Idol: The Struggle for Trost, Part 7

Atop Wall Rose, Eren accepts Pyxis's orders despite his own doubts about controlling his power, an answer the commander salutes as that of a real man. Below, morale is collapsing. Word of a plan to retake Trost spreads panic; Daz waves his sword around ranting that execution beats being eaten, and soldiers begin walking away in numbers. Pyxis, sharing a flask with Eren on the Wall and musing over an old legend about humanity uniting against a common foe, descends to address the crowd at the critical moment. He announces the reconquest plan: a massive boulder will be carried to the shattered gate and the hole plugged, and the one carrying it will be Eren Jaeger, whom he introduces as the product of secret human-Titan transformation experiments, able to build and command a Titan body at will.

When deserters keep leaving even under Kitz Woermann's threats of execution, Pyxis pardons anyone who walks, then reminds them that whoever flees simply passes the terror on to their families. The crowd returns. He recounts the true story of the operation to retake Wall Maria four years earlier, a purge dressed up as a campaign, sending a fifth of the population to die because the land could no longer feed everyone. If Wall Rose falls, he warns, the territory inside Wall Sina cannot hold even half of those who remain. Hearing the stakes laid bare, Eren steels himself.

Pyxis assigns the Garrison elites Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenska, and Mitabi Jarnach as Eren's guard, placing Ian in overall command over his protests. Rico voices her skepticism about the "human weapon," and en route reminds Eren that soldiers are people with names and families whose deaths he must make count. Mikasa argues her way onto the protection detail despite Eren's irritation at being mothered. The decoy force draws the Titans to the far corner of Trost, the escort reaches the boulder unopposed, and Eren bites his hand and transforms. Then the plan disintegrates: instead of lifting the rock, Eren's Titan turns and hurls a punch at Mikasa.

Pyxis publicly unveils both the boulder-sealing strategy and Eren's Titan ability, framing him as a state experiment to make the power palatable to the ranks.

Mass desertion is halted not by threats but by Pyxis's offer of pardon paired with the reminder that fleeing only shifts the horror onto loved ones.

Pyxis reveals the buried truth of the Wall Maria "reconquest": a deliberate population cull that all of humanity inside the Walls shares guilt for.

The operation begins with Ian, Rico, and Mitabi guarding Eren, and fails instantly when Eren's newly transformed Titan attacks Mikasa instead of moving the boulder.

The episode adapts the manga chapter Icon and sits within the Struggle for Trost arc. It aired June 16, 2013 in Japan and July 19, 2014 in English, directed by Kiyoshi Fukumoto and written by Hiroshi Seko for Wit Studio and Production I.G. Crunchyroll lists it as "Icon - The Battle for Trost (7)."

A minor continuity slip appears after Eren's first talk with Pyxis: his torn outfit briefly shows no damage, then the ripped sleeve returns once the operation starts. The in-universe segment details the ODM gear's belt harness, which spreads weight across the body for precise aerial control.