Shingeki no Kyojin Episode 9 - What's In the Basement? Eren the Titan!

Hello guys! Tadashi here and today I'll be talking about the 9th episode of Shingeki no Kyojin which shows us what really happened to Eren and what the result of people finding out that he is a titan.



The episode starts off by showing us the Elite Guard along with the supposed best titan-slayer around - Captain Levi. We all know that Mikasa is badass and insanely skilled but when we see Captain Levi fighting, it's even greater. He has so much control over his maneuvering gear and his attacks are flawless. He stays composed and is a great leader. The only thing I don't like about his character is his voice but that really isn't too important.

We also get to see another interesting member of the Elite Guard. She closely resembles Sasha (potato girl) except she has glasses. Her attitude is really up there like Sasha and she's also extremely skilled. I wouldn't be surprised if this was how Sasha turned out in the future haha.

After seeing the sheer brilliance of the Elite Guard, we go back to Eren. We find out exactly what happened to him and how he became a giant titan.

Eren wakes up inside the stomach of the santa claus-looking titan. It seems like he hasn't been digested yet and was just floating there with plenty of other dead bodies. I'm surprised he was able to stay afloat considering he only had one hand and one leg. I will commend him though for not losing his resolve. He was still determined to kill every titan out there even in this situation. I know if I ever woke up in a situation like this I wouldn't be able to think straight and would probably just give up. Eren did not. He had his sights set on the one goal to exterminate the titans. I guess this caused something to happen because next thing we know, a hand pops out from the mouth of the santa claus titan and then the Eren-titan followed by coming out of its back.

Fast forward back to the present, Eren regains consciousness being surrounded by his so called comrades (lol imagine waking up to this too...hahahahaha). Only Mikasa and Armin are by his side and Eren has no clue what's going on. With people asking him what  he truly is, he couldn't grasp the situation. They saw him as a monster but Eren had no recollection of him ever becoming one. They threatened to kill all three of them right there if Eren didn't answer right.
You'd think they'd be smart to use Eren - a God-given weapon against titans - to help them retake the walls but their fear of titans has caused them to not think rationally and thus they pointed their weapons at them.

I'm really starting to dislike this coward

Guys, don't forget about Mikasa. She vows to never let anyone take Eren's life no matter what. She doesn't care about the titans or whatnot compared to how much she cares about Eren. She's willing to kill anyone in order for Eren to live. That's how much she loves/needs him. And trust me, you don't want to get on her bad side. The other soldiers already know her worth and know she's worth 100 average soldiers. They even said "losing her would be a huge blow to mankind". Imagine someone saying that about you...

One last time they asked Eren what he was. He answered "human" but they saw that as the wrong answer and opened fire. That's when the key around Eren's neck fell out and he suddenly remembered what his dad told him and what he had done to him. The basement. That was the key to everything. Something in that basement would help mankind against the titans. What was it?
The injections that his father gave him also seemed to have messed with his memories as well. But Eren recalled (even just a little bit) how to control his powers. All he had to do was bite his finger and he would transform into a titan.

Now he didn't become the titan he was before and his transformation seems really incomplete. It could be because he's very tired and worn out (he mentioned he didn't even have the energy to stand up) which is why he isn't a full titan. The looks on everyone's faces were priceless though.

Overall, I'd say this was another amazingly well done episode. The first half with Captain Levi had on-point music and animation and it really showed how elite they were. The second half just blew me away (especially when Eren transformed). The amount of tension and the atmosphere really went well together and again I was at the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen.
The fact that Eren can transform on command is a HUGE revelation.
The question remains:

Can he control his mental state while in titan mode?

We'll probably find out next episode along with much more information dealing with the basement and how exactly it'll help mankind/Eren. All the answers lie there.
What will everyone else do? Will they launch a full scale attack on Eren inside the walls? If things continue this way, Eren, Mikasa and Armin won't be able to go back to the military and will be on the run.

Anyways, that's it for me. See you guys next episode!

-Tadashi