Hero (Chapter)

"Dammit... and I thought I knew. You were always the bravest of us all."

- Eren Yeager

Yūsha (勇者) is the 4th chapter of the 20th volume and the 82nd chapter overall of the Attack on Titan manga, written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama.

Overview
With Eren finally awake, Armin concludes their discussion of a plan to defeat the Colossus Titan. In the city below, Jean, Mikasa, Sasha, and Connie plan to defeat the Armored Titan, but Reiner flees. Mikasa cripples him with her Thunder Spear, and the others start the attack. Reiner is dazed, having lost his memory of everything after his farewell to Bertolt. Bertolt laments at his failure to kill the recruits and wonders what Armin is planning.

Before executing their plan, Armin reminds Eren of their promise to see the ocean. Eren pretends to fall to the ground in defeat while Armin jumps to the Colossus Titan. Mikasa and the recruits continue their attack on Reiner, and Sasha is injured. Armin manages to grapple onto the Colossus Titan's teeth, causing Bertolt to send out great amounts of steam. Seeing Armin's perseverance, Bertolt increases the power of his attack to kill Armin quickly. As Armin is burned alive, he remarks that Eren must see the ocean in his stead.

As the plan to defeat Reiner is on the verge of failure, Hange returns to assist as Mikasa lands the final blow to Reiner, sending him flying out of the Armored Titan's nape. As Bertolt inspects Eren's fallen Titan form, he realizes that it is only a hardened shell. With his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, Eren strikes at the Colossus Titan's nape, pulling Bertolt out. He lands on the roofs next to Armin's corpse, noting that Armin was the bravest of his comrades.

Summary
As Eren regains consciousness atop Wall Maria, Armin explains his plan to trick Bertolt.

To try to buy time for Eren and Armin, Squad Levi tries to distract Reiner but are shocked when he chooses to ignore them. In order to stop Reiner from reaching Eren, Mikasa chooses to attack him with her Thunder Spear, blowing apart his knee and leaving him crippled. As the Squad moves in to engage Reiner, Reiner is left bewildered at what was able to penetrate the armor covering him. He also finds himself unable to remember anything that has happened since he and Bertolt split up, save for Bertolt's instructions to lie on his back to save himself from Bertolt's transformation. Unsure of what is going on, Reiner comes to the conclusion that they can still win as long as he and Bertolt escape with Eren, and prepares to fend off his attackers.

Bertolt observes Reiner preparing for battle, and notes with some displeasure that he would have liked for his transformation to have killed all of them, before turning his attention back to Armin and Eren, curious to see what they will do in their final moments.

As Bertolt approaches, Armin absentmindedly notes that the success of his plan will depend on "how much" he can take. Noticing that his words have concerned Eren, Armin hurriedly reassures him that he won't die before he can see the ocean, and orders Eren to stick to his plan no matter what happens. However, as they prepare to face Bertolt, Eren slips off the Wall and falls to the ground below. Seeing this, Bertolt notes that Eren likely has a concussion and won't even be able to stand. Bertolt attacks Armin, but Armin dodges the attack and attempts to get close to Bertolt with his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. Commenting that Armin has fought well, Bertolt begins expelling steam to repel Armin.

Mikasa notices Bertolt's attack, but forces herself to focus on fighting Reiner, as she takes gets into position for the fight. Jean attacks first, acting as bait to draw Reiner's attention while Connie and Sasha use their opening to strike Reiner's jaw with their Thunder Spears, and force it open. However, they are caught off guard as Reiner destroys a nearby house, sending debris flying in their direction, and only Connie's Thunder Spear finds its mark while Jean and Sasha are incapacitated.

As Bertolt continues to attack Armin with his steam, he is unable to discern why Armin's anchors have not yet lost their grip on his Titan form. Armin, on the other hand, is glad to know that his hypothesis that Bertolt's bones, which he fired his anchors into, would not disintegrate with the rest of the Titan's muscle, was correct. As Bertolt watches Armin attempt to withstand the heat of his steam, he is awed by the fact that the best plan Armin could think of was to simply let himself be burned to death. As Armin continues to endure the steam, Bertolt decides that if Armin truly has no other plan, then he will simply put Armin out of his misery quickly, and lets out one last burst of steam. As Armin is burned alive, he orders himself to keep going, and not to let go. He will entrust all of his dreams to Eren, as the only thing he has left to give is his life. As his anchors are burned away and he falls, Armin notes in his last moments that he is sure that Eren will make it to the ocean one day and fulfill both of their dreams. Although Reiner's mouth is not completely open, Mikasa decides that she will have to carry out her part of the plan anyway. However, she and her comrades are all shocked by the return of Hange, who quickly uses her Thunder Spear to destroy the other side of Reiner's jaw, and force his mouth open completely. Seizing her opportunity, Mikasa quickly moves in, and fires her Thunder Spear directly into Reiner's mouth, blowing the shocked Warrior out of his Titan's nape from the inside.

Gazing at Armin's scorched body on a building below, Bertolt notes that their battle is over, before turning to Eren. However, he is shocked to see that Eren's Titan is only a hardened shell, and fails to notice Eren's human form behind him. As Eren ferociously cuts him out of his Titan's nape, Bertolt realizes that Armin's strategy had been to distract him while Eren flanked him and attacked his exposed nape. Dragging Bertolt from his Titan, Eren immediately rushes to Armin's body, which has been scorched beyond recognition. Remembering Armin's promise to go see the ocean together, Eren remarks that Armin was always the bravest of his comrades.

Trivia

 * June 8th, date of the release of this chapter, is celebrated as and Best Friend Day; both holidays which relate to Armin (the best friend of the protagonist whose dream of seeing the ocean was broken in this issue). It is unknown whether Isayama intended this coincidence as a joke or even if he was aware of it; although making events of an issue coincide with certain dates is not uncommon among mangakas.
 * This is the first chapter in almost 3 years not to feature Levi Ackerman, since Scream in October 2013.

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