Fort Salem. A cadet, Lupe Cortez, gets teased by others for being the only one who gets excited about Mothertongue class. When they arrive, they see Col. Jarrett escorting Prof. Grafton out of the building and padlocking the doors. Talking over the professor, Col. Jarrett announces that Mothertongue classes are suspended until further notice. He goes on about his duty to hold witches accountable, and has a problem with the witches having a language only they can speak.
Back in the Cession, the group prepares to meet the Council but Nicte knows that as the founder of the Spree, she is better off not appearing. So she says goodbyes and sneaks out when the Council members file in.
Anacostia and Sterling (whose stab wounds from the prior episode have been Fixed by Anacostia) wake up at the Camarilla HQ lab, each in restraints and Work-inhibiting collars. Just when a surgeon is about to slice into her neck to extract her voice box, she uses Spree work to control his mind and make him attack his partner. They end up killing each other while Anacostia releases Sterling. Then she takes a lighter and prepares to copy the dead surgeon's face, having picked up the skill from Scylla.
The Council's ruling: the group will be allowed to leave the Cession, but they can never come back. Ever. And yes, that applies to Raelle. The group has to stay one more night before departing and has to wear Work-nullifying collars.
Alban Hearst breaks into the house and uses Work to attack them. With their collars, they have to fight back with what they have. They find Alban and company holding Edwin Collar as a hostage. Hearst swears the man will be released unharmed if the entire group surrenders. Just then, tendrils emerge from the ground and take over the soldier with his knife at Edwin's throat. Twelve copies of Alder materialize, taking care of the remaining mooks. The tendrils go to Alban Hearst but stop at his feet. Alder collapses; the poison in the Mycelium is weakening her.
Anacostia and Sterling manage to escape but Anacostia decides to find out more about what is happening. They come across a very large number of Camarilla soldiers, practicing drills.
Tropes in this episode
- Call-Back
- In "Homo Cantus", Alder emerges from the earth in front of an astounded Basque shepherd. He reappears in this episode.
- The scene where Khalida and Alder reconcile is a big contrast from a much earlier episode where Khalida refused to teach Alder the songs of the Tarim so they don't get used as weapons.
- Contrived Coincidence: The Council has the group wear Work-nullifying collars until it is time to escort them outside the Cession. Of course, that's when Alban shows up with his implanted voice box, attacking them with Windstrikes.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The cancellation of Mothertongue class is reminiscent of 19th century legislation that mandated English to be the exclusive language of instruction enforced on reservations.
- Hitler Cam: Col. Jarrett's diatribe about witches and their secret language is filmed like this, to emphasize his authority.
- I Have Your Wife: Alban Hearst has Edwin, Raelle's dad, held at knifepoint by his men. Hearst promises to release the man if and only if the entire group surrenders.
- Insulting from Behind the Language Barrier: After Col. Jarrett announces Mothertongue class has been banned, Prof. Grafton insults Col. Jarrett in Mothertongue, to his students' barely concealed amusement.Prof. Grafton: (in Mothertongue) Please continue to spread the stench of your diseased genitalia all over base. (Switches back to English) Enjoy your day.
- Matriarchy: The Cession is run by a mostly female council, with representatives from different Native tribes (Salish, Shoshone, Lakota, Ojibwe, Muscogee, Iroquois and Cherokee). Only one of the seven representatives is male.
- Mr. Fanservice: In-Universe. Adil greets each council member in their own language and even compliments a member's colorful glasses. Milly, the Lakota rep, calls him a "handsome songbird".
- Neck Snap: How Sterling deals with the technician when the latter goes for the emergency button.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: How Anacostia and Sterling wake up at the Camarilla HQ lab.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Tally tries to avert this, given her vision of Raelle destroying the world. She experiences a vision of the others breaking a glass by bumping into a table, but then she is able to grab the glass before it breaks. Her relief at the implications (that her horrific vision could be prevented) ends when Abigail trips and breaks the glass.
