Wish

Rod Reiss returns to the crystal cavern carrying a satchel and tells Historia that Frieda is not truly gone; her memories can live again. Eren recognizes the syringe Rod produces as the same kind his own father once used on him. Elsewhere in the Underground Chapel, the Scouts storm the Anti-Personnel Control Squad's position behind rolling powder barrels and a wall of smoke. Levi counts thirty-five enemies through the haze, and at close range the Scouts' blades outclass guns that can only fire where their anchors point. Kenny wounds Levi and shrugs off a slash to the gut, while Traute baits Hange into a trap, hooks their shoulder with an anchor, and hurls them into a pillar. The Anti-Personnel Squad withdraws to its final defensive line.

Below, Rod recounts the century behind the Founding Titan: the Walls raised by its power, humanity's rewritten memories, and the succession ritual through which a fifteen-year-old Frieda devoured her uncle Uri. Kenny, furious to learn only Reiss blood can wield the power he has chased, nearly executes Rod, then settles for sabotage. He ungags Eren, cuts his forehead, and proposes a contest between Titans. Rod thrusts the syringe on his daughter, but Eren tearfully begs Historia to eat him and save humanity instead. Remembering Ymir's demand that she live a life she can be proud of, Historia smashes the syringe on the crystal floor, throws her lunging father over her shoulder, and starts unchaining Eren while declaring herself the enemy of the humanity everyone keeps asking her to save. Crippled, Rod drags himself to the shattered vial, licks the spilled serum, and begins to change.

The Scouts assault the Anti-Personnel Control Squad in the crystal caverns, driving them back to their last defensive post.

Traute Carven grievously injures Hange Zoë during the fighting, and Kenny and Levi wound each other in single combat.

Rod explains the Founding Titan's history, including the memory alteration of humanity and Frieda's inheritance from Uri eight years earlier.

Kenny learns the Founder only functions in a Reiss, removes Eren's gag, and invites a Titan duel.

Historia destroys the syringe, refuses the inheritance, and frees Eren; Rod ingests the spilled serum and transforms into a Titan.

The 44th episode overall and 7th of season three, animated by Wit Studio with Production I.G, condenses the manga chapters Welcome Party, Dreams and Curses, and Wish. It aired September 3, 2018 in Japan and October 7, 2018 in the United States.

Hiroshi Seko wrote the episode, with Hiroyuki Tanaka and Takashi Ando directing. Red Swan serves as the opening theme and Requiem der Morgenröte as the ending. The in-episode information card describes the syringe as a serum believed to be based on spinal fluid, granting Titan abilities to whoever injects it. Historia's furious refusal, in which she brands herself the worst girl who ever lived, supplies the episode's signature moment.