Judgment (Episode)

"Eren, enough already. You've lost. Everyone's suffered enough already. You've suffered enough already."

- Reiner Braun to Eren Jaeger

Judgment (断罪) is the 17th episode of the 4th season and the 76th episode overall of the Attack on Titan anime, produced by.

Overview
The Marleyan invasion of Shiganshina District begins in earnest. Porco Galliard, Pieck Finger, and Gabi Braun escape their rooftop confrontation with Eren Jaeger and meet up with General Theo Magath who has brought a fleet of airships and army of soldiers with him. They outfit Pieck's Cart Titan as a mobile artillery platform in order to take down Eren's Founding Titan. Because he has not used its power yet, they suspect he can only do so when united with Zeke Jaeger.

Eren fights along with the Jaegerists against the Marleyans, but is gradually overwhelmed between the opposing Titans and the constant shelling. Onyankopon fears that he will ultimately lose and be eaten. He runs to free Eren's friends, who have been imprisoned inside their own military headquarters, but is greeted with skepticism. They would like to stop the invasion, but helping Eren also means supporting the euthanization plan they do not approve of. Armin Arlelt tries suggesting that Eren is only appearing to cooperate with Yelena in order to keep her in line, but his words are met with silence.

Summary
Hange Zoë and Floch discover the shattered wagon and Levi Ackermann's motionless body with a Titan nearby. A Jaegerist offers to shoot Levi, but Hange says he is already dead. Skeptical, Floch asks to take a look himself, but before he can, the Titan begins sucking in steam.

Wary, since this is not the way Titans normally die, the Jaegerists point their guns at the Titan and wait until it dissolves into a skeleton, revealing Zeke Jaeger in the remains of its belly. As the Jaegerists stare in shock, Hange takes the opportunity to grab Levi and dive into the nearby river to escape. Most of the Jaegerists pursue, but Floch remains behind to ask Zeke what happened.

Zeke is uncertain, but explains he was in a strange place where a girl built his body out of soil. Time had no meaning there. He suspects he was in the Paths.

Since the Scouts guarding Zeke have all been turned into Titans and slain, he says there is no longer anything in their way. Zeke and the Jaegerists move out to join up with Eren Jaegar.

Meanwhile, in Shiganshina District, Eren finishes his transformation into the Attack Titan. As Porco Galliard's Jaw Titan shields Pieck Finger and Gabi Braun from the blast, Gabi is surprised that Pieck is not the traitor she appeared to be in front of Eren. Pieck admits that she does not trust Marley, but she does trust the comrades she has fought alongside.

In the skies above, Theo Magath guides his airships towards the blast in order to capture the Founding Titan and get revenge for the raid on Liberio. Marleyan soldiers parachute from the airships, bringing arms and equipment with them.

On the rooftop of the headquarters, Pieck lifts the hand manacled to Gabi and asks Galliard for help. He swipes at her arm with his Titan's claws, taking off the hand and splitting the pair apart. Pieck screams in pain and throws herself off the roof as Galliard lunges to attack Eren. He only keeps Eren busy for a short while before running away, and by then Pieck has changed into the Cart Titan. Gabi hides in its mouth, and Pieck escapes along with her.

Eren looks at the airships and suspects Reiner Braun is behind Marley's sudden appearance, since they would otherwise have too little information to act on. Below him, Yelena calls for him to leave his Titan and escape underground using the War Hammer Titan. Instead Eren jumps off the roof and walks his Titan into the city where Reiner is able to see him as Reiner comes down on his parachute. Reiner transforms into the Armored Titan and Yelena orders the Jaegerists to hurry and protect Eren.

As the two Titans engage, Magath calls Pieck over and she spits out Gabi, who is reunited with Magath and Colt Grice. Gabi explains that Falco is still being held at the military headquarters and that he got some of Zeke's spinal fluid in his mouth. Pieck adds that there are three hundred captive soldiers who have drunk the fluid as well. She suspects that the Founding Titan is Eren's trump card, but the conditions are not right for him to use it since he has not already done so.

Gabi remembers overhearing a conversation after her capture on a Scout airship and realizes that Eren's plan needed a Titan of royal blood and that Zeke is the key that Eren needs. Though surprised, the group realizes that Zeke's heritage is not impossible, and they will have to keep Eren and Zeke apart. Pieck gears up for combat and Magath climbs on the mobile artillery platform on her Titan's back. Magath tells Gabi that they do not intend to kill the Founding Titan and leave the problem for another generation, but to capture it and end the two thousand years of malice.

Eren and Reiner continue fighting each other. Though the Attack Titan's hardened fists shatter the faceplate around the Armored Titan's head, Reiner does not go down immediately. Galliard launches an attack at the Attack Titan's back and breaks the spikes Eren grows from his spine to defend himself. Eren struggles with Reiner in front of him and Galliard at his back, but finally manages to free himself by stabbing the pair through with massive spikes from the ground.

By now the Jaegerists arrive with Thunder Spears and Pieck and Magath fires a shell through the head of the Attack Titan. The blow takes out his Titan's motor skills, allowing Reiner and Galliard to work on freeing themselves. Before the Jaegerists can take them out, Marley's forces open fire. Between the soldiers on the ground and airships in the sky, the Jaegerists suffer heavy losses.

Yelena watches, staring, from the roof of the headquarters and Onyankopon leaves the group in a hurry, saying that the Founder is going to get eaten.

Though immobile, Eren continues to defend himself from Galliard, who has broken free, by using the War Hammer Titan's power, but is shelled again by Magath. The Marleyan general knows that the War Hammer Titan exhausts its power quickly and intends to wear him out. He reminds his soldiers that Willy Tybur sacrificed himself to make this attack possible and give them space for a new Helos.

Reiner breaks free and runs Eren through with the spike that had previously impaled him, saying that Eren has lost and everyone has suffered enough, including Eren himself.

Inside headquarters, Onyankopon sets the imprisoned Scouts free, explaining that they are currently under attack from Marley and the Armored, Cart, and Jaw Titans are here. He is afraid Eren is going to lose, and asks them to help. However, once free, Conny Springer grabs him by the collar and demands to know why they should listen to him. After all the betrayals he has experienced, Conny is sick of it. Before Conny can hurt him, Armin Arlelt intervenes and suggests they hear him out.

Onyankopon says he did not know about the wine or the euthanization plan and Nicolo confirms this, saying that the Marleyan prisoners of war were instructed not to speak of them to the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers. The reason Onyankopon joined was to have an ally with which to fight against Marley, and he says he believed that there would be a future for Paradis Island, which would include children. If the euthanization plan went through, there would be no point to his efforts.

Armin chooses to believe him, and Jean Kirschtein does as well, but points out that helping Eren and Zeke means the euthanization plan will come to pass. Onyankopon says they can stop the plan, but they need Eren and Zeke to keep the island safe. He suggests showing off the Rumbling to the world. When Armin asks Mikasa Ackermann what she wants to do, she says she wants to help Eren, but as she looks morosely at her scarf she supposes that is likely because of her bloodline and not her own will.

Wanting to believe in Eren, Armin suggests that he made that up, but Mikasa admits she does get headaches from time to time, and when Armin asks the others if Eren really would sterilize the Eldian population, they are noncommittal. Armin suggests that Eren might be going along with the plan to prevent Yelena from acting out, since ultimately he is the one who controls the Founding Titan's power, but the response is silence.

Anti-Titan Gear
''Following the raid on Liberio where the Cart Titan's turret gear was damaged, new gear was designed to defeat the Founding Titan. It improves upon the Anti-Titan artillery appropriated from the Mid-East Allied Forces by being designed to penetrate through even Titan hardening.''

Trivia

 * In this episode, the sixth opening "My War" was replaced by the seventh opening, "The Rumbling".