Crushing Blow: The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, Part 5

 is the twenty-first episode of the Attack on Titan anime. It is produced by Wit Studio and Production I.G. This episode focuses on Eren and his struggling battle against the Female Titan.

Short Summary
Erwin continues with his theory, believing to know the way the Female Titan escaped. Armin deduces that the reason for which the attack of Titans was stopped midway was Eren's transformation into a Titan. Meanwhile, Erwin's hypothesis is proven to be correct as the culprit transforms into the Female Titan one more time. Eren decides to leave it to the rest of the squad while he heads for the HQ. Despite the Levi Squad initially having an upper hand, Eren watches in horror as his comrades get killed, not long before he transforms into a Titan to join the fight.

They engage in battle and even though Eren believes to have made a wrong choice, he blames the Female Titan for his squad's death and promises to kill it. The fight resumes and the Female Titan manages to dodge most of his attacks. Suddenly, Eren notices something about his opponent, but at that moment, his head gets crushed and his real body devoured by the Female Titan just as Mikasa arrives. In an attempt to save Eren, Mikasa keeps attacking the foe, but to no avail. In the end, Levi appears, grabbing Mikasa. Together, they follow the Female Titan.

Summary
As the soldiers continue their retreat, Erwin and Hanji discuss the way the Female Titan escaped. Erwin believes that it used the same tactics as Colossal Titans, using 3D Maneuver Gear to flee in the steam. Hanji argues that back then, Eren's equipment was destroyed and he had no stamina left after his transformation, however, Erwin claims that using Eren as a basis for their theory was wrong, seeing that he's a novice. Meanwhile, Armin and Jean wonder if the person inside the Titan was captured. Armin then deduces that it was Eren's transformation into a Titan what stopped the attack midway, concluding that the culprit is one of them.

In the meantime, Eren and the squad attempt to escape from the mysterious attacker. Erd concludes that there is no time to reach the horses and they head to the rest of the Scouting Legion. However, Erwin's theory is proven to be correct as the attacker still has enough stamina to transform and the squad finds themselves to be chased by the Female Titan yet again. This time, Eren wants to fight it, but he is ordered to escape while the rest of the squad takes care of it. After a moment of uncertainty, Eren decides to trust them and heads for the HQ. From afar, he watches as Petra and Auruo manage to slice through the Titan's eyes and together with Erd continue attacking its arms until they are able to reach its neck. Eren considers the reason for them being able to fight in complete sync to be the trust they have each other. Believing to have made the right choice, Eren looks forward, but then he remembers Levi's words and looks back on more time just to witness Erd being crushed in the Female Titan's mouth.

Yelling out Erd's name, Petra claims it should be impossible for the Titan to see again in such short time. She witnesses that the Female Titan prioritized one eye for faster healing. Petra then attempts to get away just as Auruo yells to regroup, but the Female Titan charges at her and crushes her body under its foot, much to the horror of Eren and Auruo. In the last attempt to attack, Auruo approaches from behind, but his blade is blocked by the Titan's hardened skin and heads to his death as well as the Female Titan sends him flying with its kick. Seeing this, Eren yells out, wanting to kill the Titan and transforms. His roar is heard by Mikasa and Levi and both of them rush to Eren's location.

Eren takes the initiative and attacks the Female Titan, with both of them landing a few hits at each other afterwards. At the same time, Levi gets to witness the corpses of his squad's members. He stops at Petra and looks at her with a rueful expression on his face. Meanwhile, the fight continues and Eren manages to throw his foe down and attacks from above. He thinks that his choice caused the death of his companions and wishes he fought from the beginning. However, he blames the Female Titan as a real cause and roars at it in anger, promising to kill it. At that moment, the Female Titan's injuries finish healing and they resume the combat, repeatedly attacking each other, until the Female Titan delivers a hardened punch through Eren's mouth. However, Eren takes advantage of this and hits his foe, making it fly away.

At that moment, Eren loses his focus as he notices something about his opponent. The Female Titan uses this chance and crushes Eren's head, bitting his real body out of the Titan mass afterwards. Mikasa arrives just to see Eren getting devoured by the Female Titan. She quickly recuperates from what she just saw and begins chasing the Female Titan, repeatedly slashing all over its body in an attempt to get Eren back. However, her final strike is proven to be ineffective due to the Female Titan's hardening ability. At that moment, Mikasa gets grabbed by Levi who orders her to fall back and maintain a certain distance. He questions Eren's fate, knowing that he was bitten out of the Titan's neck, but Mikasa looks forward, angered by the thought of Eren not being alive.