Board Thread:Manga/@comment-27321453-20200308161511/@comment-1327106-20200309174253

Neetaku wrote: So... Yelena's backstory is that she became disillusioned with Marley, and decided as a result to help Zeke euthanize Eldia? I also don't understand why she would need to lie to everyone about her background. If anything, being a Marleyan who has defected to help the countries Marley has oppressed would make Yelena look even better to her allies.

I don't think she'd look better to potential allies if she had been open about being Marleyan. I'd argue she'd look worse. If person from powerful majority group come to oppressed minority and said "Hey, I totally could help you guys," the oppressed group could rightfully say, "Well, what you have done so far?" (i.e. "Why should we trust you when no one else from your group has done anything about it?").

Think about the Association to Protect the Subjects of Ymir in Marley. As an Eldian, would you have any confidence in the help you could get from them?

By pretending to be a member of a similarly oppressed group, Yelena can tap immediately into that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" mojo that she wouldn't get if she presented as Marleyan.