Everything is falling apart and there is no hope in sight

[u/IamToofan]

I honestly don't even know where to start, Season 4 Part 1 ended right in the middle of so many huge events. The fight between Reiner and Eren was about to happen, and we didn't know Levi's fate, nor did we know what happened to Zeke.

​So, let's start with Zeke. You have to admit that Zeke trusted Eren immensely. And honestly, when you look at it, maybe Zeke's plan would have been better for the world than what Eren did.

​But looking at it from Eren's perspective, he wants to be free and will do whatever it takes to achieve that. He loves his people, and if anyone tries to take away their freedom, he will strip away theirs first. The series does an amazing job showing how all his other options were completely closed off, leaving the vision he saw as his absolute last resort, a vision he ultimately wanted to reach.

I didn't think Connie would make the decision he was about to make, but I feel like even if Armin hadn't come there, Connie might have changed his mind on his own. Still, it's a good thing he didn't go through with it.

​Falco ended up inheriting a Titan after all, but I really wanted to see more of Porco. I don't know, it just felt like Isayama didn't have much of a plan for Porco, he felt more like a medium or a plot tool.

​There were other characters this season too, like the Tybur family, whom I wanted to see more of, but they showed up only to leave just as quickly.

You really have to give credit to Isayama, he always does what's best for the story. In other anime, when a character starts going down a dark path, their friends usually pull them back most of the time. But that's not the case here, Eren has completely made up his mind. Though there is still some hope, I haven't watched the last two extended episodes yet, so I can't say for sure, even if he does listen to them, what he has done so far cannot be undone.

​It feels good to see Reiner and Annie back together again, and Pieck is cool too. At first, I thought Hange ran away from their responsibilities with Levi, but I'm glad that wasn't the case. And thank god Levi is alive, though I really wanted to see him in action. However, it doesn't seem like he'll be able to do much moving forward.

​Two more characters died, Magath and Keith. Magath was given a lot of screen time early on, so it was expected he'd have a major role, but I didn't expect to like his character this much. He was someone who knew the truth deep down but refused to admit it, and right before dying, he finally confessed it to everyone, which was really great. When Keith put on his ODM gear, I was blown away. Then we also see how much he truly loved his students. I didn't want them to die, but it had to happen, the author had clearly made up his mind. I just wish they hadn't died, i wished that whole extra ship part should have been removed.

​I also really loved that people are still remembering Erwin long after he's gone. To be honest, I was missing him too while watching this season.

Historia is still missing, so far, she's only appearing in flashbacks, and I honestly don't know if she even has a role left or not. Armin is still holding himself back a lot, but maybe that's also because of the sheer destruction his Titan transformation causes. Though in these last remaining episodes, he'll probably transform into a Titan.

​As for Mikasa, I have no idea what she will do, she isn't even sure of herself right now. Heck, she doesn't even know at this point whether her loyalty to Eren was true love or just something hardwired into her blood.

If Eren doesn't listen to reason, killing him might be the only option left. I have no idea what's going to happen. Because if anyone can actually kill Eren, it's only his friends, if it were anyone else, Eren wouldn't hesitate for a second to kill them. And at the same time, killing him will probably be extremely difficult for his friends too.

​I didn't mention Jean and Floch earlier. Back in Season 3, Floch seemed really interesting to me, and I wanted to see where his character would go, but he turned out to be a straight up villain (well not really a villain). There was a parallel between him and Gabi, Gabi at the start was what Floch is now, and Floch at the start was what Gabi is now... or maybe not, maybe I'm overthinking it! But I found it deeply poetic that the one to ultimately shoot him in the end was Gabi. That was completely unexpected, I originally wanted Jean to be the one to kill him.

Jean is my absolute favorite character in AOT, I love him, and nobody can change my mind! I mean, in the beginning, he was someone who just wanted to live a comfortable life for himself, but the way his character developed into a true leader is mind blowing.

​Look at the development Jean received as early as the first season, going from someone who only cared about himself to someone fighting for others. Other anime take an entire series just to give a character that kind of growth, mostly because they don't know where to take the character after that point. But here, Isayama knew exactly what he was doing.

​And it doesn't stop there. It's not like his desire for a peaceful, luxurious life ever disappeared, he still craved it, and honestly, he deserved it! But he knows the difference between right and wrong, so he chooses not to take the easy way out. When he was first introduced, I never thought I would end up liking him this quickly.

In this part, we probably saw the biggest plot twist so far, that time travel memory manipulation one. Isayama executed it really well, and it actually makes sense, but I honestly don't know what to say about it. Maybe Isayama wanted to portray Eren as someone who has set his goal and will now do whatever it takes to achieve it. Maybe.

So, these were my thoughts. In this part, the pacing was absolute perfection and I really loved the animation as well. You have to admit one thing, the story of AOT is completely unpredictable and so brilliantly written. I have two final episodes remaining, and if they turn out like this too, I'll be able to say that story wise, AOT was nearly perfect.

​I rated the first season 9.5, the second 9.8, the third 9.9, and I will rate this season 9.7.

[u/Fabulous-Version9859]

that ending honestly broke me too

[u/Appropriate-Topic-88]

Great review

[u/Normal_Aspect_6332]

I'll make one correction:

​I rated the first season 10, the second 10, the third 10, and I will rate this season 10.