Created by Hajime Isayama, Attack on Titan is called one of the best animes ever created. Its action-packed and mystery-thriller plot has been praised by fans and critics alike, in addition to its excellent voice acting and pleasing art style. The series takes place in a world where humans are forced to live inside walls to protect themselves from large creatures called Titans, who devour humans.
The action-mystery series has been renewed for a fourth and final season after three successful seasons, which many fans have already started making fan theories about. The first season had some of the best episodes in the show, and just as many that were not as good. So here are 5 of the worst and best episodes of Attack on Titan, season 1.
5th Best - Female Titan (E17)
In the episode, while the Scouts are moving towards Shiganshina, the squad is sending out colored signal flares to let the others know if they have a visual on any Titans. Armin’s squad kills an Abnormal Titan and then discovers a large Female Titan. She’s different from the others - she’s intelligent, like Eren in his Titan form.
Armin deduces she’s going after Eren since she lets Armin go after seeing his face. The episode is as gory as action-packed, as the Scouts are brutally devoured by the Titans, and they can feel the fear and anger in the Scouts.
5th Worst - Response (E10)
In “Response”, Eren tests out his Titan powers, making the others afraid of him, and they capture him, almost killing him out of this fear. Eren says he can only escape if Armin can convince the others to use his Titan form for the good of humanity - to fight other Titans. Either that, or he is criminalized and sent to live among the other Titans.
The episode has some interesting revelations, such as Eren’s father’s basement and what it means for him, but overall the episode has a lack of the usual flair displayed by Attack on Titan. There is hardly any action in it and is mostly filler.
4th Best - Mercy (E24)
“Mercy” is one of the best episodes in the entire series, showing truly how smart Armin and Erwin are, and how strong Eren can be in his Titan form. Viewers learn that the Scouts have figured out the identity of the Female Titan - Annie Leonhart, a member of the Military Police and a friend of Eren, Armen and the others.
They lay a trap for her but it fails, and she starts destroying the city. After Eren initially has trouble transforming, he thinks what Armin told him - to fight monsters, one must become a monster. He then unleashes his Titan Form, and they start to fight.
4th Worst - Special Operations Squad (E15)
Another episode that has many interesting revelations, about the Titans as well as Eren’s fate, this episode has Levi Squad help Eren to learn about his Titan powers. Squad Commander Hange tells Eren about the experiments she conducted on two captured Titans, who are then killed by someone on the inside.
While the episode is in no way boring, most of it is exposition. Hange tells Eren important information about the Titans and their activity which is important in the later episodes, like Titans being unable to move after sunlight.
3rd Best - First Battle (E05)
When the Colossal Titan appears and the Titan enters the Trost District, the squad fights the Titans, with most of the squad getting eaten by them. Eren and Armin are on the front lines and see most of their friends get eaten, and Eren himself loses a leg. When Armin is picked up by a Titan, Eren saves him and is seemingly eaten by the Titan.
The episode ends with a shocking cliffhanger, with Eren seemingly dead and Armin deathly injured. The episode is as emotional as action-packed, such as when Armin remembers his promise to Eren that they’ll see the outside world, the sea, the deserts, all of it, along with the shock of seeing Eren devoured by a Titan.
3rd Worst - What Needs To Be Done Now (E16)
It’s finally time for the other cadets to choose their field. After Erwin gives a speech encouraging the cadets to choose the Scouts, most of them leave. However, Jean and most of Eren’s friends, including Mikasa, Armin, Reiner, Bertholdt, Sasha, Christa, and Ymir choose to join the Scouts, despite their fears.
While the episode is quite emotional, such as Eren’s friends signing up for the Scouts, it’s mostly without action and most of it is again exposition and doesn’t further the plot very much. In the end, the Scouts leave for their expedition to Shiganshina.
2nd Best - Wall (E25)
The season finale, “Wall” is the perfect culmination for the first season of the show. The first half of the episode is action-packed, with Eren and Annie trading blows, and Eren almost eating her. After Annie and Eren fight and Eren comes out victorious, Annie encases herself in a hardened cocoon to prevent being questioned.
Meanwhile, Erwin Smith is arrested for the damage his plan to capture Annie has caused and is taken to a government inquiry, where he reveals his plan to use Titans to reclaim Wall Maria.
2nd Worst - Wound (E12)
Eren transforms into a Titan again, but he turns on Mikasa instead, as he loses control of his Titan form. While the episode is action-packed, the entire episode is centered around Eren trying to regain control of his Titan form. It does nothing for the plot except stand as filler. Meanwhile, Jean has to hide from Titans in a house after damaging his ODM gear.
While there are some good scenes such as Armin helping Eren take control and the squad protecting Eren even when he has turned on them, overall the episode does nothing to further the plot. The cutaways to Jean were also quite distracting and filler.
Best - Crushing Blow (E21)
The best episode in the season, “Crushing Blow” sees most of the Scouts destroyed by the Female Titan in the woods. While Levi Squad tells Eren to trust them, they all soon get killed, and Eren, crushed with guilt and despair, transforms into a Titan to fight the Female Titan. However, she soon defeats him, and the episode ends in a cliffhanger with her swallowing Eren and running away.
Viewers can see the guilt, pain, and fear that Eren feels at losing his fellow members of Levi Squad, and feel his anger when he transforms into the Titan. The action is beautifully animated like always, with excellent voice acting by the entire cast.
Worst - A Dim Light Amid Despair (E03)
The lowest rated episode of season 1, “A Dim Light Amid Despair” is certainly not bad, but it fails to live up to the expectations set by the previous two episodes and is not able to match the awesomeness of the later episodes. In all fairness, however, the first few episodes of any series are a bit boring, as they have to set up the series in an interesting way.
The episode shows viewers Eren’s determination and beliefs, but it comes off as way too over-the-top. Anime voice acting and movements are often anything but subtle, but Eren and Jean’s argument and subsequent brawl were laughably extra dramatic, serving as little more than filler.
