Pain

Levi escapes Kenny Ackermann's opening ambush by a hair, deflected gunfire and a cloak trick buying him distance while his squadmates Nifa and Abel lie dead behind him. The wagon carrying Eren and Historia fares no better; grappling hooks shred its cover, tranquilizer rounds drop both passengers, and Keiji is shot dead at the reins. Cornered, Levi ducks into a bar, where Kenny strolls in expecting an easy kill. Their talk of old times ends when Levi fires the owner's gun through the counter, blasting Kenny into the street. A thrown chair draws the ambushers' fire, and Levi swings out the window, using one soldier as a human shield before cutting down two more. Kenny picks himself up, ruefully noting that bar owners are permitted firearms, and remarks on how far his former ward has come.

Squad Levi converges for a rescue attempt. Armin and Jean briefly seize the wagon, Armin shooting the driver to save Jean's life, but reinforcements force a full retreat. In Mitras, the royal officials receive word from Rod Reiss that both targets are secured and decide no further action is needed. Nile Dawk visits the confined Erwin, who unsettles his old comrade by questioning whether the government can be trusted with humanity's future at all.

Armin sits outside the squad's hideout struggling with having killed a person, and Levi tells him plainly that Jean would be a corpse if Armin's hands had stayed clean. Levi then recruits Dimo Reeves, trading protection for Trost's people in exchange for cooperation. Reeves baits two Interior Squad men, Sannes and Ralph, into a trap; under torture, Sannes holds out until a staged betrayal by Ralph breaks him, and he reveals that the Reiss family holds the genuine royal bloodline. The Scouts now know Historia is the rightful heir and that she and Eren will be wherever Rod Reiss is. Kenny executes Reeves for switching sides as Flegel watches unseen from a corner, and somewhere far away Rod embraces his daughter in apology while a bound Eren looks on.

Kenny's squad captures Eren and Historia, killing Keiji, Nifa, and Abel in the process, and Levi fights clear through the bar shootout and a running street battle.

Armin kills for the first time to save Jean, and both Mikasa and Levi help him carry the weight of it.

Erwin voices open distrust of the Royal Government to Nile Dawk while Hange brings word that Eren may be eaten.

Levi turns Dimo Reeves, whose trap delivers Sannes and Ralph; the interrogation extracts the truth that genuine royal blood runs through the Reiss line, not the throne in Mitras.

Kenny murders Reeves for his defection in front of the hidden Flegel, and Rod Reiss reunites with Historia while Eren watches bound and gagged.

This is the 2nd episode of season 3 and the 39th Attack on Titan installment overall, produced by Wit Studio and Production I.G. It debuted in Japan on July 30, 2018 and in the United States on August 25, 2018.

The episode condenses six Royal Government arc chapters: Location of the Counterattack, Pain, Actors, Kenny the Ripper, Gunshots, and Soul of a Heretic. Direction was shared by Shita Taro, Emma Tomita, Yasuho Tamura, and Mai Teshima, with Yasuko Kobayashi scripting. Red Swan and Requiem der Morgenröte bookend the episode. The informational segment introduces anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear, a weapon designed for human targets rather than Titans, dominant in cities and forests thanks to speed beyond human perception and blind-spot attacks. Smoke Signal precedes it and Old Story follows.