WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapter #127 of Attack on Titan, by Hajime Isayama, Dezi Sienty and Alex Ko Ransom, available in English from Kodansha now.
In the wake of the rumbling in Attack on Titan, Eren's friends and enemies have been forced to unite to put a stop to his genocidal plot. So far, the focus has simply been on re-grouping and re-focussing. But now, in Chapter #127, this all-star team, made up of both Eldian and Marleyan soldiers and Titans, has to reckon with what "stopping" Eren actually means.
No one is more conflicted about this than Mikasa, his adopted sister and fiercest protector ever since Eren helped her escape from a childhood of abuse when they were both minors. Armin, their childhood best friend, is also hesitant about taking an extreme course of action, but Mikasa's volatile reaction to the mere suggestion that Eren may have to be executed in the name of saving the world confirms that, out of the two of them, it's a possibility that weighs heaviest on the last female Ackerman.
The subject is brought up as the group sits down to share some stew in the woods beyond the city limits. The atmosphere is palpably tense, made all the worse by their prisoner, Yelena -- the most loyal of Zeke Jaeger's followers -- dryly picking at old and fresh wounds alike in the hopes of reminding them just how fragile their alliance really is. She manages to get the biggest the rise out of Jean, but it's actually Annie who ends up provoking Mikasa.
Until very recently, Annie was still encased in a crystal husk of her own making -- a defense mechanism following her defeat by Eren's Titan form. Then Eren, using the Founder's power, broke her free of her stasis and she quickly decided to side against his plan in order to save her father in Marley. Unlike the other Scouts, she has no emotional attachment to Eren and presses Mikasa and Armin on what their plan to deal with him is. When they both tell her that they'll try a diplomatic approach, she demands to know what their Plan B is should Eren not be open to being reasoned with.
"Is the kind of person who commits mass murder really going to have a mind you can change that easily?" Annie points out, to which Armin admits that they won't know until they talk to him. Annie counters by insisting that they need a "last resort" in place. But she doesn't stop there. Instead, she probes Mikasa's intentions, speculating that, if it's a choice between protecting Marley and killing Eren, she thinks Mikasa will choose to sacrifice the former. "I doubt you've even considered to be something more important than Eren."
As you'd expect, this triggers Mikasa to take an intimidating stance against the Female Titan. But just when it looks like Annie is going to respond in the same way, the Marleyan woman relents -- and chooses an empathetic course of action. She explains to Mikasa that she understands her feelings because she feels just as strongly about protecting her father. For that reason, she agrees to let them talk to Eren first. "At the very least, we shouldn't fight until it comes down to that."
Their stand-off is de-escalated as quickly as it began. It's hard not to agree with Annie's observation that Eren might be a lost cause. And should this turn out to be true, Mikasa will be faced with the hardest decision in a life of hard decisions: choosing between the person she's loved the most, or everyone else.