Review by Frank Plowright

This volume opens on the defensive wall with the troops counting the cost of the battle they’ve just escaped from. Not everyone escaped, and as seen in Attack on Titan 12, the cost of retrieving Eren even involves serious injury to the seemingly invincible Mikasa.

In the confusion of the battle last time a mystery was why the Titans suddenly stopped attacking. Hajime Isayama rapidly drops a theory about that, simultaneously establishing why Eren is of such value despite having to be rescued again and again. If true, it’s a game changer. Isayama continues in disclosure mode, revealing how a Titan attack occurred within the outer walls, yet without them having been breached. It’s ingenious. Because Attack on Titan can be so action-oriented, it distracts from what a devious plotter Isayama is.

He’s also an eccentric. What other creator would work their way to a dramatic moment requiring a large head shot and then cover a third of it with a massive word balloon as per the sample art? For someone who spends a lot of time drawing pages, he’s not precious about covering the art.

The plot moves forward with a decision that Eren and Krista need to be protected at all costs, and the best way to do this is in a remote location in the company of a few troops they consider friends. However, while Eren’s in the vicinity, perhaps there’s a way he can put his talents to good use via a plan suggested some volumes back, with no time to try it since.

Also included is a heartbreaking flashback to Historia’s youth, some tests on Eren, and with the Titans temporarily out of the picture, Isayama again turns his attentions to the sinister military police and their narrow view of how to protect people. And who do they answer to?

This form of plot differs from what’s been served for the past few volumes, and so provides a welcome change and a reminder that not everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet. It’s a thriller all the way to a decision made at the end, and can be found combined with Attack on Titan 14 in the fifth Omnibus edition.