Yelena’s origins are revealed in Attack on Titan, and her secret history is more significant than you might think. Eren Jaeger’s Founding Titan poses a threat to the world’s destruction as the concluding season of Hajime Isayama’s epic Attack on Titan story draws to a close. Are the characters from Attack on Titan engaged in a bloody final fight, splattered in Wall Titan guts, and on the prowl for Eren before he claims any more innocent lives? Not exactly. The core cast of Attack on Titan gathers for a pleasant conversation in episode 84 (“Night of the End”) of the show.
There are a few significant moments that come out of their fireside talk, at least. The Survey Corps discovers the true cause of Marco’s death, and Annie, whose attention had previously been firmly fixed on pie, declares her allegiance. The most surprising information, however, relates to Yelena, Zeke’s right-hand lady. Yelena, who is well known for that eerie visage from Attack on Titan season 4, stated that she was from a country Marley had invaded and devastated. She supposedly supported Zeke’s campaign to end Eldian euthanasia in order to revenge her hometown and stop others from experiencing the same fate.
The 84th episode of Attack on Titan shows Yelena made up the entire origin story. Yelena is revealed by Magath and the other Marleyans to be one of them—a native of Marley with no foreign ancestry at all. Yelena would’ve had a tranquil life among Marley’s general population, not being oppressed like the Eldians or compelled to serve in the military like the prisoner she pretended to be, unlike most people in the dismal world of Attack on Titan’s never-ending conflict. Given the setting of Attack on Titan, it might seem like a technicality whether Yelena is from Marley proper or one of its conquered territories, but this distinction alters everything viewers previously believed to be true about Yelena’s personality and creates a sinister comparison between her feelings for Zeke and Mikasa’s feelings for Eren.
It’s fair to say that Yelena hasn’t tried to disguise her admiration for Zeke Jaeger. But up to this point, her admiration seemed to have a rescuer complex. Yelena experienced the loss of her nation and the theft of her freedom, but then Zeke appeared, promising to put a stop to her suffering. This was true before Magath’s revelation, but not anymore. Yelena didn’t have any ideological motivations or a spiteful spark to guide her; she only did it because she loved Zeke. Yelena was persuaded by Zeke’s charisma to leave a nice life behind and go on a mission that would unavoidably result in her death and the deaths of countless others. Yelena’s actions could be interpreted as a protest against Marley’s treatment of the Eldians. Some would respond that sterilising them wasn’t the most effective method to accomplish it.
Yelena contrasts sharply with Mikasa in the last season of Attack on Titan due to her blind absolutism in the wake of Zeke Jaeger. Both have an unnatural affection for a Jaeger sibling (what is it with these boys?! ), but Yelena makes it obvious that she would have obeyed Zeke’s orders no matter how heinous they were. As the last battle of Attack on Titan approaches, Mikasa finds herself in the same predicament. Annie wonders if Mikasa is even capable of challenging Eren Jaeger and decides to back Eren’s genocidal campaign to defend Paradis Island. Without any hesitation or second thoughts, Mikasa declares that she is standing up for what is right and not allowing the person she loves to take the lives of more innocent people.
There are similarities between Yelena and Ymir Fritz as well. Despite having the ability to instantly destroy the whole royal family who had enslaved her, the Founding Titan continued to obey them out of love for King Fritz. In a similarly ominous vein, Yelena undoubtedly realised Zeke Jaeger was using her unwavering trust for his own purposes, but she nonetheless followed out his orders with nothing more than Zeke’s mere presence as payment. Will Yelena follow in the footsteps of Ymir, who eventually lost control of his anger and joined Eren? Or is the punishment of losing Zeke Jaeger sufficient?
