Female Titan: The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, Part 1

The Female Titan is the seventeenth episode of the Attack on Titan anime. It is produced by Wit Studio and Production I.G. In this episode Scouting Legion begins their expedition while using Irvin's formation. However, they suddenly encounter a mysterious Female Titan who is seemingly looking for Eren.

Summary
The Scouting Legion soldiers enter the area beyond the walls, beginning the expedition. Shortly afterwards, Mike Zakarius notices a Titan with his keen smell and even though Hanji Zoe is interested in it, the support squad rushes to deal with it in order to keep the Titan away from the main squad. As they engage the Titan, Sasha watches in fear, but her squad leader tells her to focus and just let the supporting squad deal with the situation.

Eren recalls Gunter's words about how the support squad will only be able to support them until an old town, after that, they will have to rely on the Long-range Scouting formation developed by Irvin. Eren then asks Auruo whether he thinks that the new recruits will be able to defeat Titans, but Auruo explains that the whole point is to avoid the Titans, he then bites his tongue again before finishing the sentence. As they leave the old town, Irvin orders everyone to enter the formation and Armin, Jean and Reiner part their ways. Everyone spreads out and Armin continues on his own. Trying to calm himself down as he reacts fearfully to every sound, Armin notices a red flare signal, he then passes the signal to the inner formation by shooting a red flare, notifying everyone of a Titan's presence. Thanks to this, Irvin is able to lead the formation to its destination with minimum contact with the Titans. The technique may not always work as a Titan may go unnoticed due to the landscape or obstacles in the area, as Sasha encounters a Titan within the formation firsthand. A Titan rushes after her, but is distracted by another two soldiers, with the Titan eventually crashing.

Meanwhile, Armin keeps going while wondering why it is that no red flare signal has been seen for a while. Suddenly witnessing a black flare signalizing an Abnormal, Armin shoots his own black flare and watches as Ness and Cis successfully defeat the Titan. Armin praises them, but then they suddenly notice another Titan reaching them. Concluding that it is a 14-meter Abnormal class, saying that they are unlucky to meet two Abnormals in a row.

Suddenly, the mysterious Titan increases its speed and rushes through the two soldiers, much to their shock. Not wanting to let the Titan reach Armin, Ness and Cis attempt the same tactic as before, but ultimately fail as the Titan effortlessly kills both of them. Armin then watches in horror as the Titan rushes his way and attempts to escape. He realizes that this Titan is not an Abnormal, showing signs of intelligence and concludes that it is a human using a Titan's body, just like Eren. As the Titan scares Armin's horse by stomping in front of it, Armin wonders what is it they want and is surprised that the Female Titan does not kill him, but instead only takes a look at his face and leaves. Meanwhile, it is revealed that most of the scouts from the right side are dead as the Female Titan brought an army of Titans with itself.

As Armin ponders about this, he is approached by Reiner who tells him to get on a horse in order to survive. Armin then explains his theory about the Titan being a human to both Reiner and Jean, claiming that usual Titans are concerned about devouring humans while this Titan aimed to kill. He concludes that it is very likely looking for Eren. The three then find out that they all were given different information about Eren's position, making it obvious that it is meant to confuse the enemy. When Reiner questions about the correct position of Eren, Armin takes a guess, saying that it might be the rear of the formation, which is presumably the safest position.

Jean then remarks that flares are not enough to relay the situation to others, so they should take the chance to stall the Female Titan, giving the rest of the formation enough time to retreat. Reiner is surprised to see that Jean cares about someone else other than himself, but Jean, not wanting to disappoint the 'ashes of his friend', states that it's a job they must do. Seeing this, Armin proposes putting on their hoods as the Female Titan won't kill them not knowing whether they are Eren or not. Jean praises him, but at the same time states that it is creepy how Armin always hangs out around Eren, leaving Armin confused about this 'praise'.

Catching up with the Female Titan, Jean states that cutting its legs would be enough to stop it and hopes that others don't do anything unnecessary, rushing forward using his Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear. However, the Female Titan sees through it and counters the attack while knocking down Armin from his horse. As the Female Titan is seen standing above Armin, Jean attempts to attack one more time, but quickly realizes that the Titan is agile and intelligent enough to see through it. The Titan attempts to smash Jean, but before it does so Armin yells out that Jean should 'avenge his friend', stopping the Titan's attack.

Surprised, Jean manages to escape and wonders if Armin hit his head as he continues talking nonsense, but he then notices Reiner rushing on his horse and then using his Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear to reach the Female Titan. Thinking that Armin's distraction is enough, Reiner aims for the Titan's nape, but is stopped as the Female Titan grasps him, with a lot of blood coming out, much to the horror of his friends. Thankfully, the blood turns out to be the Titan's as Reiner cuts through and grabs Armin in order to escape. Jean notes that he forgot about Reiner's skills just as the Female Titan begins leaving, much to Reiner's delight. However, Armin notices that the location where the Female Titan is heading is the rear - Eren's position.