Originally aired September 16, 2013
Teleplay by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Phillip Iscove
Story by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Phillip Iscove, and Len Wiseman
Directed by Len Wiseman
In 1781, in Sleepy Hollow, New York, Ichabod Crane decapitates the Headless Horseman in battle but is mortally wounded himself and collapses. Both he and the Horseman awaken 232 years later. The latter kills the local sheriff, August Corbin, and Ichabod is arrested for his murder by Corbin's former partner, Lieutenant Abbie Mills.
Ichabod asserts that not only is he innocent of the murder, but that he's actually just awakened after several centuries of entombment. Abbie is inclined to believe Ichabod, and together they learn that the Horseman is actually Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and is seeking his head to summon the other Horsemen to bring about the Apocalypse. Ichabod and Abbie recover the head before the Horseman does, thanks to a dream sent by Ichabod's wife Katrina, who was supposedly executed centuries earlier for witchcraft. Ichabod and Abbie also discover that Corbin has been keeping detailed files on the various mysteries of Sleepy Hollow.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Off with His Head!: In the teaser, Ichabod decapitates the Horseman on the battlefield.
- The Horseman also decapitates Corbin.
- Rise from Your Grave: Ichabod, in the teaser.
