After successfully stealing Eren and Ymir away from the Survey Corps the traitors wait until nightfall to make their escape. In that time though a secret that Reiner has kept, even from himself, is revealed and an interesting offer is made to Ymir.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Early Appearance: While the exact circumstances are left vague for now the implication of how Marco died is presented here two arcs before it was fully revealed in the manga.
- Awesome by Analysis: Not only is Ymir able to provide some much-needed exposition regarding Reiner's mental state she is also able to theorise a connection between the Titan Duo and the Beast Titan due to how "awestruck" they looked and comes to the conclusion that Reiner and Bertolt need to find the Beast Titan to go home.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: A rather sad example with Bertolt who has to navigate Reiner through one of his dissociative episodes. Ymir lampshades this pointing out that it's obvious from Bertolt's expression that this isn't the first time Reiner has done this.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Eren asks Bertolt what he thought about Eren being in the centre of the Colossal Titan attack against Shiganshina District and Bertolt admits he felt sorry for Eren. Naturally, Eren doesn't appreciate the fact that the guy who was responsible for killing his mother pities him, and he promises to make Bertolt and Reiner's deaths as excruciating as possible.
- Enemy Mine: Reiner proposes an alliance to Ymir since the Titan Duo and her all want the same thing; to protect Krista.
- Friendly Enemy: Deconstructed as Reiner continues acting chummy with Eren and Ymir, complimenting the latter for saving him with the cannon trick five episodes ago, and mentioning that they should try and get promotions. However, this is all because Reiner is having one of his dissociative episodes and Eren is in no mood to play nice with one of his enemies.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Ymir spells out to Eren that, even if he kills Bertolt and Reiner, it won't solve anything because there is still an unidentified enemy out there actively working to destroy humanity.
- Heroic RRoD: According to Reiner this is a problem that all Titan Shifters suffer from; if their real bodies get too damaged in a fight their bodies will prioritise healing and they won't be able to transform. Even Reiner has to take a break after his battle with Eren despite not suffering as much damage as he did.
- I Am a Monster: When Eren calls Reiner and Bertolt mass murderers, Reiner yells at him that he is already well aware of that fact and if yelling will make him feel better, Eren can yell all he wants.
- Locked Out of the Loop: It turns out that, while Ymir can theorise about the Shifters' true goals and motivations, she is still in the dark about certain things. For instance, she didn't realise that she and Eren can't transform into Titans after incurring a substantial amount of damage and she doesn't know that there is a distinction between Titans that can move during the night and those that can't.
- Not So Stoic: Reiner's brief flashback shows that the trauma of the undefined incident the Shifter Trio went through caused Annie to burst into tears.
- The Reveal:
- Ymir is not allied with the other Titan Shifters introduced thus far and seems to have her own agenda separate from them and humanity.
- Reiner is suffering from a Dissociative Personality Disorder due to the guilt of his actions in breaking down the Wall.
- Although not outright stated this episode very heavily implies that the Titan Shifter Trio played a hand in Marco's death.
- Split Personality: It turns out that Reiner suffers from a version of this; he was sent out by the unidentified enemy to smash down the Walls and kill humanity. However, after spending the past three years working side-by-side with the very people he was supposed to kill his deep guilt and trauma eventually manifested themselves into two distinct personalities: his "soldier" and "warrior" halves. Ymir theorises this is why he can actively work to sabotage humanity yet still risk his own life to save Connie and the other humans he is supposed to kill.
- Trauma Button: When Reiner begins regressing into his "soldier" persona Bertolt has to gently remind him that the two of them are "warriors". This triggers an incomplete flashback of Reiner holding a soldier down, said soldier getting eaten, and Reiner asking a crying Bertolt and Annie why Marco is getting eaten.
- Wham Line:
- Reiner talking about getting a promotion and acting chummy towards Eren and Ymir which tips the audience into his fractured mental state.
- This line from Reiner during his traumatic flashback:
Reiner: Why...is Marco...getting eaten? - Wild Card: Ymir since, while she doesn't know some of the intricacies of Titan culture and physiology, she knows enough pertinent information about the Titans' true goal that she ends up being valuable to both Eren and Reiner. By the end of the episode, Ymir is tempted to join the Titan Duo's side when they tell her they can protect Krista.
