Attack On Titan Season 1 Episode 5 Recap – First Battle: The Struggle for Trost, Part 1

Another Breach

Eren runs toward the Colossal Titan, who now manages to smash through the cannons on the gate. Seeing how the creature deliberately kicked down the door, he knows this is something with intelligence.

Eren makes his way through its arm, back, and towards the weak spot which is at the nape of the neck. The titan blows a smokescreen from its back to slow him down and disappears completely, causing Eren’s blow to whiff. The Colossal Titan Response squad now arrives at their location, and he and Connie are called to move back to report on the event.

People start hurrying back to the evacuation sites. Now that it’s been five years since the last attack, the garrisons have defenses in order to fight the approach of regular titans. Eren finds Armin struggling to keep himself calm, as he knows that part of wall Rose hasn’t been completely sealed from the last time. Eren tells him to calm down and reminds him that this isn’t like the last time.

News of the situation in Trost reaches Commander Pyxis, who leads the defense of the south. Lord Wald, who owns much of the property in that district pleads for Pyxis to defend his own domain, but the Commander ignores his pleas.

The Garrison Squad prepares its troops for the vanguard. Cadet forces will back them in the middle with elite forces positioned in the rear. The advance team has already been wiped out, the outer gate breached and the Titans have entered. They all prepare themselves for the possibility of the Armored titan breaking through the inner gate. The commander tells them to defend the wall to help civilians evacuate.

Vanguard Squad

Jean curses his luck, as he was supposed to be sent to the interior the next day. He bumps into Eren and complains about his unfortunate fate. Eren reminds him how they survived their harsh training. If they can survive that, then he can survive this day and he can move to the interior the next day.

Mikasa tells Eren to find her once the situation goes bad, even when they’re on separate squads. Her leader calls for her to hurry towards the rear guard, so Eren reminds him of her duty. She tells him to not die, and Eren brushes her off.

Back during their classes, they’ve been told that the titans possess no intelligence or capacity for reproduction. They only exist to eat humans, and are fueled solely by bloodlust. Even cannon technology isn’t enough to defeat their regeneration. The only way to defeat a titan is to damage them at the weak spot behind the neck.

Eren tells Armin this is the perfect opportunity to fight back. The six in their squad move into the vanguard as they receive the signal and see that the whole frontline has been routed. The city is swarming with regular titans. An abnormal titan appears and quickly snatches one of their squamates named Thomas.

Reality Sets In

Anger seeps into Eren and he speeds off alone while the others try catching up. As he speeds through, another titan appears and bites off his leg. Two other squadmates get caught and are devoured. Armin’s knees buckle as he sees his friends being eaten. A bearded titan picks him up as he’s unable to move and eats him.

Eren remembers Armin bringing him a book about the outside world. He reads about how the world is surrounded by a body of water called the sea. They learn about lands of ice and snowy fields, realizing that there is much more to explore outside.

Remembering his dream, Eren wakes up and snatches Armin from the titan’s mouth and hurls him to the nearby rooftop. The titan eats him up as Armin watches in horror.

Our Thoughts

Did they just really kill the MC? I think there’s more on this than meets the eye. Rating: 4/5