A saga as superb as it was savage. Join Ashley as we count down our picks for the best moments from across the Attack on Titan franchise
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most heartbreaking,
00:10 action-packed or plain iconic scenes from this battle shounen.
00:19 Ah yes, just when we were starting to learn what an absolute unit Captain Levi is.
00:38 After Eren gets himself soundly defeated and swallowed by the female Titan, it falls to
00:42 Levi to once again leap into the fray and save him, which he accomplishes in style.
00:48 Despite the Titan's shifter's reach and flexibility, Levi is in a whole other league,
00:53 tearing through her flesh before stabbing her in both eyes at once.
01:01 As if he would let anyone other than himself chew out Eren.
01:18 The final season certainly started off with a bang, we just didn't expect to see the
01:22 Marleyans bring the boom.
01:24 Four years after their failed attempt to secure the founding Titan, Reiner and Zeke are left
01:28 to deal with the consequences when Marley's surrounding nations decide to take a shot
01:33 at challenging the power of the Titans.
01:35 Their upgraded artillery certainly proves effective, but there's only so much you
01:39 can do when the Beast and Armoured Titan come crashing down from above, along with a legion
01:44 of pure Titans to serve as fodder.
01:52 This is how Marley handles warfare, and it is brutal.
02:04 Seeing a member of the Survey Corps suddenly transform into a Titan is bound to raise a
02:08 few eyebrows.
02:09 Despite sealing up trust, Eren is put on trial, with the military police gung-ho about
02:14 executing him.
02:16 Thankfully, Levi steps in with the proposal of moving Eren into his custody, where the
02:24 Survey Corps can keep a close eye on his Titan abilities.
02:28 But not before giving a practical demonstration that they can keep him under control by beating
02:33 in his face for a whole lot of minutes.
02:46 Painful yet effective.
02:47 Sassy and sarcastic, with the hots for Krista, that's all we knew about Emir from the first
02:53 season.
02:57 Then she revealed that beneath all that snark, there was so much more.
03:04 After their castle stronghold comes under attack from a horde commanded by the Beast
03:08 Titan, the ill-prepared corps have no way out.
03:11 At least, until Emir leaps into the fray and turns into a Titan herself.
03:21 It was so out of the blue, so unexpected, that it took everyone for a loop, showing
03:26 that there was way more to this firecracker than we first thought.
03:34 With Annie's identity as the female Titan revealed, Eren goes on the warpath, leading
03:41 to the dude duking it out behind the walls.
03:44 And pretty much smashing apart anyone unfortunate enough to get caught under them.
03:54 In spite of her hardening ability allowing her to cut through his defences, Annie's
03:59 survival instinct has got nothing on Eren's rage.
04:02 Losing himself to the monster within, all Annie can do is reassess her life choices,
04:07 as she comes within inches of being consumed by the jaws of death.
04:13 Oh, and there are Titans inside the walls.
04:21 Go figure.
04:24 The final battle with the Founding Titan was never going to be easy, but it seemed to go
04:31 far worse than anyone could have imagined.
04:34 First, Armin was captured.
04:43 Then all the past Titan incarnations manifested and relentlessly attacked our heroes.
04:49 Just when it seemed absolutely hopeless, Armin had an important conversation with Zeke on
04:54 the other side.
04:55 It was by his will that he was able to pass a message to lots of old faces, leading to
05:00 their Titan forms rebelling against their master.
05:12 With this assist, they were finally able to free Armin once again, giving them another
05:16 faint glimmer of hope to stop Eren.
05:30 The Special Operations Squad may not have had as much time to develop compared to the
05:34 likes of Mikasa, Jean and the rest, but they were still an endearing group, especially
05:39 when it came to Petra.
05:49 Fiercely loyal to the likes of Levi, they were some of the best the Survey Corps had
05:53 to offer, and we got to watch the Female Titan tear them apart one by one.
06:02 In spite of their top-tier skills, the Female Titan's strategy and killer instinct proved
06:06 to be their undoing.
06:08 Each meeting a tragic end that probably still keeps Eren up at night.
06:24 Ironically, one of the best fights in "Attack on Titan" doesn't involve actual Titans
06:29 at all.
06:30 It's just Levi, a decade-old grudge, and a whole lot of glorious ODM action.
06:35 Levi doesn't let Kenny take Eren and Historia without a fight, that's for sure.
06:40 The sheer sense of speed and momentum conveyed in every single one of his moves is truly
06:46 a sight to behold, especially considering he manoeuvred his way through all of Kenny's
06:51 squad with only a few scratches to show for it.
07:00 Even though Levi failed to rescue Eren and Historia, this aerobic counterattack is a
07:05 winner in every other way that counts.
07:08 There have been plenty of unsettling and visceral deaths across this series, though none have
07:18 ever come close to matching the horror of Miike's demise.
07:22 With a nose for trouble, this veteran member of the Survey Corps appeared to be the kind
07:26 of soldier that could cut his way through any predicament.
07:30 And that might still be true if he were dealing with the average Titan.
07:37 Alas, he tangled with the Beast Titan, who promptly disabled his manoeuvre gear before
07:42 feeding him to his underlings.
07:44 All in graphic detail.
07:46 His screams still haunt us to this day.
07:54 Given how we had just watched his new allies get splattered across the forest floor, it's
07:58 easy to see why Eren might have lost his temper and thrown himself into a brawl with the female
08:03 Titan.
08:05 Enraged, the rogue Titan goes all out, only to be swiftly defeated by his opponent's
08:15 superior dexterity and utilisation of its Titan abilities.
08:29 Concluding with a gnarly decapitation, it's one of Eren's soundest defeats, and the
08:33 battle that showed this gigantic femme fatale was not to be messed with.
08:38 20.
08:39 The Ocean
08:40 An uncharacteristically serene way to cap off the third season, like all things "Attack
08:45 on Titan", there is both beauty and darkness in abundance here.
08:53 Armin's reaction to seeing the ocean with his own eyes resonates deeply.
09:02 It's such a heart-warming moment, as these embittered soldiers get to experience this
09:09 natural wonder for themselves.
09:11 At least until we see Eren, who, since finding out the truth about Marley and his father,
09:16 can only focus on what's on the horizon - a whole bunch of people they have to kill
09:21 in order to achieve true freedom.
09:29 19.
09:33 Erwin Charges Into Battle
09:37 Genius tactician, uncompromising leader, demon atop a mountain of corpses, Erwin Smith was
09:43 all these things, and it's fair to say without him, everyone behind the walls would have
09:47 been killed off a long time ago.
09:50 The only thing more impressive than his list of deeds is his death, which stands tall as
09:55 equally heartbreaking and awe-inspiring.
10:06 Faced with the Beast Titan's non-stop barrage of projectiles, Erwin musters his terrified
10:11 troops for a sacrificial operation that ultimately claims their lives - but not before delivering
10:17 one hell of a speech.
10:25 18.
10:27 Historia Rejects Her Father
10:34 How is it possible for someone to go from background character to best girl in a single
10:38 episode?
10:39 Well, if you're Historia, you reject your father's maniacal plan to keep the status
10:44 quo, destroy the Titan Serum, damn well break his back, and just to top it off, tells Eren
10:51 to man the hell up.
10:55 It's all kinds of amazing, and a standout moment of character growth that would take
11:06 Historia all the way from the resident nice girl, to the queen that humanity desperately
11:11 needed.
11:14 17.
11:18 Breaking the Walls
11:19 This is where it all started.
11:21 With the looming, inhuman face of the colossal Titan as it sent countless innocents to their
11:26 doom.
11:32 Shattering years of supposed peace with a single strike of its knee, the skinless giant
11:37 paved the way for dozens of Titans to just waltz in and start devouring their way through
11:43 Eren's hometown.
11:48 Of course, this was a two-man operation, since the inner wall was also broken down thanks
11:53 to the Armoured Titan and that unbreakable shoulder charge of his.
12:00 16.
12:04 Eren Gets Eaten
12:05 So much for all that spunk.
12:07 Eager for combat and vengeance, Eren wastes no time leaping into the action during his
12:12 first combat encounter.
12:13 While motivated and possessing a decent amount of skill following his graduation, things
12:18 don't go according to plan when a random Titan snaps off his leg and sends him into
12:23 a tailspin.
12:24 His sheer force of willpower might have been enough to save Armin from meeting the same
12:28 fate, but in his wounded state, Eren was essentially Titan Chau.
12:33 While him emerging unscathed from his transformation state is also worthy of note, we still feel
12:38 this has more punch… er, bite.
12:46 15.
12:49 Assault on the Jaegerists
12:50 Former friends or not, Eren's band of radical recruits stood between the resistance and
12:56 stopping the rumbling.
12:57 Comparing their lives to everyone's on Mali and beyond, the choice was already made.
13:03 But that didn't make it easy.
13:09 Even in a show with plenty of grisly character deaths, it's still sobering to see Mikasa,
13:14 Jean and the others turn their blades against old friends.
13:19 Although that's slightly mitigated by how epic it is to finally see Annie and Reiner
13:24 join the frontlines in all their titanic glory.
13:32 Whether for the bloodshed or the backstabs, this is certainly a showdown to remember.
13:39 14.
13:42 Armin or Erwin
13:43 Who do you choose?
13:44 The one humanity needs, or the one it deserves?
13:47 With both hanging on death's door, and only one sample of Titan serum, Levi is forced
13:52 to make a crucial decision about who to save.
13:58 It's a moral dilemma that forces the core and the audience to pick a side - head or
14:04 heart, hopeful or pragmatic.
14:09 Despite settling on Erwin as the candidate, the dying words of his friend give Levi cause
14:14 to change his mind, ensuring that Armin lives to see another day, now with the power of
14:20 the colossal Titan at his disposal.
14:26 13.
14:30 Eren is stopped
14:31 With all other options out the window, Armin throws hands with Eren, whilst all the others
14:36 hold back the source of all living matter so that it can't merge with Eren once again.
14:44 There's only a single person who can finish the job.
14:50 If there's one thing Mikasa never wanted, it was for Eren to perish.
15:00 Unfortunately for her, that's what it had come to, and it was by her hand.
15:05 With an assist from Levi, she finally finds herself face to face with the one person she
15:10 loves most.
15:11 It was then that she had to deliver the sweet kiss of death.
15:17 12.
15:19 Breaking the Boulder
15:20 Moments of triumph are certainly few and far between in this show, so any time Eren and
15:25 the rest emerge victorious against impossible odds is always something to celebrate.
15:38 Despite initially losing himself to his Titan form, a few choice words from Armin bring
15:42 Eren back to his senses, allowing him to complete his mission of sealing up Trost.
15:55 The swelling of the music, combined with the chants from his friends, really adds a gravitas
15:59 to it all, topped off with the Attack Titans' iconic roar.
16:12 11.
16:14 Give Your Heart, Hange
16:15 If there's such a thing as a happy march to death, it's this.
16:19 With the rumbling first approaching, Hange gives her team a necessary head start by single-handedly
16:25 slowing down the army of colossals.
16:35 It means swinging towards certain death, but Hange doesn't seem to mind.
16:39 This is essentially the culmination of her life's research, and she's enjoying every
16:44 single second of it.
16:46 Quite frankly, we can't think of a better way for her to go out.
16:51 Afterwards, Hange's welcomed to the afterlife by a council of her fallen allies, proving
16:59 that she really did give her heart until the very end.
17:03 10.
17:04 Sasha's End
17:05 In "Attack on Titan," heart-wrenching character deaths come with the territory.
17:09 But it's one thing to lose a soldier in action, and another to say goodbye to the potato-thieving
17:15 heart of the Survey Corps, Sasha.
17:18 If anyone deserved a happy ending, or at least a last meal, it was her.
17:23 The most painful part is how utterly anticlimactic it feels.
17:28 Sasha didn't get a grand last act on the battlefield.
17:32 In fact, she wasn't even in combat at all.
17:35 The attack on Marley was over, but that didn't stop Gubby from sneaking aboard their ship
17:40 and shooting Sasha dead just like that.
17:43 And she calls these guys devils.
17:48 9.
17:50 Levi vs. Beast Titan
17:52 The purest example of Levi's badassery can all be found right here.
18:00 Following on from the Survey Corps' sacrificial mission, humanity's strongest soldier makes
18:05 his move, getting in close enough so that he can finally tear into Zeke.
18:12 While the hairy bastard certainly has size on his side, he's in no way prepared for
18:24 Levi's speed and ferocity, wherein he proceeds to slice the big ape apart until the scumbag
18:30 inside is ripped out.
18:32 Where he too experiences Levi's special brand of errant training.
18:38 8.
18:40 The Scream
18:41 While hindsight would bring a whole new dimension of hype to this scene, even self-contained
18:46 it's still a vital moment that brings one of Eren's many torturous arcs full circle.
18:52 And that's revenge against the Titan that ate his mother.
18:59 After the smiling Titan kills his friend in a traumatically similar fashion to Karla Jaeger,
19:04 all Eren can do is let out the biggest scream of his life.
19:13 Unknowingly activating the Coordinate Within, the surrounding Titans bend to Eren's will
19:19 and rip the smile right off its face.
19:22 Poor Dina.
19:23 7.
19:24 The Rumbling Begins
19:37 Eren spent years trying to activate the Rumbling, and when he finally got his wish, it did not
19:43 disappoint.
19:44 On a conceptual level, the scale of a hundred colossal Titans waking up is hard to put into
19:49 words.
19:50 Luckily, the destruction they leave in their wake speaks for itself.
19:57 At this point, all anyone can do is watch, wait, and pray.
20:01 After all, it doesn't take Armin's brains to realise that, with firepower like this,
20:07 Eren can trample just about anything he wants.
20:14 With that realisation, it's clear that the Rumbling isn't just a threat to humanity.
20:19 It's the end of the world as we know it.
20:22 6.
20:23 Historia Lands the Kill Shot
20:25 Continuing the trend of Historia being the best, the way in which she puts to rest not
20:30 only her father, but the legacy of the First King was just monumental.
20:41 As Rod Reiss' Titan form is blown to pieces thanks to Eren ramming a whole bunch of explosives
20:46 into its gaping face hole, Historia is the one to slice apart the remains of its nape,
20:52 killing the right patriarch once and for all, and ushering in a new age for those behind
20:57 the walls.
21:05 And that's how you become both a hero and a monarch, all in one day.
21:12 5.
21:16 The Truth of Grisha's Past
21:18 Years ago, Eren's father massacred the Reiss family to secure the power of the Titans.
21:23 Or so we thought.
21:25 No one could have predicted what really happened that night.
21:37 When Grisha's conviction started to waver, Eren manipulated time itself to urge his father
21:43 down this gory path.
21:46 Just like that, the entirety of "Attack on Titan" turned on its head.
21:50 The revelation proved that, while Grisha did kill the Reiss family, the blood was on Eren's
21:55 hands.
21:56 He wasn't going to let anything stand in his way.
21:59 Not Grisha's morals, not the death of the Reiss children, and not the fabric of time
22:04 itself.
22:08 4.
22:12 Reiner and Bertholdt Revealed
22:14 The betrayal that has yet to be surpassed.
22:17 The way in which Reiner, in a moment of madness, revealed that he and Bertholdt were the Armoured
22:22 and Colossal Titans was a low-key bombshell.
22:28 From there, all bets are off, as the traitor's soldiers go all out in an effort to capture
22:33 Eren.
22:42 The emotional devastation of witnessing the two most trusted members of the unit be ousted
22:47 as the instigators of their shared tragedy is only matched by the preceding heavyweight
22:51 Titan showdown.
22:53 As you can imagine, Eren was not a happy bunny that day.
23:04 3.
23:07 Eren vs Warhammer Titan
23:09 After four years of honing his skills, Eren put up his dukes again for some explosive
23:14 Titan on Titan action.
23:16 There's a pretty big catch, though.
23:18 In this case, the Warhammer Titan wasn't the only thing in the line of fire.
23:23 While this is easily one of the coolest throwdowns in the series, it's hard to appreciate it
23:28 when Eren's tearing through innocent civilians at the same time.
23:36 Even if they are Marleyans, his complete disregard for their lives made it clear that he wasn't
23:41 the same Eren we once knew.
23:43 For the first time, we weren't just scared for Eren, we were scared of him.
23:51 2.
23:54 Eren defeats the Colossal Titan
23:56 Able to produce explosions of steam larger than every Titan combined, Bertholdt's Titan
24:02 form appeared to be borderline invulnerable.
24:06 With even the Thunder Spears proving useless, taking it down seemed out of the question
24:10 – at least until Armin and Eren pulled off their biggest win thus far.
24:20 Full credit to Armin for nearly burning to death just to create an opportunity to spring
24:24 a counterattack, but we still can't get over how Eren, in his human form, appeared
24:29 from behind and took down the Behemoth with the ultimate surprise p*ssy in anime.
24:42 Before we unveil our top pick, here's some honorable mentions.
24:45 Coup d'etat.
24:52 The Owl saves Grisha.
24:59 The Rumbling arrives.
25:07 Who will inherit the Attack Titan?
25:33 1.
25:40 Declaration of War
25:42 Beyond the heartbreak, bloodshed and plot twists, the most electric scene in Attack
25:46 on Titan is two people talking in a room.
25:50 Eren and Reiner's discussion of war and guilt is a masterful summation of the series
25:54 to that point, and also a brilliant preface for what's to come.
26:11 In a reveal that deserves to be seen for itself, Eren confesses he doesn't want peace anymore
26:16 – he wants vengeance.
26:18 Then, with one hell of a transformation, Eren officially becomes the villain he always had
26:23 to be.
26:24 It's incredible, exhilarating, and most of all, ironic.
26:29 Willy was totally right – Eren is a danger to world peace.
26:33 And this is a declaration of war, just not Willy's.
26:53 -
26:59 (upbeat music)
27:01 (upbeat music)