Attack on Titan (manga)/Recap/S1/E01 To You, in 2000 Years -The Fall of Shiganshina, Part 1

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


And just like that, everything changed. At that terrible moment, in our hearts, we knew... "home" was a pen... and humanity, cattle.
—English Dub
Tropes used in Attack on Titan (manga)/Recap/S1/E01 To You, in 2000 Years -The Fall of Shiganshina, Part 1 include:
  • I Will Only Slow You Down: Why Eren's mom insisted on being abandoned.
  • Parting Words Regret: Eren wasn't well behaved before his mom died. Well the regret is apparent in the english dub. Its not as apparent, if its even there, in the japanese english-subtitled version.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: Moses' grieving mother, seeking comfort, begs/demands the commander of the scout regiment to tell her that her son was brave, and that his death meant something. The commander says that her son was brave, but his death was meaningless. The commander says that every injury, every death, that the scout regiment has ever suffered, was in vain, because in its entire history, it has accomplished nothing of value.
  • Take a Third Option: Subverted. Eren's mom begs Hannes to abandon her and to save the children. He then faces the Titan, thinking, at first he could kill it, and save the both the children and Eren's mom. But then he chickens out. And carries the children to safety. Although we have barely seen Titans fighting trained soldiers so far, based on the scene where the scout regiment returns, and that whole 'pushed us to the brink of extinction' thing, we know that Titans are exceedingly dangerous. Add to that he hasn't taken his job very seriously until the Titans finally breach the walls, which makes it safe to assume he hasn't really been keeping up his training. Later on Mikasa says that they would have died without him carrying them off. Further more it was revealed that the knowledge about Titans at that time was really bad. So if Hannes tried to invoke this trope, meaning tried to defeat the Titan, it would be surprising if that wouldn't be throwing his life away, leading to the death of all involved (aside from the Titan).