In the Altai mountains, the last known location of the Tarim, a squadron of military witches search for survivors. What they find is a gruesome sight – bodies of the Tarim people, all with their throats slashed and vocal chords removed, arranged in a pentagram.
Back at Fort Salem, Abigail is ready to accept Alder’s lies as collateral damage, but Tally insists that they were used, with Libba paying the ultimate price. Petra, too, thinks that it wasn’t right that Alder put the cadets in that situation. She tells Abigail that she’ll be giving the eulogy at Libba’s funeral, as the only other High Atlantic cadet of their ranking.
Petra reports the news of the fifteen Tarim deaths to Alder, noting that they were killed in the same manner as the members of her family at the wedding, and Izadora suggests that maybe it’s not the Spree who are responsible for those deaths, but the Camarilla. Alder refuses to believe it, saying that she snuffed out the witches’ ancient enemy over 200 years ago. Alder thinks that protecting the remaining people of the Tarim is now their highest priority. She offers Adil and Khalida the preservation of the remaining Tarim, but Khalida is resolute that Alder can’t be trusted and refuses her help. The Tarim are pacifists.
Not knowing who else to turn to for fear Anacostia is too close to Alder, the Bellweather unit go to Petra, confiding in her that Alder knew there were civilian hostages on board the truck that they destroyed, and ordered the strike anyway. Petra writes it off as collateral damages, not giving anything away, at least not until Raelle informs her that the Spree have infiltrated the base through Scylla, who is being interrogated for information. This visibly piques Petra’s interest.
At Libba’s funeral, Abigail goes off-script, giving an honest eulogy about how much she and Libba despised each other; how pointless the war between their families is. She thanks Libba for making her a better soldier. Libba and Abigail’s mothers share a tentative smile. Tally glares daggers at Alder.
Anacostia believes that Scylla can be redeemed, but Alder dismisses this idea and orders that she be sent away to a prison facility in the Caribbean from which she won’t return. But Anacostia wants to try and get through to Scylla and understand what made her become who she is. Scylla will co-operate, on one condition. She wants to see Raelle. Raelle initially refuses, claiming Scylla is dead to her, but Tally and Abigail ask her to reconsider. Forever is a long time, after all.
Alder tries to get President Wade’s approval to intervene on behalf of the Tarim, but the President forbids it, revealing that she knows what Alder did at Citydrop. Alder defends her choices, noting that they stopped an international crisis. But Wade isn’t done. She also knows about Scylla, and she’s pissed that she’s been Locked Out of the Loop. Wade tells Alder that she intends to remove Alder as head as the army, something which displeases Alder greatly. Petra tells Abigail that she can’t say much, but that big changes are coming, and that she should pay close attention to President Wade’s address.
While Hilary is deployed, Tally is still seeing Gerit, but it’s an “all-sex, no-talking” type of affair. It doesn’t last long, however, as Hilary comes back early. To Tally’s surprise, she offers to join in. As it turns out, Hilary knew about their affair, and wanted to walk in on them together to turn it into a group thing. Tally is pissed about being kept in the dark, and breaks up with Gerit.
Adil confides in Abigail about the death of more of the Tarim and that Khalida is refusing Alder’s help, a choice which Abigail approves of. She hints to Adil that there are changes coming and that he just needs to wait a little longer for help. Adil trusts her, and the two share a kiss.
Raelle changes her mind about seeing Scylla, but Scylla’s initial hope upon seeing her again fades quickly as she reads the look on Raelle’s face and assesses that she’s believed everything she’s been told about her. Raelle says that she loved Scylla, past tense, who resolutely tells Raelle that she still loves her, present tense. Raelle started out as a mark, but then Scylla fell for her, and it was all real to her. Raelle doesn’t believe her. She demands to know why Scylla picked her, to which Scylla responds that she doesn’t know, but that Raelle has no idea how powerful she is. An upset Raelle tells Scylla she’s sorry they ever met and turns to leave, halting as Scylla tearfully reveals that she chose her love for Raelle over her dedication to the Spree; Scylla begs Raelle to believe her, but Raelle walks away, and Scylla is left alone.
President Wade prepares to address the nation and announce Petra as Alder’s replacement, but Alder isn’t going to let go of power without a fight. She takes over Wade’s body, speech, and will, “puppetting” her to stay at the head of the army. Wade publicly gives Alder free rein to do as she pleases while a disappointed Adil turns away from a confused Abigail. Anacostia, suspecting foul play, finds Alder in the midst of her power play and can only watch on as her faith in her surrogate mother crumbles.
Anacostia finds Raelle crying at the foot of the tree she and Scylla spent so many moments beneath. Raelle confesses that, despite everything, she still loves Scylla. Anacostia tells her that she knows, and that Scylla loves Raelle too; that’s real. Raelle says that she told Petra about Scylla’s imprisonment. Anacostia quickly puts the pieces together and realizes that, if Alder traces the President’s intel back to the unit through Petra, then the girls are in serious danger.
Tropes Used:
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Scylla promises Raelle that she really fell for her and that she still loves her.
- Bedroom Adultery Scene: Hilary catches Gerit and Tally together. Subverted due to the reveal that Hilary and Gerit set it up on purpose to turn it into a threesome.
- Compelling Voice: Alder “puppets” the President and controls what she says to ensure she stays in power over the army.
- Defecting for Love: Scylla tells Raelle that she chose her over the Spree, despite her orders to deliver her.
- Foreshadowing: Izadora points out the similarities between the way the Camarilla used to kill people versus the way the Bellweathers and Tarim were killed.
- Has a Type: After Raelle admits she thought Libba was cute, Tally points out that – between her and Scylla – dark hair and trouble seems to be her type.
- Howl of Sorrow: Scylla gives a particularly harrowing one after Raelle walks out and she’s left completely alone.
- It's Always Sunny at Funerals: Libba’s funeral takes place on an extremely bright and sunny day.
- Leaving You to Find Myself: Tally breaks up with Gerit when she comes to the realization that he has no idea who she truly is, showing her Character Development to becoming more sure of herself.
- Love Confessor: Despite unleashing her anger at Scylla’s lies to her face, Raelle later privately and tearfully confesses to Anacostia that she still loves her.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Tally is extremely upset over what they did to the hostages in the previous episode. Scylla is genuinely upset over the pain she’s caused Raelle.
- No Sympathy: To her face, anyway, Raelle shows no sympathy towards Scylla being shipped off to die.
- Noodle Incident: Apparently, at one point, Abigail made Libba eat a piece of dead pigeon.
- Oh, Crap!: Anacostia has one of these as she puts together what led to Alder’s decision to puppet the President and realizes that the Bellweather unit may be in danger as a result.
- Recurring Location: After her confrontation with Scylla, Raelle cries beneath the tree that the two had shared moments near through previous episodes, hinting even before she confirms it that she still loves Scylla.
- Stealth Pun: Upon hearing of Alder’s plan to send her to a prison in the Caribbean, Scylla jokes that she tends to burn.
- Was It All a Lie?: Raelle asks this of Scylla.Raelle: Was anything real? Any of it?Scylla: All of it.
