Special Operations Squad: Eve of the Counterattack, Part 2

"What do you see here? What do you think the enemy is?"

- Erwin asks Eren a strange question

Special Operations Squad: Eve of the Counterattack, Part 2 (特別作戦班 ―反撃前夜②―) is the 15th episode of the 1st season and the 15th episode overall of the Attack on Titan anime, produced by Wit Studio and Production I.G.

Overview
Eren joins the Special Operations Squad of the Scout Regiment and is taken to an old Scout base where they will prepare for the upcoming scouting mission. He meets his squadmates and learns of the Titan research performed by Section Commander Hange.

The next morning, the Scouts learn that Sawney and Beane, Hange's Titan test subjects, have been killed. As the Scouts wonder who is responsible, Commander Erwin asks Eren who the true enemy is.

Summary
With Eren now being an official member of the Scout Regiment, he is escorted to their former HQ. Riding horses to get there, Oruo Bozad explains to Eren that it is in fact an old castle they remodeled. In the end, it ended up being useless for the Scout Regiment, but it will now serve as a hideout for Eren. Afterwards, Oruo attempts to intimidate Eren, but thanks to his horse stepping on a rock, he bites his own tongue, much to Eren's startle. Now at the HQ, Petra Rall scolds Oruo for talking so much while riding a horse, but Oruo says that first impressions are important, thinking that Eren was scared, but Petra states that Eren was probably just surprised to see Oruo's silly action. She then tells him to stop imitating Levi. Nearby, Eren is watching all of this, knowing that they are the members of Levi's Special Operations Squad, the elite soldiers that will kill him if he goes berserk. Eld Gin and Gunther Schultz then observe the castle, noticing that it has not been maintained at all while abandoned. Viewing dirt as a serious problem, Levi orders everyone to start cleaning up immediately. As Eren reports to Levi that the upper floor has been cleaned, he finds out that he will once again sleep in the basement, this being one of the rules decided by the higher-ups. Surprised to see that Levi follows the rules without question, Eren confronts Petra who explains that Levi once used to be a thug, until he was taken by Erwin Smith and joined the Scout Regiment. Levi then returns, telling Eren to redo the cleaning.

Elsewhere, Miche discusses the upcoming mission with Erwin. Erwin tells him that they have to quickly prove Eren's usefulness to the central, but Miche sees through this. Praising Miche for his 'smell', Erwin states that he will tell him everything when the time comes. The Special Ops Squad also talks about the operation, surprised to hear that even new graduates will participate. Eld states that it is unfortunate that they had lost the route to retake Wall Maria, but at the same time, he realizes the new hope, as everyone looks at Eren. Eld tries to question him, but they quickly find out that they will not learn more than the reports already contain. At that moment, Hange arrives to ask Eren to participate in tomorrow's experiment. When Eren asks about her experiments, the squad stands up to leave, knowing what is to come, while Hange is happy to have found someone who will listen to her. Hange then begins explaining about the two Titans they have captured and the tests being done to them, including attempts to communicate. The Titans were named Sawney and Beane, after a human tribe that used to eat humans. The experiment continued as they tried to deprive the Titans of sunlight. Afterwards, they tested whether the Titans have any other vulnerabilities by directly damaging their bodies, which caused pain for Hange as well. Hearing her talking about the Titans like that, Eren questions how is it that she is able to stay so cheerful around the Titans. Hange explains that she used to hate them as well, but after a certain incident, she realized the mystery of Titans' bodies and tried to look at them from a different point of view since then. Seeing that not only Hange, but the whole Scout Regiment are people who desire change, Eren asks Hange to tell him more about her experiments, however, even after a whole night, he seemingly learns nothing new. That is when a soldier arrives to report that both Titans were somehow killed. Everyone rushes to the place just to find evaporating skeletons of two Titans, much to Hange's agony. Apparently, the culprit is a soldier who then used omni-directional mobility gear to escape, as Eld and Gunther note. Erwin then approaches Eren and asks him about what he can see there and who is the enemy. This leaves Eren confused, so Erwin apologizes for asking odd questions and leaves.

Order of the Walls
''Members of a religious organization that proselytizes within the Walls. They worship the Walls as God, refusing to allow any changes to them, even for defensive purposes.''

Since Wall Maria's fall, their numbers have rapidly increased, as has their influence.

Navigation
Episode 15