WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapter #128 of Attack on Titan, by Hajime Isayama, Dezi Sienty and Alex Ko Ransom, available in English from Kodansha now.

The last couple of chapters of the Attack on Titan manga have forged a historic alliance between Eldian and Marleyan forces; two sides that have been locked in bitter conflict for centuries. Among their number are some of the series' remaining Eldian heroes, Mikasa, Armin, Hange, Jean and Connie, alongside a gravely injured Levi and two of the original Warrior unit, Reiner and Annie. Most importantly, the group also has the power of five of the Nine Titans on their side: Beast, Female, Colossal/Colossus, Cart and Jaw. All of them are united by one common goal: stopping a rampaging Eren from trampling the world to dust.

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At the end of Chapter #127, this unlikely group traveled to Paradis Island's harbor to find that the Jeagerist cult has the Azumabito under arrest and the docks on lock-down. In Chapter #128, they begin their operation to free their Azumabito comrades and commandeer a vessel as bloodlessly as possible. But, this being Attack on Titan, their carefully laid plans quickly blow up -- quite literally for some -- in their faces.

Hange and her Marleyan equivalent, Theo Magath, know that if the Jaegerists -- led by Floch -- figure out which side she and the other Scouts are on, they'll destroy the flying boats that they desperately need. "If we falter here, though," Magath stresses, "we'd be hopeless against the Founder." But both Magath and a repentant Reiner, who both seem to have had a huge change in heart since teaming up with those they once thought of as "devils," are keen to keep their new Eldian allies from getting their hands dirty with the blood of their former friends.

The Islanders, however, refuse to be left out of such a crucial operation, and so the consensus becomes to give it all they've got -- together -- but with diplomacy, not violence, in mind. Sadly, it becomes painfully obvious fairly quickly that Floch and his devout group are already far too suspicious to be lured into a false sense of security. Armin and Connie fail to persuade Floch to bring the Azumabito into open ground and then, when confronted by Floch's lackeys, Samuel and Daz at the dock, fail again to convince them that they're not working to bring down Eren. As Floch pieces things together from the building where he's keeping his hostages, a struggle breaks out between himself and Kiyoto Azumabito.

Attack on Titan Chapter 128

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At the sound of gunfire, Armin and Connie realize their plan has failed, and this is where everything kicks into high gear: While Mikasa cuts a bloody path through the building to rescue her Azumabito kin, Floch escapes outside and raises the alarm. Samuel shoots Armin to near-death when he tries to prevent Daz from blowing up the ship. Above them, Reiner and Annie transform into their Titan forms to draw attention from the rest of the Jaegerists. As a zombie-fied Armin desperately tries to continue stopping Daz, Connie -- locked in a struggle with Samuel -- is left with no choice but to shoot their friends-turned-enemies at point-blank range in the heads.

Watching from the hillside, former anti-Marleyan Volunteer Onyankopon is horrified by the unfolding events. "... Why must it come to this?" Yelena, the group's prisoner, scornfully gives him a fitting response: "Violence is one thing you can't take from humanity."

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