Attack on Titan: Season three, episode eight, Outside the Walls of Orvud District review – Provides funniest moment of the entire series.

Spoiler Free Review:

This week’s episode of Attack on Titan, Outside the Walls of Orvud District, picks up from the previous episode’s explosive cliffhanger and builds up to what looks to be an action packed episode next time.
Although I did feel that this episode was build up for the next one, that does not mean it was not a good episode.
Outside the Walls of Orvud District had a lot of really great scenes and character moments from both Eren and Historia.
And, while Eren’s growth may have had more implications for the show going forward, it is Historia who truly shines in this episode.
I love what this series has done for her character, turning her from a very forgettable one into one of the show’s best and I cannot wait to see what they do with her next.
Like most of the previous episodes of the third season, Outside the Walls of Orvud District also sets up more questions for the series to answer and gives hints to a few of these.
The episode once again has fantastic music and a good use of CGI that was much better than what we got in season two.
On top of this, the episode gives us what I believe to be the funniest moment of the entire series.
I laughed so hard because it was a brilliant moment of self mockery.
However, all that being said, there were a few things I did not like about the episode, like how convenient a lot of the events felt and there was scene that I felt had some pacing issues.
Otherwise, Outside the Walls of Orvud District was another good episode that provided solid character development, hilarious moments, and appears to be building up to an exciting episode for next week.

Spoiler Review:

Outside the Walls of Orvud District kicked right off from last week’s episode, with Rod Reiss’ transformation into a massive Titan that is twice the size of the Colossal Titan.
This led to the Levi Squad rescuing Eren and, although it is an emotional moment of growth for Eren, this scene felt a little too convenient and the pacing also felt off.
The characters were busy talking while Rod was transforming and it went on for too long as they should have been crushed by the time they finished this conversation.
Then there was Eren gaining the ability to harden his skin, which felt pretty convenient, considering the bottle that he drank to gain this ability just so happened to be sitting right next to him.
I will say, however, I did like this growth for Eren because his new technique can be used to plug up Wall Maria so they can reach the basement.
This all lead to the funniest moment of the the entire series so far.
“What basement? Oh, that whole thing? You mean it’s actually important?”
With that one line from Sasha I burst into uncontrollable laughter for a solid minute.
Getting to the basement was established as a central goal in season one and yet it has been so long that many people may have felt like it was not important anymore so having Sasha state the line like this was having her speak for the audience.
It was a brilliant moment of self deprecation on the writer’s part.
This episode was also another highlight for Historia because she also went through a lot of growth.
First she stated how she would protect those who did not feel needed, showing how Ymir has influenced her, then she admitted she considered eating Eren to gain her father’s love, and finally she agreed to be Queen to find her way in life.
Historia went through so much growth in this one episode and I loved it.
This episode also established numerous things like that the first king somehow brain washes all those who take on the power of the Founding Titan and that Eren’s father probably took this power to stop that from happening.
This means Grisha was not completely bad as he may have been doing this terrible thing for the right reasons.
I do wonder though, what is the difference between the Founding Titan and the Coordinate?
Are they the same thing, just different names?
Another thing I want to talk about is Rod’s Titan form, which is computer generated and, I have got to say, Attack on Titan has really improved its CGI since the second season.
Rod’s CGI Titan certainly looked better than the CGI Colossal Titan from season two.
The episode ends with Erwin declaring they will not evacuate Orvud District before Rod gets there, which is strange but I am sure Erwin has a reason for it.
Either way, I cannot wait for next episode because it looks to be exciting.

Predictions:

1. Hopefully we will get an explanation as to why Rod’s Titan form is so huge and Eren was able to utilize the hardening ability by drinking the bottle. I think the answers to these questions may be linked though because it may not just be Titans Shifters who can get powers but regular Titans like Rod as well.
2. I do not think Kenny and his squad died in the cave-in caused by Rod’s transformation. Kenny’s assistant Caven may have but Kenny is definitely not dead because they still have to reveal what happened between him and Levi.
3. Next episode it looks like Eren and the others will be battling Rod’s huge Titan form and Historia also looks to be taking a pivotal role as she is taking part and seen arguing with Erwin the preview.