Erwin and Hange explain their rationale to not evacuate, instead posing things as an evacuation "drill". The Garrison artillery fires several barrage at Rod's approaching Titan without destroying the nape. The Scouts enact a plan to kill Rod when he reaches the wall: blow his hands up with fired charges, have Eren's Titan stuff his mouth full of explosives to blow up the Titan's nape, then use ODM to find and destroy the piece with Rod in it. Historia manages to slay Rod himself, who transfers over many of his memories over to her mysteriously. Historia wakes up, declaring herself the true ruler of the walls to the people.
- A-Team Firing: Multiple large-scale volleys of cannon fire fail to breach Rod's nape. Justified, as the cannons used are anything but accurate and the soldiers manning them have next to no experience.
- Body Horror: As if Rod's spider-maggot Titan in all its crawling, ugly glory wasn't enough; its body gets peppered with holes courtesy of cannon fire, and it turns out he's been scraping away his face and upper body on the ground the entire journey to Orvud, and when he finally stands up, he broadcasts his mangled insides and face for the entire district to see. Topping it all off, some of his guts tumble out of his body and splatter onto the wall.
- Call-Back: Invoked. Seeing the three terrified children reminds Eren and Armin of the horror they once experienced as the Colossus Titan breached Wall Maria. They resolve to not fail this time and make other civilians go through hell.
- David vs. Goliath: Even on the Titan vs. Titan level, Eren's Titan is puny compared to Rod's Titan. Still, the scene of Eren's Titan running along the walls to attack Rod evokes the theme that Attack on Titan is known for.
- The Faceless: The end result of Rod dragging himself across an entire valley to get to Wall Sina; the back half of his brain is exposed and there's nothing but gaping pits where his eyes, nose, and mouth used to be.
- Feed It a Bomb: The gist of Erwin's plan to destroy Rod's Titan's nape.
- He's Back!: After several episodes of despairing, Eren manages to get his act together and confidently transforms.
- History Repeats: Once again, a gargantuan Titan taller than the walls appears to terrify both military and civilians alike who've never seen one before. Only this time, the Scouts are ready to combat it and succeed in destroying it.
- Hope Bringer: Eren's Titan form gets some of the terrified citizens to stop fleeing and watch him hopefully as he rushes Rod's Titan. Before he transforms, he even declares himself to be humanity's ace in the hole.
- Last Stand: According to Erwin, humanity must defeat Rod's Titan outside the walls of Orvud District, otherwise it will destroy Wall Sina and the capital, most probably dooming humanity.
- Logical Weakness: Rod's Titan is so gargantuan compared to its limb size, that it's forced to drag itself on the ground. This means that its entire front side (including the face) is ground away by the time it reaches Wall Sina, and the Scouts don't even have to force its mouth open to stick the explosives in.
- The Main Characters Do Everything: Even though the Scouts have regrouped by this point, the only ones carrying out Erwin's plan are Hange, Levi, and his squad.
- Mighty Glacier: Rod's Titan, like the Colossus Titan, is massive, powerful, and durable enough to take an absurd amount of cannon fire to even slightly damage its nape (albeit most of those shots missed). However, it's also extremely slow, slow enough to give the Scouts ample time to prepare their net explosives and still slow enough to let them carry out their plan before it can react.
- This Is Something She's Got to Do Herself: Historia decides killing Rod is something she must do herself.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Erwin's plan is not fully explicated before it begins, just the setup, and its explained in flashbacks along the way. It succeeds without issue.
