I don't know if it was just me, maybe it was. But this chapter finally, finally(!) made me actually feel and connect with a character in this series. Most of the time I see them as distant, weird, borderline sociopaths who I can't connect with, and that's affected my enjoyment of the series since the beginning. I like the story progression and all of that, but the characters themselves… I don't know. But this chapter made me reflect on the evolution of the series and the interactions between Reiner and the others, the double life they led and the duality of how the continentals look at the islanders and how the islanders look at themselves. It finally ressonated with me. It's been a long time coming. Now I feel like I'm ready to read the final conflict.
Cool that someone else felt that way. Rainer and Berthold really lived a shitty life.