Having formed after Eren Yeager’s conversation with Floch Forster on his intentions to use the royal blood of his brother Zeke Yeager to trigger the Rumbling, the Yeagerists are a breakaway faction of the Survey Corps who currently exert full control over the Survey Corps and Paradis' military. Formed with the sole intention of protectingthe interests of the Eldians of Paradis, this group of rebel soldiers swiftly and stealthily took control over the civilization within the walls following the attack on Liberio, becoming the dominant political and military power during the War for Paradis arc ofAttack on Titan. The group saw the animosity directed by the rest of the world towards Paradis as a grave threat to their existence, and sought to take drastic action against it, resulting in the plan to unite Eren and Zeke following the arrest and detention of both brothers after the events in Liberio.
While thefeasibility of their objectivesis quite questionable — both in the motives and the morality behind them — the Yeagerists are powerful players in the story post time skip, shaping much of the events leading up to the final battle inAttack on Titan. The group is steadfastly devoted to their founder andde factocommander Floch, whose new radical worldview after the Operation to Retake Wall Maria prompted his decision to lead this extremist faction and fulfill Eren’s wishes to protect their people from persecution by Marley and its allies. In doing so, the group hopes to restore their nation to its former glory, heralding the birth of the new Eldian Empire.
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Origins And Structure
Initially comprising a few members of the Survey Corps whose objectives aligned with those of Floch and Yelena, leader of the Marleyan volunteers, the group’s membership rapidly grew during theWar for Paradis arc on Eren’s return. While their influence over the military was quite considerable on its own, this was bolstered by the favor they gained among civilians and officials who were sympathetic to their cause. Floch himself can be credited with rallying many of the group’s early members, driven by his new desire to achieve his goals by whatever means necessary, even if that meant discarding his own humanity.
Much of this can be attributed to him being the only survivor of Erwin’s suicide charge against the Beast Titan during the Battle of Shiganshina, where the former Commander of the Scouts convinced his troops to lay down their lives as a means to divert Zeke’s attention,from the movements of Captain Levi Ackerman. Over time, he also began to see Eren as Eldia’s last hope against the rest of the world. When Eren defied orders and journeyed to Marley, Floch gathered comrades to aid the former in realizing his goal — that of preventing Zeke from being fed to Historia Reiss.
There are a lot of obvious parallels between this faction and the Eldian Restorationists led by Grisha Yeager back in Marley. From their radical beliefs and unbridled hatred towards Marley, to their allegiance to the Attack Titan and goal of restoring Eldia with the might of the Rumbling, along with the final fates of their members, the comparisons between the two organizations only falter in the means by which they proceeded with their objectives, as well as the contexts in which they operated. The Yeagerists already had considerable backing from both civilians and soldiers,buoyed by the figure of Eren, whom they rallied around. By contrast, the Restorationists had to operate in complete secrecy for fear of being apprehended and executed by Marleyan authorities, and had little, if any military might behind them, which eventually contributed to their downfall. The numerical strength of the two groups is also difficult to compare where the Eldian Restorationists were an exceedingly small faction of rebels whereas the Yeagerists enjoyed widespread support among the populace of Paradis, especially after the Scouts' victory in Liberio.
Unleashing The Rumbling
On returning to Marley after his actions in Liberio, Eren was swiftly imprisoned by the Scouts. However, he soon escaped and regrouped with the Yeagerist faction, who had been orchestrating a plot to take over the government of Paradis from the shadows. Firstly, they assassinated Darius Zackly, the Commander-in-Chief of Paradis' military, by planting a bomb inside his office. Next, in giving soldiers wine laced with Zeke’s spinal fluid, they found a swift means to bring the majority of the Eldian military under their control. By threatening them with the fate of becoming pure Titans onbeing exposed to Zeke’s scream, the Yeagerists were able to coerce most soldiers and their comrades to bend to Floch’s will, setting the stage for Eren and Zeke to unite and trigger the Rumbling. This part of the plan was only made possible by the intervention of Yelena and the volunteers, who worked alongside the Yeagerists.
After a number of setbacks brought on by an invasion spearheaded by the Marleyan military alongside the remaining members of the Warrior unit, the Yeagerists managed to bring Zeke and Eren together, permitting the latter to gain control of the Founding Titan power in full. Eren then shunted Zeke to the sidelines, ending any hope of the latter’s euthanasia plan coming into effect, to finally release the Colossal Titans inside the Walls. Floch and his cronies then embarked on a series of purges, including public executions, to rid themselves of the volunteers and any dissenters after their main aim was achieved. Even when Armin, Mikasa, Levi, and a few remaining members of theScouts and Warriors set off to stop Eren, they were met by firm resistance from the Yeagerists, who fought tooth and nail to prevent them from hindering the completion of their plans. From the battle in the harbor, to Floch’s final act of shooting up the fuel tank of the Azumabito flying boat in Odiha, each member of the group displayed an undying devotion to their cause.
This section contains major spoilers for the Attack on Titan manga.
After The Battle Of Heaven And Earth
The aftermath of Eren’s defeat and the end of the age of Titans brought about great changes in the power structure of the island’s military. As a result of the widespreaddevastation caused by the Rumbling, many of the world’s nations lost a considerable amount of infrastructure and technological implements that took decades to rebuild. Paradis, on the other hand, was able to catch up and modernize in this time, allowing the islanders to compete with the threat they perceived from those whose homelands had been ravaged by Eren’s actions.
Paradis' military at this timegrew considerably in strength and numbers, commanded primarily by the Yeagerists and their followers who were dedicated to protecting the new nation of Eldia on the island, now a major global power owing to the depleted and desolate states of other countries. The three military branches: the Military Police Brigade, the Garrison, and the Survey Corps were merged into a single army by the year 857, creating a force that could potentially stand against most other countries who sought their downfall. Although the faction may have started out with noble intentions, if they can even be described as such, the situation in 857 was precariously poised between an unsteady peace and all out war. Sadly, at an unspecified point in the future, Paradis was bombed by allied forces, making the Yeagersists' sacrifices all but redundant in the long term. This signals how truly difficult it is for anyone to break the endless cycle of hatred, even when pursuing the most extreme measures.
