By the time 'Attack on Titan' had aired into its third season, most of the major mysteries in its world-building had been more or less unraveled.
Although it still hadn't fully explained what Reiner and the others' "hometown" was, or what the world outside the walls looked like...
At least, viewers now understood why Eren and the others had Titan powers, and had a rough idea of why Reiner and his group infiltrated the walls in the first place.
After exposing the royal family behind Historia and their manipulation of the nobles within the walls during the 'Royal Government Arc', the next major plotline followed the Survey Corps as they prepared to march toward Wall Maria — to the basement of Eren's long-destroyed childhood home — to uncover the world's secrets.
Eren had devoured his father years ago — who had already reached the end of his lifespan — but due to the aftereffects of Titan power inheritance, he had forgotten this fact.
Now, fragments of the Attack Titan's memories were returning to him, but only in pieces, not enough to form anything useful. Thus, the mission to reach the basement was essential.
But before setting out, the entire Survey Corps visited someone else — the home of the Training Corps instructor, who had once trained Eren and the others. He had a few questions to answer for Eren, Erwin, and Levi.
That was the main focus of tonight's newly aired episode.
"Old Thief Jing is dragging things again. The Royal Government Arc is over, they're about to head to Wall Maria, and he still wastes a whole episode stalling?"
"I'm done with this guy. One episode, less than an hour, and half of it was filler talk."
"To be fair, the moment when Historia slammed her father down and refused to devour Eren to steal his Titan power — that was pretty epic. But this episode? The plot didn't move an inch!"
"It's the final stretch! Be clean and direct already, Old Thief, stop stringing us along!"
Many viewers were frustrated by the slow pacing.
It wasn't that the episode was bad, but anticipation for the showdown with Reiner and Bertholdt was so high that anything in between felt like a delay.
The TV version, however, continued to unfold at its own deliberate pace.
As the story progressed, it was revealed that the Training Corps instructor had once been commander of the Survey Corps — and that he knew Eren's mother and father.
He had discovered Eren's father almost twenty years ago outside the walls, suffering from amnesia and wandering aimlessly. Believing him to be a deranged survivor, he brought him back inside the walls.
"Wait, this guy knew Eren's dad?!"
That twist alone quieted most of the audience instantly.
After all, Eren's father was perhaps the most mysterious figure in the entire series — orchestrator of the chaos within the walls, the one who passed Titan powers to his own son, and who murdered the royal family's Founding Titan host.
Reiner and the others had likely come looking for him in the first place.
So where did it all begin?
After entering the walls, Eren's father quickly became known as a skilled doctor. He studied, adapted to wall society, and eventually met Eren's mother, Carla.
This portion of the episode was told from the instructor's point of view — how he saved Eren's father, how he admired his ideals about seeking the truth and making humanity truly free.
But in the end, he realized he was just a normal man — incapable of uncovering the truth, unable to win Carla's love, and ultimately left behind.
During one failed expedition, as he returned with the wounded and dead, Carla — now a mother, holding her child — greeted him on the street and said:
"Are we just supposed to keep fighting until we die?"
A woman he once loved, now in the arms of the man he saved, holding that man's child…
Her words — said not in anger, but with sadness — struck him deep.
"Why do ordinary people get to do nothing and live peacefully until death?
You know what their problem is?
A complete lack of imagination.
Living an entire life doing nothing, just eating, drinking, sleeping, and they feel no shame.
To these mundane, meaningless people, like bartenders who just pour drinks for others…"
In that moment, the instructor broke down.
After countless failures, after sending comrades to die again and again, achieving nothing, only to be told — by someone he once cherished — that his work was meaningless... it shattered him.
In the fan groups:
"Whoa... rage of the powerless."
"Can't really blame the guy. Imagine sacrificing half your life, losing your people, and someone you care about tells you none of it mattered — and you should just be normal instead."
"But what was the point of all this? There are lots of ordinary people in 'Attack on Titan'. This guy was once a commander, sure, but compared to Erwin, his mental strength feels weak."
"[There are special people, but I'm not one of them. Why didn't I realize that?]"
After handing over command to Erwin, the instructor stepped away from the Survey Corps and became a trainer for new recruits.
And now, a long setup came full circle.
Why did Eren survive after eating his father? It turns out, the instructor had found him unconscious nearby. Recognizing him as his friend's son, he took him back to safety.
Eren, having lost his memory, remembered none of it.
"So that's why Eren survived! He was found and saved after inheriting the Titan power!"
"Ah, so that's why we got a whole episode from the instructor's POV — to tie back early foreshadowing!"
"Thank god he wasn't curious enough to follow Eren's dad into the woods. Otherwise, he might've been devoured too!"
"Honestly, this episode is important, but couldn't we have slotted it in after the Reiner battle? Ugh, another action-less week."
"Didn't Old Thief Jing finish filming 'Attack on Titan' already? Why can't he just drop the whole thing?"
"The VFX isn't done yet. Gotta wait for updates."
"Still, I'm bummed. Another week of just dialogue."
But really, this episode was about one thing:
The difference between the gifted and the ordinary.
Eren's father was exceptional — he cured plagues, won Carla's heart, and became a beloved doctor.
The instructor, despite grand ideals, was defeated by reality and retreated to a lesser role.
"Just as the instructor said: I'm not special. I'm only the son of a remarkable man."
Eren, having learned he gained his Titan power by devouring his own father, had been on the edge of a mental breakdown. Even with Mikasa and Armin's support, he was visibly depressed.
Then came the emotional climax.
The instructor looked calmly at Eren — the son of the woman he once loved — and said:
"Your mother, Carla, once told me this…"
The scene flashed back. Carla was holding baby Eren, gently smiling, unshaken by the instructor's earlier insults.
"Is it really not okay to be ordinary?"
No background music played for ten full minutes. Just quiet, raw dialogue.
And then, Carla said:
"I don't think that way.
Even if this child can't become great… it doesn't matter.
Even if he never surpasses anyone… look how adorable he is.
He's already extraordinary — just by coming into this world."
All the emotional buildup, the instructor's rigid worldview, everything came undone in an instant — shattered by a few soft, loving words from Carla.
Many fans watching couldn't hold back their tears.
"Damn… Carla…"
"I don't know why, but I just broke down."
"The instructor wanted to be special to save the world.
Eren's father wanted to be special to fulfill his mission.
Eren wanted to be special to protect others.
But Carla? She didn't care about any of that. She just wanted her son to live."
"I'm crying."
"Carla! The surprise tearjerker of the season!"
"How is Old Thief this good at writing characters? Carla had like 2 minutes of screen time in the first episode, and now 2 more minutes here — and I'm bawling!"
"Wait! Look in the background — that broken training equipment Eren struggled with in episode 2… the instructor broke it on purpose! He wanted Eren to fail and leave the military — to live a safe, normal life!"
"This foreshadowing dates back to episode 2?!"
"I'm wrecked. This episode... just hit different."
"'Is it really not okay to be ordinary?' That line hit me hard."
"Old Thief Jing, you mad genius."
"I take back what I said about this episode being slow or filler. If this had been cut, it would've been a tragedy."
"Old Thief Jing is amazing."
Why was the original 'Attack on Titan' manga ending so hated?
It wasn't because Eren became a one-dimensional villain or because he didn't save his mom.
It was because Carla was too well written.
Nine out of ten fans were deeply moved by her. She wasn't some throwaway side character — she was the emotional anchor of the entire story.
Eren's image was tied to her — a son fighting to avenge his mother.
But then the manga had adult Eren, using the Founding Titan's power, influence the past to let his mom be eaten. That plot twist felt utterly disrespectful.
She wasn't just another background character.
She was Carla, who had twice moved audiences to tears.
To erase all that with two manga pages and turn Eren into a manipulative clown?
Unforgivable.
Thankfully, viewers in Great Zhou didn't know that version of the ending.
At least for now, this episode gave them healing and hope.
'Attack on Titan' wasn't just about violence and survival anymore.
It had warmth, emotion… and someone as simple, beautiful, and extraordinary as Carla.
After this episode aired, the show's reputation surged once again.
Its rating on Yindou.Net jumped from 9.7 to 9.8 — thanks to fans creating alt accounts just to boost it higher.
Major media outlets praised it. Many even declared it the most emotionally powerful episode of the entire series.
Thirty minutes of setup, and one perfect payoff.
This episode not only smoothed over the political fatigue from the Royal Government Arc but also helped resolve Eren's internal struggles.
By the time Eren rode off with the Survey Corps toward Wall Maria, audience hype had reached a new high.
And of course, fans didn't forget to keep heckling Jing Yu on social media.
With no plot holes to pick at, their only frustration was waiting a whole week for more.
So tens of thousands of comments flooded Jing Yu's account every day:
"Old Thief, we beg you—update faster!"