After what seemed like an impossible ending in the last episode the series marches forward.  We spend time with Mikasa as she defends the evacuation route from Titans. But what ghosts does the prodigy carry with her? Only the rain,  her memories, and you hitting the link know for sure.

The series opens up with Armin still a victim of shell shock being stirred to life by Connie Springer as his group comes give Eren’s group support albeit a bit late. Connie asks were the others are and ask Armin why he’s so sticky finally rousing Armin who immediately breaks down into screams and tears.  Ymir tells Connie to that everyone is probably dead based on the destruction around him and that Armin is alive merely due to the Titan’s mistaking him for dead. Connie starts to threaten Ymir for her remarks, but Krista steps into break up the fighting. Ymir of course takes this a chance to hit on Krista again much to the girl’s confusion. Connie’s group is finally called away, though requested to join them by Connie Armin declines and takes off to join the rear guard not wanting to put others in danger again.

Armin streaks off zipping through the sitting coming to the realization that this world hasn’t gone to hell, but it already was Hell. We are given the reason of Armin joining is to help making strong so that he wouldn’t be a burden as he’s always being saved by Eren and Mikasa and be more like them. However Armin still sees himself as weak and finally accepts the reality of their world around them.  Due to his distraction he misses a grapple with his 3D gear and plummets to the streets below. It’s there he finds the young couple from the episode before. They are named Hannah and Franz; these two were the couple that promised to stay alive for each other.  We see Hannah performing CPR on what is believed to be an unconscious Franz trying to wake him up so they can flee to safety. Armin however tries to get Hannah to stop and leave with him seeing it as futile effort despite Hannah in tears desperately trying to awaken her love. We then zoom out to see that Franz has been bitten in half and is missing his lower half and long since dead. Hannah is probably crazed due to the death of her boyfriend with Armin merely standing over them.

We cut to the evacuation of the remaining populace which is being held up by a merchant who is trying to push his goods on a cart entirely too small for the gates narrow entrance. Despite protests and attempting to get soldiers to resolve the dispute, the merchant lords it over them that he’s head merchant of the town and they would be without food if not for him, so they should help him push. Meanwhile a mother comforts a daughter telling her that her father’s cannons will protect them all. The child however hears some rumbling asking what it is point to the source.  It cuts to a lone soldier walking back as a Deviant Titan rounds the corner and sprints full speed toward the crowd. Rear guards streak forward in vain unable to catch the charging Titan, as the masses below unable to proceed forward due to the cart being stuck and start panic. Mikasa streaks past the other guards and kills the Titan at the last moment in a single stroke.

As the Titan collapses dead with Mikasa on top of it she questions why the evacuation has stopped despite her friends and family fighting to save their lives. Naturally the merchant tries to bully Mikasa as he did with the other soldiers to get his way, but she is having none of it. The merchant’s men rush forward to make an example of her, but she dispatches them with the flat of her swords. The merchant yells how he’s friends with her commanding officer and they’ll have a good laugh over dead body for her actions. Mikasa on the other hand sees things a little different and convinces the merchant to move at sword point, to which the merchant relents with the cart moves and the evacuation continues. The mother and daughter both thank Mikasa before they depart, to which the daughter is treated to a salute and smile from Mikasa.

After a brief exchange with her commanding officer the rain starts and Mikasa starts to reminisce of the past remembering her own family due to the mother and daughter. So we flash back six years prior to the current time in the year 844, to which we are treated to a happy little cabin with Mikasa and her actual family. Mikasa has finished embroidery and shows it happily to her mother and father while asking questions including the dreaded “Where do babies come from” question. Her mother deflects the question to her father who merely replies that he’s a bit hazy on the answer, but they should be expecting a visit from their friend Dr. Jaeger and his son Eren. The Jaegers are a family friends and a play date is the reason for their visit so Mikasa can meet Eren. Eren’s father says this will be good for him and to make friends with Mikasa. To which Eren remarks it depends on who she is and how she acts. His father laments that this is why Eren only has one friend (Armin) and needs a better attitude.

The knock at the door however is not the Jaegers, but a trio of men who immediately stab and kill Mikasa’s father and are there to kidnap both Mikasa and her mother.  Her mother tries to make time for her daughter to flee by grabbing sheers off the table and attempts to stabs the intruders; however she is quickly put down when she is slashed with an axe killing her instantly. Mikasa is taken hostage by the men and after some time the Jaegers arrive late with both Eren and his father seeing the left over carnage. Eren is told to go home while his father makes off to get the military police to report the crime and kidnapping.

We cut to the kidnappers who are having an argument as they were supposed to capture both Mikasa and her mother as they are Orientals. Orientals, we learn are already a near extinct race of humans and thus are worth a fortune on the black market. The leader is not happy that his men killed Mikasa’s mother as she was a pure blood and Mikasa won’t sell for half as much since she’s not pure oriental.

There is a knock at their cabin door soon and the men are naturally cautious thinking they had been found by the MPs. However it is only a young boy claiming to have become lost in the woods and found their cabin for safety. We see this young boy is Eren, who is being comforted by one of the kidnappers. Eren being the well adjusted child that he is carrying a knife and stabs the first kidnapper as the man attempts to comfort him. He then slashes his chest open or slitting his throat killing the first captor killing him instantly. He then goes into hiding in the cabin drawing out the second kidnapper before killing him with a make shift spear tying the knife to the end of a broom. Once the kidnapper is downed Eren mounts him and repeatedly stabs him more and kills him all while screaming it’s what they deserved.

 Eren then frees Mikasa who only then remembers there were three men too late. The third arrives and immediately beats Eren after he knocks away the knife toward Mikasa and starts to strangle Eren in retribution for killing his fellow kidnappers. Mikasa picks up the knife but is unable to move let alone save Eren due to shock and trauma. Eren despite being strangled tells Mikasa, “You win you live, you lose you die, and to win you need to fight!” it is at this point Mikasa snaps. She thinks about how the weak die to the strong every single day, she just never took notice.  We are shown her watching a mantis eat a moth and her own father bringing home a duck he killed as examples. Finally something in her gives way and she is no longer afraid and gains perfect control over her body. She proceeds with what seems to be super human strength cracking the hilt of the knife just from gripping it and breaking the floor board underneath as she lunges and kills the third kidnapper stabbing directly in the heart from behind killing him instantly.

We proceed to the after math as the two MPs are stunned at the bloody scene caused by the two 9 year olds.  Mikasa, Eren, and Eren’s father are next to a fire talking as Eren is being reprimanded by his father for not listening. Eren however states that he had to save Mikasa as the MPs are only just arriving and if he hadn’t gone both the kidnappers and Mikasa would have been long gone. Mikasa questions what she is to do now with no family or home to which Eren and his father state that she will live with them and be part of their family. It’s also here we see Eren give Mikasa the signature scarf she’s seen wearing at all times despite it being a bit big for her at the point nearly wrapping half her head.

We then cut back to the present as Mikasa stands on a tower with three Titans all dead presumably by her hands and the evacuation complete. Her commanding officer tells her they are leaving,  Mikasa declines and states she’s moving a head to reinforce the second line and takes off. In fact she is going to go look for Eren still unaware with his face as the episode comes to a close.

So this is the Mikasa character development and origin story.  First we are given the conclusion to Armin and the fallout of the last episode. It’s not surprising he sees himself as weak as stated in earlier reviews Armin’s not meant to be a front line fighter and in ability to cope and act is proof. Armin’s strength lies in diplomacy, tactics, and strategy. And while I’m sure these qualities will be displayed later on, right now however we are using Armin as the eyes of the common man and new recruit who are being rudely awakened the hellish reality around them.  Briefly we were introduced last episode to the couple of Hannah and Franz, and naturally their outcome was a foregone conclusion. The moment these two were seen making a vow to live for each other, you knew it was going to happen.  Still it is none the less chilling that Hannah has clearly lost in her mind in grief and poor Armin is forced to watch this decent into madness.

Mikasa is the true star of this episode displaying her Titan slaying chops right off the bat doing something that has yet to been till this episode. Kill a Titan, and she did it with such force that she destroyed the blade of her swords in the act of doing it.  The flash back starts off rather pleasantly getting to see a nice family seen with little Mikasa and her family, we also get to see some father son time with Mr. Jaeger and Eren. Eren is his naturally charming self of course…such a well adjusted child. However this is Attack on Titan, so it’s only a matter of time before that little ray of sunshine we are given is swallowed by an all encompassing black hole of darkness. The death of Mikasa’s parents was a rather chilling thing to watch, most in particular her mother. This past shows why Mikasa is so devoted to Eren, and gives us why she seems so distant if not broken inside.

It’s also interesting to see that certain races of people have gone extinct due to the Titans. This explains the why most of the characters are mostly if not nearly all of white European descent. It also shows just how small this patch of humanity really is in the grand scheme of things now and just how thorough the annihilation of the human race at the hands of the titans really is.

The other thing that was rather odd was Eren. At that point in time in the series both Eren and Mikasa are 9, yet Eren had no problem not only killing these men, but doing it to the point where it was borderline butchering them.  It shows that even at that young of an age there was something not right with Eren. What was more peculiar is his father was more worried that Eren didn’t do what he said and less that his 9 year old son just slaughtered two adults.

Either way this was a much needed episode for Mikasa. Mostly because up to this point Mikasa didn’t have much of a personality and seemed like a flat character. Not only is she fleshed out in terms of back story a tragic one at that. But she is given a reason for the devotion she shows step brother along with how and why her bond is so strong. It also showed more of her personality to those in need such as the refugees  and those that deserve her wraith that aren’t titans like the merchant.