The Town Where Everything Began

Riding through a moonless night toward Wall Maria, the Scout Regiment passes a dormant Titan that never stirs, which Hange attributes to the total absence of reflected sunlight. Eren feels the weight of an operation built entirely around him; when Armin asks how he once charged into a Titan's mouth without hesitation, Eren answers that reclaiming stolen freedom simply fills him with strength, and bets that a year from now the sea will be spread out before them. Mikasa recognizes the woods where she and Eren gathered firewood, and the three realize they have reached their hometown at last.

At dawn, one hundred hooded Scouts scale Shiganshina's Wall so no enemy can single out Eren. The plan calls for sealing both gates, isolating the town for a Titan sweep. Eren hardens his Titan over the outer breach without a single enemy appearing, but Armin has already spotted soot on the Wall's crown and reports the remains of a campsite to Erwin. The teapot below is cold, yet the campers vanished with almost no warning of the Scouts' approach; Erwin's arithmetic says the three drinkers had a lookout, and possibly many more allies concealed nearby. Given free rein and a squad of soldiers, Armin agonizes until a memory of the Wall Titan exposed in Stohess supplies the answer: the enemy is hiding inside the Wall itself.

The search proves him right in the worst way. A cavity opens and Reiner Braun runs a Scout through, only for Levi to meet him mid-air, opening his neck and driving a blade through his chest. Reiner survives what should be a fatal wound, shielding his vitals with a Titan ability, and transforms into the Armored Titan on the ground. Behind Erwin, a second transformation flashes: the Beast Titan stands amid a small army of Titans and lobs a boulder in a flawless arc into the inner gate's breach, walling off the Scouts' horses and their only path of retreat. Erwin observes that both sides now have what they wanted, a battlefield where everything can be settled.

The Scout Regiment reaches Shiganshina six years after its fall and finds the district emptied of Titans. Eren's hardening ability seals the outer gate on the first attempt. Armin's forensic reading of an abandoned camp, three cups, a cold pot, an impossibly fast disappearance, convinces Erwin the enemy is watching from concealment in numbers.

Armin directs the search into the Wall's interior, exposing Reiner's hiding place. Levi's ambush wounds Reiner severely but cannot kill him before he becomes the Armored Titan. Zeke's Beast Titan then closes the trap, plugging the inner gate with a thrown boulder that strands the horses and commits both armies to a decisive battle.

Wit Studio and Production I.G produced the episode, 13th of season 3 and 50th overall, directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka and written by Yasuko Kobayashi. It adapts the chapters The Town Where Everything Began and Mission Objectives, airing April 29, 2019 in Japan and May 25, 2019 in the United States.

This broadcast debuts the fifth opening, Shoukei to Shikabane no Michi, replacing Red Swan, with Name of Love as the ending. The information segment covers glowing ore mined from the Reiss family cavern, a light source brighter than torches that extends nighttime operations, and Erwin's remark about hidden cards alludes to the Thunder Spears revealed in the following episode.