Island Devils

Standing in ruined Shiganshina, Mikasa thinks back to the Survey Corps' first voyage to Marley and asks herself whether Eren ever truly changed, or whether nobody wanted to see who he already was. Disguised among the locals, the soldiers marvel at a world they never imagined: Connie, Sasha, and Hange treat an automobile like a strange animal until Levi has Onyankopon step in, and the group tastes ice cream for the first time. Eren stays detached, having already witnessed most of it through Grisha's inherited memories, and notes that Eldians confined to the internment zone almost never enjoy such treats.

Levi catches a young refugee boy stealing Sasha's purse, and the surrounding Marleyans turn ugly, speculating that the child is an escaped Subject of Ymir and debating punishing him as a warning. Levi tucks the boy under his arm, claims the purse belongs to his sister, and the soldiers flee with him; the boy repays the rescue by pinching Levi's wallet on his way out.

At Kiyomi Azumabito's estate, the group learns that improved blood testing keeps exposing hidden Subjects of Ymir, and that former Eldian prestige collapsed into worldwide persecution when the empire fell. Hange still hopes the Association to Protect the Subjects of Ymir might offer a path to peace that spares Historia from Zeke's plan. That evening Eren slips away to watch the refugee tents, telling Mikasa these people had normal lives stolen from them, just as the two of them once did. He asks her why she cares about him, whether as the boy who saved her or as family. Before she can finish answering that he is family, the refugee boy's father invites them in, and the night dissolves into a shared feast and celebration.

The forum crushes their hopes: its speaker defends only non-Eldian Subjects of Ymir and directs the crowd's hatred at the devils of Paradis. Mikasa marks that day as the moment Eren left them. In the present, a colossal skeleton towers where Eren stood, and Armin realizes far more of Wall Maria has fallen than repelling Marley's assault would require. Eren's voice then reaches every Subject of Ymir, announcing that the Walls have been undone, that the world seeks his people's extinction, and that the Titans of the Walls will march until every life beyond the island is extinguished.

In flashback, the Survey Corps travels through Marley for the first time, encountering cars, ice cream, and the daily reality of anti-Eldian prejudice.

Levi shields a refugee pickpocket, later identified with the boy Ramzi, from a hostile Marleyan crowd threatening to make an example of him.

Kiyomi explains that escaped Subjects of Ymir are hunted worldwide, dimming Paradis's prospects for allies.

Eren asks Mikasa what he means to her; she begins to answer that he is family, and the moment passes unresolved.

The forum of the Association to Protect the Subjects of Ymir condemns the islanders as devils, the day Mikasa identifies as Eren's true departure.

In the present, Eren addresses all Subjects of Ymir through the Founding Titan and proclaims the Rumbling will destroy all life outside Paradis.

Island Devils opens volume 31 as the 123rd chapter of Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan, published in Japan on November 9, 2019 and in English a day earlier. It falls within the War for Paradis arc, between From You, 2,000 Years Ago and Thaw.

The anime splits its content across the episodes From You, 2,000 Years Ago and The Dawn of Humanity. A colored edition appeared in Japan in the third volume of Attack on Titan: Full Color Edition and in the United States in the second volume of The Best of Attack on Titan: In Color.

Mikasa's unfinished answer to Eren's question became one of the series' most dissected scenes, since she wonders in hindsight whether a different reply might have changed the path that led to the Rumbling.