Erwin Smith (Chapter)

This article is about the chapter "Irvin Smith", for the character see Irvin Smith.

Irvin Smith is the first chapter of the seventh volume and the 27th chapter overall.

Summary
Still high in the trees, members of the Scouting Legion begin to speculate what the mission is all about. Armin and Jean find themselves up against a titan who seems more intelligent than the rest. The titan has learned to climb trees and gets closer with each attempt. Being able to use their 3-D maneuver gear, they aren't in any immediate danger.

Jean believes the true purpose of the mission was to lure out the female titan and capture it. Armin reveals that he believes the same thing. He also reasons that Eren's existence suggests that there are others who can assume the forma of a titan. Further, he believes that the titans who brought down the wall could be humans that live in the city and that their first priority should be identifying and stopping them. Hearing the sounds from the forest, they gather that the plan worked and the titan was trapped. Jean wonders why Commander Irvin used Eren as bait or how he could be sure the titans would come after him. Armin theorizes that their most recent attack and attempt at destroying the wall was stopped halfway for a reason. He also notes that they met with little resistance when Eren plugged the hole in the wall. He believes that their mission changed when they saw that Eren had the ability to transform into a titan. Jean then understands Armin's meaning; that someone in the group of people who saw Eren that day, was a spy. Although understanding the plan, Jean still believes that more people should have been made aware as it could have saved lives.

Deep in the forest, Eren is having a similar conversation with Petra and others in Rivaille's Squad. Eren can't understand why even Rivaille's subordinates weren't made aware.