104th Training Corps Arc - Attack on Titan
The 104th Training Corps Arc is the third story arc of Season 1 of Attack on Titans, taking place during Episodes 3 and 4, and the third story arc in the Attack on Titan manga, from Chapters 15-18.
The 104th Training Corps Arc Part 1
Season 1, Episode 3 - ‘A Dim Light Amid Despair: Humanity’s Comeback, Part 1’
Episode 3:
- Aired April 21, 2013 (Original) May 17, 2014 (English)
- Directed by Kiyoshi Fukumoto
- Written by Hiroshi Seko
Episode 4 shows the harsh training in the Trost District, a town bordered by the Wall Rose, that the 104th Training Corps go through. In the opening of the episode, Sasha Blouse is punished for eating a potato during a briefing, having to run around the camp until sundown, with no food or water.
Eren Jaeger develops animosity towards Jean Kirtchstein, whose goal to have a safe, easy life within the Walls in the Military Police Brigade completely contradicts Eren’s own objective: to join the Scout Regiment and ”kill every last Titan.”
The episode focuses in particular on their omni-directional mobility apparatus, gear that allows the scout to ‘fly’ around using two grappling hooks and cables connected at their waists. Eren struggles with balancing on the cables meant to simulate the gear’s movements and asks Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover, two other recruits, to help him practice, as nearly every other recruit has mastered the technique and passed the test. They train together, but Eren shows little to no improvement. In the end, Eren manages to pass the test the next day after it is discovered the omni-directional mobility apparatus that he was using was faulty.
The 104th Training Corps Arc Part 2
Season1, Episode 4 - ‘The Night of the Closing Ceremony: Humanity’s Comeback, Part 2’
Episode 4:
- Aired April 28, 2013 (Original) May 24, 2014 (English)
- Directed by Makoto Bessho
- Written by Yasuko Kobayashi
It is the year 850, five years after the Fall of Shiganshina. The recruits, now two years into their enlistment, undergo hand-to-hand combat training with each other. Eren spars with Reiner, disarming him. He then spots Annie Leonhart seemingly avoiding practice, and challenges her to spar with him. She easily overcomes him twice, disarming him with ease. She also spars with Reiner, who is warned by Eren to not back down against her. Reiner is also quickly disarmed, to his surprise. Annie speaks about her disapproval of the current system, feeling that it is hypocritical that only the best soldiers who graduate can join the Military Police Brigade, when their strength would be used best in the Scout Regiment. Reiner tells Annie he thinks she is unsuitable to become a soldier.
Mikasa Ackerman, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Annie Leonhart, Eren Jaeger, Jean Kirstein, Marco Bott, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse, and Krista Lenz graduate as the top ten ranking recruits in the 104th Training Corps, respectively. This means they are able to choose to join the Military Police Brigade to avoid fighting Titans, but Eren declines and joins the Scout Regiment, the first line of Titan defence and combat. Mikasa and Armin join him, and join with several other recruits, including Annie Leonhart, Krista Lenz, Ymir, Connie Springer, and Thomas Wagner, considering joining them as well.
On their way through Trost District, Eren and Mikasa run into Hannes, the Garrison city guard from Episode 1 and 2 who has now been promoted to Captain, who pulled them away from the wreckage of their house in the Shiganshina District, and helped them flee inside Wall Rose. Hannes apologizes again to Eren for not staying to fight the Smiling Titan who devoured Carla Jaeger, Eren’s mother, explaining that he was not brave enough, and congratulating the recruits on their graduation.
The recruits celebrate their graduation while on their patrol, positioned at the canons on the top of Wall Rose. Thomas Wagner apologizes to Eren for doubting his intentions in joining the Scout Regiment, now believing in Eren’s motivations after listening to his passionate speech when he chose not to join the Military Police Brigade. Sasha also reveals that she stole meat from the high-ranking officers’ storehouse for them to eat together, not scared of being caught despite her harsh punishments for eating food in the previous episode.
Episode 4 ends with the sudden appearance of the Colossal Titan at Wall Rose in a blinding flash of lightning, who once again breaches the gate, allowing for Titans to swarm through. Startled and overwhelmed with emotion, Eren momentarily loses his composure, but quickly regains it and calls for a counterattack, leading the Scout Regiment into combat against the Colossal Titan at the wall, and the many normal Titans coming in through the destroyed gate. He vows to get justice against the Titan who destroyed his home town five years ago, and who is responsible for his mother’s death.