Idol: The Struggle for Trost, Part 7

Idol is the eleventh episode of the Attack on Titan anime. It is produced by Wit Studio and Production I.G. It describes how Stationary Guard lead by Dot Pixis puts their plan to use Eren Yeager to reclaim Trost in action.

Summary
On top of the wall, Eren undertakes Dot Pixis' order, even though he doesn't sure about his power. Pixis smiles after heard Eren's answer, and says that Eren is a real man. After he calls for a staff meeting to make a plan. Armin, believeing his plan to be overly optimistic and not well thought out, Eren reassures him that Pixis knows the situation and will plan accordingly.

When the plan is announced to the soldiers, many are discouraged, believing they don't have the technology to get it done quickly enough. Dazz, once again, starts to panic. Marco tries to quiet him, before he gets in trouble or starts to get to the others. Unfortunately, a nearby officer hears him and says that he could be executed, to which he replies that execution would be preferable to being eaten by a titan. Dazz tries to kill himself using his blades, resulting Marco to stop him. When the others hear Dazz's rout, they start to cause a little bit of a rebellion, with others joining in the refusal.

Meanwhile, Eren and Pixis, unaware of the situation with the soldiers, continue to talk on top of the wall. Pixis tells Eren about a certain legend. When Pixis asks Eren about what he thinks about the legend, Eren answers that he never heard about such a legend and thinks that legend sounds naive. Hearing Eren's answer, Pixis laughes and says that Eren's mind is just like his.

Eren and Pixis continue to walk. They passes Hannes' group. Hannes sees him and is relieved that he is okay, but confused why he is walking alongside the commander. As they move to the edge, Pixis picks a bottle of a drink from inside his vest. After drinking some, he offers Eren if he wants to drink some. Eren replies that he will take it, and accepts the bottle. After taking a sip, Eren spouts the drink immediately.

The chaos still occurs below the wall and seems worse when Pixis and Eren arrive. Pixis takes a deep breath, and addresses the soldiers below, sharply getting their attention. He lays out the plan for the reconquest of Trost by sealing the hole Titans used for entering. The soldiers are wondering how they'll do it, and Pixis introduced Eren to the whole soldiers as the one who will seals it. His friends are shocked when they hear this and Pixis continues introducing Eren as a part of the government top-secret experiment to turn a human into a titan and he can make and control a titan's body. Conny, tells Ymir that he doesn't understand the commander's word and asks if he's just too naive to understand which Ymir replies if Conny could shut up. While Pixis continues to explain the plan,  Armin explains the plan in greater detail to two elite soldiers of the Garrison. Using the information that titans react to concentrations of humans, they will lure them to the next wall. They will be able to keep direct contact to a minimum and take out titans with the cannons mounted on the walls. A small group will be assigned to protect Eren while he moves the boulder to plug the hole. Armin though, feels unsure about the plan.

On the ground, the plan is being met with resistance and disbelief. Large numbers of soldiers start to walk away, saying they'd rather spend their last days with family. As more and more start to follow these examples, Verman attempts to impose capital punishment, killing the mutineers. Before he starts however, Pixis informs the group that whoever leaves will be pardoned, gaining the attention once again of the crowd. Knowing that titans are fearsome and fear is natural, he says they are free to go.... but that they would also be putting their loved ones in the position of facing that fear themselves. This causes them to give pause and after thinking about it further, they turn around and go back to formation.

Pixis then talks about what happened four years ago at Wall Maria. The sound of reconquest had a nice ring to it, but it ended up having an ulterior motive. The population couldn't sustain itself in the limited space that it had, so the deaths that resulted from the mission were deemed necessary for the survival of humanity. It was a a sin that all of humanity was guilty of, including himself. However, if Wall Rose was breached, humanity would not be able to get off with just twenty percent of the population being killed. With only Wall Sina left for them to live in, less than half of the population could be sustained., which is why reclaiming territory this time is so important. Eren, now feeling the pressure of the request, resolves that he must do his duty.

Before the operation begins, Pixis ordered Ian, Rico and Mitabi to guard Eren while he does his job. Rico asks if 'this human weapon' will work to Pixis. Ian scolds her, and Rico says that he must be not sure about this plan either. Pixis then asks the three if they like to lose to titan that much, which they reply that they don't want to lose to them. Pixis says that he too, doesn't want to lose to them and wants to beat them all. With this talk, the operation is ready to begin, Pixis orders Ian to take lead in this operation. Ian feels he's not good enough, but Pixis encourages him and he finally accepts.

Not so far from them, Armin is apologizing to Eren, because he makes Eren become responsible for everything. Eren told Armin that he believes him right from the start. Mikasa wants to say something but Eren already know what she wants to say, and Eren says that she can't come with him since she's part of the decoy team. Mikasa says she can't let him alone, otherwise something bad might happen again to him. Eren replies with annoyed tone that he isn't her little brother nor her son, which makes Mikasa thinks. Ian then calls her and orders her to join the group that will protect Eren which makes Mikasa relieved. He then orders them to go into their position. Before leaving, Eren tells Armin not to die, and Armin tells him the same.

With the operation underway, Eren, Mikasa and a small group of soldiers get into position. They head for the shortest route and find no titans in their way. Rico tells Eren that soldiers aren't pawn of voices, because they're all have names, families and feelings. She tells Eren that he has the responsibility that their death will have meaning, and she advices Eren to never forget that.

Commander Pixis tells all soldiers if they accomplish this, this will the first time humanity won over the titans. As Eren and his group reach near the boulder, Eren bites his hand and emerges in his titan form. As he walks toward the stone, he looks over his shoulder and surprisingly, attacks the soldier accompanying him.