparition had killed the Titans threatening him, and Arthur sensed a connection between it and the strange power he remembered.
• Arthur entered a dark inner space, touched a floating black weapon, and summoned the apparition in the hospital; it called him master and said it would obey his commands.
• Arthur dismissed the apparition when it began draining his stamina, and he asked Mikasa to keep his ability secret from Christa.
• Arthur left the hospital and returned to the men's dormitory, where Jean, Marco, Connie, Reiner, Bertolt, and Armin welcomed him and hoped he could help Eren at trial.

Arthur attended Eren’s trial with Mikasa and Armin, where he met Hange Zoë and Levi. Hange questioned him about Eren’s Titan ability, prompting Arthur to connect it to Grisha’s disappearance after Shiganshina fell, but he kept his suspicion to himself.

• Arthur, Mikasa, and Armin arrived at Eren’s trial, where they met Hange Zoë and Levi of the Survey Corps.
• Hange asked Arthur whether he had really slain more than a hundred Titans, and he confirmed that he likely had.
• Hange questioned Arthur about his plan to use Eren to seal the breach and whether Eren had seemed unusual before transforming.
• Arthur remembered that Grisha had taken Eren away after Shiganshina fell and suspected Grisha had given him his Titan ability.
• Arthur told Hange that Eren had seemed normal, concealing his suspicion about Grisha.

Arthur defended Eren at his military tribunal, arguing that Eren’s Titan power could help humanity despite his attack on Mikasa. After Zackly agreed to consider Arthur’s case, Arthur deduced that Pixis and Erwin planned to place Eren in the Survey Corps’ custody.

• Pixis arrived at the hearing with Erwin, and Zackly opened the military tribunal for Eren.
• Zackly questioned Eren about transforming into a Titan and attacking Mikasa, who confirmed that the attack had happened.
• Arthur explained that Eren had lost consciousness during the attack, later regained control with Armin’s help, and helped seal Trost’s breach.
• Arthur argued that Eren could aid humanity, and Zackly said he would consider the case.
• Arthur told Hange that he had guessed Pixis intended to place Eren in the Survey Corps’ custody, surprising Erwin and the others.

At Eren Yeager’s trial, the Military Police Brigade and the Church of the Walls argued that he should be imprisoned or executed, while Erwin proposed placing him in the Survey Corps’ custody. Levi’s brutal beating of Eren demonstrated that he could control him, and Zackly ended the hearing by entrusting Eren to the Survey Corps.

• Nile accused Eren of being an unstable threat and called for his life imprisonment or execution, while Nick demanded that he be executed for blasphemy.
• Erwin proposed that the Survey Corps take custody of Eren and use his Titan power on expeditions beyond the Walls, with Levi responsible for controlling him.
• Nile accused Arthur and Mikasa of hiding their connection to Eren and questioned how they had killed four adults as children, provoking Arthur’s bloodlust and angering Eren.
• Eren shouted that humanity should stake everything on him, and Nile ordered the guards to shoot him.
• Levi beat Eren in front of the courtroom, then asserted that he could subdue him, convincing the spectators that the Survey Corps could control Eren.
• Zackly placed Eren in the Survey Corps’ custody, bringing the hearing to an end.

Arthur discussed Commander Erwin’s plan for the next expedition beyond the walls and realized Erwin intended to use Eren as bait to expose the people who could transform into the Colossal and Armored Titans. Arthur left the conversation believing Erwin would do whatever it took to achieve his goals.

• Arthur, Mikasa, and Eren helped Levi Squad finish cleaning the old castle, and Arthur wiped the grime from Eren’s face.
• Levi told Arthur that Commander Erwin wanted to see him, so Arthur went alone to Erwin’s office.
• Erwin showed Arthur plans to launch the fifty-seventh expedition in a month along an unfamiliar route because Trost District’s gate had been damaged.
• Arthur and Erwin discussed the possibility that the Colossal and Armored Titans were hiding among the military, and Arthur realized Erwin planned to use Eren as bait.
• Arthur agreed that exposing the hidden Titans was necessary, then left the office wary of Erwin’s ruthless resolve.

Erwin recruited the 104th Cadet Corps into the Survey Corps by warning them of its high death rate and the upcoming 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls. Arthur and a small group stayed, formally joining the Survey Corps and pledging their hearts.

• Erwin announced that recruits would join the 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls in one month to help retake Wall Maria with Eren Yeager.
• Erwin warned the cadets that the Survey Corps had an estimated death rate of around thirty percent and invited those willing to risk their lives to stay.
• Most cadets left, while Arthur, Mikasa, Armin, Christa, Jean, Sasha, Connie, Marco, Reiner, Bertolt, and a dozen others remained.
• Erwin welcomed the remaining cadets into the Survey Corps and led them in a salute as they pledged to dedicate their hearts.

Arthur explored his ghost abilities while helping monitor Eren, who unexpectedly transformed into a partial Titan after failing to transform on command. The group concluded that Eren needed a clear goal to transform, and Hange kept him occupied with Titan research after everyone else left.

• Arthur tested the ghost's abilities and discovered that he could regenerate rapidly and control his healing.
• Hange lowered Eren into a dry well and asked him to transform, but he could not do so and injured his hands trying.
• Arthur noticed that Eren's hands were healing, confirming that his Titan powers remained.
• Eren accidentally transformed into a small, incomplete Titan while reaching for a dropped spoon, alarming Petra, Gunther, Eld, and Oluo.
• Arthur proposed that Eren needed a goal to transform, and Eren agreed after recalling his earlier transformations.
• Petra and the others apologized to Eren, while Arthur and Levi's squad left him alone with Hange's overnight Titan discussion.

Christa revealed to Arthur and Mikasa that her real name was Historia Reiss and told them about her painful childhood and why she had joined the Survey Corps. Arthur promised to protect her, and they agreed to keep her identity secret.

• Arthur found Mikasa and Christa waiting outside his dormitory, and he led them to a secluded grove so Christa could speak privately.
• Christa confessed that her real name was Historia Reiss, and Arthur comforted her as she apologized for using a false name.
• Historia explained that she was Lord Reiss's illegitimate daughter, was rejected by her mother, and was nearly killed before her father ordered her to use the name Christa.
• Historia told Arthur that he had made her feel cared for and that she had joined the Survey Corps partly to stay away from the people who might seek her out.
• Arthur promised to protect Historia and Mikasa, and the three stayed together beneath the moonlight.
• Arthur asked Historia to keep her identity secret from others, so they would call her Christa in public and Historia in private.

Arthur dreamed of his previous life as Gu Shun, who massacred tens of millions with blood-red power, and woke unsure whether the vision was real. Gunther then told him the captured Titan test subjects had been assassinated, and Arthur hurried to the experimental site.

• Arthur fell into a strange darkness and saw an image of his older self, Gu Shun, surrounded by armed enemies.
• Gu Shun said he had been tortured by his mentor and vowed to make the world suffer, then attacked his enemies with a storm of blood-red particles.
• A voice urged Arthur to kill, but Arthur rejected the vision and woke from the dream in a cold sweat.
• Arthur decided not to use his power for the time being and answered urgent knocks at his door.
• Gunther told Arthur that the captured Titan test subjects had been assassinated, and Arthur rushed with him to the experimental site.

Arthur and Erwin investigated the killing of Hange's two Titans and concluded that the culprit had used military Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to prevent them from learning anything. Despite an extensive investigation led by Pixis, the mastermind remained unidentified.

• Arthur arrived at the experimental grounds and found Hange mourning the two dead Titans, while Eren stared at their remains in shock.
• Erwin asked Eren who he thought their real enemy was, then questioned Arthur about the masked figure who had killed the Titans and escaped using Omni-Directional Mobility Gear.
• Arthur and Erwin reasoned that the culprit was unlikely to be exposed through checks of black-market sales or military equipment use.
• Pixis and the higher-ups investigated black-market dealings and inspected soldiers' Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, but found no suspects.
• Pixis abandoned the investigation after it produced no leads, leaving the mastermind's identity a mystery.

On the eve of the 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls, the cadets discussed their hopes and fears as Eren promised to help reclaim their lost land. Arthur and the others ended the gathering by wishing for victory and a safe return.

• The 104th Cadet Corps gathered before the expedition, and Arthur confirmed that he and Mikasa would take part.
• Arthur encouraged Eren to trust his Titan abilities, and Eren vowed to help reclaim Wall Maria and Shiganshina District.
• Jean asked Eren about his past loss of control, and Eren and Mikasa reconciled before Jean and Eren traded insults.
• Sasha asked about Arthur and Christa, and Arthur revealed that they had held hands and kissed.
• Historia explained that she had asked Arthur to keep their relationship secret, and Ymir dramatically lamented the news.
• Arthur urged everyone to rest, and the cadets stacked their hands together and wished for victory and a safe return.

The Survey Corps began the 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls, and Erwin deployed the Long-Distance Scouting Formation as the force crossed the plains. Arthur grew suspicious of how quiet the expedition had been as they neared the Forest of Giant Trees.

• Arthur asked Erwin to place Historia near him so he and Mikasa could protect her during the expedition.
• Erwin led the Survey Corps through the gate and into Wall Maria, while the support squad distracted a Titan so the main force could pass.
• Oluo explained to Eren that the expedition depended on avoiding direct fights with Titans, then bit his tongue when his horse jolted.
• Erwin ordered the Long-Distance Scouting Formation, and Arthur and Mikasa moved toward the rear to protect Historia and support Levi Squad.
• Arthur watched for signs of the enemy but saw none, and he told Mikasa that the expedition had been unusually safe as they approached the Forest of Giant Trees.

Armin witnessed an intelligent Female Titan kill Ness and Hitch with unexpected tactics, then spare him after inspecting his face. The Female Titan ran off, leaving Armin bewildered about why she had let him live.

• Armin, Ness, and Hitch encountered an Abnormal Titan, and the veterans worked together to kill it.
• A female Titan rushed toward them, grabbed Hitch's wire, and crushed him before slamming Ness to his death.
• Armin realized the Female Titan was intelligent and fled as it chased him.
• The Female Titan's foot struck the ground near Armin and knocked him off his horse, but she lifted his hood, looked at his face, and ran away without killing him.

Armin, Reiner, and Jean realized the Female Titan was an intelligent Titan searching for Eren and tried to slow her down. After she killed Reiner—or seemed to—Reiner escaped her grasp, and the Female Titan changed course toward the center.

• Reiner reunited with Armin, and Armin explained that the Female Titan had killed veterans while sparing him after inspecting his face.
• Armin deduced that the Female Titan was looking for Eren, while the three discovered their briefing documents listed Eren in different positions.
• Jean, Armin, and Reiner put on their hoods and tried to hinder the Female Titan, but she dodged Jean’s attack and knocked Armin off his horse.
• Armin shouted that the Female Titan had killed a comrade, making her pause and giving Jean time to escape.
• Reiner drew the Female Titan’s attention, was caught and apparently crushed, then cut her palm and escaped with Armin as Jean followed.
• The Female Titan turned and ran toward the center after Reiner escaped.