Fall of Shiganshina Arc - Attack on Titan
The Attack on Titan ‘Fall of Shiganshina’ arc occurs over the span of Season 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3 in the anime series, for which the episodes are named. In the Attack on Titan manga the arc spans 2 chapters in the first volume.
Fall of Shiganshina Background Part 1
Season 1, Episode 1 - ‘To You, in 2,000 Years: The Fall of Shiganshina, Part 1’
- Aired April 7th, 2013 (Original) May 3, 2014 (English)
- Directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka, Tetsuro Araki
- Written by Yasuko Kobayashi
The episode and season begins by explaining the history of the Walls Maria, Rose, and Sina (Sheena), and their function of keeping Titans outside of the districts where all humans of Paradis Island live. The three Walls stand 50 meters tall, while almost all Titans range from 3 to 15 meters tall. There hadn’t been a Titan within the walls in over a century.
Titans, giant humanoid creatures who usually have exaggerated or disfigured features, are usually at least 4-5 meters tall. They are unable to speak, ‘feed’ off of sunlight, and have a common goal of devouring as many humans as they can. Titans can only be killed by cutting out an area on the nape of the neck, about one meter long and ten centimeters wide. This is where their central nervous system is located; Titans are able to rapidly heal from wounds to any other part of their bodies, including re-growing whole limbs.
The Shiganshina District is bordered by Wall Maria, the outermost Wall, but ‘juts out’ slightly in a semicircle. The protagonist Eren Jaeger lives in the Shiganshina District, and wishes to explore the outside world, comparing living within the Walls with being a bird inside a cage. To do this, Eren would have to join the Scout Regiment’s Survey Corps; soldiers who scout the land outside of the Walls and engage in direct combat with the Titans to study them, in order to find their weaknesses and attempt to discover where they came from. Their symbol, the Wings of Freedom, represent their hope for humanity.
His mother, Carla Jaeger, and adopted sister Mikasa Ackermann are against Eren joining the Survey Corps, while Eren’s father, Grisha Jaeger, reacts neutrally, promising to show Eren the secret he keeps in the basement when he returns home. Carla asks Mikasa to keep Eren safe, and she agrees. Shortly after, Eren and Mikasa help their friend, Armin Arlelt, in a fight.
With no warning, the 60 meters tall Colossal Titan (also referred to as the Colossus Titan), appears at Wall Maria, breaking down the gate into the Shiganshina district. Normal-sized Titans immediately enter the district, their numbers becoming a swarm. As the town erupts into a panic, Eren and Mikasa rush back home to seek shelter, only to find Carla Jaeger pinned under their collapsed house, wrecked by the debris of the Wall. She convinces them to leave her and seek safety.
Hannes, a Garrison soldier, manages to help Eren and Mikasa flee, but is too overcome with fear to battle the quickly approachingSmiling Titan. As Eren escapes, he watches the Smiling Titan eat his mother. Most of the survivors of Shiganshina retreat into Wall Maria, while soldiers try to hold back the Titans.
Fall of Shiganshina Background Part 2
Season 1, Episode 2 - ‘That Day: The Fall of Shiganshina, Part 2’
- Aired April 14th, 2013 (Original) May 10, 2014 (English)
- Directed by Masashi Koizuka
- Written by Yasuko Kobayashi
While some townsfolk manage to escape inside Wall Rose, the second inner wall, soldiers remain at the gate of the Shiganshina District, trying to hold them off. Most of the district’s population retreat through another gate into the next inner town. Moments later, the Armored Titan breaks through this gate, allowing more Titans to spill through Wall Rose.
It takes approximately a year to secure Wall Rose once more, during which the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan disappear without a trace, and Eren, Mikasa, Armin, as well as the other refugees of the district, remain within Wall Rose. The Shiganshina District is still not secured. Eren also has odd dreams of his father injecting him with something and giving him the key to their basement. He becomes resentful of the people of Wall Maria, who are unwilling to share their food and homes with the refugees, and enraged at the Titans.
Wanting to get stronger, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin decided to join the 104th Training Corps Regiment army and complete five years of training before they are allowed to choose which of the three branches of the army they want to join: the Garrison, the Survey Corps, or the Military Police Brigade. Only the ten highest scoring recruits may choose to join the latter. Eren especially has the overwhelming desire to kill every Titan.
The Shiganshina District arc is later visited again in Season 3 Episode 13 - ‘The Town Where Everything Began’ when Eren and the Survey Corps set out on a special mission to discover what secret rests in his basement.