Above and Below (Chapter)

"I don't trust Marley. I pray that Eldians will be freed. But I do trust those who've fought beside me!"

- Pieck explains her loyalties to Gabi Braun Above and Below (天地) is the 2nd chapter of the 29th volume and the 116th chapter overall of the Attack on Titan manga, written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama.

Overview
Pieck lowers her gun and tells Eren Yeager that she cannot shoot him because she suspects that he has a way to use the Founding Titan to defeat Marley, and she wishes to liberate the Eldians in the internment zones. As a proof of her intentions, she offers to show Eren the location of her fellow spies in Paradis. Meanwhile, Yelena fills in the captured Survey Corps soldiers on the details of Zeke Yeager's euthanasia plan for the Subjects of Ymir.

Eren accepts Pieck's offer, and the latter takes Eren and Yelena to the roof of the prison. However, it turns out to be a ruse to lure Eren outside so Porco Galliard can attempt to eat him. Galliard is unable to do more than sever Eren's legs though, before Eren transforms into his Titan. Overhead, an airship fleet led by Theo Magath appears and identifies the smoke signal from Pieck and Galliard, announcing that they have located the Founding Titan.

Summary
As Pieck aims her pistol at Eren Yeager, she orders Gabi Braun to take the dead soldier's rifle and to point it at Eren. She then tells Eren to take his hands out of his pockets or she will shoot him. Eren calls her out, saying that if she truly wanted to, she would have already done so, but Pieck's mission is to capture the Founding Titan, which means that she cannot kill him without eating him. Violating her mission would doom not just her, but her entire family. Pieck makes a show of raising her gun and giving up but says that she had another reason she could not fire. If Eren has the Founding Titan, he might be able to defeat Marley.

Meanwhile, several members of the Survey Corps have tea inside their prison cell along with Niccolo and the Blouse family. Connie Springer asks Armin Arlert if he can use his Colossus Titan to get out, but Armin replies that he could, but if he did so he would blast the entire town and that his Titan is not very precise. Jean Kirstein asks why Eren hit Armin back at the restaurant, and Armin explains how Eren verbally hurt Mikasa Ackerman, so Armin attacked him. Though Jean pushes for details, Mikasa refuses to elaborate. Jean suspects that Eren would not do that without a reason and wonders if there is something else that Eren has in mind.

Yelena, Onyankopon, and Griez arrive outside their prison cell and Yelena greets them as the heroes of Shiganshina. Connie yells at Onyankopon for siding with Yelena, but Onyankopon is unsympathetic, considering that he had been under house arrest and in much the same situation not long before. Jean suspects that Yelena is feeling good considering that so much has gone according to Zeke Yeager's plan. They attacked Marley, they got the support of the Eldian people, and they used the wine spiked with spinal fluid to control the military. With the Founding Titan they can destroy Marley and get revenge for their homelands. Jean calls this the real reason they came to Paradis Island.

Griez says they civilized this island, which was a century behind the rest of the world. This sparks an argument with Niccolo, who calls him a rat who sold them out. Griez is unrepentant though, expressing his dislike for repeatedly hearing about Niccolo's affection for Sasha Blouse and calling her both a harlot and a descendant of devils.

Yelena ends Griez's frustration by swiftly shooting him in the head. She bows as she offers an apology to the imprisoned soldiers. She has no use for anyone who would curse the Eldians as devils and clarifies that the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers' goal has never been about revenge. Instead, they wish to save both Eldia and Marley from the chain of hate. Yelena then explains Zeke's euthanasia plan to them.

Back in Gabi's cell, Pieck explains to Eren why she became a Warrior, and how she would like to show her father a bright future before her term is up. For that to happen, she needs to crush Marley, so she would be willing to help. Beside her, Gabi grapples with the fact that Zeke masterminded the attack on Marley, and now Pieck is also talking about becoming a traitor. She asks what they have been fighting for.

Pieck asks her if they are Marleyans or Eldians, and when Gabi says they are honorary Marleyans, Pieck corrects her, saying they are Subjects of Ymir, which is the one inescapable truth. No matter what they say they are, they will always be people who can turn into Titans. They can keep proving they are "good Eldians" all they want, but they will never be free.

Hearing this, Eren asks Pieck to prove that she is willing to help him. She offers to show him where the other infiltrators are in this town, but they will have to go on the roof for her to point at them.

In their cell, the captured Survey Corps soldiers absorb what the euthanasia plan means for the Eldian race. Yelena calls it a peaceful end. When Jean points out that the population will eventually dwindle to nothing more than the elderly, leaving their country unprotected, Yelena says that they will still use the rumbling as a deterrent. The royal family and the Founding Titan will be maintained, and Historia Reiss already has a successor. The Founder will only need to be passed around until the end of that child's lifetime.

Jean is skeptical that plan will work, and Yelena admits that there are no absolute guarantees, but she is certain that Zeke and Eren will end the threat of the Titans, leaving an impact on human history, long after they are gone. As Armin breaks down and cries at the nobility of the plan, a soldier runs up to Yelena to notify her of enemy infiltrators.

The Yeagerists suit up in anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment, making enough noise that Nile Dok notices the commotion in his cell where he is being held with Falco Grice and a number of other dissenting soldiers.

Eren leads Pieck and Gabi upstairs through the main hall, where Pieck waves at the crowd of Yeagerist soldiers below, which includes a disguised Porco Galliard. As they continue up the building, Eren reveals that Falco is also being held here and that he has been affected by Zeke's spinal fluid. Pieck asks Eren why he knows about Zeke's special ability and if he might know any other secrets. She does not feel that Zeke has been entirely upfront with his fellow Warriors.

They reach the roof before Eren answers, and Pieck and Gabi head outside while Yelena warns him not to trust Pieck. Eren says he does not, the same as another woman he knows. He then tells Pieck to point to the enemy's position.

Pieck clasps Gabi's trembling hand and smiles at her, before turning around and pointing at Eren.

The roof beneath him rumbles and jaws emerge through the stone in an attempt to eat him. Galliard's Jaw Titan fails to capture Eren, severing his legs at the knees, and Eren transforms into his Titan before Galliard can attack him again. Galliard lands on the roof and protects Pieck and Gabi from the force of Eren's transformation.

Gabi is surprised that Pieck did not actually betray Marley. Pieck tells her that while she does not trust Marley, she does trust her friends. She has Gabi look up, and above them is a fleet of airships led by Theo Magath. Magath sees the smoke signal from Pieck and Galliard, notifying the Marleyan military that they have found the Founding Titan. He says that it is time to get revenge for Liberio.

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