Blaire, Myra, and Seeks find themselves in a fight for their lives against a surprising foe in the basement. Minx uncovers the dark secrets of Hagen’s clinic on the third floor. But it’s what happens when they reunite that will test their loyalties to the breaking point.
Content Warnings: Emotionally intense, Setarra being condescending and emotionally manipulative, inter-party conflict. If you’d prefer, a text summary of the episode is available below.
Featured Charities: Fundraiser for medical supplies for doctors in Wuhan and support Democratic challengers to GOP senators.
Descent into Midnight: Kickstarter begins on February 15! Follow the campaign page for notifications.
Buy Magpies pins and support the Magpies on Patreon!
Visit 5calls.org to contact your representatives.
Text Summary (Spoilers Below)
In the basement, Blaire, Myra, and Seeks hide in the former vault. They quickly discover the intruder is a Hull: a sparkcraft creation powered by a bound spirit. None of them know how to fight such a creature.
Upstairs, Minx encounters Doctor Hagen, and successfully lies to convince him that his husband is in danger. He leaves the clinic and enters a waiting cab–one that Minx arranged for. The Cabbie will drive him around the city until they reach a remote meeting point, at which point the Magpies can meet them and deal with the doctor. In the meantime, though, Minx and her watchful guards have been tasked with “locking up” the third floor, which contains a group of Hollows. Hollows are bodies without spirits, and Hagen has been experimenting on some of them.
Back in the basement, the trio set up an ambush for the Hull. Seeks attacks and is able to damage it, but nearly gets stabbed in the process. Myra manages to remove the Hull’s head, but it does not stop the creature in any meaningful way. She also gets stabbed, and realizes a horrible truth: the soul powering this Hull is Ojal, one of Salia’s apprentices and her former comrade. She tells the group that Salia sends her regards; Blaire is in a state of abject panic.
Upstairs, Minx attacks the guards and flees, only to be stopped by the gate blocking access to the lower floors. She uses trance powder to get rid of the guard, but is slowed down by accidental inhalation of the powder.
Blaire attempts to calm herself down but is unable to enter the fray against the creature. Seeks attempts to gum up the Hull’s gears, but gets run through on the blades sprouting from its arms. Clinging to life, she collapses to the floor. Myra grabs a grenade from Seeks and attempts to shove it into the Hull’s open neckhole, only to also get badly stabbed. Blaire is left alone as the only one who can face the Hull. In a panic, she summons Setarra for help. Setarra is unimpressed, but attacks the Hull after Blaire pleads for her to deal with it.
Minx returns to the basement as Setarra and the Hull battle their way towards the back door. Blaire begs Minx to take care of the other so she can get to the third floor to recover the demon blood that Setarra asked for; Minx is outraged that Blaire would abandon them when two of their friends are so badly injured, but Blaire goes anyway. She quickly realizes Setarra is outside and heads that way, only to see that both she and the Hull are gone. Minx manages to get Seeks and Myra out to the back dock, where Blaire rejoins them. Kay picks them up and, after dropping Minx off along the way, rushes them to Seeks’ clinic and helps patch the injured pair up.
Minx catches up with the Cabbie, who had to knock Hagen out in order to keep him from escaping. She dismisses the Cabbie and executes Hagen with a single shot.
In the clinic, Myra and Seeks are on numerous painkillers. Blaire is once again crying and in a state of panic about the Hull. Seeks, somewhat high on her own medicine, invites the others to her upcoming wedding to her longtime partner, Parris. Then she passes out. Minx returns and refuses to speak to Blaire, merely checking on Myra and Seeks before departing.
Blaire and Myra talk briefly, then returns to the Nest, where Minx confronts her about her choice at the clinic. Minx believes she chose Setarra over the crew; Blaire says she had to do what Setarra wanted in order to protect the crew. When pushed, Blaire says that she’ll choose the crew over Setarra in the future, and Minx (somewhat reluctantly) says that’ll have to do. They reach an uneasy truce, and Minx leaves. After a few moments, Blaire does as well. She makes her way to the Docks. Setarra appears and says she left because the Hull injured her; she also says that Blaire needs to consider who her real allies are. Blaire sides with her friends, and Setarra departs.
Minx and Myra are back at the clinic with Seeks and Liege Greer. The new partners are introduced and begin discussing plans for reopening the clinic–now renamed the Teagan Welker Memorial Clinic.