The Bureau arrives to Baghdad, Iraq, so they can rescue Andrew Stern and confront The Sword once and for all. Following the signal of Andrew's tracker to a bombed museum, Carmen and the player arrived to the wrecked building only to find the decapitated body of travelling tribe leader Anir Aznag, who was responsible for kidnapping Andrew in the first place.
Tropes:
- Almost Dead Guy: Downplayed since he doesn't actually dies, but Dupont faints after being poisoned by The Sword's sword, and only manages to mutter Omar's name before succumbing.
- I Am What I Am: When Carmen and Jonah start arguing after he tells you to stop looking for Andrew and escape from The Sword's trap while you still can.Carmen: Jonah, the kid's only eight years old! Maybe Marina's right... all those years of violence have made you cold! I just hope you aren't a killer, too!Jonah: I am, Carmen! I'm a professional killer!
- Antagonistic Offspring: Marina and her mother clearly don't get along, as shown when she tells you Natasha shouldn't be trusted at all.
- Armor-Piercing Question: After you find a video of Benjamin becoming an extremist, Sword-worshiping terrorist, Carmen confronts him with one of these, and judging by his hesitation is obvious that it affected him.Carmen: Benjamin... The Sword kidnapped a child, murdered a police Chief, and killed countless other people! Is this the kind of person you want to be?Benjamin: I... uhm... change always comes at a price, <Player's Name>!
- Ascended Extra: At the end of the case, Chief Ripley hires Jonah as the field expert of the Bureau, meaning he's now part of the team.
- Back for the Dead: Anir Aznag is the victim four cases after his initial appearance.
- Back for the Finale: Benjamin Scott, Omar Bahir, Asal Hawaa, Jonah Karam, and Sultan Mahmoud all return as suspects in this case, which is the last one set in the Sahara Region.
- Batman Gambit: Omar's trap was based on knowing the player and the Bureau would chase him down to the Sahara, which is why he left so many clues to guide you more and more towards him.Omar: I knew the Bureau would soon get onto me, so I decided to trap you first. All I had to do was pull on your heartstrings by killing Ripley and abducting a child. I knew you'd come, <Player's Name>!
- Big Damn Heroes: Just as Omar is about to kill you and Carmen with a poison grenade, Jonah shots him in the head with an sniper rifle from across the street, saving you both.
- Boom, Headshot!: How Omar is defeated.
- Break the Haughty: Despite being smug and rebellious, is clear that Benjamin has been deeply affected by the extremist ideologies he has witnessed during his time at the Sahara, to the point he's shown to be extremely depressed and distraught until Elliot talks some sense into him.
- Bunker Woman: Marina gets briefly captured inside The Sword's bunker due to believing Jonah is trying to kill her.
- Captured on Purpose: Not only Omar scattered breadcrumbs all over the Sahara so you would come close to him, but he also left big decisive clues on the crime scenes in this case for this very same reason, as he was aiming to be arrested so he could kill you with a poison grenade.
- Career Versus Man: Since Jack kept flirting with her, Asal decided her job as a Mossad agent was far more important than meeting a man, so she gave him a tranquilizer poison to neutralize him.
- Cliffhanger: The case ends with the Bureau going to Russia after receiving a message from Natasha Romanova, head of a space agency called COSMORUS, asking for help, since spies have infiltrated her organization which could led to chaos all over the globe.
- The Climax: For the Sahara Region.
- Continuity Nod: Elliot recalls how he almost blew up London while talking with Benjamin.
- Convenient Photograph: Angela accidentally took a photo of the disguised Chief Ripley during one of her Camera Fiend sprees, allowing the player to identify her and discover Chief Ripley isn't actually dead.
- The Corrupter: The Sword is clearly shown to be this, since he convinced Anir, the leader of a peaceful nomad tribe, to become an extremist child kidnapper without any effort, and they're also spreading their ideologies rather easily towards other people like Benjamin.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: The only reason Benjamin came to the Sahara and attempted to become a terrorist was because he tried to make a change and do something with his life, something that clearly failed. At the end of the case, Elliot convinces him to go back with his parents, since being with a loving family is also a great goal itself.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Chief Ripley claims she had to fake her death from everyone, including her own team, so it would be authentic and no one would suspect a thing. Thanks to this, you were able to track and bring down The Sword for good.
- Dissonant Serenity: Despite being in the middle of a warzone and with the Bureau at his heels, Omar continues speaking with his eerily polite and smooth manners, which makes sense when you consider how much of a psychopath he is.
- Easily Forgiven: Despite being poisoned and almost killed by Asal, Jack can't bring himself to hate her, even allowing Asal to visit him at the hospital.Carmen: What? Asal poisoned you, and now she comes to visit?Jack: What can I say, I like 'em hot and dangerous!
- Elaborate Underground Base: The Sword has one in the form of a bunker, which is where you find Andrew.
- Faking the Dead: At the end of the case, Chief Ripley reveals she isn't actually dead, since she took the antidote before The Sword shot the poisoned dart at her. However, she had to pretend she was actually dead so the player and the Bureau would have the motivation necessary to hunt for The Sword.
- Femme Fatale: Carmen indirectly calls Asal this after learning she poisoned Jack and could be The Sword.Carmen: I agree: if The Sword is a woman, she'd be as seductive and treacherous as Asal!
- Finger-Licking Poison: The Sword poisoned the blade of the sword they used to kill Anir, which led to Dupont falling sick after inspecting the engraving on the blade.
- Harmful to Minors: Despite being blindfolded during the entire lead, Andrew still heard how The Sword killed Anir after delivering him to them, which traumatized him until Marina comforted the child.
- Killed Mid-Sentence:Omar: Goodbye, <Player's Name>. You'll meet your Chief Ripley in-[BANG!]
- Kiss of Death: Asal kissed Jack to transfer a poisoned capsule on his mouth, since she couldn't keep investigating with him following her everywhere.
- Lured into a Trap: All the clues The Sword has left over the Sahara were just breadcrumbs to attract you and The Bureau towards them, intending to kill all of them in Iraq once and for all.Omar: The Sword will use the child to bait you, <Player's Name>. I salute you for rising to the challenge - it's a foolish but brave way to die!
- Manipulative Bastard: Omar convinced Anir to deliver him Andrew after transforming him into an extremist then talked his way out of trouble after Dupont implied he was the one who poisoned him, which later ends up being true.
- Menacing Museum: The victim was found in a bombed museum, which is where he delivered Andrew to The Sword before being killed by them.
- Mummy Wrap: Lars does this again with Andrew's teddy bear to cheer him up after you rescue him.
- Narcissist: Whenever you speak with Omar, he refers to The Sword (AKA him) as cunning and intelligent, telling the player they have no way to defeat the assassin.
- Off with His Head!: How the victim was killed
- Poisoned Weapons: Omar attempts to kill you and Carmen with a poison grenade during his arrest, and he also poisoned Dupont with a poisoned sword before.
- Race Against the Clock: Subverted. Despite everyone telling you Andrew is closer to death the longer you take in finding him, is revealed that The Sword never intended to harm him, since they needed the boy alive to keep luring you into a trap.
- Revenge Before Reason: Despite knowing The Sword is luring them into a trap, Carmen opts for keep chasing them even after rescuing Andrew, claiming that they need to avenge Chief Ripley.
- I Shall Taunt You: The Sword keeps taunting you during the investigation by deliberately leaving clues and messages addressed to you during the case, since they are leading you into a trap and you continue walking deeper into it.Carmen: Choosing this sword as the murder weapon could be a deliberate choice to taunt us!
- Shout-Out:
- The case's title comes from Jesus' biblical quote: "Live by the sword, die by the sword"
- In the Communications Table scene, there is a soda can parodying Coca-Cola.
- So Proud of You: Chief Ripley tells you she's proud of you after she comes back and sees that you've defeated The Sword.
- Spy Cam: Asal had one in her lipstick, which is how you learn she poisoned Jack after you encounter it and the recording.
- Suicide Attack: Subverted. Carmen assumes Omar is trying to kill himself along with you when he brings out a grenade, but he reveals it's actually a poison one, which will leave him unscathed as he already drank the antidote.
- Troubled Teen: Benjamin definitely crosses the line when you find a recording of him dressing as a terrorist, which he claims is his true purpose in life. Fortunately, Carmen and Elliot manage to talk him out of it.
- Urban Ruins: Baghdad is currently a destroyed mess due to the war that has been taking place.
- War Is Hell: The case takes place in the middle of a Middle Eastern war, which had led to your crime scenes becoming Urban Ruins.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Carmen lashes out on Chief Ripley after she reveals she didn't die.Carmen: Alright, we get it - you faked your death to trap Bahir. But why did you lie to US, too? We mourned you, we were distraught!We risked our lives to avenge your murder! And you sat back and watched us walk into a trap?!
- Wicked Cultured: Omar, an extremelly intelligent and cultured professor, is also revealed to be an evil Professional Killer who has been creating extremist groups all over the region for SOMBRA.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Sword beheaded Anir after he brought Andrew to them.
