"The year 850." "Trost District." "The sight of Eren Jaeger triggering his mysterious Titan ability was more than enough to strike terror into the hearts of his fellow soldiers." "I-I'm human!" "He is not an enemy of humanity!" "For humanity's glory, in what little time I have left to live," "I will continue to advocate his strategic value!" "As Eren and friends desperately pleaded, only one man spoke up for them:" "Dot Pyxis, the top officer in charge of the entire southern territory." "Something tells me we ought to hear these people out, you see..." "Unknown are the names of the flowers that have been trampled" "Birds have fallen to the earth and long for the wind" "Prayers won't solve anything" "Only the will to fight can change the here and now!" "O pigs who laugh at the resolve to walk over corpses to move forward" "Livestock complacency?" "False prosperity?" "Give us the freedom of dying, starving wolves!" "The humiliation of being caged is what triggers us to fight back" "We hunters slaughter prey beyond the castle walls, consumed with surging bloodlust, as our crimson bows and arrows pierce scarlet holes into the twilight" ""Idol"" "The Struggle for Trost, Part 7" "I'll do it!" "I don't know if I can plug the hole or not!" "But..." "I'll do it!" "Well said!" "You're a real man!" "Calling all staff officers!" "We have a plan to put together!" "Huh?" "!" "You can't be serious!" "It was just some half-baked plan I came up with on the spot!" "We're actually going through with it?" "!" "That's what I thought too, but there's no point in doubting his decision." "Commander Pyxis must be envisioning something that we can't yet see." "Something we can't see?" "Plus, I think there's a bigger issue that needs to be addressed before we can carry out the plan." "And the commander is keenly aware of it." "Which would be?" "That the Titans aren't the only enemy." "Time is of the essence." "We're counting on you, young soldiers." "An operation to retake Trost?" "!" "They can't be serious!" "We have no way to plug that hole in the gate!" "What is the top brass thinking?" "!" "Setting foot in Trost means a pointless death!" "Since we can't block the hole, defending Wall Rose's gate is our only real option now!" "Damn it!" "They want glory that badly?" "!" "Back into that hell again?" "No!" "I don't wanna die!" "Let me see my family!" "Hey, Daz!" "Not so loud!" "You, there!" "I heard that!" "Do you intend to abandon your duty?" "!" "Yes, I do!" "There's nothing to be had or gained by this pointless act of mass suicide!" "What do you take humanity for?" "!" "Rules for?" "!" "It's within my authority to execute you on the spot, you know!" "That's fine by me!" "It's a hundred times better than getting eaten by Titans!" "Stop, Daz!" "Stop!" "Let go!" "I refuse to go back to that hellhole!" "Whoa, did you hear that?" "Can't say I blame him..." "Hey, do you think any of us will be traitors too?" "I wish I could choose how I die..." "You two!" "I-I was only joking!" " Do it!" " Huh?" "Make all sorts of noise!" "With as many of you as possible!" "Lots of us in the Garrison Regiment are unhappy about this too!" "I'll use the commotion to get out of here!" "To get out of here and go where?" "To see my daughter!" "They're gonna break through this wall anyway!" "It's said that before the Titans ruled the land, humankind consisted of people of different races and creeds, and that they perpetually fought with and killed each other." "Supposedly someone back then said that if a powerful enemy that wasn't human ever appeared, humanity would likely cease its fighting and come together as one." "What is your opinion?" "I'd never heard that story before." "I'd say... it's a pretty laid-back attitude." "It's enough to make me yawn." "You have a twisted mind, just like me." "Even now, when a powerful enemy has driven us into a corner," "I would hardly say that we've "come together."" "Indeed." "If we don't get our act together soon, even fighting will be tough." "Eren?" "!" "He's all right..." "Focus on my work?" "Who does that punk think he is, bossing a superior officer around?" "Judging from his attitude, Mikasa and Armin must be okay, too." "Still..." "Why is he at the commander's side?" "Would you like some?" "Thank you, Sir!" "Kill me!" "If you're gonna execute me, just do it already!" "All right!" "Let's do it!" "Attention!" "I will now explain to you the details of the Trost Recovery Operation!" "The objective of this operation is to seal the hole in the demolished gate!" "Huh?" "Seal it?" "How?" "As for how we'll accomplish this, let me start by introducing this fellow!" "This is Eren Jaeger, a member of the Cadets!" "E-Eren?" "!" "He is the successful result of our top-secret Titan transformation experiments!" "He is able to fabricate a Titan's body and control it at will!" "Uhh, the commander isn't making much sense." "It's not just 'cause I'm stupid, right?" "!" "Just be quiet." "You idiot." "In Titan form, he will lift that giant rock near the front gate, carry it to the wrecked gate, and seal the hole!" "As for you, you're to defend him from the other Titans while he carries the rock!" "There's no need to fight the Titans?" "!" "I-I'm sorry!" "I didn't mean to interrupt!" "I know I'm just a Cadet..." "That's okay." "Continue." "Right." "Normally, Titans respond to large groups of people by pursuing them." "So if we were to use a large group to lure them to the edge of the wall," "I believe we could draw the Titans away from Eren without having to fight." "Additionally, once these Titans have been lured away, we could take them out with cannons without incurring any casualties." "However, we can't afford to leave Eren defenseless, so a small squad of elite soldiers would need to go and protect him." "Plus, there's no avoiding any Titans that come through the hole." "The elite squad will need to be able to handle them." "All right, then." "We'll rethink the plan around that." "However, this is all based on the assumption that Eren can pick up the rock and seal the hole." "I must admit I have my doubts about carrying out this plan with so little assurance to go on..." "Indeed, I have misgivings about sending so many people to their deaths based entirely on one big "if,"" "but I understand Commander Pyxis' assessment too." "Yes." "One of the issues is time." "As we speak, Titans continue to pour into the town." "The more filled the town gets, the worse our chances of successfully retaking it become." "And the chances of them breaking through Wall Rose go up, too." "And there's one other issue..." "People can only be driven by fear for so long." "He's going to pick up that humongous rock?" "!" "Is that really possible?" "Has humankind finally surmounted the Titans?" "!" "You're lying!" "I refuse to give my life for this ridiculous nonsense!" "What do you take us for?" "!" "We're not disposable blades, you know!" " He says he's a human weapon!" " He's obviously just lying!" "Treatin' us like fools!" "I ain't gonna die here today!" "I'm outta here!" "M-Me too!" "Me too!" "Count me out, too!" "Wait!" "Don't make me execute you!" "I'm going to spend humanity's final moments with my family!" "This isn't good." "Indeed." "We'll lose all order if we don't do something." "Prepare yourselves, lousy traitors!" "I'll cut you down where you stand!" "By my order all who leave now are absolved of their crime!" "Those who've succumbed to the Titans' terror once before can never face them again!" "Anyone who has already experienced their horror may leave!" "And, those who want their family and loved ones to experience that same horror may leave as well!" "Daddy!" "Anything but that..." "My daughter is all the hope I have left!" "Let's discuss four years ago!" "Namely, the operation to retake Wall Maria!" "I'm sure none of this needs saying!" "Calling it a "recovery operation" gave it a nice ring, but it was essentially a way to dispose of the unemployed masses that the government couldn't support!" "The reason no one has spoken out about it is because sending them outside is what has allowed us to survive inside these cramped walls!" "All of humanity... myself included... is guilty!" "Conflict never arose simply because Wall Maria's citizens were in the minority!" "But what about now?" "!" "If Wall Rose falls, humanity will lose much more than 20% of its population!" "Wall Sina wouldn't be able to support even half of the people still alive!" "If we humans go extinct, it won't be because we were eaten by Titans!" "It'll be because we killed ourselves off!" "We cannot afford to die any further inside." "I kindly ask of you!" "Please die here!" "I don't know if I can lift that rock with my Titan ability or not." "But I understand what my role is." "Even if it's false, I have to succeed." "I have to serve as everyone's hope!" "Looks like you're all here." "You have but one mission:" "to protect Eren Jaeger and eliminate any risks that arise during the operation." "It will probably be the most dangerous and difficult mission of the entire operation." "It's no exaggeration to say that how you fare out there will decide the fate of all humankind." "Sir." "May I ask a question?" "What is it?" "Are you really sure about this "human weapon" of yours?" "Quit it, Rico." "You have your doubts too, don't you?" "Sir." "This plan is based entirely on the incredible uncertainty that is Eren Jaeger." "If he doesn't do as planned, many soldiers will die for nothing!" "Troubling, indeed." "Are you that fond of losing to the Titans?" "Personally, I hate it." "I hate losing more than anything else." "But, astonishingly enough, I've been on the losing side for all my life." "I want to win against the Titans." "I want to prevail over those oafs, no matter what it takes." "N-No, we feel the same way, Sir!" "Then the only option is to take a gamble on him." "Because what you call "an incredible uncertainty"" "is our one and only chance of achieving victory over the Titans." "Sir." "It's time for the decoy operation to begin." "Mm." "Ian Dietrich." "Rico Brzenska." "Mitabi Jarnach." "You are the very best of the best of the Garrison Regiment." "The fate of humanity is in your hands." "Sir!" "Ian." "You'll lead the squad." "I leave all on-site decision-making to you." "Huh?" "Me, Sir?" " I have no objections." " Neither do I." "But, Sir, I don't feel competent enough...!" "Never fear." "You have an understanding of alcohol." "Sir?" "You can discern when a drink is good, bad, or both." "So I leave it to you." "Yes, Sir!" "Eren." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to force all the responsibility onto your shoulders like this." "I told you before, remember?" "You have the ability to make the right call." "I have faith in that." " Eren." "I really think I should..." " Don't even think of coming with me." "They assigned you to the decoy squad." "But I can't leave you all alone!" "It'll happen again if..." "Enough, already!" "I told you before!" "I'm not your little brother or your kid!" "Ackermann." "Join the elite squad that'll protect Jaeger." "We'll need your skills." "Let's go." "It's time to begin!" "See you, Armin." "Don't die, you hear?" "Mm." "You too, Eren." "He called you a top-secret human weapon, but as long as you can seal that hole, I don't care!" "We'll protect you at all costs!" "We're counting on you!" "Right!" "Eren." "Are you all right?" "Yeah!" " Eren." " Seriously, I'm fine!" "I'm much better than when we were surrounded!" "Quit playing house, Jaeger!" "It isn't like that!" "I can't believe the fate of mankind rests in the hands of a coddled brat like you..." "That's enough, all of you!" "We're almost to the shortest route to the rock." "I don't see any Titans in the area." "Their decoy tactic must be working." "Listen!" "All we have to do is lure them into a corner of town!" "Avoid any unnecessary fighting!" "Just so you're aware, Jaeger..." "More than just a few soldiers will likely die during this operation." "All for you." "Our colleagues, our seniors, and our juniors." "They're prepared to die, of course." "They're soldiers." "But, they aren't faceless pawns." "Steady!" "Not yet!" "Almost!" "Break away!" "They have names, families, and hopes and dreams of their own." "Alyosha." "Dominic." "Fine." "Isabel." "Ludwig." "Martina." "Guido." "Hans." "They're all real people, flesh and blood." "Some have been living under the same roof since their cadet days." "And many of these people could end up dying for you today." "It's your duty to make sure their deaths aren't in vain." "Regardless of what happens." "Keep that in your pampered mind and fulfill your duty with dead seriousness." "I will!" "I'm gonna do this!" "I absolutely will succeed!" "Not once has humanity ever achieved victory over the Titans since they first appeared!" "For every step the Titans have taken forward, humanity has continually been forced to draw back and give up its territory!" "However, should this operation succeed, humanity will have taken back land from the Titans for the very first time!" "This is the spot!" "Let's go!" "It will be the first time humankind has achieved victory over the Titans!" "Green smoke shell sighted!" "Elite Squad has commenced operation!" "Indeed, it may seem extraordinarily small when compared to what humanity has given up this far!" "However!" "For humankind, that single, small step will be a great leap forward!" "In terms of body proportion, it's hard to believe he'll be able to pick up that rock." "But I'm sure Eren has the great strength to lead us forward." "Eren?" "Your dreams are where your heart is" "They're more fragile than life itself" "Over and over you cast them aside, only to find more" "Now, rest in peace" "Pounding impulses defile the things we wish for and the more we forget the more we remember again" "In this beautiful, cruel world all I can do is ask why we're still alive" "Oh, with our strength...and our weakness... what are we going to protect if there's no sense to anything anymore?" "The Trost Recovery Operation has begun." "As countless soldiers meet their deaths," "Eren goes on a rampage in Titan form and destroys his own head." "But, just when it seems the operation has ended in failure..." ""Wound"" "The Struggle for Trost, Part 8"