That Day: The Fall of Shiganshina, Part 2

Carnage spreads through Shiganshina as Titans pick off the fleeing population; a preacher dies mid-recitation and crows gather over the streets. Still raw from his mother's death, Eren swings at Hannes for carrying him away, and the soldier tearfully admits the truth: it was cowardice, not judgment, that kept him from facing the Titan. Aboard an evacuation boat, Armin spots his friends in the crowd but cannot bring himself to call out after seeing their faces. The Garrison's stand at the inner gate collapses when the Armored Titan bursts through the Wall itself, and the debate over closing the gate becomes moot. Watching his home vanish behind him, Eren makes his vow to wipe out every Titan in the world.

Grisha Jaeger, racing his carriage toward the district, never reaches his family. In a fevered dream, Eren sees his father pressing the basement key on him and reaching for a syringe. Life as a refugee grinds the children down: soldiers grumble openly that the newcomers are eating Wall Rose bare, and Eren's fury at their contempt earns him a beating that Armin defuses. Mikasa reminds him that surviving is the only fight available to them.

The government sets refugees to clearing land, then in 846 conscripts them for a campaign to retake Wall Maria. Of roughly 250,000 sent out, barely a hundred return. The operation thins the food shortage in the cruelest way possible and claims Armin's grandfather. The next year, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin enlist, standing in the ranks of the 104th Cadet Corps under commandant Keith Sadies as Eren silently renews his promise.

Hannes confesses his cowardice, telling Eren he lacked the nerve to fight the Titan that killed Carla.

The Armored Titan destroys the inner gate, finishing the fall of Shiganshina and forcing humanity to cede all of Wall Maria.

Eren vows extermination, promising to drive every last Titan from the world.

The reclamation campaign of 846 fails, killing some 250,000 refugees including Armin's grandfather while easing the food crisis.

The trio enlists, joining the 104th Cadet Corps a year after the disaster.

This is the second episode of the series, animated by Wit Studio and Production I.G, directed by Masashi Koizuka and written by Yasuko Kobayashi. It aired April 14, 2013 in Japan and May 10, 2014 in the US, covering the chapters That Day, Night of the Disbanding Ceremony, and One by One.

The panicking man in the opening massacre recites passages from Dante's Divine Comedy. Anime-only cameos hide future revelations in plain sight: Annie accepts bread in the ration line, and Reiner and Bertholdt react with visible shock when the Wall Maria operation is announced.