It seems Historia chocked on some Titan saliva while inside Titan Ymir's mouth. Gross!
Historia decides to become Ymir's ally and come along with her, to do whatever it takes to prevent Ymir from getting killed. The Yumikuri was too strong in those first few minutes.
I also noticed there was a lot of emphasis on the flowers in this episode. The first flower we see is a pink one that is riding down the river and eventually falls over a waterfall. I think that flower represented the Survey Corps, and the way it traveled down the river reminded me of how the Survey Corps were chasing Reiner, Bertolt, and Ymir. The way it fell out of the river and into the waterfall below made me think it represented how everything would fall on the Survey Corps was multitude members of them would be devoured later into the episode. I also think that same flower could represent Ymir and Historia's relationship; it's gentle and sweet as it floats down the river, but when the flower fell over the waterfall, it could be symbolic foreshadowing that their relationship won't end the way we want it to.
The Survey Corps, as well as the few other Recon Corps and Military Police soldiers, catch up. Reiner protects Bertolt and Eren by covering them with his hand. Mikasa tries to kill Ymir but still slices an eye, and Historia tells her to stop. Mikasa doesn't take that, and she presents Historia with a choice: save Eren or save Ymir.
Then Mikasa reaches Bertolt, and we get this creepy yandere moment:
The 104th soldiers try to remind Bertoltof the good times they spent together, leading to Bertolt's breakdown, and let me tell you, Bertolt's VA really delivered! You could really hear the pain in his voice.
And then the second half of the episode reminded us of why Erwin Smith is one of the most badass characters in Attack on Titan. The dude managed to gather a horde of Titans and leads them to charge into Reiner. This slows down Reiner immensely, to the point he has to start tackling Titans until he reaches a standstill.
Erwin then forces all of the military people around to charge into the Titans, leading to a good chunk of deaths. Erwin doesn't care. All that matters is freeing Eren before it's too late. As Erwin continues to lead the charge, this happens:
Erwin gets his arm bitten off by a Titan! Even though he is being dragged away, does that stop him? Nope, he screams at the top of his lungs:
SUSUME!!!!!!!
Seriously, who didn't scream "Susume!" alongside Erwin at that moment? This is easily Erwin's best moment in the series at this point!
When Reiner lowered his hand to expose Bertolt and Eren in order to better plow through the Titans, Mikasa and Armin take the second opportunity to negotiate with Bertolt. It's now Armin's turn to be creepy:
He tells Bertolt that Annie is being tortured in the most painful way possible (even though we viewers know he is lying), and he delivers those words in the most disturbing way you can imagine. Bertolt snaps once again, calling him and the others "spawns of the devil."
Mikasa tries to intervene yet again, but it isn't long before a Titan manages to grab her and crush her ribs. So, what was that about Mikasa being too OP? Because now she just got caught by a Titan even though Eren tried to warn her. Jean manages to save her in the nick of time by blinding the Titan, and that now leaves Eren. Who saves him now that the others had to fall down from Reiner's soldiers?
The one and only Erwin of course!
You have to give this guys props for managing to fly toward Bertolt's location and slicing away Eren's bindings to free him
with just one arm!
The Survey Corps and the accompanying Recon Corps and Military Police finally begin to retreat, but the battle is far from over.
Reiner starts throwing Titans at the time, causing their retreat to come to a standstill! Even Mikasa and Eren end up getting caught in the attack (she managed to grab Eren as he was falling down), and the two end up in a distance away from the group. Flowers surround them again, marking the second time flowers are emphasized here. As they get up, they get a disturbing welcome from a familiar face:
It's the Titan that ate Eren's mom! The Smiling Titan!
And the episode ends right there. Quite the cliffhanger!
This episode definitely earns a 10/10 from me! There was heart-pounding action, there was Yumikuri feels, there was Mikasa and Armin being creepy, there was some interesting symbolism with the flowers, there was Erwin Smith being a badass, and there was Bertolt snapping!