Original release date: April 23, 2021
* * *
[ominous music playing]
Has he talked?
A lot of lies. Ivan’s with him.
I’ve been swindled.
Hoodwinked.
My guards tell me that they caught you fleeing the scene of the crime.
Yes, I followed them.
Followed whom?
They come from the other side of the Fold.
From the start, they seemed, just, a bit off to me, so when they left our stage, at the fete, I followed them to see what they were up to, and at the time that I walked into that room, they were gone and…
[heart beating loudly]
Saints, it was… unspeakable.
So I ran. I…
How much of that is true?
[Ivan] He did cross the Fold with the others.
The rest were lies.
What? That’s… No… [spluttering]
Your heart gives you away.
Do you know we keep records of everyone who crosses the Fold?
For the winter fete, we had ambassadors from Kerch, Novyi Zem, the Wandering Isle, but you didn’t cross with them, did you?
No, you and your crew, you have another way.
I don’t know what you mean. I…
[heart beating loudly]
He does.
I’m an entertainer.
Oskar, Oskar Krepkov.
[grunts in pain]
[heartbeat accelerating]
Well, that is certainly entertaining.
You are the Conductor, Arken Visser, are you not?
You smuggle Grisha out of my palace!
You help them abandon the war effort.
No. I deal in legal indentures.
I don’t mess with Grisha.
Lie.
[Kirigan] I don’t need him to tell me.
I had a spy.
Nina Zenik.
Ring any bells?
Nina?
Last report we had from her was that she’d be crossing the Fold with the Conductor and three rogues from Ketterdam.
What their mission was, she didn’t know.
She was waiting to meet you all.
Now, poor Nina… has not been heard from since.
Might that have something to do with you, Mr. Visser?
No.
I don’t.
See?
I don’t know what happened.
My guess, you struck a deal with these three thieves to kidnap Alina Starkov.
But you have a stronger relationship with a certain West Ravkan general who has notions of ruling his own country.
So long as the Fold separates him from us.
So, you made another deal.
You put on a disguise.
And you played at being assassin.
That’s right.
The prize to bring her back to Ketterdam was a million, split four ways.
But Zlatan offered me the same number… to kill her.
So… give me half that, I’ll get revenge for you. I can get close to Zlatan.
No.
I think I’ll handle that myself.
But I can help.
Tell me how I can help.
You already have.
[rumbling]
[Arken choking]
[horses neighing]
[Alina] Oh, Saints!
[footsteps thumping]
We don’t want any trouble.
Neither do I, so I’ll just be on my way.
Clearly, you want out of East Ravka.
But we can help you.
We have a secure route through the Fold.
I prefer to travel alone.
[Jesper] Don’t be rash.
You stick with us, everybody gets what they want.
I’m not being anyone’s captive ever again.
So step aside and let me pass.
I’m afraid we can’t let that happen.
General, I found a lead on her.
And where is my Summoner?
[Fedyor] Oh. Uh…
No.
Nina Zenik.
You asked…
Yes.
Speak.
She was abducted by Fjerdans.
Put on a ship with other Grisha captives, bound for the Ice Court.
Someone must have given her up.
Zlatan.
Well, they have a witch hunter in their ranks.
Matthias Helvar.
He has been clever in tracking Grisha.
I want him dead as much as I want her back alive.
What you want is irrelevant. Where are they now?
They hit a storm front. We…
We lost track of the ship after that.
Reach the western coast.
Go as far north as you can, Arkesk if you can make it.
Bring back any Grisha you find, and barring that… you bring me one of theirs.
Yes, General.
Ivan and I won’t fail you.
I need Ivan for a hunt of my own, I’m afraid.
Sir, if she’s alive… I’ll find her.
[gasps]
[coughing]
[grunting]
Come on, you miserable lump of muscle, wake up.
Wake up.
[heartbeat accelerating]
[exclaims]
[in Fjerdan] Witch!
[in English] It was my power keeping you warm, Drüskelle.
You won’t get far out here without it.
If you’d rather call me names while you freeze and drown, that’s your choice.
Your kind are tricksters.
Not to be trusted.
You intend to kill me.
If I wanted you dead, I would have slowed your heart instead of speeding it up.
Why would you save me?
‘Cause you’re human.
And despite what you’ve been taught, Grisha are not monsters.
You need my strength to swim to shore.
And you need my power not to freeze to death.
[grunts]
So there is a brain inside all that muscle.
I can’t swim and keep both our bodies warm.
I’ll swim. You…
I’ll swim.
[indistinct chatter]
How much?
Shu currency’s no good here, girl.
Move along.
Have you seen a girl, uh… dark hair, grey duster, like yea high, Shu-ish?
[footsteps approaching]
You wanted to see me?
Yes. At sundown, I’m leading a team to pursue the criminals who took Miss Starkov.
I’d like you with me.
Of course.
And recruit Ivan, the Inferni twin, Polina, and David.
David? The Durast?
Yes.
I’ll need him for what comes next, but first, we need to catch up to her abductors before they try to cross the Fold.
Is that their purpose?
What?
I mean… what do we know about them?
What do we know about her, for that matter?
What are you trying to say, Zoya?
Maybe she wasn’t abducted.
Maybe she was rescued.
Maybe she ran with them.
The Sun Summoner… ran off?
She didn’t get on with others here.
The kefta never fit her quite right.
And the pressure of saving so many lives…
I know exactly how she felt.
The King’s soldiers treated me the same way.
Because they knew.
They knew that I was more important than any of them.
I’m not myself today.
You used to call on me… on times like this.
Did I?
When your table was messy and your bed was neat.
I’d help you make it the other way around.
You’d let yourself relax.
[Kirigan breathes deeply]
I shall relax…
when I have Alina.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[wind gusting]
[groans] Where are we?
Djel willing, in my homeland.
Oh, for Saints’ sake!
I really hope not.
[in Fjerdan] There’s something over there.
We only have a couple hours of sun left.
We need to find shelter.
[in English] Where did you learn how to speak Fjerdan like a native?
I speak six languages.
It’s part of my job.
[in Fjerdan] I am a witch hunter, and you are a witch.
You are my prisoner.
[in English] That all depends on what side of the border we’re on, isn’t it?
[both grunt]
Watch where you’re going, girl!
Sorry.
So far from Shu Han, aren’t you?
Why don’t you come inside?
[grunts]
[Alina grunts]
[soldier 1 screaming]
[soldier 2] Stop! After her!
Come on, this way!
Where is she?
[soldier 3] No, the other way!
[panting]
[soldier 2] You two, take that way!
Where’s she gone?
[soldier 3] There!
[soldier 4] She must be here!
She’s getting away!
She’s heading for the woods!
[grunting]
[soldier 4] We must be close.
[soldier 3] Keep looking.
[soldier 2] I saw her. I saw her run this way.
She’s not here.
[soldier 3] Let’s move to the other end.
[rustling]
[gasps]
Shh!
Mal!
Shh!
[Matthias] There’s firewood.
A whaler was just here.
Put your clothes back on.
Your wet clothes will be the death of you.
[Matthias] I’m fine.
[Nina] Suit yourself.
Are all Drüskelle so… prudish?
Are all Drüsje so immodest?
I’m just trying to stay warm.
You should join me.
Unless you swam all those miles just to freeze to death in this hut.
Are you scared?
I’m not afraid of you.
I have the body heat and the power to help keep you warm.
Uh, no.
Not in those wet clothes.
Off.
Now.
Fine.
Turn around.
Turn.
I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but I think you should know, there’s really nothing all that unique about Fjerdan men.
[shivering]
You don’t have anything… special.
[chuckles] Nothing you need to hide.
You’re just a man. Like all the others.
Closer.
Drüskelle.
Would you stop your wiggling?
You’re cold and clammy.
It’s like lying next to a burly squid.
You told me to get closer.
What are you doing?
God, relax, I promise not to ravish you.
I hate the way you talk.
[heartbeat accelerating]
[in Fjerdan] You’re welcome, you big idiot.
[in English] Here.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down.
So we’re talking now?
Should be safe now, yeah.
Oi!
Where have you been?
I’ve been tracking you since you left the palace the night of the fete.
So now I have your attention?
It’s been months, Mal.
You couldn’t be bothered to reply to a single one of my letters.
What? I never heard a word from you. I wrote to you nearly every single day.
Sure you did. What, long, heartfelt letters about your exploits with gorgeous Squallers?
Are you still afraid of Grisha women?
Only ones that keep secrets from me.
How long have you known?
That I was Grisha?
You thought I knew?
You cheated on the test when we were children.
You cut your own hand.
Not because I knew I was Grisha.
Because I knew what would happen if I somehow passed their test.
They would have taken me away.
To a palace, Alina.
They would have split us up!
[Mal exhales heavily]
I’ve been trying to get back to you this whole time.
[sighs]
I found the Stag.
Kirigan’s orders to track it came from your drawings.
I thought you were showing me the way to you.
He stole them from my journal.
Baghra was telling the truth.
He’s been obsessed with finding it.
It’s the one amplifier that could rival his power, if another Grisha claimed it.
You wrote me letters?
Thank you for finding me.
Always.
I’ll always find you.
Let’s go and find some shelter.
Yeah.
[indistinct chatter]
No horses missing at the stables, so…
So?
What?
Are you going to tell me how the target got away?
I let her go.
You were hired to do a job.
Yes, the job was to pick up a fake for an easy million kruge.
We found a living Saint who can summon the sun.
A good magician is a good con artist.
The trick… is to make it look real.
This is different.
You saw her summon with your own eyes.
The best illusions are the most convincing.
That’s the game.
You can hide behind your cynicism, but I believe she’s the real thing.
I don’t see you falling to your knees to worship every Heartrender or Squaller we meet.
This is different.
Her power is a miracle.
I won’t betray my faith.
Pious as that may be, we cannot work effectively as a crew if you’re making decisions based on religious zeal.
Is that a threat to return me to Heleen?
Either we get the target or Heleen gets the Crow Club and Pekka gets whatever’s left.
Wait.
Why would Heleen get the Crow Club?
Kaz.
What did you do?
What happened to your shoulder?
It’s nothing, I’m fine.
I know that voice.
What voice?
The voice you use when you’re not fine.
I’m fine.
[grunts]
I’m just… hungry.
Ah, let’s cook some dinner, then.
We can’t risk a fire.
If they’re still looking, the smoke will lead them right to us.
So… we starve.
That’ll show ’em.
We won’t starve.
The trick will be… not to freeze.
I can help with that.
Give me your hand.
No smoke.
They taught you how to control it?
Don’t be scared.
Your powers don’t scare me.
Is it me, then?
Do I scare you?
No.
Of course not. Why would you think that?
‘Cause I’ve seen it.
In your eyes.
In Kribirsk.
I’m sorry that it took me this long to see you, Alina.
But I see you now.
Relax.
This isn’t where I have my way with you.
I can’t wait to be back in my own bed.
Yeah, I can feel just how much you hate sleeping next to me.
Why do you have to say things like that?
I like it when you turn red.
You’re so lewd. It’s unseemly.
Women in Fjerda are modest and pious.
Oh, so, you speak for all Fjerdan girls?
Fjerdan women are caretakers.
They’re venerated. And Fjerdan men are their protectors.
Now that sounds like a recipe for a lot of very unhappy people.
We are very happy people.
In Ravka, boys and girls train and fight together.
Side by side.
We don’t waste time on maidenly blushing.
That is precisely why you will lose the war.
It’s not natural for girls to fight.
No, it’s not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall and yet, oh, there you stand.
Fjerdan girls… don’t want to fight.
Have you ever asked one?
I don’t need to.
It’s how Djel intends it.
I can’t wait until you get trounced by a girl.
Not in this lifetime.
I’ll do it myself if I have to.
[laughing]
Saints, I didn’t know you could laugh.
[indistinct chatter]
[Jesper] The alarm trigger is set.
Horses are ready and I’ve stashed the rest of our gear.
If we don’t move soon, the Black General will be on top of us.
We can’t waste any more time looking for the girl.
I just settled our tab with the last of our coin.
We’re really gonna leave empty-handed, then?
Stay.
I don’t need you out here.
And?
The wagon matches the one that was reported stolen from the palace.
[Zoya] They may have continued on horseback, faster, harder to track.
[explosion]
[man] What was that?
Our alarm.
Split up, much easier to take a Grisha one-on-one than a whole squad of them. Rendezvous at the fountain.
[people clamoring]
[Polina] No!
Move!
No!
Come on!
[Zoya] Wait!
[man screaming]
No, Polina.
You can’t burn it all down.
That Barrel rat killed my brother. I will reduce her to ash.
Fine, but be smart about it.
[heart beating loudly]
I may not see you just yet, but I can hear your heart racing, boy.
[heart beat accelerating]
[grunts]
[bullet clatters]
Has no one told you keftas are Fabrikator-made and resistant to bullets, hmm?
Oh, I do love a challenge.
So stop hiding and challenge me.
So stop hiding and challenge me!
[gunshots]
[groans]
Shooting me in the same spot is clever… but ineffective.
[heart beating loudly]
[heart beating rapidly]
[shushing]
[whispers] Go to sleep.
[heart beating slowly]
[both grunting]
You robbed me of my brother, now I’ll rob you of your life.
[Inej grunts]
[gunshot]
[groaning]
[Ivan gasping]
[Jesper] Pretty effective… I’d say.
Throbs a bit, am I right?
What are you?
A big softie, apparently.
I really should have shot you in the head.
You’re a…
[Jesper shushing]
Should have stopped while you were ahead.
[indistinct chatter]
[people screaming]
[grunts]
[Polina grunts]
I’d wait until a Healer is close by before you pull this out.
Or… you’ll bleed out in 30 seconds.
Suli trash.
I will track you down, and kill everyone that you love, and then… you.
In that case… I’ll take my knife back.
[Polina grunts]
I know you kidnapped my Sun Summoner.
And now you’re going to tell me where you stashed her.
We didn’t take her.
She fled on her own.
Where is she?
I won’t ask you again.
I don’t know.
It was pretty clear she wasn’t interested in being a captive anymore.
She’s probably halfway to Novyi Zem by now.
You should have stayed in Ketterdam, Mr. Brekker.
We should get moving.
It’s not safe to stay in the same place for long.
We won’t get far if you won’t let me treat your wound.
Fine.
[Mal grunts]
[exhales heavily]
Stink reminds me of Keramzin.
It’s the poultice Ana Kuya used to make.
I added cloves to ease the pain.
[Mal inhales sharply]
Are you sure you added enough cloves?
[inhales sharply]
What happened, Mal?
We got caught on the wrong side of the Fjerdan border.
Barely made it out alive.
Mikhael and Dubrov weren’t so lucky.
No.
Behind enemy lines?
They volunteered. They knew the risks.
[sighs]
I wish I could speak to their families.
Speak of their bravery.
We need to keep west, to get to the Fold.
Did you tell General Kirigan where to find the Stag?
No.
Well, not exactly.
How much does he know?
Could he find it without you?
I pointed to a broad area on his map. That’s it.
It doesn’t matter. We’ll get to the Fold in a couple of days.
And once we’re through, no one can stop us.
They learned killing one of these beasts and then melding a piece of it into their body would amplify their abilities.
And the increase in power was astonishing.
We should head north.
Find the Stag before he does.
What? Why?
It’s a powerful amplifier.
It might make me strong enough to…
To destroy the Fold.
Is that why General Kirigan wants it so badly?
It must have some other use for him.
[Nina] Slow down!
For Saints’ sake!
Walking fast isn’t going to make us any less lost.
I… am not lost.
Drüskelle do not get lost.
We are trained to endure and overcome these situations.
You really need to relax.
I do not want to relax.
And why is that?
What are you so afraid will happen?
Are you afraid you might start to like me?
That’s it, isn’t it?
You don’t want to like a Grisha.
You’re scared that if you laugh at my jokes or answer my questions, you might start to think that I’m human.
Would that be so terrible?
I do like you.
What was that?
I do like you.
Is that so bad?
Yes.
Why?
Because you are horrible.
You’re loud.
And you’re lewd.
And you’re treacherous.
How do I know you’re not messing with my insides and making me feel like I like you?
Brum warned us about how charming Drüsje could be.
Oh, I see.
I’m the wicked Grisha seductress.
I beguile poor, innocent men with my Grisha wiles.
Stop it.
No.
I’m beguiling you.
[chuckles]
Stop it.
[laughing] No.
This is strenuous work.
Quit it.
It’s working.
The mighty Fjerdan has fallen.
You are powerless to resist me.
[Nina screams]
[softly] Please.
[grunting]
[both panting]
Matthias Helvar.
Nina Zenik.
It’s nice to make your acquaintance.
Nina.
[Inej grunts]
Inej.
[Jesper] Hey.
[Inej grunting]
The Inferni, she’s dead.
Well, you can’t manage a horse.
Not even riding double.
We’ll have to come up with another plan.
[Inej] Saints.
That’s a pretty nice ride.
Yes, indeed it is.
Oh. Hello.
[David grunts]
He threw a book at me.
They stole…
[Kirigan] I know.
It was the thieves…
[David grunts]
I’ll find a horse and I can catch up to them.
No, it’s a waste of time. She’s not with them.
She’s on her own.
And our priority now is to locate her as quickly as possible.
You don’t need to put…
Yes, David?
Well, Genya gave her a ring.
Made of pure iridium, not native to Ravka.
So when we get within one mile of her, I can direct us.
Well done.
Proving again the many uses of a Durast.
Let’s go.
[Mal] I’ve never seen a berry bush picked clean so high.
I’m sure it’s the work of our stag.
If we follow that path, we’ll catch up to it in a day or two.
Good.
Here.
Listen, we’re getting close to Fjerda.
I don’t like putting you in harm’s way.
Since when have you backed down from a fight?
Since my new job.
Bodyguard to a Saint.
[laughs]
What if there’s no real Saint here?
It’s just me.
When I was eight, you defended me from boys three years older than you with nothing more than a letter opener.
Consider this payback.
[laughs]
Well, if I do anything particularly heroic, I’m going to need you there as a witness so you can write songs about me later.
Mmm.
Delicious.
I could eat five more.
You really developed an appetite, didn’t you?
That’s new.
Not bad, I’m just… I’m saying it looks good on you.
Thanks.
Using my power is definitely changing me.
My appetite, for sure.
No, you look great.
I mean, you look healthy.
Is that what, um… being a Summoner does to you?
That’s how he’s lived for so long.
Who?
Aleksander.
He’ll hunt me down and he’ll never stop.
I’m the only threat to him now.
Who’s Aleksander?
General Kirigan.
I made some… stupid choices at the Little Palace.
And he…
Hey, look, you don’t owe me an explanation.
I just want to keep you safe.
Come on.
Yeah, she was Shu.
Pulled a trick with phosphorus or something, blinded my mate.
Any idea where she went?
Neighbors said they saw her flee north, into the woods.
She’s a spy, yeah?
What makes you say that?
First Army came through here, too, earlier.
Looking for her.
Who… exactly?
Some tracker.
A corporal.
No ordinary tracker.
No ordinary girl.
Orphans of Keramzin.
Reunited.
Adorable.
Miss Starkov is in the woods.
She’s going after the Stag.
