The world breaks Levi before he ever joins the Survey Corps, then shows you the exact moment he stops being angry and becomes loyal instead. Two episodes compress what should take a season into pure visual storytelling, with animation that makes rain and concrete feel like character development. By the end, you understand why Erwin is the only person Levi will ever follow without question, and what it cost both of them to get there.

Years before he becomes the celebrated captain of the Survey Corps, Levi scrapes by in the Underground, the capital's garbage dump, running a small criminal outfit with fellow crooks Isabel Magnolia and Farlan Church. Offered citizenship on the surface by anti-expedition faction leader Nicholas Lobov, the trio agrees to assassinate Survey Corps squad leader Erwin Smith. When the two men meet, Erwin recognizes Levi's speed and skill and gives him a choice: join the expedition team or be handed to the Military Police. Now close to their target, the group plots to finish the job, only to find that life aboveground carries its own heavy costs. The two-episode prequel OVA mixes action, drama and fantasy as it shows how Levi and Erwin first crossed paths and follows the 23rd expedition beyond the walls.