The manga's finally over (I'll talk about the ending in the endnotes) and we still have to wait a year for the second part of the anime. It better be worth the wait.
POV/EREN
The forest of Giant Trees lay ahead of them, each tree casting shadow large enough to cover a dozen houses. With the size of the trees, they made for a formidable defence against the Titans and any other threat.
With the trees high, ODM gear could be used to travel faster than any other fighting force, and it allowed for the Scouts to hide from the Titans on its highest branches. Safe from the Titans, who couldn't climb.
But as he and the rest of Levi squad rode into the forest he couldn't help but reminisce about what had happened here in his old life. Here, was the place where Levi squad was slaughtered by Annie, in her rampage to capture him. This was where he and Ymir had been taken after Reiner had revealed his identity to them. This was the place where Zeke was kept, by Levi and dozens of other Scouts, before he and the Yeagerists had taken over Paradis.
But that was all in the past, and now they rode in silence as they rode deeper and deeper into the forest, but every second he could almost sense Annie drawing nearer.
But there was nothing, only the soft chirping of the birds, and the gentle swaying of the leaves above them.
A sudden crack filled the forest, which was followed by a thumping that drew nearer and louder by the second.
A blood-curdling scream filled the forest mere moments after, as another Scout was slain by the Marleyan warrior.
The thumping grew louder, and louder until the realization of what was chasing them came to the faces of Levi squad. It was a Titan. The formation was compromised.
Levi drew one of his blades, he held the blade backward as he looked behind them his eyes searching for what was slaughtering their forces.
Levi's eyes locked onto something behind them.
Annie appeared suddenly, smashing through the trees followed by two Scouts she charged them her eyes locked onto him.
"SHIT!... How did a Titan get this far into the formation!" Gunther yelled as he urged his horse to go faster.
Each member of Levi squad watched on in horror as Annie slammed herself into one of the Scouts, crushing him against a tree. She continued to charge forward, the second Scout staring at her as she did.
But after a moment the second Scout came to his senses and enraged by the death of his comrade he swung down and tried to finish Annie in a single strike. But Annie grabbed the wire which had been shot into her shoulder and swung the young Scout into the ground. Leaving the broken body of the Scout behind, as she continued to run at them.
He clenched the reins in anger but continued riding, barely able to contain his rage.
"IT'S GOING TO CATCH US!" Eld shouted as she closed in on them, steam rolling off her back and eyes set on the prize.
I need to get further into the forest… It would be too easy for Reiner to intervene if I transform here. And I can't fight them both.
Another two members of the support team came swinging up behind the Titan shifter, who slowed down, ready to kill them.
"Reinforcements from behind!" Petra yelled in relief.
Annie crushed her hope within a second. She grabbed the first Scout as he shot at her and crushed the Scout in her hand.
Annie swung her arm at the second Scout, and her hand crushed the Scout against another tree. Killing him instantly.
She continued to chase the now horrified Levi squad, whose horses barely were able to keep ahead of Annie.
"CAPTAIN! ORDERS!" Petra yelled at Levi, who was motionless.
"We need to attack that thing!" Oluo yelled.
"We should take it down!" Gunther shouted in agreement.
"I'm gonna chop it into pieces," Eld muttered to himself.
There was no reply from Levi, he just kept riding forward, ignoring their screams.
"GIVE US YOUR ORDERS!" Oluo yelled at Levi.
"Everyone cover your ears," Levi replied after a second, glancing back at them momentarily.
Knowing what was coming he covered his ears, which did little to help against the acoustic flare, which still left a painful ringing in all their ears.
"What's your job?" Levi asked rhetorically. "To give in to whatever you happen to feel? I don't think so. No, this squad's mission is to keep that little shit from getting as much as a scratch. Or die trying."
"We'll rely on the horses from here on out," Levi told them definitely.
As Levi finished speaking, another two Scouts engaged Annie, ready to give their lives to defend him.
He looked behind them and at the Scouts who were desperately trying to fight Annie, who seemed somewhat surprised by their willingness to put down their lives to fight her.
No… I let them die last time, but not again.
He looked at the rest of the Levi squad, who all looked forward, ignoring their comrades who were being slaughtered in their wake.
He lifted his hand to his mouth but was stopped by a shouting Petra.
"Eren?!" Petra yelled at him desperately. "That's only allowed when your life is in danger! You promised, remember!"
He sighed regretfully before speaking.
"I'm not good, at keeping promises," he uttered to the shock of Levi squad. Petra reached out and tried to grab him but she was too late. He shot off his horse and into the air, with even Annie stopping her charge to look on as he transformed, the bodies of the two Scouts behind her.
He bit down on his hand and as blood filled his mouth he was surrounded by streaks of golden lighting, which trailed across his body and engulfed him in a golden glow.
His Titan formed in the sky, with bone muscle, and flesh covering him within a single moment. Steam rolling from his massive body he dropped to the ground eyes blazing green.
He smashed into the ground and raised himself to his full height of fifteen meters. Annie was unmoving, except for her eyes which were darting around the forest, searching for Levi squad.
He let loose a roar and began walking towards his advisory, fists raised and ready for battle.
He hardened his fists and struck Annie as fast as he could, his fist collided with her hardened arms which she had raised in defence just in time to block the strike.
He then used all the speed had and threw a body shot, much to the surprise of Annie who was unable to block the powerful strike in time which made a sickening crack when it hit her and then knocked her to the ground.
She lay on the ground for a moment her eyes filling with fear as he continued his attack.
As Annie got to her kneed he struck again with his hardened fist, which was barely dodged by Annie, who quickly got up and ran from the battle. He didn't run after her, instead, he watched as Annie stopped running, and turned around to face him.
The members of Levi squad shot past him and at Annie blades drawn, leaving only trails of gas behind as they engaged Annie in the battle.
Now with Levi's squad, the odds of the battle were falling in his favour.
He charged forward at Annie who was trying to block the endless strikes from Levi and his squad, who shot around her leaving deep slices all over her body.
Annie saw him too late, her eyes widened in horror as his fist smashed into her face which threw her across the forest and into a tree, which fell down as soon she slammed against it.
Annie tried to stand once again but Levi shot down and sliced her Achilles tendon, without it, she collapsed unable to run from him and Levi squad.
He rushed over to the crippled titan and straddled her body and began to repeatedly slam his fists down upon her face, which was crushed and broken apart by his hardened punches.
Annie continued to squirm underneath him, desperately trying to free herself from his barrage of punches. But it was useless, and with each strike, Annie's movements became slower and weaker until she was barely moving.
Levi squad shot down at them once again this time slicing at Annie's arms, which dropped after mere moments of their attack, steaming cuts covering them.
With Annie now defenceless, he grabbed her face with one of his crystalized hands and crushed it, spraying blood across the forest floor. He then pulled with all his strength, ripping the Titan's head from her shoulders, and once again covering the ground with her steaming blood.
The now headless female Titan stopped moving, with only the limbs twitching slightly he held her head up above them, blood flowing from her neck and onto his face.
He looked down at the now helpless Annie, who had tears streaming down her face. The hope of seeing her father again finally leaving her.
He dropped the steaming head of the Female Titan and looked down at Annie, who opened her eyes to meet his, but she still seemed slightly hopeful.
The sound of ODM gear from behind them, made him realize that they were no longer alone.
A sudden burst of golden light filled the forest. He felt the heat of a Titan transformation as another roar filled the forest.
He looked over his shoulder to see the Armoured Titan charging at him, steam still rolling off his back from his transformation.
Reiner.
CHANGE POV/ARMIN
"Is this for real?" Milieus asked, breaking the silence of the Scouts who all stood atop the trees overlooking the vastness of the land within wall Maria.
"Abandoning the original plan to build a base of operations, and then instead of acknowledging defeat and making our way home. We take a leisurely side trip to this tourist spot," Milieus looked down at the Titans below them. "And on top of all that, we're ordered to dismount, draw our swords, and stand around. And of course, stop any Titans from entering the forest."
He said nothing in reply to Milieus, who was glaring at their squad leader.
"He sure gives out some screwy orders."
"He can hear you," he told Milieus who glanced back at him before speaking.
"All I'm saying is that we should at least be told what is going on with the mission, which should have been stopped after the right flank was decimated by that female titan," Milieus explained.
"But if there's more traitors among us, then they would also know our every move," he told Milieus. "Sometimes, the mission is mo-."
"5-meter class approaching!" Their squad leader yelled at them, cutting him off.
"So… Our orders are to keep them out the forest, right?" Milieus asked rhetorically. "Nobody said we had to engage them."
Not even the squad leader replied to that, all of them agreeing with him silently.
So they stood atop the trees, looking down the horde of titans beneath them, not even one of them going down to fight the titans. But after some time, some of the Titans tried climbing the massive trees, to little avail, as the Titans could barely climb thirty meters before falling.
But after some time, the more intelligent Titans stopped trying to climb the trees, instead most just looked up at the Scouts, their eyes filled with hunger.
A sudden crack rang throughout the forest, much to the shock of the Scouts who all looked behind them to see nothing but the vast darkness of the forest.
A scream followed mere seconds after the crack, which made him shiver as he could only imagine what had happened to the Scout.
"If Scouts are dying in there… Armin, do you think it could be the female titan." Milieus asked.
"It could be, but it could be any titan," he replied.
A moment of silence fell on them, all of them just looking out across the vastness of the lands in Maria.
"Armin… Where is Eren?" Mikasa asked him, breaking the silence.
"Eren should be in he's in the center towards the back," he replied.
"Armin… Isn't that inside the forest?"
He opened his mouth to speak but was stopped before a single word came out of his mouth.
The trees shook as bolts of golden lightning shot down into the forest, not too far from them, it was followed by the sound of something massive smashing into the ground. His fears were confirmed when a roar shook the trees and all of the forest. The roar was unmistakable. It was Eren's roar.
Does that mean… Annie is attacked Eren? But Levi squad should be protecting him, until their… Annie couldn't have killed all of them.
He looked at the others, who all knew what had just happened.
Why Annie? Why do any of this?
Loud bangs and cracks filled the forest as the Titans fought, each punch they threw sounded like lighting. But there were no screams, no roars, only the cracking and thumping of fits as the shifters fought.
But they were still unmoving.
But finally, Mikasa snapped, jumping from the branches she shot her grapples and fired herself into the forest.
"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!" Their squad leader shouted at Mikasa.
But Mikasa ignored him, going deeper into the forest, and soon she disappeared into the trees.
"MIKASA!" He called out, to no avail.
He turned to their squad leader, who was shocked by Mikasa's choice to go alone into a Titan-infested forest.
"Sir, permission to go after Mikasa?"
The squad leader looked at him confused but obliged with a simple nod.
He jumped down from the high branches and shot his grapples forward, then firing himself after Mikasa, who was far ahead of him.
Even though he was not as skilled as Mikasa, he knew where she was going. And with the constant punches thrown by the titan shifters, he was able to find them with ease.
But the sight he came upon was horrific.
Eren was sitting upon the body of the female titan, which had steam billowing from a dozen wounds across its body. Steaming blood covered the forest floor and both Titans, though Eren had no injuries that he could see. Levi squad was above them, sitting atop the highest branches and looking down at Eren, who had raised the crushed head of the female Titan, which still had blood pouring from her neck.
Mikasa like Levi squad sat atop the highest branches of the trees, but remained still, almost hypnotized by the scene before them.
But he heard another set of ODM gear being used, and it was coming behind him.
Did someone follow me?
He turned around to see Reiner surrounded by streaks of golden lighting, which trailed across his body. And the second they locked eyes he saw regret filling up Reiner's eyes.
Reiner was engulfed in a golden glow and emerged again mere seconds later as a fifteen-meter tall Titan covered in armour. And Reiner's eyes which like Eren's glowed, but Reiner's were golden. And as Reiner charged at them, he let loose a roar which shook the trees and the forest alike.
Reiner, is he armored Titan?
Reiner charged at him full speed, but he couldn't move. He felt numb. Just how many of the friends were titans?
He was shoved out the way just in time, getting saved by Mikasa, who glared at Reiner, anger burning in her eyes.
Reiner ran past them and straight at Eren, who had got off the female Titan's body and now stood ominously, his eyes still glowing green.
Reiner… Why?
Chapter 11 done. Reiner was forced to reveal himself to save Annie, and Eren and Levi squad demolished Annie in battle.
I thought it could have been better. It could have been far better, with fewer plot holes and major character changes. It also could have taken place of several chapters instead of 1, as It felt very rushed, and not atoll thought out. But while the ending was bad, it still had parts which I really enjoyed, like Levi's ending, and Falco and Gabi. Even though they said nothing I still enjoyed seeing them at the end. But best of all Isayama didn't forget about Rico. But I do hope Isayama decides to redo the final chapter, or the anime will do anime-only ending.
Thanks for reading. And see you next Sunday.