Outside the Walls of Orvud District (Chapter)

"I didn't want him to hate me...But now...I have to say goodbye."

- Historia accepts that Rod Reiss must die

Outside the Walls of Orvud District (オルブド区外壁) is the 1st chapter of the 17th volume and the 67th chapter overall of the Attack on Titan manga, written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama.

Overview
Eren is extracted from his Titan form, which has hardened and supported the imploding cave. After he is taken out, Connie secures an exit from the cave and Squad Levi leaves. The ground above the cave has cracked open and in the distance a Titan can be seen. Levi then orders that everyone follow it and after retrieving Hange, they discuss possibly making Rod Reiss gain the Titan's power, which Hange dubs the "Progenitor Titan", by feeding Eren to him, but they instead go with Historia's idea that the Progenitor Titan power can be used without Reiss blood, which is why Grisha Yeager stole it. They then plan to kill Rod Reiss and station a base in Orvud District where he is being drawn toward. Reuniting with Erwin Smith and the Survey Corps, they halt the evacuation of the district to continue drawing the crawling Titan towards the Wall. At the brink of dawn, the soldiers station themselves atop the Wall and ready for the fight to kill Rod Reiss.

Summary
Eren appears in a strange, half transformed state, where his spine, ribs, head, and a single arm are developed with no skin or muscles except for his head. He hears Mikasa calling out to him and snaps out of a daze as Mikasa and Jean frantically pull him out of his complete Titan which sits within the underground of the Reiss chapel, completely hardened. The solid Titan has large peaks of hardened flesh jutting out from it and its surrounding areas, supporting the previously collapsing cave. Connie happily tells Sasha that they are now able to escape the cave, and Sasha relays the message to Squad Levi within. Sasha then realizes Eren has escaped his Titan and goes down to the ground to congratulate him on saving them all, but mentions she was worried when he started wailing and running in a creepy way. Eren looks around at the hardened Titan as Levi explains that it has hardened and did not disappear even after Eren was extracted from it. Eren questions where the "Armor" bottle was before Historia shows him Rod Reiss' bag which contained the armor bottle, along with other serums, however they had all been crushed or the liquid had evaporated. Levi explains that there may be other serums somewhere else and that after drinking the contents of the bottle, Eren was able to harden for the first time and protect his friends from heat and falling debris. He also states that while Eren lacked the knowledge to do something like that, he was able to create a building in an instant and that the Walls may have been built that way as well. With this, they may be able to fill Wall Maria's breach. Eren thinks to himself that if they take back Wall Maria they will be able to reach his basement, but he then remembers his father, Grisha Yeager, killing the children and mother of the Reiss family. Connie then exclaims that Levi must come out of the cave to see something.

As Armin helps Eren out of the cave, he states he is relieved Eren and Historia are both safe. Eren sees a huge split in the earth with the pillars of the cave below supporting the ground above. Armin claims that the earth had cracked open and a Titan had crawled out of it. Eren questions the Titan in the distance, which is crawling on it is stomach with its head down on the ground. Armin states that the Titan looks twice as big as the Colossus Titan and that it must be very hot due to the trees surrounding it lighting up in flames. He then says that it is surprising how the Titan is uninterested with the squad. Jean questions if it is an Abnormal Titan and Armin says that it would be unless it was controlled by Rod. Levi orders his squad to follow the Titan with him and to be careful that the First Interior Squad may be hiding in the surroundings.

The squad mounts their horses and hitches their wagons as they walk towards the crawling Titan. Hange, lying in a cart with Eren and Historia, holds her shoulder wound and tiredly says that they will consider the power within Eren to be the "Progenitor Titan" and that the Progenitor Titan can only show its true value when used by someone with the Reiss families blood. Hange also states that even if a member of the family obtains that power, they are controlled by the ideology of the First King and humanity can not be freed from the Titans. Hange laughs slightly, saying it is really interesting that according to the First King this would be real peace, and that it sounded funny. Eren says that they can still choose to let him get eaten by the Titan, that Rod will become human again and that it is still possible to give him the Progenitor Titan power. Mikasa is shocked as Levi agrees with Eren's statement, saying they can restrain Rod and after he becomes a human undo the brainwashing and that if they can do that it may be possible to save humanity. He then asks if Eren means to say he is prepared to do that, and Eren agrees. Mikasa begins to voice her opinion but is interrupted by Historia who says that there is another possibility. Historia explains that there are issues with giving Rod Reiss the Progenitor Titan powers, claiming that the Reiss family has been unsuccessfully trying to undo the brainwashing for decades. She also claims that if Rod tampers with humanity's memories there is nothing they will be able to do and that there are a lot of other things that they are unable to predict now that could go wrong. She states that if anything, now that they have taken away the Progenitor Titan power, there is actually a one in a million chance for humanity and that Eren's father had tried to save humanity from the First King. Historia claims that Eren's father stole the Progenitor Titan power from her sister, Frieda Reiss, and killed the Reiss family because he had no other choice. Shocked, Eren remembers his father saying that if he wants to save Armin, Mikasa, and everyone he must find a way to control this power as he gave Eren the key and injected him with the Titan serum. Armin agrees, saying there was no way Dr. Yeager would do something like that for no good reason, as Mikasa agrees and states that there must be a way to save humanity without the Reiss family's blood and that was the reason he left Eren with the key. Sasha states the basement's extreme importance and Connie agrees with her while Jean states that they had finally found a way to cover the hole and that there was only one choice. Hange agrees with the choice but asks if Historia will be alight with it, pointing at the Titan and stating that it can not be left wandering around in the Walls or restrained due to it is size, and that she will have to kill her father. Historia blankly stares at the Titan, remembering her father apologizing to her when she was first captured. She then apologizes to Eren, saying she really did plan on killing him, but not for humanity's sake. She claims that she wanted to believe her father was right and she did not want him to hate her. However, she then states that now she will have to part from him.

Several Survey Corps members surround the crawling Titan. Soldiers, including Erwin Smith, warn others to stay back from the Titan and that they will burn. Erwin then notices familiar faces and a soldier exclaims that it is Squad Levi and that they have managed to rescue Eren and Historia. Eren begins shouting at the Titan trying to use the Coordinate skill to stop it. He does not succeed and Hange states that it is not reacting at all. Hange then questions if Eren did anything else beside screaming the last time he used the skill and Eren claims that he was desperate. He remembers punching a Titan's hand before it was devoured, he then tried to punch the air and stop the crawling Titan but again failing. Levi notices Erwin in the distance and they regroup. Erwin questions how everyone is holding up, Levi states that only Hange is wounded. As Hange excitedly greets Erwin, he states it does not appear to be too serious. He states that he did a good job and Levi claims that Eren's screaming is not working and that he has countless things to report to Erwin. Erwin then asks who the crawling Titan is, and Levi states that it is Rod Reiss. He then asks for the Commander's opinion on a matter.

Within the Orvud District, the district's Garrison commander questions Erwin's motives for stopping the citizens from evacuating, claiming the Titan will be there before dawn. Hange states that it is an Abnormal Titan and the soldier questions the meaning towards that. Hange explains that the target is attracted by densely populated areas. Hange explains that it is so extreme that it completely ignored small villages and came directly to the Walled town. She says that if the people are evacuated, the Titan will destroy Wall Sheena to follow them and that in the end it will go for the most populated areas of Mitras and bring about destruction there. Erwin claims that in other words, they must kill that Titan on the outer Wall of the Orvud District and that the people must act as a decoy. He then states that it does not change the fact that as soldiers, their mission is to protect people's lives and that even if they are unable to kill the Titan, they will make sure no citizens are killed. He says they will use an evacuation test as an excuse so that they are able to move fast into the inner part of Wall Sheena if needed. After brief thought, the Garrison soldier agrees if that is the only way. Erwin claims that because the Titan is so large, it is slow and easy to hit and that the fixed cannons on the Walls are capable but in the case that they are not, they will use the best team in the survey corps with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. The people within the room all glance toward them and Eren looks down slightly with a sweat.

Atop the Walls, Connie states that after waking the people up so early for an evacuation drill he is surprised there was not an insurrection. Jean states that the military even took over the crown. Mikasa looks down at Sasha and asks why she has not eaten anything, Sasha claims she is not hungry and Eren questions if she is okay. Connie claims he is not hungry either, and Jean claims it may be because they have been killing people. Surprised, Eren looks over at him and Jean states that a lot happened and even after it all, the day is still not over. Sasha says she believes there is still hope if they can just pull through their current ordeal, while Armin counters saying that if they do fail humanity will be forced to play the worst game of hide and seek against the Titan inside the Walls. This prompts Connie to wonder why the king had to go and do something so stupid in the first place. Historia appears equipped with her vertical maneuvering equipment, claiming that it was her fault. Jean asks why Historia is dressed like that and states that she should not be here. Levi then calls out to her and says she can not participate in this fight, claiming that they had ordered her to stay in a safe place and then asks what she is trying to do. Historia claims that she came to settle a matter with her destiny. She says that Levi told her to choose whether to run away or fight when he previously intimidated her into becoming the next queen. Levi then states that they are out of time as the crawling Titan approaches the Wall and is almost within fighting distance.

Trivia

 * This chapter contains the first instance of the sun rising in the west as opposed to the east, supporting Hajime Isayama's statement that the sun in the Attack on Titan world rises in the west and sets in the east, a mirror of its path across the sky in the real world.