Erwin Smith (Chapter)

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

Summary
Still high in the trees, members of the Survey Corps 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 form 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 Erwin 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 Levi's Squad. Eren can't understand why even Levi's subordinates weren't made aware as it makes it seem they aren't trusted. Petra and Oluo get defensive, with Oluo asking Petra to knock his teeth out. Eld Jinn reasons that the only people who knew were the survivors from five years ago. Letting that sink in, Petra and Eren remember Commander Erwin asking them "What does it look like to you? Who is the enemy in your opinion?" and wonder if that was a sort of screening process for who would be made aware of the real plan. Oluo tries to boast that he knew the answer, but just didn't say. When Petra calls him out, he only replies that it's because they aren't at his level. As they argue, Eren considers the benefits of the plan if it's successful, but still believes that too many lives were lost to fully justify it.

Back at the forest's edge, Jean and Armin watch the titan repeatedly climb and fall in his attempt to reach them. Still in no immediate danger, they continue their discussion with Jean unknowingly taking the same position as Eren. To support his view, he reminds Armin of the death of his squad leader believing that he could have been saved if he'd known all the details. Armin disagrees, saying that it's easy to make decisions in hindsight but no one can know the consequences beforehand. As an example of these blind spots, Armin asks Jean questions that the military has no answers for yet. Armin believes the Commander thought of every possible course of action and in the end had to choose between the lives of one hundred of his men or the lives of everyone living behind the walls of the city. In the forest, Jinn echoes Armin's thoughts and both of them emphasize that changing the world will require sacrifices.

Trapped and completely immobilized, Hanji fires a few more spikes into the titan's joints just to be on the safe side. Levi and Mike Zakarius swoop in and attempt to cut through the titan's hands and into the back of her neck. However, their blades break against her skin. Seeing this, Commander Erwin likens it to the Armored Titan that he was told about. He also notices that she can't maintain it like he can. He wonders if the skin would eventually wear down from repeated sword attacks, but not having the time for that he calls for a soldier to plant enough explosives to take the hands off at the wrist. Standing on the titan's head, Levi begins taunting her and revealing the pleasure he's taking in this after she killed his men. He then asks her if she can survive without hands or feet. Clarifying that he means her real hands and feet, he implies the process of cutting her out of the titan's neck. Upon hearing this, the titan lets out a loud scream. The scream is heard at the edge of the forest and catches both the attention of the scouts and the titans. The titans begin to ignore the soldiers and start heading toward the sound. A few scouts attempt to stop them, but they don't seem interested in the potential meals at all and run past them. Erwin wonders if this was an emotional outburst or if she's up to something and soon gets the answer when a scout reports that there are titans headed in their direction. When Mikasa attempts to head after them, Sasha cautions her to be more careful than usual, saying that the sound they heard was that of a cornered animal who has lost all hope. Commander Erwin orders the scouts to intercept the titans before they reach the female. Again, the titans completely ignore them and head for her. As two close in, Levi quickly kills them. Despite their best efforts, they get through and start to eat the female titan. When Erwin sees her head ripped off, he orders his soldiers to withdraw. Erwin looks on hopelessly, seeing that she would kill herself rather than let them get the information they're after.