Arc 12Slava and the Coming Conference

Yago and the Eldian Revival Army gained ground as Marley defeated the Middle Eastern Union, while Yago uncovered clues connecting Ebson to Norman. The arc ended with Aili warning Yago that Ebson was plotting something at Marley’s Joint Conference.

  • Ebson’s memories revealed his friendship with Norman and his grief, while he continued experiments on Yago and other Eldians.
  • Vassell secretly sent Obishi away with half the fleet, but Marley’s Titans overwhelmed Slava Fortress and the Middle Eastern forces.
  • Light led the Eldian soldiers in revolt, while Aili and the Marleyan Titans helped destroy the Middle Eastern fleet and armored trains.
  • Marley won the war, and Yago secured Selina’s help with a plan to free their people before visiting Russell Manor.
  • At Russell Manor, Yago learned that Norman had died in a traffic accident after his relationship with Pei Xi drove him from home.
  • Armin spoke with Bertholdt, who described his guilt over the deaths caused by the Colossal Titan and briefly went outside to see the sun.
  • Yago collapsed at the manor as Ebson’s experiment failed, then planned to seize the Marleyan capital during the Joint Conference.
  • Aili left the Internment Zone with Selina’s help and warned Yago that Ebson was plotting something at the Joint Conference.
Chapters 276–300 Vol. 3 Read

Ch. 276Best buddies

Ebson dreamed of his youth with Norman, his closest friend, and the photograph they took together. He woke agitated, smashed the framed photo, and insisted he had been right, while Bill discovered his ability could heal a cigarette burn.

  • Young Ebson told Norman that his father had beaten him for applying to the Capital Institute of Technology instead of joining the family arms business.
  • Norman comforted Ebson, invited him to a party, and promised to help him get closer to Liddy.
  • Ebson and Norman recalled their long friendship and took a photograph together.
  • Ebson woke from the memory, smashed the framed photograph, and muttered that he had been right.
  • Bill checked on Ebson, then burned his finger on a cigarette and watched his ability heal the wound.

Ch. 277I'm here

Vassell ordered Slava Fortress defended after receiving orders to hold it, but secretly sent Obishi to evacuate half the fleet and reserve troops. Meanwhile, Annie reunited with Yago inside the Marley Army, where he comforted her despite the danger of her being recognized.

  • Vassell heard his officers argue over whether to defend Slava Fortress and received orders to hold it to the death.
  • Vassell secretly ordered Obishi to take half the fleet and the fortress's reserve troops back to the Middle Eastern homeland.
  • Hizuru's mole brought Annie and A-Yi to Yago inside the Marley Army.
  • Yago scolded Annie for risking exposure, but she threw herself into his arms and he told her he was there.

Ch. 278Surname

Ebson remembered his past with Norman before returning to his work as a doctor in the Liberio Internment Zone. He gave the surname Norman to the orphan Yago, who left excited to share his new name and buy a treat for Annie.

  • Young Norman reassured Ebson that their plan could change the world and offered to help him win Liddy over, though Ebson believed she liked someone else.
  • Ebson wandered through a storm, laughing and sobbing as dark liquid streamed from his eyes.
  • Back in the laboratory, Ebson drew blood from a frightened orphan named Yago and learned that he had no surname.
  • Ebson offered Yago the surname Norman, and Yago happily accepted it.
  • Yago asked for payment for helping with the experiments, and Ebson gave him banknotes that he planned to spend on cake and desserts for Annie.

Ch. 279Hurry up

At Slava Fortress, Marley prepared to unleash its airship force while Gabi struggled with what she had learned and Falco watched her warily. In Yago’s camp, Annie confronted him over his altered appearance, and Selina left believing he was busy with the two women as she urged him to hurry and give his orders.

  • Gabi vomited from the shelling as Magath surveyed the stalemated battle and awaited Marley’s airships to signal the attack.
  • Gabi insisted she was fine, wrestled with the thought that acting on what she had heard would betray Marley, and threw down her helmet while Falco watched her with mixed feelings.
  • Selina entered Yago’s tent and found Annie and A-Yi beside him, their faces reshaped by Yago’s War Hammer Titan power.
  • Annie pinched Yago’s waist and scolded him jealously, while Selina mistook the scene for an intimate encounter and hurried out.
  • Selina told a soldier to keep people away from Yago’s tent, then muttered that he should hurry because everyone was waiting for his orders.

Ch. 280A letter from home

Vassell ordered the Middle Eastern defenders to make a final stand against the Marleyan Titan assault, deploying armored trains as Titans descended and the fleet came under attack. Elsewhere, Yago declined to join the battle and received a letter from his family, whose familiar mark left him puzzled.

  • Vassell watched Marleyan airships arrive as golden lightning filled the sky and Titans began descending toward Slava Fortress.
  • After learning that Marley's Titan Warriors had attacked the fleet and surrounded the fortress, Vassell ordered the armored trains deployed and called for a decisive battle.
  • A dark armored train emerged from its warehouse as the Middle Eastern soldiers prepared to fight.
  • Bagg asked Yago why he was not joining the battle, and Yago criticized Marleyan officers for gaining credit while Eldians risked their lives.
  • Bagg gave Yago a letter from his family, and Yago recognized the mark on its envelope without remembering where he had seen it.

Ch. 281Gunfire

Yago read a letter about Loa’s debts and gravely ill grandmother while wondering about the fate of Loa’s Ancestral Home. On the battlefield, the Armored Titan and Red Fire Titan broke through Slava Fortress, and an Eldia Soldier shot the Marleyan officer who had ordered his men to charge.

  • Yago read a letter demanding that Loa return home and pay debts, taxes, and expenses to prevent the Ancestral Home from being seized.
  • The Armored Titan shielded the Red Fire Titan as it burned Slava Fortress’s gate and Titans overran the fortress.
  • The Armored Titan smashed through the warped gate, and the Marleyan officer ordered the Eldia Soldiers to charge for glory and rewards.
  • The Eldia Soldiers refused to move as the Marleyan officer berated and struck one of them.
  • A brown-haired Eldia Soldier aimed his rifle at the Marleyan officer and shot him.

Ch. 282For Eldia

Light led Eldian soldiers in a revolt against their Marleyan overseers during the battle for Slava Fortress, while Selina viewed the battle as an opportunity for the Eldia Revival Army. At sea, Aili’s Sea-Swimming Titan devastated the Middle Eastern fleet as its panicked crews fired on their own sailors.

  • Light shot a Marley officer and rallied more than a hundred Eldian soldiers to fight for the restoration of Eldia.
  • Light confronted the Marleyan soldiers, and his men killed them after one fired and grazed his sleeve.
  • Selina recorded the revolt in her notebook and prayed for the Eldia Revival Army’s success at Slava Fortress.
  • A Middle Eastern captain ordered his gunners to fire despite sailors in the water, and the shells killed their own men.
  • Aili continued attacking the Middle Eastern fleet with the Sea-Swimming Titan, whose tail and dorsal fin smashed warships while enemy fire failed to harm her.

Ch. 283Armored Train

The Marleyan and Eldia forces attacked Slava Fortress, where the Middle East navy and artillery tried to resist the Titans. The Middle East’s Anti-Titan Steel Armored Train forced the Armored Titan back, and Ivanor eagerly prepared to fight it.

  • A Middle East captain watched his warship sink and was killed by friendly fire after realizing fear had made him attack his own side.
  • Middle East artillerymen fired on Titans inside Slava Fortress, but the Winged Titan slaughtered the soldiers and destroyed their guns on a tower.
  • Ivanor and Bazel watched as the Flying Claw Titan and Cart Titan advanced into the fortress with the Marleyan or Eldia soldiers.
  • The Armored Titan staggered out of the fortress with severe injuries as the Anti-Titan Steel Armored Train arrived.
  • Ivanor stabbed her palm with a dagger, eager to challenge the Armored Train.

Ch. 284Collision

Magath and Zeke watched the Armored Titan struggle against Slava Fortress’s armored trains until the Paladin Titan and Fortress Titan arrived and fused into the powerful Fusion Paladin Titan. The Fusion Paladin Titan charged an armored train, shrugging off its cannon fire as the train accelerated to ram her.

  • Magath saw Reiner’s Armored Titan dodging concentrated shellfire while carrying the badly injured Newt, and ordered Zeke to reinforce him.
  • Two bolts of golden lightning brought the Paladin Titan and the Fortress Titan onto the battlefield.
  • The Paladin Titan fused with the Fortress Titan’s armor, becoming the heavily armored Fusion Paladin Titan.
  • The Fusion Paladin Titan charged past Reiner and knocked the Armored Titan flying before reaching an armored train.
  • The train’s commander rallied his soldiers, whose enhanced cannons barely marked the Fusion Paladin Titan; Ivanor laughed as the train accelerated to ram her.

Ch. 285A war nearing its end

Ivanor and Bazel’s fused Titan destroyed one Armored Train, while Pieck and Porco derailed another. As the fighting subsided, Yago said the war was about to end.

  • The Middle Eastern soldiers fired nearly a hundred shells at the Fusion Heavy Titan, but Ivanor and Bazel survived and smashed an Armored Train’s locomotive.
  • Bazel complained that Ivanor had made him bear too much strain during the fusion, and Ivanor teased him for interrupting her fun.
  • Pieck noticed that an Armored Train depended on its rails and coordinated with Porco to target them.
  • Pieck drew the train’s fire while her squad attacked the Middle Eastern soldiers, and Porco used hardened claws to break the tracks and form obstacles.
  • The Armored Train left the rails, struck the hardened obstacles, and rolled onto its side.
  • Yago finished his tea and said the war was about to end.

Ch. 286Movements on all sides

Marley defeated the Middle Eastern Union after taking Slava Fortress and destroying its navy, though both sides suffered heavy losses. As news of the victory spread, Kiyomi, Yelena, Willy, and Ebson each considered what would come next, and Ebson declared that the show was about to begin.

  • The Beast Titan’s roar caused the surviving pure titans in Slava Fortress to tear out their own napes, while Aili saw that the Sea-Swimming Titan had destroyed all forty-three Middle Eastern warships.
  • Marley won the nearly two-and-a-half-year war, and the Middle Eastern Union lost its strongholds and General Vassell, though Vassell’s final decision saved much of its army and half its fleet.
  • Kiyomi Azumabito read the news of Marley’s victory and wondered whether Yago-san had anticipated Marley’s next move.
  • Hange and the Survey Corps watched a white airship arrive from Hizuru as Yelena wondered whether it was time to act.
  • Lara Tybur saw Willy’s worry after Marley’s victory and resolved to remove every obstacle from his path, while recalling her defeat by Louis.
  • Ebson told Bill to make arrangements, then looked toward the sky and said the show was about to begin.

Ch. 287Homecoming

Selina and the returning Eldia Soldiers arrived in Marley under armed guard, while Yago continued preparations for a plan to free their people. The soldiers reunited with their families in the Liberio Internment Zone, where Gabi hid Zofia’s condition from her worried parents.

  • A Marley officer ordered Selina and the disarmed Eldia Soldiers off the train, and Selina led them away under armed escort.
  • Yago used his rank to speak privately with Selina, who agreed to carry out their risky plan to free their people.
  • Yago left for Russell Manor with Annie and A-Yi to visit the blind grandmother of the man whose identity he had assumed.
  • The Eldia Soldiers returned to the Liberio Internment Zone, where Zeke, Falco, Colt, Reiner, Aili, and Gabi reunited with their families.
  • Zofia’s parents asked Gabi where their daughter was, and Gabi told them that Zofia was injured and recovering in the hospital.

Ch. 288Russell Manor

Yago, disguised as Loa, returned to Russell Manor and found that Harry Kaza had paid Loa’s debt and arranged for the neglected estate to be repaired. He learned that Mrs. Russell was seriously ill, then froze when she called for Norman.

  • Yago, Annie, and A-Yi arrived at Russell Manor and met Harry Kaza, who mistook Yago for Loa and greeted him as his younger brother.
  • Harry explained that he had paid Loa’s debt with his savings and brought workers to clean and repair the manor.
  • Harry told Yago that Loa had survived the train attack that killed the other noble officers and had become a war hero.
  • At the manor, Harry learned from the maid that Mrs. Russell was gravely ill with typhoid and asked Yago to visit her.
  • As Yago reached Mrs. Russell’s room, he heard her calling for Norman and went rigid.

Ch. 289Old Friend

Yago visited Loa's grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Russell, and learned about Norman Russell, her dead eldest son. After settling into Russell Manor, he reunited with Annie and A-Yi, who brought the latest Omni-Directional Mobility Gear for his upcoming operation.

  • Yago entered Mrs. Sarah Russell's room and heard her mourn Norman, believing Loa was her other son Newman's child.
  • Harry pulled Yago out of the room, then accepted the money Yago offered to repay the Russell family's debt and invited him to visit.
  • Yago paid Daisy and asked her to recruit more maids to manage Russell Manor as his base.
  • Annie and A-Yi arrived with two trunks containing black uniforms and new Omni-Directional Mobility Gear.
  • Annie asked whether Yago still remembered how to use the gear, and Yago welcomed it as an old friend.

Ch. 290Persuasion

Yago tested the island’s upgraded mobility gear and reunited with Annie, while Armin failed to persuade Bertholdt to give up the Colossal Titan. The Survey Corps faced the prospect of taking Bertholdt’s power and deciding who would inherit it.

  • Yago tested the upgraded mobility gear, then learned from A-Yi that he had mistakenly worn both the pistol and blade equipment at once.
  • Annie reunited with Yago, and he noticed that she had grown taller since they last met.
  • Armin left his meeting with Bertholdt and told Jean that he had failed to persuade him.
  • Hange’s subordinates had debated whether to persuade Bertholdt or seize the Colossal Titan, and the group had chosen Armin to make one attempt.
  • The Survey Corps considered who would inherit the Colossal Titan if they took its power from Bertholdt.

Ch. 291Tybur

Willy Tybur considered Hizuru’s proposal for an alliance and world assembly while weighing Marley’s military and political crises. A stranger reached the Tybur estate with an urgent warning and identified himself to Willy as Newt, the Red Fire Titan of the Marley Warrior Unit.

  • Marshal Calvi urged Willy to prioritize technological development and continue the campaign to seize the Founding Titan, and Willy agreed to consider his proposal.
  • Willy weighed Hizuru’s offer as a possible way to redirect the world’s attention and stabilize Marley.
  • Willy’s children visited him, and he reflected on the burden of passing the War Hammer’s power to them before thanking Lara for her support.
  • Tybur guards subdued a cloaked stranger who demanded to see Willy and warned that Marley was in danger.
  • Willy received the stranger, who introduced himself as Newt, the Red Fire Titan of the Marley Warrior Unit.

Ch. 292What Weighed on Her Heart

Gabi struggled with her training after overhearing Aili reveal that she belonged to the Eldia Revival Army and wanted freedom for Eldians. Meanwhile, Aili joined Bill and Newt at Ebson's Underground Laboratory, where Ivanor insisted on sitting beside her.

  • Magath reprimanded Gabi for repeatedly losing focus during training, while he privately wondered what had changed her.
  • Gabi visited the medical tent intending to apologize to Zofia, but overheard Aili explain her commitment to the Eldia Revival Army and its goal of freeing Eldians from oppression.
  • Gabi considered reporting Aili and Zofia but left without telling anyone, and the secret continued to trouble her.
  • Aili followed Bill with Newt into Ebson's Underground Laboratory and found Litt, Bazel, Ivanor, and Doctor Ebson there.
  • Aili sat beside Bazel to avoid Ivanor, who ordered Bazel to move and then eagerly approached Aili, prompting Aili to tell her to stay away.

Ch. 293Familiar features

Ebson tried to recruit the others with promises of a future where Eldians were accepted and humanity lived in peace, while Newt suspected he was still lying about Anna. Yago found photographs linking Ebson to a man who looked just like him and wondered if the man was Norman.

  • Ebson praised Eldians and described his vision of a future without persecution, war, or hunger, but the others remained unmoved.
  • Litt and Bazel were reminded of the losses and suffering that shaped their hatred and pain.
  • Newt asked Ebson about Anna, accepted his claim that she was recovering, and silently vowed not to let Ebson get away with lying.
  • Yago found two photographs: one of twin brothers and another of Ebson with one of them, whose face looked exactly like Yago's.
  • Yago wondered whether the man beside Ebson was Norman.

Ch. 294Sorry

Hange agreed to let Coris return to Marley with Paradis Island’s upcoming operation, while Historia and Ymir tried to join the mission despite Erwin’s objections. In the underground prison, Armin told Bertholdt the military planned to take the Colossal Titan’s power, but Bertholdt’s hardening suddenly cracked and he spoke.

  • Hange recognized Coris, apologized for forgetting him, and thanked him for helping Paradis Island build its navy.
  • Coris asked to accompany the operation against Marley so he could see his family, and Hange agreed while warning that they might meet again as enemies.
  • Military Police caught Historia and Ymir attempting to sneak out of the palace for the fourth time, and Erwin challenged Historia’s plan to join the dangerous operation.
  • Historia argued that her duty as Queen and her Jaw Titan power meant she should fight, leaving Erwin stunned.
  • Armin entered Bertholdt’s cell to tell him the military would take the Colossal Titan’s power, but Bertholdt’s hardened shell cracked and he called Armin’s name.

Ch. 295Let's talk (part one)

Bertholdt escaped his Hardening and spoke with Armin, who asked whether he was still an enemy and revealed that Parliament planned to take his Titan power. Bertholdt reflected on their past and called Titan Power a curse, leaving his decision about helping Paradis unresolved.

  • Bertholdt emerged from the shattered Hardening, and Armin feared he might transform into the Colossal Titan.
  • Bertholdt reassured Armin that he was too weak to transform, and Armin sat down to talk with him.
  • Armin asked whether Bertholdt wanted to remain an enemy, and Bertholdt said their different experiences had forced him to oppose Armin in the past.
  • Bertholdt accused Armin of wanting the Colossal Titan's power, and Armin stayed silent because he had come to tell him Parliament planned to strip him of it.
  • Bertholdt drank Armin's water and ate his crackers, then said he wished Titan Power had never existed because it filled its holders with guilt.

Ch. 296Let's talk (part two)

Bertholdt confessed his guilt to Armin and asked him to take him outside to see the sun. As Armin brought him out of prison, A-Wu recognized Bertholdt and launched an attack.

  • Bertholdt told Armin that wielding the Colossal Titan meant carrying the deaths it caused, and admitted he had blamed himself for the deaths of Thomas and Ili.
  • Armin urged Bertholdt to help Paradis make amends for his actions, but Bertholdt spoke about Nico and how the Colossal Titan's attack had killed her parents.
  • Bertholdt asked Armin to take him outside to see the sun, and Armin hesitated before agreeing to bring him out of prison.
  • A-Wu spotted Bertholdt leaving the prison with Armin and fired his grappling hooks to attack him.
  • Bertholdt stepped into the sunlight and said it felt good.

Ch. 297Transformation

A-Wu tried to kill Bertholdt, but Armin took the blades meant for him, and Bertholdt returned to the Prison. At Russell Manor, Yago collapsed during a frightening loss of control, while Ebson failed at an experiment and blamed Norman.

  • A-Wu charged Bertholdt, but Armin stepped between them and was wounded by A-Wu’s blades.
  • Bertholdt returned to the Prison under A-Wu and A-Four’s supervision, and told Armin not to tell Nico about him.
  • A-Wu found the Hardening around Bertholdt shattered and decided to join the Survey Corps’ expedition to bring A-Yi home.
  • Yago collapsed at Russell Manor with scarlet eyes and blackened, bulging veins, and Annie broke down his door to reach him.
  • Yago regained consciousness in Annie’s arms and remarked that her tears tasted salty.
  • Ebson’s experiment failed, and he smashed his equipment before accusing Norman of lying to him.

Ch. 298Thoughts

Yago prepared to seize the Marley Capital as Paradis Island’s forces and the Eldia Revival Army moved toward Marley, while he investigated his connection to Ebson and looked forward to seeing Eren again. Zeke studied Eren’s photograph and prepared for their meeting, determined to advance his Euthanasia Plan.

  • Yago recalled his plan to take the entire Marley Capital during the coming international conference, shocking Selina with its scale.
  • Yago asked Daisy to bring more maids to Mrs. Russell’s estate because it would soon host many guests.
  • Yago examined a photograph of Ebson and wondered how Ebson had created intelligent Titans beyond the Nine Titans, then thought about his coming reunion with Eren.
  • Zeke studied a photograph of Eren and felt eager to meet his younger brother after learning Eren had agreed to see him.
  • Zeke hoped Eren would support the Euthanasia Plan and prepared countermeasures in case he refused.

Ch. 299Norman's story (part one)

Mrs. Russell told Yago how Norman helped restore the Russell family's fortunes, became close to young Louis, and eventually chose the Academy of Sciences over inheriting the family title. She left the story just as she reached the disaster that changed their lives.

  • Yago asked Mrs. Russell about Norman, and she began recounting the Russell family's past.
  • Mrs. Russell said Norman comforted her after her husband's death and showed unusual courage by approaching Earl Louis at age ten.
  • Norman befriended young Louis, while Newman grew resentful of his accomplished older brother.
  • Norman chose to study at the Academy of Sciences with young Louis, while Newman inherited the title and rose to lieutenant colonel in the army.
  • Mrs. Russell said disaster struck after she had hoped both sons would build families and settle into peaceful lives.

Ch. 300Norman's story (Part two)

Mrs. Russell recounted how Norman left home after she objected to his Eldian girlfriend, Pei Xi, and later died in a traffic accident, leaving her and Newman grieving. Yago was still reeling from the story when Aili arrived with news that Ebson was planning trouble at the Marleyans’ Joint Conference.

  • Mrs. Russell told Yago that Norman had revealed Pei Xi was Eldian, and that she and Newman had opposed the relationship.
  • Norman left home in anger, and after three days Louis returned him to the family in a coffin following a traffic accident.
  • Mrs. Russell blamed herself for Norman’s death and told Yago that she and Newman had lost him forever.
  • Annie summoned Yago to meet Aili, who had left the Internment Zone with help from Boss Selina.
  • Aili warned Yago that Ebson was plotting something at the Marleyans’ Joint Conference, and Yago reacted with surprise.
Arc 12 of 20
Arc 12 of 20