Attack on Titan Season 4: A masterpiece in its endgame

After much trial and tribulation, including a studio change after three seasons, Attack on Titan season four was finally released in December 2020. The final season of Hajime Isayama's timeless masterpiece was divided into three parts, the second of which concluded in April of this year. The final instalment is scheduled for release in 2023. 

Attack on Titan, in essence, depicts a world where human civilization has been relegated behind the walls to protect themselves against humanoid monsters called titans who prey on and devour humans. 

One day the titans break through the walls and begin to indiscriminately devour people, including a young Eren Yeager's mother, right in front of him. This traumatising experience along with a struggle for survival would set him on a path that would lead to him and his friends –  Armin, Mikasa, Jean and others – from the survey corps (the reconnaissance unit of the military within the walls) finding the truth about the origins of the titans in season three. 

The dynamics of the show, however, changes entirely when we learn the identity of the true enemy; a human civilisation beyond the walls, a nation called Marley, trying to drive them to extinction.

We learn that the people inside the walls belong to a special race called Eldian. They have the ability to turn into titans themselves. Their race has exploited other races including Marleyans for millennia using this special power. And it was only the guilt of the Eldian king who put an end to it, as he took his people to Paradise Island. We understand why people from the outside world want to wipe out the Eldians and how deep the seeds of conflict were, and why it inevitably led to all-out war. 

In setting up this conflict between Eldia and Marley, season four of Attack on Titan blurs the lines between right and wrong, heroes and villains. It takes an already captivating tale of human struggles in a cruel, unforgiving world to a level where the sheer moral ambiguity will leave you wondering which side to root for.

Attack on Titan achieves this through the brilliant writing of Hajime Isayama, especially by depicting the lives of the people of Marley on the other side of the sea. Life in Marley, particularly the story of an Eldian refugee, makes you empathise with Reiner, Annie, Bertholdt and newcomer Gabi, the so-called enemy combatants. You realise that they are just like the heroes we had been rooting for in the previous three seasons, each driven and often moulded by the circumstances of the world they live in, to commit horrendous atrocities. 

The seamless introduction of new characters like Falco and Gabi, and taking previously unremarkable characters like Floch to new heights, was a testament to Isayama's excellent writing. On the one hand, Gabi mirrored Eren's journey from a naive shounen protagonist to a complex, morally ambiguous character from the side of Marley. On the other hand, Floch and to a larger extent, the Yeagerists, served as a jarring reminder of what dogmatic nationalism can make people do. 

Although it can be said that both parts of season four do not give previously important characters; such as Armin, Mikasa, Hange, Jean, Connie or Levi; much to do, it seems okay as the season centres around the principal protagonist as well as the antagonist Eren Yeager. 

In season four, Eren Yeager evolves from a typical shounen protagonist to a complex character whose motives and actions – despite being downright genocidal – make you feel sorry for him and to some degree, can feel justified. 

While many have accused Hajime Isayama of endorsing genocide through his writing, that could not be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, season four of Attack on Titan is a cautionary tale against unfettered nationalism, as both sides in the story slaughter countless innocent lives, including women and children, in their zealous pursuit of freedom. It's a tale that rather uncomfortably models the geopolitical conflicts of modern times and can leave you feeling uneasy at times.

This discomfort, however, is warranted and feels deliberate. The show had patiently laid down the groundwork for the events currently transpiring and remained consistent throughout its runtime. 

In terms of animation, Mappa did an adequate job of bringing Isayama's work to the screen, given the inhuman scheduling pressure which led Wits Studio, the studio in charge of animating the first three seasons, to refuse to make season four. While considerable improvements were made in terms of CGI, the overuse of CGI in action scenes often felt a bit static and ironically, two-dimensional. 

Kohta Yamamoto deserves a shoutout for the score, who more than adequately stepped into the shoes of his predecessor Hiroyuki Sawano, and gave us masterpieces like 'Ashes on the Fire' and 'Footsteps of Doom'. Sawano and Yamamoto's orchestral soundtracks aptly accompanied key moments of the show, and are one of the key factors that make Attack on Titan one of the greatest shows ever made.

The overall voice acting in season four has been incredible and brought Isayama's story to life. It is still worthy of mentioning Hiroshi Tsuchida's performance, the voice actor of Eren's father Grisha Yeager. He perfectly portrayed the absolute agony of a doctor being forced to do the unthinkable. 

Attack on Titan, in its final season, remains the king of well-deserved plot twists and symbolism. Isayama kills off one of the only remaining comic relief characters to set the tone for the remainder of the story. Insane plot twists from 'Two Brothers' or 'Memories of the Future' keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next. In terms of individual episodes, 'From you, 2000 years ago', 'Memories of the Future', 'Declaration of War, and 'Assault' were the highlights of season four.