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“ | Saving the world...are there any words sweeter and more alluring? | „ |
~ Yelena revealing her true selfish nature. |
Yelena is a major character in the final story arcs of the manga Attack on Titan, serving as the secondary antagonist of the Marley arc and the first half of the War for Paradis arc, and then a supporting character in its second half.
She is a former Marleyan soldier and the leader of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, organizing the group on Zeke Yeager's behalf. A clout chaser, Yelena's true objective is to solidify herself in history by assisting Zeke in saving the world from the existence of the Titans by getting rid of the Subjects of Ymir and Eldia.
She is voiced by Mitsuki Saiga in Japanese and by Anairis Quiñones in English.
Biography[]
Background[]
Yelena was born in the nation of Marley, from an ordinary family of first-class citizens of the nation. Under Marley's regime, she served in the Marleyan military and had an otherwise uneventful life, until one day on a naval battle where her life was saved by the Beast Titan during the first stages of the Marley Mid-East War in 850. Looking up to the Beast's possessor, Zeke Yeager, as a god-like figure, as well as pursuing her own selfish desire to leave her mark in history and be forever remembered, Yelena rededicated herself to Zeke. She would later make up a false background for herself, presenting herself in public as a person belonging to a small existent country that was previously conquered by Marley and claim she was forcibly conscripted into their military forces.
Convinced that Marley would need to be stopped and saved from its "addiction" to power and that Zeke's extreme plan of sterilizing all Eldians in order for no more potential Titans to be born, Yelena assisted Zeke in amassing followers - mostly soldiers from countries that were annexed by Marley and used as colonies, all while hiding her true nature as a pure-blooded Marleyan. Using the grudge many of them held against Marley, Yelena told them promises about restoring their lost nations to their former glory, while hiding her and Zeke's real objective, which had nothing to do with getting revenge on Marley or freedom.
Zeke and Yelena's faction name themselves the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers. Fiercely loyal and devoted to Zeke, Yelena would kill anybody, even close companions, if they endangered her end goal. She murdered multiple Marleyan moles, also any comrade from the Marleyan military who suspected the Volunteers, as well as any member of the Volunteers who had second thoughts, doubts, or was suspected to be another spy. Thus Yelena and her fellow Volunteers buried several friends and companions in arms - Marley loyalists, neutral and liability Volunteers alike - much to the guilt of the rest of the group.
In the year 851, as the Marley Mid-East War was still ongoing, the Marleyan government decided to send soldiers on Paradis Island to find out what the Eldians had been up to since they defeated the Warrior Unit last year. Yelena offered to Zeke to speak to his half-brother Eren Yeager and act as his intermediary with the Eldian military, to offer his plans to them. Yelena and her fellow Volunteers were all snuck by Zeke in the first survey ship, where they were to gain the trust of the island's inhabitants in order to further Zeke's plans.
However, their prime task was to make contact to Eren as well as to secretly poison the military leaders of the Walls of Paradis with Marleyan wine spiked with Zeke's spinal fluid, which would allow Zeke to transform them all into Titans via scream in case of necessity. Before sailing to the island, the ship was inspected by the Warrior Pieck Finger, who noticed Yelena among the soldiers. During recent times, Pieck noticed the group of Marleyan soldiers who became loyal followers of Zeke, which is not so abnormal, as she too has her own loyal soldiers, but she still took curiosity on the group, especially on Yelena, who is visibly Zeke's most devout supporter.
In the story[]
While onboard the first survey ship tasked with patrolling the border of Paradis Island, Yelena and her fellow Marleyan soldiers wait for two hours for the return of the first advance party unit sent to scout the island. As the captain prepares to send two more unit, the whole crew is captured when Eren Yeager - as the Attack Titan - grabs the ship and heaves it onto the shore. The soldiers are confronted by the Survey Corps, who have already captured their comrades of the first unit, including Niccolo. Commander Hange Zoë and her subordinates appear with Niccolo, as Hange tries to be diplomatic and offers the Marleyans to talk in a weak attempt to hold Niccolo hostage for their good behavior, only to be met by the ship's captain's hostility. Before the Marleyans can commence an arm fight with the Scouts, the rebel soldiers reveal their true colors as defectors when Yelena promptly shoots her own captain. The Marley soldiers not involved with Yelena's group are captured by their own comrades and Yelena accepts Hange's offer to have tea.
Yelena and another accomplice soldier, Onyankopon, are interrogated by Hange and Captain Levi Ackerman. Yelena provides them some public information about the Marleyan military's might and how they have been making tremendous progress in aerial warfare, whilst she hides the fact she is a Marleyan herself and tells them her fake background of being born in a small nation that was conquered by her real nation. She is also surprised to learn that Paradis has been cleansed of all the Titans after a century of occupation. Only early on the same year, the Scouts just discovered the ocean and Marley's wharf to send Eldians to "Heaven". Yelena and Onyankopon present themselves as the leaders of their group of defectors, the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, and inform Hange and Levi that Zeke has sent them to help the island advance in order to be able to become equal to the rest of the modern world so that the Volunteers would eventually be able to get revenge on Marley and free the Eldian people.
Despite the mistrust of the islanders, the Volunteers are allowed to assist the people of the island. The Volunteers and some Marleyan POWs who befriended Hange's team bring several technological and military innovations and help the island advance, allowing it to have railroads, at least two trains, and build a port, while Niccolo shows the Eldians his knowledge of Marleyan cuisine. The Volunteers also deliver standard Marley Army guns for the Eldian military, and the model of the 3DMG gear is changed with a new design based on the gear of the Interior Military Police's Anti-Personnel Control Squad, improved with modern technology from Marley. At the same time the Volunteers use their wireless radio to lure more Marleyan scouting ships and capture their military crews. Thanks to the Volunteers, Eren and Armin Arlert manage to stop the enemy ships and cut off their retreat with the Attack and Colossal Titans, and all the Marleyan soldiers are detained and brought to the Walls.
Over the course of three years, a total of 32 scout ships and destroyers, carrying approximately 4,600 soldiers are sent by Marley to Paradis. Yelena arranged with Zeke to have more boxes filled with wine mixed with Zeke's spinal fluid carried aboard all the Marleyan ships, delivering more of Marley's fine wine, which became popular within Paradis' military. Idealistic people like Hange, Onyankopon and Armin hope that by being friendly to the Marleyan POWs they will have more chances to make peace with the world. While pretending to hate her fellow Marleyans and having acted ruthless towards them on the mainland, on Paradis Yelena surprisingly presses the military government to give all the Marleyan POWs human rights and allow them to work as civilians within the Walls, instead letting them sit and glare in prison cells. After the government decides to release the Marleyan captives from the cells, so long as they behave civilly, Yelena arranges for them to work in many places frequented by the Eldian military, where the Marleyans can spy on the officials and report anything they say to Yelena.
The Volunteers use one intact Marleyan cruiser to travel back and forth from the island to the mainland, whenever they need. In 852, Zeke informs Yelena that he managed to arrange a meeting between Hizuru and Paradis Island after he secretely met with Kiyomi Azumabito in a deserted war zone in the Mid-East. Zeke promised Kiyomi that Hizuru will gain the monopoly of the island's resources, the true value of which as fossil fuel is not known by the Eldians of Paradis. After bringing Zeke's offer to her colleagues of Hizuru's government, Lady Kiyomi is sent as an envoy to Paradis Island to negotiate the alliance between the Eldians, Hizuru and the Volunteers.
By the time the Eldians are ready to welcome Hizuru's envoys, the island's sole port has been recently completed. On that day, Yelena and her fellow Volunteers meet Eren for the first time since the night they met him a year before, although Levi informs them they will still not work with him any time, due to the military's mistrust for Zeke. At Trost District, Kiyomi finally presents the Eldian government Zeke's "official" plan to protect the island from any threat outside with the deterrent of the Rumbling, strengthen the military and secure inheritors for Zeke and Eren's Titans. If Paradis follows Hizuru's terms, they will receive help to further develop technology and weaponry in order to become equal with the rest of the nations and no longer require threatening the world with the Rumbling. While the plan is indeed truthful, Zeke's ultimate goal for Eldia's future is only known by Yelena.
At some point, Yelena begins distancing herself from her fellow Volunteers and work alone with Zeke, as the group were only a mean to an end meant to achieve their dreams. Yelena meets with Niccolo, Griez and many other Marleyan POWs and tells them the wine being brought in from the survey ships are to be distributed and given to all members of the Eldian military, especially the more senior members and leaders.
She provides all the Marleyans working in enviroments frequented by the Eldian military officials with Marley's finest wine, which is secretely tainted with Zeke's spinal fluid. She instructs the captives to keep serving it to the Eldian soldiers and not to tell all the other Volunteers about it. Being too busy with the Mid-East War, Marley does not take any action about the constant disappearances of the soldiers sent to Paradis for these three years, postponing the matter for another future time and entrusting the future invasion of the island to its new generation of Warrior candidates.
At some point in early 853, Hizuru sent its refusal to help Paradis trade its resources with other nations and offer friendship with them, as it goes against Hizuru's government's secret agenda of military expansion. Commander Hange decides to prepare an infiltration mission to Marley with only her Survey Corps' main team of most experienced soldiers, to see the real world with their own eyes and learn to understand the enemy in order to make peace with them. Later the same year, Yelena attends the celebration of the official opening of the only railway line system in Paradis, from Trost District's new station, and as she is sitting at a banquet her personal guard is abruptly replaced by Floch Forster.
This sudden change allows Yelena to slip away unnoticed and secretly make contact with Eren Yeager in private, without informing the rest of the military, by meeting him at an abandoned area in Trost. That night, Floch is also present, listening to Yelena speaking to Eren about Zeke's intentions. Both Yelena and Eren have grown impatient with the military's lack of urgency and feel that something needs to be done to push the Walls' administration to action. Yelena reveals to Eren Eldia's euthanasia plan of Zeke, which she names the only true way to save the world. She only mentions the plan as a basic permise, stating that Zeke wishes to personally meet Eren to share his plan with him in detail. She also reveals that she is distributing wine containing Zeke's spinal fluid to the military.
After learning this pivotal information from her, Floch begins to gather followers in Eren's behalf, who would become known as the Yeagerists one year later. Floch amasses several followers within the military, believing that Eren with his Titan powers should be the one to lead Paradis Island in the war for survival against Marley and the rest of humanity. Eren and Floch learned from Yelena about Zeke's wine ploy and decide not to tell anyone and let things play out, whilst the Marleyan captives keep serving it from several work locations secured by the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers to poison the military brass with the spinal fluid wine, such as restaurants like the one the former Marleyan soldiers Niccolo and Griez work in.
At some point, more of Eren's most trusted supporters are informed by Floch about Zeke and Yelena's wine ploy, and a few Marleyans like Griez come into contact with Floch and his henchmen to report them anything, despite Griez feeling only hate for the Eldians. Marleyans who became too friendly with the Eldians and the Survey Corps are not told how to contact Floch's group, nor are told about Zeke's spinal fluid being in the wine, although Niccolo has his suspicions.
Before Hange's main team travel to Marley, Yelena meets once again in secret with Eren and Floch, informing them about Zeke's plan to push Marley and the rest of the world to ally against Paradis Island by using Eren's own appearance as the Attack Titan to scare them into action. This will also drag Paradis' military into the conflict, as Zeke and Eren want. For the place of the provocation attack, Zeke chooses his own hometown Liberio, as a good portion of Marley's most active military forces lives nearby or in the city. The attack will be prepared as soon as the Marley Mid-East War will end and Zeke and the rest of the Army will be able to return to their homes, and then Zeke plans to have a talk with General Calvi, head of Marley's military governmental party. Yelena tells Eren a bit about the geography of the continent of Marley, showing him a map to help him know the territory and important locations.
After their arranged raid on Liberio, Zeke wants to give the world a month, so the major nations can gather all their military naval might to destroy the island; then he and Eren will make contact and use all the Wall Titans within Shiganshina District to destroy all the gathered warships on the sea with a small-scale Rumbling and show the world its might. Yelena predicts that the fleets of whichever nations will unite against Paradis will likely gather at the military ports of the Marleyan city of Karifa, if Armin will actually accept to destroy Marley's primary military ports in Liberio.
Yelena tells Eren to use a few hundred Wall Titans to destroy the naval fleets of the allied nations, and then every major nation will be defeated, as Yelena expects they will all be driven to financial collapse from losing their warships. This will make the world decide to leave Paradis Island alone for at least 50 years, while the Eldian government can find a solution to make friendships and alliances with any nation, hopefully trying to convince Hizuru, which in reality plans to use the Rumbling against the other major nations' militaries to become the world's first global super power and start its own military expansion like Marley. Yelena, however, confides to Eren what really worries her is not the naval power of the world, but the aerial one; on her map she shows Eren the location of Marley's military base of airship and airplane research in Fort Salta, where the Marley air force gathers fleets of airships and develops flying boats. Yelena fears Marley will still want to invade Paradis from the sky, or even manage to destroy the Rumbling attacking the Titans from the sky. In order to speak with Eren in public, Zeke wants him to disguise himself as an Eldian civilian of Marley.
Always in 853, Hange and her team of veterans travel to Marley's biggest trading port city, where Onyankopon and Kiyomi Azumabito await for them to assist them in learning more about the real world and in their attempts to make peace with Marley and the world, all while being completely unaware about Yelena and Zeke preparing their next plan to execute as soon as Marley's current war will end, hopefully before Zeke's term as a Titan ends, or else he will have to change plans. Hange's Scout group takes residence in one of Kiyomi's estates in Marley as they plan to reveal the world that Paradis only seeks peace, not revenge for the Great Titan War or even Marley's previous Titan attacks of the recent years. Eren quits the Survey Corps on the day he, his comrades, Kiyomi and Onyankopon attend an international forum conference of the Association to Protect the Subjects of Ymir, a Marleyan political organization that seeks the emancipation of all the people living in the world's internment zones and to accept them as citizens of their own respective nations.
However, the organization's protection program only defends the non-Eldian Subjects of Ymir, meaning everyone except the people of Paradis Island. The group calls for the human rights of all the internment zones' residents in the world and advocate for their freedom and opposition against the world's petitions for their genocide, whilst redirecting all the hate on the people of Paradis Island instead, declaring them to be the true remnants of the Eldian Empire.
Losing hope, Eren accepts that a non-violent peaceful resolution with the outer world is implausible, and abandons the Survey Corps. Using the knowledge received from Yelena and Zeke, Eren - presumably wearing a civilian armband provided by Zeke and Yelena - enlists in the Marley Army as a soldier of the Eldian Unit, as part of the plan made with the two. Now in Marleyan service, the recruit Eren receives a Marley Army uniform and a grey armband for Eldian soldiers. He is put in a military train with reinforcement troops to travel to the south of the continent, where the main fighting forces of the Marleyan military, including the Warrior Unit, are still fighting the Mid-East War. Eren and the additional troops join their comrades and their Commander Theo Magath in the warzone. Eren spends months living as a Marleyan soldier in the trenches for the rest of the war, whilst the Survey Corps spend around six months or more living in Marley and getting more attached to the outside world.
In 854 the Marley Mid-East War finally ends after the Battle of Fort Slava, and Warrior candidate Gabi Braun is praised by the nation as a war hero for having done multiple remarkable deeds in the war. It becomes clear that human technology is surpassing the power of the Titans and soon nukes and airplanes will become the main major players of war. Lacking more time and having only less than a year left, Zeke presses the Marleyan government to launch a full military invasion of Paradis Island, telling General Calvi to use the Founding Titan as a deterrent against rival nations, whilst Marley strengthens and modernizes its human military power. As all the world's major nations threaten to start a war against Marley, as well as having rivalries and struggles against each other, Willy Tybur decides to intervene in order to redirect all the world's hate on Paradis Island and use the latter as a common enemy to bring global stability.
Returning from the Mid-East War, Eren secretly infiltrates the Liberio internment zone as a wounded soldier with PTSD living in the hospital where his and Zeke's paternal grandfather works. There Zeke and Eren are finally able to meet each other several times in person without having to use Yelena as their intermediary. Having been informed by Yelena before, Zeke tells Eren the details of his plan to deal a crippling blow to Marley during the day Lord Tybur will make a declaration of war in Liberio, when it will be the only time all the top leaders of Marley's military dictatorship will be gathered in one place.
As Liberio has Marley's primary military naval port, Zeke and Eren hope to force Armin to destroy it, in hopes to buy more time before the invasion of Paradis starts, as Marley is likely to launch an immediate retaliation attack on Paradis instead of waiting for one month like Zeke wants. Zeke also plans to use the attack to stage his own death and be snuck to Paradis without making his betrayal public and doom his own grandparents in the process. Eren has Warrior candidate Falco Grice deliver his letters outside the Liberio internment zone to his former comrades living in Kiyomi's residence in the other port city, telling them he decided to entrust Eldia's future to Zeke.
Sometime later, the last letter sent by Falco informs the horrified Hange's team that Eren and Zeke are going to provoke the world's wrath and the war by starting a raid on Liberio on the day of Willy Tybur's international festival, in which Kiyomi will also attend as Hizuru's ambassador. This forces Commander Hange to have the Volunteers deploy the full armed Survey Corps, including Floch, and bring them to Marley. The objective of this mission is to retrieve Eren before he can start the massacre in Liberio. Hange's team travels with Kiyomi to Liberio to find Eren, hoping it will not too late by the time they find him. As part of Zeke's plan, Yelena and Onyankopon manage to steal an airship, in order to use it to flee from Liberio with Eren and the entire Survey Corps. Yelena also steals a certain amount of Titan serum from one of Marley's facilities, as it is necessary for Paradis to maintain its ownership of the Founding Titan and pass the Beast Titan to Queen Historia Reiss's successor in order to keep using the Rumbling as a deterrent against the world for many years.
Almost a month later since the Tyburs' arrival to Liberio, the international festival takes place in the city's internment zone, and Lord Tybur's theater production will take place the following evening. Yelena is part of the forces from Paradis dispatched to capture Eren, although in reality she follows Zeke's plan to keep the Titan Warriors away from the imminent fight while Eren eliminates as many Marleyan military leaders as possible.
She later delivers Zeke's instructions to Levi and the rest of the Survey Corps. Being the only Volunteer capable of piloting flying vehicles, Onyankopon takes control of the stolen airship somewhere outside Liberio, whilst Hange and Armin make a quick dangerous plan to have the Corps use lights to signal pickup posts on rooftops for retreat. Being unable to find Eren, Armin realizes the attack will result with Marley sending naval forces to Paradis for revenge and comes to the conclusion that he has to destroy Liberio's military ports with his Titan, as Zeke schemed in advance.
Wearing her own Marley Army uniform, Yelena infiltrates Commander Magath's troops and security squads at Willy Tybur's open theater production in the Liberio internment zone's plaza, where massive crowds and many important VIPS, reporters and powerful guests from across the globe and Marley are attending. Knowing what is going to happen, Kiyomi personally goes to see her friend Willy for one last time and then soon leaves the event and the plaza with her escorts, unaware that Magath's soldiers are monitoring every single person's movement, in search for nations allied with Paradis.
Magath gives Yelena and other soldiers the order to bring him all the Warriors, but the soldiers never come back to him. Instead, disguised as a male soldier with a fake beard, Yelena heads alone to the Warriors' seating area and brings Magath's orders to Zeke, Pieck Finger and Porco Galliard as Willy's play is starting, telling them to follow her, whilst Eren already had Falco lure Reiner Braun to him in his hideout.
After sending Zeke off to the zone's gate, Yelena leads the other two Warriors to Magath's supposed location. As they walk, Pieck notices the soldier looks familiar to her, and Yelena tells she is a soldier from the Lakua military base in the west of Marley. The three stop for a moment when they meet the Panzer Unit and Pieck runs to greet them, hugging one soldier. Yelena leads Galliard and Pieck into a room designed by the Marleyan military to restrain Titans and switly opens a trap door, causing the two to drop into a hole. Hange's hopes to win any alliances with other nations are destroyed by Willy Tybur, who declares to the entire world that the Eldian Empire will return and will start the Rumbling through Eren Yeager, and thus the world must join Marley's cause and destroy Paradis Island. As planned by Tybur,
Eren proves these fears correct when he transforms into the Attack Titan and starts the Raid on Liberio, bursting out from a building behind the stage. Eren kills Willy and General Calvi, as well as most of the military leaders of the nation. The Survey Corps failed to retrieve Eren before the attack could happen, and his rampage forces them to carry out their battle plans and join Eren to protect him from Marley's troops, in order to make sure the Founding Titan remains safe.
Before launching the attack on Liberio's ports, the Survey Corps wait for the whole bay to be closed off by the Marleyan military, whilst they fight against Commander Magath's troops, the reinforcements, and Lara Tybur's War Hammer Titan in the internment zone. Despite having succeeded, Yelena's entrapment of Galliard and Pieck proves to be in vain, as the Jaw Titan and the Cart Titan's Panzer Unit join the battle by surprise. Zeke also joins as the Beast Titan, pretending to be on the same side as the other Warriors as he puts up more fight against the Scouts as planned. Outside the zone, Marley's primary naval fleet arrives to bring reinforcements and close off the ports, gathering all around, which allows for Armin to destroy the ports and crush the fleet with the Colossal Titan, although a civilian area ended up getting involved in the process of doing so.
Galliard's wrath cause him to abandon his own post, which gives Levi the opening to stage for Zeke's "death". As soon as Armin's job to destroy the military ports is confirmed, Onyankopon and Hange arrive to Liberio with the retreat airship, picking Armin up first. They reach the internment zone shortly after a failed attempt to kill Pieck by the Corps, which is thwarted by Magath and his soldiers. Yelena joins Zeke, Levi and the rest of the Corps, retreating to the airship from the light signals placed on the zone's rooftops. Eren is also successfully recovered by Mikasa Ackerman, soon after he managed to devour Lara Tybur and steal the War Hammer Titan from Marley and a brief confrontation with Reiner's Armored Titan, who joined last.
After the Raid on Liberio went even better than planned, Yelena manages to regroup with the Survey Corps inside the airship to retreat back to Paradis. She stands near Zeke as Eren is brought to them, detained on Levi's orders. Whilst Onyankopon and Hange are in the pilot cabin, Yelena stays with Zeke, Eren, Levi, Armin and Mikasa in a separate room from the rest of the Corps, most of them celebrating with Floch the "first victory of the reborn Eldian Empire". When Levi points out she is still wearing her fake goatee, Yelena takes it off, whilst in the other room they hear loud noises similar to gunshots, bumps and screams. Shortly after, Jean Kirstein brings along two Marleyan POW child soldiers, Gabi and Falco, and reports they killed Lobov and Gabi just shot Sasha Braus, most likely to death. As Mikasa and Armin run to check on her in the other room, Gabi and Falco are surprised to find a likely surprised Zeke in the airship with the Eldians. They are visibly shocked and hurt by Zeke's admission to be the one who planned the Raid on Liberio, his own hometown.
Jean yells at Yelena for failing her job of locking up the Jaw and Cart Titans, causing more soldiers than necessary to die, for which she apologizes and accepts responsibility. As Zeke and Eren try to justify their actions, Connie Springer enters the room and announces Sasha's death, much to Yelena's mild sadness.
Back on Paradis Island, Eren is still detained and carried back to Trost's jail cells by the Survey Corps, whilst Gabi and Falco are handed over to the Military Police to be put in a prison. As the soldiers carry Sasha's corpse away, Yelena and Onyankopon stand near Zeke as they get off the airship. Escorted by Levi, Zeke exchanges one last look with Gabi and Falco looking at him in disappointment, while Yelena only keeps her eyes on him without looking at anything else around her.
Unlike most of Paradis' people, Zeke does not see the Raid on Liberio as a victory at all, calling the civilians' cheerful reactions scary ignorance, as the raid is just the island signing its own death warrant in his eyes, necessary to carry out his plan, whilst Yelena publicly pretends to enjoy the revenge on Marley for its imperialistic policies. A short time later, the military of the Walls calls for the immediate civilian evacuation of Shiganshina District, to prepare for Eren and Zeke's small-scale Rumbling, which will start in a month, after the Global Allied Fleet will presumably gather at Karifa.
Levi and 30 armed soldiers and 3 messengers escort Zeke away to a secret location, whilst Yelena and all her fellow Volunteers head to a meeting with Commander Dot Pixis at Trost District's military headquarters. The Volunteers bring to the Eldian government the limited supply of stolen Titan serum that Yelena took in Marley, which Paradis will not be able to reproduce with its lesser technology however. Unbeknownst to Eldia's leaders, Yelena and Zeke only mean for that supply to suffice to pass the Founding Titan to a member of the military and the Beast Titan to Queen Historia's heir for the island's protection for at least a century, before all the Subjects of Ymir both inside and outside the Walls will vanish from the world.
However, the situation has changed and the government has lost trust in Eren, who is now locked in a cell beneath Trost's military headquarters, while they did not even have trust in Zeke to begin with. The Premier head of the government and General of the Three Branches Darius Zackly decides that Eren might be too dangerous to be kept alive, and Commanders Pixis and Hange investigate Eren's actions.
As a result, Yelena and the other Anti-Marleyan Volunteers are put under house arrest, held at gunpoint with the very modern guns they brought from Marley for the last three years. A few days later, a small crew of the Azumabito and Lady Kiyomi arrive on Paradis from Marley to reunite with Hange and the others, where they are welcomed back by Premier Zackly at the harbor outside the Walls. The Azumabito brought with them the world's first flying boat fueled by iceburst stone, which will be used to witness Zeke and Eren's Rumbling against the Global Alliance from the sky. The boat is seen being carried to its spot on the docks by Marleyan soldiers wearing their uniforms, presumably some temporarily released Volunteers and/or Marleyan POW residents in Paradis assisting the Azumabito on Premier Zackly's orders.
Kiyomi, however, already privately warned Zeke that if the Eldians do something worse and begin hurting innocents for no reason, or try to wipe out Marley or other nations by restarting the Eldian Empire or taking disproportionate revenge, Hizuru will immediately abandon any cooperation and support for Paradis and she will report all their plans to Marley to side with them again, as she will not help the Eldian Empire to return in the world. Around the same time, the Survey Corps members Floch, Louise, Holger and Wim are all arrested to await for a trial under the martial court for leaking to the public the fact that Eren is in prison for the Raid on Liberio, much to the public's rage. Pixis begins visiting Yelena to interrogate her about her movements ten months ago, before the Survey Corps's visit to Marley.
Almost a month later, a furious crowd of civilians is protesting outside the headquarters at Trost, demanding the immediate release of Eren. The military even lost the support of the Reeves Company and Berg Newspapers, which used to be their first supporters during the uprising against the Reiss royal government four years ago. Now the public and press are accusing the military of clinging to power and withholding information Receiving confirmation that Yelena has been acting independently from the other Volunteers, Zackly permits Hange to take Onyankopon along with her to continue the investigations.
Meanwhile Zackly, Pixis and Commander Nile Dawk entirely give up on Eren, assuming he lost his mind and suspecting he is also being controlled by Zeke. The military decides to use the serum they received from the Volunteers to have Eren fed to another Titan, an MP soldier loyal to the military. All the leaders of the government are told this, without telling anything to the Hange and the Survey Corps to avoid infighting, as they are too close to Eren, especially Mikasa Ackerman. Despite Zackly, Pixis and Hange's best efforts to maintain order, it is too late since Zeke and Yelena already control most of the military due to the threat of turning them all into Titans.
Yelena, Eren and Floch have already been informed by the spies working within the branches about Zackly's decision to kill Eren. Thus, once Floch reveals the wine ploy to the rest of Eren's supporters, the Yeagerists begin their uprising, starting with them murdering Darius Zackly, and then their fellow Yeagerists of the Military Police and Garrison release Floch, Holger, Louise and Wim from their prison cells, whilst Eren frees himself by using the stolen power of the War Hammer Titan. Unaware about the wine ploy, Commander Pixis takes the leadership of Paradis' government and tries to negotiate with the Yeagerists by using Zeke's secret location only known by Hange, Levi and 30 other Survey Corps soldiers with him. In reality, Pixis secretely plans to have Levi transform any soldier of his choice into a Pure Titan and have them eat Eren in order to take his Titan powers and end the Yeagerist uprising.
The Yeagerists, however, are told by Eren not to trust Pixis and instead learn from the Marleyan captive Griez that Hange's squad of veterans and Onyankopon are alone in his and Niccolo's restaurant, minus Levi who is still somewhere with Zeke. Led by Eren and Floch, the Yeagerists detain them all, along with Niccolo and the Braus family, as well as Gabi and Falco who had previously escaped prison almost a month ago by murdering a guard, while Onyankopon is let free.
Before Pixis, Nile and the rest of the Eldian military leaders are told about the Marleyan wine by the Yeagerists, Zeke makes them realize it on their own, as he and Levi ended up having a fight when Levi decided to also feed Zeke to another Titan and not just Eren. Pixis quickly loses control of the government to Yelena and the Yeagerists, who seize political power within the Walls and detain all of Eldia's leaders. After the Yeagerists take over the military, whilst the Volunteers take over the government as the de-facto leaders of Paradis, Yelena and the other Volunteers ally themselves with them, while Zeke and Eren are declared the new leaders of Eldia.
On their demands and at gunpoint of his own traitor subordinates of the Garrison, Pixis is forced to comply and gathers all the heart of the military at Shiganshina District, where he orders all the military regiments to surrender to the Yeager brothers, resulting with their arrest and the successful coup by the Yeagerists. Yelena learns that even before the raid on Marley, the Military Police and Pixis always schemed to have Zeke fed to Queen Historia as soon as he came to the island, and only Historia's pregnancy made them decide not to transform her into a Titan while she is waiting for a baby.
When Yelena invites Pixis to have lunch with her, Onyankopon, and the other Volunteers, the Commander does not touch any of the food. All the Eldians who drank Zeke's wine without knowing any of the schemes of the Yeagers are marked with black armbands, while other officers who drank it but were forced to support the Yeagers and betray the military in secret wear red armbands, and have been given advantages, a chance to join the rebels or continue their free lives. All military members who wear white armbands are the ones who became Yeagerists from the beginning, without drinking any wine. Pixis notes how this is all like Marley does things when it conquers other nations and gives different armbands for members their militaries to distinguish people who joined Marley in advance, the ones who were forced to comply, and the ones who are Subjects of Ymir.
The relationship between Yelena and Pixis became hostile as soon as Yelena discovered that Pixis and the Eldian military always planned all along to have Zeke killed immediately after he set foot on Paradis. Ever since this knowledge, Yelena treats Pixis with disdain and criticizes the Eldians, Pixis and Levi for answering Zeke's "kindness" with constant hostility, mistrust and ungratefulness and repeated attempts to kill him, even after he had the Volunteers and Lady Azumabito help the island to develop its technology and have a chance for a future. Yelena mocks Pixis' decision to not align with the Volunteers and tells him that the government of Paradis only tried to prevent the entire world from being saved from war and destruction.
Pixis is confused by this, as the small-scale Rumbling will save only the island and will not do any difference to improve the other countries, thus wonders what Zeke's ulterior motive might be. On Zeke's behalf, however, Yelena refuses to provide any answers to him, as she no longer views anyone who tries to kill Zeke, like Pixis and Levi, as friends. She tells the commander it is too late for him to have a chance to join Zeke's cause. Instead she promises him there will be consequences for him, as he earned the wrath of Zeke, the "God who will save the world".
Later that day, Yelena visits Hange's team of veterans in their cells, sharing them with Niccolo and the Braus family. Jean Kirstein and Niccolo insinuate that the Volunteers' true agenda was always to use Paradis as their base to to start a war against Marley and avenge their stolen homelands. Onyankopon does not deny this, but points out that the island was primitive, one century behind, before the Volunteers came and brought it out the past by delivering modern firearms, trains and a harbor and the world's background. To the Volunteers, the only reason the Survey Corps ended up in a cell is because they chose not to entrust the fate of the world to the Yeager brothers, but they will be released as soon after the two will make contact and awake the Wall Titans in Shiganshina to start the limited Rumbling against the Global Alliance.
The captive Griez also joined the Volunteers for unknwon reasons, as he remains firmly loyal to Marley and reprimands his old friend Niccolo for having befriended the Eldians and having fell in love with the recently deceased Sasha Braus, which he views as acts of treason. After Griez repeatedly insults Sasha's memory and insists to call the Eldians devils, Yelena coldly shoots him in the head and apologizes to her prisoners in Griez's behalf for his rudeness. She assures the Scouts that her real goal is nothing as hollow as getting revenge on Marley, instead saving both Eldia and Marley and every other nation with Zeke and Eren's secret motive, which will make history and save humanity. She promises to reveal everything to them, detailing how Zeke's sterilization plan of Eldia's euthanization is supposed to work and apparently touching Armin, who fakes these feelings to goad her into a sense of security. Yelena is interrupted by the Yeagerists, who inform her that an enemy Marleyan soldier has infiltrated the military and killed one of their men.
When Yelena and Onyankopon hurry to Eren's side, he has already incapacitated Pieck by chaining her with Gabi, while Pieck claims to be on Eren's side and insists she plans to defect Marley and join the Yeagerists. Yelena urges Eren not to trust her, but Eren assures her the feeling of mistrust is mutual and is careful when dealing with Pieck. After Pieck claims she is going to show him where her other comrades are, Eren walks into an ambush and - to the horror of Yelena - is attacked by Galliard in his Jaw Titan form, while Marley's military forces led by General Magath arrive from the sky aboard five airships above Shiganshina, intending to kill Eren and reclaim the Founding Titan once and for all.
Victims[]
Directly Killed[]
- Numerous members of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers
- Numerous Marleyan spies
- A Marleyan captain
- Griez
Indirectly Killed[]
- Varis
- 29 unnamed Survey Corps members
- Dot Pixis
- Nile Dawk
- Roeg
- Numerous Eldians of Paradis Island's military
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Other than the girl soldiers of the Marley Army's Warrior Unit, Yelena is the only known female soldier ever seen in the Marleyan military.
- In spite of the fact that she is a first-class Marleyan citizens and soldier of the Marleyan Military, Yelena is the very first person and only fellow comrade that Zeke ever chose to put his trust in and confide his secrets with, ever since Tom Ksaver's death. What led Zeke to trust Yelena and disclose so much to her, despite the fact that she could have been spying on him and reported him, is unknown, as a Marleyan acting friendly to an Eldian is unusual, although not impossible, given the Panzer Unit and two PS gate guards of the Liberio internment zone. It is likely that Yelena is the one who approached Zeke to get closer to him and opened up to him first.
- The relationship between Yelena and Zeke, and how the two interacted, remains a complete mystery. It is only known that Yelena worshipped Zeke as a god and savior, instead of looking down on him for his blood, and that she still mourns him three years after his death. What Zeke thinks of Yelena and if she sees her as nothing but a pawn or a friend is unknown, but it is apparent that he has a great deal of respect and the two have mutual nihilistic views on life. Yelena's devotion to Zeke is what drew Pieck to take interest in observing her behavior.
- Despite her dishonorable actions, selfish motives, and general lack of care for human lives, Yelena is capable of certain degrees of honor and respect; she initially refused to provide any information about the possible whereabouts of Eren's Founding Titan on the mainland, and kept acting untrustworthy even while telling to General Magath that perhaps she might disclose what she knows and what she told Eren regarding Marley's geography, on the condition that she is brought along with the group trying to stop Eren, without making any sure promise to maintain her word. After seeing Magath sacrificing himself for humanity, however, and how he and everyone else in his group remained bent on stopping the Rumbling, Yelena chose to keep her word and ultimately revealed to the group everything she told Eren, only asking them to admit that Zeke's euthanasia plan was the superior solution than Eren's before agreeing to disappear from their lives as well as Zeke's.
External Links[]
- Yelena on the Attack on Titan Wiki