Abigail, Tally, Adil, Scylla, and Nicte continue to run from the Cession Marshals. They come to a cliff and split up, agreeing to meet out West: Abigail, Tally, and Adil take the salva offered by Scylla and take a flying leap, while Nicte and Scylla go off in another direction, doing their best to evade the Marshals.
President Wade learns about VP Silver's association with the Camarilla, including having his own daughter infected with the Witchplague. She's decided to launch a criminal investigation on him and veto his antiwitch bill. Anacostia worries that if they strike now at Silver, the Camarilla leadership will just crawl back to the shadows...
Nice and Scylla put on a glamour to disguise their faces and buy bus tickets.
Wade and Anacostia meet with Pauline Marten, the Ojibway representative from the Great River Council about the explosion of the fungicide factory in the Cession.
The Marshal finds Nicte and Scylla on board the bus, but they break a window and run off. Alban Hearst gets out of the Cession but is confronted by a furious Kara Brandt.
While hiding from the Marshals, Scylla attempts to communicate with Raelle with her Necro skills. Nicte thinks Scylla's attachment to Raelle has made her weak. They start fighting, making it easy for the Marshal to take them captive. According to Marten, the VP has seen the security footage and is sure the Bellweather unit was responsible. Marten and the Council want to know what the soldiers have to say and have sent their best trackers after the unit.
Adil and Tally work together with his blood compass and her Sight, and locate Khalida, who is hanging out at a bar. Khalida points out to Alder, of all people, who offers them drinks from a tray but does not provide any real answers to questions about how on earth she is at a bar, looking all rejuvenated. In the meantime, the singer at the bar, Elayne starts singing. Her compelling voice makes everybody at the bar dance. Our fugitives realize she is a witch.
At an operating room, a young woman is Strapped to an Operating Table, with Hearst in the table next to her. He thanks her for her contribution to the cause, takes a scalpel and starts slicing into his neck as she screams.
When Elayne is done performing and on the way to her trailer, Alder and Tally go to talk to her about her piece of the First Song. Elayne acts like she has no idea what Tally and Alder are talking about, even denying she is a witch. Finally Alder gets impatient. At the sight of Alder's purple glowing eyes, Elayne runs off, telling them they can have the trailer. Inside they find a piece of the First Song. By then, the Marshal has apprehended Adil, Abigail and Khalida, and Alder is gone. Tally surrenders.
At the White House, M loses contact with Sterling and Anacostia. They realize something is wrong. As Wade delivers her State Of the Union address, there is an explosion. The President is lying unresponsive among the debris.
Back at the Cession, the Marshal delivers Scylla and Nicte to the same estate where the rest of the group is being held. The group reunites, but Scylla is heartbroken after being unable to communicate with Raelle.
Tropes used
- Badass Native: The Marshal manages to catch the group via his tracking skills and his own ability to wield magic by whistling to render their magic Work ineffective.
- Big Eater: In the past, Alder didn't need to eat. In the present, she orders an enormous plate of nachos at the bar and savors them.
- Call-Back:
- In the first episode of the third season, "Homo Cantus", six ancient witches sang a song together. Each one went off to bring the gift of speech to humankind. Now, Khalida tells the others that she is the steward of one out of six pieces of the First Song.
- The Chanteuse: Elayne, the singer at the bar, fills out the role with songs that remove inhibitions from the listeners, even though the setting is a dive bar and her attire is not glamorous.
- Deadpan Snarker: After Nicte and Scylla finally get caught, the Marshal leads them to an isolated estate.Nicte: Doesn't look like a jail.
The Marshal: Astute observation. You must be the smart one. - Desk Sweep of Rage: Kara Brandt proceeds to drag Alban Hearst for the destruction of the processing facility. After she leaves his office, he loses it and sweeps the top of his desk to the floor. He recovers quickly and returns to his Mad Scientist form.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Pauline Marten from The Council of The Great River drops by to chat with President Wade about the destruction of the processing plant in the Cession and the fugitive trio. Before they begin, they exchange greetings in Ojibwe, giving Marten the opportunity to compliment the President on her improved language skills.
- Magical Native American: The Marshal is clearly meant to be a Native American. He has long gray hair, wearing tribal style ornamentation on his clothing with a cowboy hat and dark leather jacket fitting how many modern Native men dress. As a Scarily Competent Tracker, he manages to find Nicte and Scylla, undoing their disguises using a spell he activates by whistling. Of course, given this show has a nearly all witch cast it's not as unusual. He is the first Native American on the show however.
- The Nameless: The leader of the Cession Marshals is credited as "The Marshal".
- Nasal Trauma: Alban Hearst returns from the Cession with a broken nose. Kara, angry at the destruction of the poison processing plant, resets it for him, doing her best to make sure it hurts.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The Marshal, to Nicte, while taking them in: "I know who you are. You think you're special because you started a revolution? My dog is a better pack leader than you."
- Scarily Competent Tracker: The Marshal, a tracker who has been reputed to be the best there is. He manages to see through Scylla and Nicte's disguises, revealing them with a whistle. They manage to flee, but he still finds them, and expresses admiration that they even temporarily had escaped him.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: After Elayne performs, Alder and Tally go to talk to her about her piece of the First Song. Elayne acts like she has no idea what Tally and Alder are talking about, even denying she is a witch. Finally Alder gets impatient and her eyes glow bright and purple. Elayne runs off, telling them they can have the trailer
- Wham Shot:
- The rejuvenated Alder, showing up at the roadhouse, offering a tray of drinks to the speechless Abigail and Tally.
- Just as the President is about to deliver the State of the Union address, a bomb explodes at the White House. Among the debris lies an unresponsive Wade, at best seriously injured, at worst dead or dying.
- Written-In Absence: Raelle does not appear in this episode due to Taylor Hickson being in an accident at the time of filming. Her absence is explained away by her being in the Mycelium, with Scylla being unable to contact her.
