A train was driving down the railroad at night. Eldian soldiers were in a wagon together. A few of them were sitting on the floor. The rest were standing. They were listening to Colt, who was drunk.

"Did you witness the bravery of our Eldian goddess?!" Colt was standing next to Gabi with a hand on her shoulder. "Gabi took on the armored train in place of 800 Eldian soldiers!"

"Man, Colt! You stink of booze!" Gabi said annoyed.

"Why'd you do it, you big idiot?" Colt leaned down to Gabi, who tried to push his face away.

"Comrades!" Colt continued. "Do you have any idea why this idiot risked her life?! Well, I do!" He held onto his Eldian armband. "She did it to save all your asses in the Eldian unit!"

The others had tears in their eyes. The rest stood up and they cheered together. "Yeah!"

In another wagon, the Marleyans could hear them. Magath was drinking alcohol at a table. A Marleyan soldier walked towards the door. "I'll go shut them up."

"Let 'em have it." Magath said and the soldier stopped and looked at him. Magath closed his eyes. "Just this one night."

Eren, Mikasa, Pieck, Porco, and Zeke were also on the same train, they lowered their heads with frowns.

Colt had Gabi on his shoulders. They were cheering Gabi on. "Gabi! Gabi! Gabi!" "Me! Me! Me!"

Reiner walked up to Falco, who was watching them. "They're lifting her up again."

"They shouldn't let my brother drink." Falco answered. "And Gabi gets carried away too easily."

"Still, it's looking like she'll be the one who inherits the Armored Titan."

Falco looked down. "Yeah. The girl who adores you will inherit your Titan... and will live till she's 27." Reiner looked at him. "If cannons don't shred her first, that is. Are you fine with that?"

Reiner leaned down to him with wide eyes. "What did you say? Are you insulting the honor of inheriting one of the Nine?"

Falco looked at him with scared eyes. Reiner leaned closer to him. "If I report this, you and your whole family will become Titan weapons."

"W-wait! Let me rephrase what I said!" Falco begged him. "I, Falco Grice, hoped to be freed from the evil blood of Ymir and my ancestors! I pledge my life for Marley!" he swore.

"And what about the honor of inheriting one of the Nine?"

"I would be proud to be an honorary Marleyan and be given the chance to display my loyalty to our motherland."

"Do you want to inherit the Armored?" Both of them looked at Gabi.

She was still cheering. "Thank you!"

Falco turned to Reiner determined. "The one who should inherit it... is me!"

"Yes." "Huh?"

Reiner placed a hand on Falco's shoulder. "You have to rescue Gabi from the dark future that awaits us."

The train was shown again driving down the railroad. And then it eventually arrived at the station. The scene showed Liberio, and the door opened with Gabi jumping out, with a bag on her back cheering. "We're back! We made it back alive! It's our beloved hometown, Liberio! We're home!"

"Gabi..." Colt said as he and Galliard were walking behind her. Galliard was supporting him to walk with Colt's arm around his shoulders. "Could you please tone it down?"

Galliard helped him to sit on the box. "Ow, ow..."

"You should've known you can't hold your booze." Galliard said, crossing his arms.

Falco walked to them, frowning. "Who's the one who gave him the drinks?"

Pieck walked up to them. "He looked like he wanted some."

Zeke passed them with Magath. "Unbelievable. How dare you spew Pieck's kindness all over the train."

"We should've shut 'em up last night." Magath said.

Galliard turned to Gabi, smiling. "I heard they kept you hoisting you up."

"Because of Colt!"

"I think it's fine." Pieck placed a hand on her arm. "You deserved a bit of fun. What you did was impressive."

"Pieck!" Gabi smiled at her and blushed.

Falco looked at Reiner. Vice Chief Braun. He thought. What if he's thinking the same thing as me... and he wants us Eldians to be free from war? Can I... trust him?

The gates of the interment zone opened. The Families of the Eldian soldiers were waiting together for their loved ones.

Galliard turned to Falco. "Later. Take it easy and enjoy the break." He said and walked away.

"Not me!" Falco called after him. "It's back to training tomorrow!"

Gabi walked up next to him. "Trying to boost your grades? Gimme a break."

"I am not!"

"Hey, you two." Pieck passed them. "Don't push yourselves too hard."

Parents were greeting happily their children. Udo was hugging his mum. Zofia greeted her Dad. Galliard was walking to his parents. And Pieck was greeting her Dad. "Dad!"

Magath was watching the families and walked away.

"Zeke.." "Grandpa! Grandma!" Zeke greeted them smiling.

Eren slightly glared at his grandparents but decided to say nothing. Mikasa was also beside him, she frowned as this felt different compared to the Scouts returning back at Paradis Island.

"I'm home!" He hugged his grandmother.

"You achieved great things, Zeke." His grandfather told him.

"No, not yet." Zeke said.

Falco and Colt greeted their parents. "Colt! Falco!" Falco hugged his mum.

Gabi ran to her parents. "Dad! Mom!"

"Gabi!" They hugged each other.

"Reiner." Reiner turned around. His family was standing in front of him. "You must be tired." his mother said. "Come home and rest."

"Mom... I think I will." He smiled.

Colt's dad was helping Colt to walk, while Falco carried his bag. He stopped and looked to the side. "Go ahead!" he said to his parents and walked to Eldian soldiers, who were standing in a line.

"For crying out loud! Do you not know how to stand?" Two Marleyans were helping an Eldian to stand.

"Are they injured, Mr. Koslow?" Falco asked one of them.

"Huh? Stay outta way, brat." Mr. Koslow replied. The other Marleyan walked to the side. "They're Eldians with emotional trauma."

"Even our guys?"

Mr. Koslow looked at them. "It's from digging trenches on the front lines too long. All those bullets and bombs do it to you." He began to whistle in a high tone. Images of the war were shown quickly. Suddenly Mr. Koslow shouted "Boom!"

The Eldians feel scared to the ground, Eren was dragged down by the person in front of him. Mr. Koslow and the other Marleyan were laughing at them. "Look! They fell over again!"

Mikasa glared at them, but they didn't seem to care as they left. Falco approached one of the scared Eldians. "You okay? It's all right!" Falco looked at the older Eren, he had long hair and only one leg. He walked to him. "Kruger... Your armband's on the wrong arm. It's okay. I'm sure you'll get better. You don't have to fight anymore."

The scene changed to the Braun family. They were sitting at the table together. "Boom!" Gabi called out.

"Whoah!" "Just like I planned, I blew the armored train right off the tracks!" she told them excitedly. "It actually worked! But as I ran away, they fired a machine gun at me! And just before I ate lead...Galliard protected me with the Jaw Titan!"

"Amazing, Gabi!" her mother said proudly.

"You and your bravery saved a bunch of our soldiers!" her father said smiling. "You're the savior of Eldia!"

"I'm so proud of you!"

"Reiner." Reiner's mother said. "Do you think Gabi will become a Warrior?"

"Yes. It's almost a given she'll inherit the Armored Titan." Reiner flinched and replied.

"That's good to hear." Reiner's mother said. Gabi who was sitting next to her was blushing. "To think our family would have two Warriors. I'm so proud." She looked down. "If only those Island devils disappeared, we Eldians could finally be happy."

"But Reiner..." Gabi's father said. "Even you barely escaped from the island devils, right?"

"Don't Dad!" Gabi said. "He survived on that island of rotten devils for five years! Even if it wasn't classified, it's stuff he wouldn't wanna talk about."

"You're right. Forgive me nephew." He apologized.

"No, I can talk about it." Reiner said. "I infiltrated their military. Every last one of them was a savage, heartless devil. During the entrance ceremony, one of them started eating a potato. The instructor yelled at them, but they hardly seemed to care. Said they stole it 'cuz it looked tasty. Realizing they crossed the line, they said they'd share half with him. But the piece of potato they offered wasn't even close to half. Being considerate doesn't even cross their minds. They're truly beyond all help. There was an idiot who forgot why he went to the bathroom... An insincere jerk who only thought about himself. An uptight oaf who only cared what others thought... A single-minded fool who charged ahead and the chumps who followed him... They were all sorts of people there. And we were there, too. My days there was true hell."

His mother stared at him, horrified. Reiner looked to the side. "I've said too much. Forget it."

Gabi looked at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean, 'all sorts of people?' They're bad people, right?"

"That's right, Gabi." Reiner's mother said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Those island devils turned our world into hell. There's no knowing when they'll attack with giant Titans and flatten the world. It's up to good Eldians like us to make sure they never do."

Gabi nodded. "Mmm."

"Those who left us and fled to the island deserved to be punished. They're the ones who abandoned us."

It was a rainy night and someone jumped off a roof. The next day. Gabi and Reiner were walking down the street. Reiner asked, "What's wrong, Gabi? You seem down."

"Aunt Karina's worried about you. She says you changed after coming back from the island alone."

"Her 12-year-old son came back as a grown man. You can't really blame her."

"It feels like you're lying."

"Lying? About what?"

"I don't know, but I think Aunt Karina does." They passed a crowd, who were talking to each other. Something had happened. "I heard it was a soldier."

A door opened and Galliard walked in. Colt and Reiner were sitting at a table. Pieck was lying on the couch on her stomach.

Zeke stood at the window and poured cups. "Good morning." Colt greeted him.

"Everyone's here?" Zeke asked.

Galliard sat down. "It's not every day we meet in the war chief's room."

Zeke put the cups in front of Pieck and Galliard.

"Where's the brass?" Galliard asked.

"Not in the room." Zeke answered. "Can't we just meet for some tea?"

"Right..." Zeke took a sip of his tea. "Now then, the last battle made it clear that normal weapons will overtake Titans in the near future. The weaker Marley becomes, the more the Eldian race is threatened. Our existence is in danger. To rectify this, Marley must obtain the Founding Titan and Paradis' resources. The world must be strongly reminded of the threat that the island poses. To tell that story, we need a narrator." He threw a photograph of a family on the table. "The Tybur family will fulfill the role."

"The family holding the War Hammer Titan?" Colt asked.

"It's said the Tyburs have never sent the War Hammer Titan to enemy soil." Pieck said. "They're influential abroad for driving away King Fritz during the Great Titan War. The world will listen to them."

"That's Pieck for you! Precisely!" Zeke said.

"But the Tyburs have been living the life in their huge mansions." Galliard said. "Why come out of the woodwork now and pretend to be heroes?"

"I know how you feel, but the Tyburs are concerned about Marley, too." Zeke answered.

"But we..."

Reiner cut Galliard off. "If it saves our motherland Marley, I'll be grateful. Our Warrior unit can cooperate with the Tyburs and serve as the backbone for restoring Marley."

"Indeed." Zeke agreed. "Here in Liberio, there will be a festival soon. VIPs from abroad will be invited to hear an announcement from the Tyburs: 'Within a year, we'll control Paradis island.' The fate of Marley and all Eldians rests in this plan. It cannot fail." It zoomed to the gramophone in the room and that someone was listening to them in another room, what they are saying and writing everything down.

"For the future of our motherland Marley, we must join our hearts as one."

It revealed that it was four Marleyans, who listened to them. "Galliard seems to have some complaints, but he always gets the job done." One of them said.

"If that's all they're saying, I'm not concerned." Another one said.

"Except that one line of Zeke's."

"Huh?"

Reiner stood up and glanced shortly at the gramophone before walking out. 'Not in this room', huh? he thought.

Reiner leaned against a wall and watched the warrior candidates training. Gabi and Falco were training together, they had wooden rifles in their hands. She pushed him hard with her rifle, causing him to fall to the ground. He sat up and was met with her rifle in front of his face. Gabi was also panting.

Reiner walked away. Am I going back...to that island?

Here is a new chapter, and this marks the end of Episode 2. I am not going to put Reiner and the others' flashbacks in the next chapter.