Night of the End (Episode)

"And now, my mom, dad, and everyone in Liberio will be wiped out. I know it is shamelessly absurd for me to ask... ...but we need your help! Please! I'm begging you to help us!"

- Gabi Braun appeals to Jean Kirschtein, despite knowing how much pain the Warriors put him through

Night of the End (終末の夜) is the 25th episode of the 4th season and the 84th episode overall of the Attack on Titan anime, produced by.

Overview
The portion of the Scout Regiment still led by Hange Zoë shares an uneasy campfire with Theo Magath and the remaining Warriors. The two sides are suspicious of each other given their respective histories and Annie Leonhart's skepticism that Eren Jaeger's friends will be able to kill him in the event that diplomacy fails. Yelena tries to fan the flames of that division, but largely fails until she brings up the death of Marco Bodt.

Reiner Braun takes responsibility for that, but overemphasizes his feelings of guilt to Jean Kirschtein, who does not want to hear how awful Reiner feels about it. He begins to beat down Reiner, only to hit Gabi Braun by accident when she tries to protect her cousin. Gabi understands that Jean has good reasons for hating the Warriors, but pleads with him to help save her family in Liberio. Though he needs time to cool off, Jean agrees and the combined group heads towards the port where they expect to find a flying boat they can use to chase after Eren.

Summary
The night before, while most people are asleep, Hange Zoë interrupts Jean Kirschtein's fantasy of a pleasant life in the interior to call him out for a meeting. Despite his misgivings, he goes out to meet Hange and Mikasa Ackermann, who brings them up to speed on Levi Ackermann's condition and their new alliance with some stragglers from Marley. Hange plans on stopping Eren Jaeger's plans for genocide, but first they will need more allies.

Mikasa is immediately in, but Jean is concerned about the aftermath, since even if they stop him, the world will still hate Eldians and Eren will only retain the Founding Titan for another four years. They have been looking for a peaceful solution for years and failed, which is why Eren is taking this path in the first place.

Hange acknowledges the shortcomings in hoping to buy time against the rest of the world, but refuses to believe genocide is the answer. They acknowledge their own shortcomings might have pushed Eren on to this path, but as commander of the Scout Regiment they still feel responsible for carrying on the dream of all their fallen comrades, many of whom never got to learn the truth of their world.

Hange believes that the fallen Scouts would not have supported the philosophy that the rest of the world could be trampled as long as the island remains free. Remembering Marco Bodt's death, Jean agrees to follow them, acknowledging that he will always be a Scout.

In the present, it is evening and the mixed group of Scouts and members of the Marleyan military are gathered awkwardly around a campfire. Theo Magath is curious as to why the Scouts would work to stop Eren, since his success would give them their ideal world: a paradise. Hange reiterates that they are against genocide. Magath interprets that as them finally finding a sense of justice, which provokes Jean, who demands to know if they are devils for merely trying to avoid being devoured by the Titans which Marley left wandering about Paradis Island. Magath, however, does not back down, pointing out that as people feared, the rumbling became true, and now the world over is in danger.

The two reach further into history to justify their positions until Hange interrupts to say that it is silly to talk about a past none of them witnessed. They explain to Magath that for a few months the Scouts lived in the outside world so they can no longer go back to being ignorant island devils.

Changing the topic, Annie Leonhart asks the Scouts if they are capable of killing Eren. Mikasa and Armin Arlelt insist they would talk with Eren first, but Annie pushes for an answer in the event that diplomacy fails. Annie believes that if Marley then moves to kill Eren, the Scouts will defend him and two teams will fight. She accuses Mikasa of being unable to think of anything as being more important than Eren.

This provokes Mikasa enough for her to take a combative stance, and Annie readies her ring blade, but she tells Mikasa that she understands her feelings, because the only reason she wants to stop Eren is to save her father in Marley. If Mikasa and the others can change Eren's mind, Annie would be content with that, and asks they do not fight each other until they have a chance to try. Mikasa agrees.

As the group eats, Hange explains that it will be five hours via horseback to the port where Kiyomi Azumabito has a flying boat that is intended to be used to observe the rumbling. They should be able to use it to get close to the Founding Titan, but they would need to figure where Eren is going to avoid running out of fuel.

Though the group questions Yelena, she insists she has no idea where Eren would go. When Conny Springer suggests that she might want to help the homeland she was trying to free from Marley, Magath and Pieck Finger reveal that Yelena is actually a disillusioned Marleyan, who spun a story about saving the world with the man she believed in after meeting Zeke Jaeger.

Yelena does not deny it and asks if there are any sweeter words than saving the world. She reminds Reiner Braun of how he broke through Wall Maria, causing countless Eldians to die in pursuit of saving the world, and brings up Armin's transformation into the Colossal Titan in Liberio and how it killed both military and civilians alike.

But after she lists a number of crimes on both sides, Jean exhales in satisfaction and asks Hange for another helping of stew. He thanks Yelena for putting everything out in the open, so they can sort through their differences. Undeterred, she brings up Marco and Annie's involvement in his death. She suggests that Jean may want to ask for the truth about it.

Annie begins to say that she took away Marco's omni-directional mobility gear, but Reiner interrupts to say she did it on his orders: He explains that Marco overheard him and Bertholdt Hoover and he figured the best way to prevent Marco from spreading what he had learned was to have him eaten by a Titan. Numb, Jean asks if Marco had any last words, and Reiner tells him it was that they had not talked things through.

Jean understands. It has been the lack of talking which has placed them at war with each other for so long. Hange says they are making progress though, because they are talking now.

Reiner goes on to explain his conflicted feelings on the matter, and how he ended up killing the Titan that was eating Marco, but Jean does not want to hear about Reiner's guilt. Undeterred, Reiner insists that what he did was unforgivable and apologizes. Now agitated, Jean punches Reiner onto the ground and begins beating him until he is pulled off by Conny and Armin.

He kicks Reiner twice, but ends up hitting Gabi Braun instead when she tries to protect him from Jean's second kick. Gabi apologizes in Reiner's stead, emphasizing how they hoped the destruction of the island would lead to the world forgiving them. She begs the Scouts to help them, because she wants to save her family still back in Liberio. Falco Grice joins in her plea and Jean calms enough to ask the others to let him go. He walks off without explanation and Gabi despairs that her hopes have fallen on deaf ears.

In the morning, Jean rouses Gabi, who is surprised he returned. He tells her he is going to help, and then moves on to rouse Reiner, saying the man should have healed by now. The group sets off by wagon for the port. On the way, Jean apologizes to Gabi for kicking her, but tells Reiner that he will not apologize to him for what he did. Reiner is fine with that.

The wagons are then brought up short by the arrival of the Cart Titan. Pieck has scouted the port and it is in control of the Jaegerists. They must have gone ahead using the steam engine and they are currently prepared for battle, with soldiers equipped with anti-Titan gear. Inside the harbor, Floch Forster stands behind a captive Kiyomi with a pistol in hand.

Hange's Stew
Made with ingredients pilfered from nearby villages, this stew cooked by Hange contains a generous amount of potatoes to help fill the stomach.

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