The Easy Path

The Expedient Path is the second and last chapter of volume 6 and the 26th chapter overall.

Summary
After Eren unexpectedly manifests a partial transformation, he finds himself surrounded by Levi's Squad. With all of them making different demands, from explanations to threats of death if he moves, Eren can't get a moment to tell them it wasn't on purpose. Levi tries to calm his squad down, but Eren, losing his patience shouts over the crowd and shuts them up. Just as he's about to clarify, Hanji excitedly runs over to him and asks to touch the Titan arm. The flesh is very hot to the touch, causing Hanji to drop it instantly. Eren, seeing that his hand is still stuck inside of the Titan, pulls it loose and falls to the ground. Gradually, Levi is able to contain the situation and his squad lower their weapons.

Shortly afterward, Eren is upset that the other squad members don't trust him. Levi discloses all of the squad members records. All of them have very high Titan kill counts, both solo and as a team. He explains that to have survived that long, they had to make quick, life or death decisions. The possibility that he was a threat was something they had to react on. Even so, he explains further, that doesn't mean it was an easy decision for them to make.

Hanji calls for both of them to meet her upstairs. After dropping the Titan's arm, she noticed that its hand was holding a spoon. Asking Eren about it, he replies that he was reaching for it when he suddenly tranformed. Hanji then makes the connection between all of the times he changed; he had a clear objective of what needed to be done. Whether it was protecting his friends from the cannon ball or picking up a spoon, simply harming himself wasn't enough. With this new information, Hanji wants to do more experiments but with the mission coming up they don't have enought time. As Eren leaves the room, he's met by members of Levi's Squad. They ask him about the transformation earlier that day and after confirming that it wasn't on purpose, they all begin to bite themselves. Shocked, Eren asks what they're doing. They answer that it's their way of punishing themselves for their actions. Petra tells Eren that as a team, they are stronger together; they need to rely on each other. They'll trust him and they want him to trust the team.

Now back in the Forest of Giant Trees, Eren is still trying to make the decision of whether he will transform and act on his own, or continue riding and trust his team. Needing to answer quickly, he tells Levi that he will stay. Immediately after, Eren hears the Female Titan kill another scout. While he silently asks for the soldier's forgiveness, the Titan accelerates to full speed and rapidly starts closing the distance. Eren starts to second guess his decision until he remembers his friends and the support they gave him. He wants to have that kind of trust with his new team. Directly overtop of Eren, she reaches down to grab him. However, she fails to notice that she's walked into a trap. Commander Erwin and a number of scouts are on both sides of the path hidden in the trees along with hundreds of harpoons directed at her from every angle. Erwin gives the order to fire and in an instant she's unable to move. Levi tells his squad to tether their horses up ahead and switch to 3-D maneuver gear. Having a seperate mission from his team, he leaves Gin in charge with orders to stay away from the Titan and to hide Eren, then heads towards Commander Erwin and the trap.

As Levi gets back to the trapped Titan, large spikes are shot through its knees and ankles to make sure it's immobilised. Commander Erwin congratulates him on a job well done. However, Levi points out that it was only possible due to the scouts who sacrificed themselves to give him the time he needed. Looking down at the ensnared Titan, he mocks her before making it clear he is about to cut the respobsible human out from inside the nape of its neck.