The clerics surrounding her say she’s taking on too much. Pike disagrees. If they won’t help her find the Everlight, she’ll do so on her own, using whatever means necessary. ..
At Whitestone, Vax and Keyleth burst into the room as Anders slits Cassandra’s throat. Keyleth rushes forward to try to heal her, but she isn’t confident she can.
Cassandra begins to heal, but Percy doesn’t see. He’s after Anders, who awakens suits of armour to fight for him.
Anders declares that Grog will kill his friends for him. Suddenly, the mighty barbarian turns against his friends. ..
Pike is unaware of her friends’ trouble and plunges herself into darkness again. The place becomes charged with fire as the being appears. The Everlight tells the gnome that lies will not lead her back to the light.
Vox Machina meanwhile fights Grog, but he tanks most of their hits. When Vex points an arrow at Anders, he licks his lips again and takes control of everyone but Percy.
Percy’s friends corner him. They want to buy time so that he can apologize to the professor and say his father never recognized his brilliance. Anders says he isn’t fooled, but Percy has already bought the time he needed.
The gunman pulls the trigger, and a loud boom echoes through the room. The gunman’s eyes blacken and shadowy tendrils rise from him as he points his gun to Anders and shoots him in the head. Just as Cassandra would have died, Anders chokes in a pool of his own blood.
Percy puts on his mask to finish him off. His pepperbox glows red, displaying Anders’ name on the barrel. He shoots the professor again, and he falls out of the window to his death. ..
Percy and his sister go inside to quickly clear the house, and Cassandra is somewhat bitter towards him for leaving her behind. She says the Briarwoods have been parading her around Whitestone as someone who is loyal to them. All this time, however, she’s been feeding information to the Resistance.
Vex finds a star chart in the house that points to the solstice, which is five days from now. That means they have five days to stop Delilah from completing her ritual. ..
Keyleth causes the clouds in the sky to form the de Rolo crest, giving hope to the people of Whitestone. ..
Delilah casts a spell that causes the dead in Whitestone to rise from their graves. She tells Sylas that she’s doing this to protect him. Then, the dead in Whitestone begin rising out of their graves.
Pike screams again, this time in frustration. The Everlight tells her she has been lying. Pike admits that she has left the path of righteousness. Her friends can be violent. They drink, fight, and curse–but she loves every second of it. She says she put Vox Machina before the Everlight.
Pike opens her eyes and looks around the room. She sees herself in the goddess’s light and realizes that she wants to be someone different. ..
Scanlan, a returning soldier, returns to find his friends and warns them of zombies. He’s a bit late, however. The episode ends with a horde of undead closing around Vox Machina.
The Episode Review
Although I stand by my belief that Pike’s journey hasn’t been entirely relevant to the bigger plot, I did like her mini arc this episode with the Everlight. It delved into an interesting aspect of Pike’s character and her warring beliefs; I only wish we could have explored this arc as she remained with the group. ..
I’m concerned about the fight scenes in this series. But the animators have done an excellent job in keeping each fight unique and captivating. I’m somewhat skeptical of jumping straight from the brawl with Anders into a cliffhanger that suggests more immediate combat. We’ll see if next episode’s fight with the undead moves along the story.
Percy’s reunion with Cassandra was a joy to watch, and I’m curious to see how the bitterness she holds against her brother will play out. Will the siblings be able to unite to restore Whitestone to its former glory? ..
