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Who is Yelena on Attack on Titan? We learned in Season 4 Episode 8 that she was the one wearing the fake beard, but who is she? Have we seen her before? Here’s a quick rundown of everything we know about Yelena so far.

This article will have spoilers for Season 4 Episode 8, but the article itself is manga-spoiler-free. Please don’t add spoilers from the manga in the comments. Thanks. 🙂 

Yelena Is a Follower of Zeke

Don’t worry, if you thought Yelena was Annie or Armin, you’re not alone. In an old theory post from a previous episode, I had guessed that the tall guard that trapped Pieck in the pit was Armin. Well, that guess sure was wrong. But once again, I love how this show subverts my expectations in a great way and not a Game-of-Thrones-Season-8 way. 🙂

So here’s what we were told about Yelena in Episode 8, in case you missed it.

Pieck is speaking with Commander Magath, and tells him that a Marley soldier who led her and Galliard into a trap had looked familiar to her, and she finally figured out why. (Previously, we had suspected it was Armin and she had seen him in battle, but that wasn’t the case.)

Pieck said, “I remember seeing that same soldier three years ago. They were on the first scout fleet sent to Paradis after Reiner came back.”

Magath is shocked and asks, “The missing scout ships?”

“Yes I’m sure of it,” she says. “They looked so awful with a beard.”

Next we see Yelena on the airship, taking off her fake beard and commenting to Levi that she thought it was well-received. It’s understandable if you got confused at this point, because the scene then shows Armin with Mikasa, and Armin is also blonde and looks a bit similar to Yelena.

After a scene with Gabi, we return to Pieck, and she’s asked how she identified the solder. Pieck says, “Well, it’s someone I had a particular interest in, because she’s a devout follower of Zeke.”

Then we see Levi asking her: “Yelena! What the hell happened to trapping the Cart and Jaw?! People died because of you!”

Yelena answered, “I’m sorry. I assure you they fell down the hole, but it’s still my fault.”

So no, we hadn’t seen Yelena before this season, even though she’s been in the Attack on Titan universe prior to Episode 8. We saw her leading Pieck and Galliard into the trap, but those were the only times we saw her prior to the revelations about her in Episode 8.

My guess is going to be that Zeke had already turned against Marley when he sent the first scout ship three years ago (after Season 3 ended) to Paradis. The scout ship disappeared because at least some of the people on that ship (including Yelena) were going with a message for Paradis. Perhaps everyone on the ship was a diehard Zeke supporter. Onyankopon was also with her, and now he’s working with Paradis too.

Yelena and others on that first scoutship began working closely with Paradis. Yelena (and possibly others) later came back into Marley undercover, and they worked with Zeke and Eren to pull off this mission we just saw. Which leads me to believe that when Eren went rogue, he went rogue with Zeke, even though it wasn’t at the direction of Levi and the rest. But Levi and the others had to go along with Zeke and Eren’s plan, which included using Yelena to trap Pieck and Galliard. (I could be wrong about this, but it’s my current guess based on what we’ve been told.)

Yelena being an Eldian follower of Zeke also leads me to think that Zeke is likely now the leader of the revolution that his dad once took over. He now has the same goals as his father, as was revealed in this episode, and is truly following in his father’s footsteps.

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Stephanie

Stephanie Dwilson started Post Apocalyptic Media with her husband Derek. She's a licensed attorney and has a master's in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].

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