Aleksander!
You're here.
- I was worried. - I was fine.
I'm not as fragile as I once was.
Not fragile.
Just mortal.
It's not safe out here.
I could live a long life.
With training, with an amplifier.
I could see another 100 years, maybe more.
That seems a long time to you, I'm sure.
Soldiers.
Likely at Sikursk.
They raided our village yesterday, calling for all known Grisha.
- A few of us got out. - And Baghra?
She led the others to the sanctuary.
Darkling!
I know you're in there!
Remember Ryevost?
The same plan?
It is you. Darkling.
I approach peacefully.
The King wants you back alive.
But maybe you resisted. So…
Please.
I don't want to hurt you.
I have a message for the King.
If he, or any of his men, slaughter one more of my...
- Stand down, Grisha. - Luda.
Here's the little witch who's been stitching him back together.
- I'm sorry. - Luda.
Hands at your back!
Or the next arrow will do its job.
You have two prizes for the King.
You want a promotion to lieutenant, take us to the palace!
I only need you. Not your Healer.
What?
You thought the two of you could just quietly train witches among us?
You want my cooperation, you bring us both in.
Is that understood?
I told you, those were not our orders.
No. No, no, please.
No, I'm begging you, please!
No! No!
No!
I'm sorry.
Now…
you still have a message for him?
Yes.
This!
Healer! Is there a Healer here?
- Do you have a Healer? - The best we have is a Tailor.
We were waiting on Luda.
It's Luda.
Just mortal.
Where is Baghra?
- My son. - I'm here.
I'm here.
But we do need to leave. Soldiers are sweeping west.
They're punishing us for being Grisha.
Punishing you.
You made him afraid.
Now he wants you to fear him.
I won a war for him.
And in doing so, started a war on us.
Oh, Aleksander.
Where's the girl, your Healer?
Dead.
She died because of me.
She died because they always do.
They're not as strong as you and me.
You're the one who taught me how to kill, Mother.
Their blood is on your hands as much as mine.
I taught you so you could protect yourself.
Not them.
I told you as much, but you are so stubborn.
You wouldn't listen.
Maybe you will now.
Go. Flee. Go west. Go to Kerch.
Wait for the King to die.
Then return with a new name.
A nobleman's name.
Bide your time until there's a problem only Grisha can solve.
Then the King must embrace us.
And what about those in danger now?
We need to safeguard all Grisha. We need to teach them how to fight.
Most Grisha aren't fighters.
They fix things. They make things.
Then we make an army.
Morozova did it.
Forge new life to amplify our power.
We are his bloodline. He made us, too.
You mean to use merzost?
We practice the Small Science. Not magic!
His journals are here. They're here in the archives.
No, no, no, no, no. You cannot control it.
I could create, just like he did.
Then you will die. Like he did.
It's unpredictable.
Unstable.
The Small Science feeds us. Merzost feeds on us.
I forbid it.
Now, do you hear me?
The soldiers are here.
- How many? - Too many.
Darkling.
You're surrounded.
If you cut me down, my men have orders to spare no one inside.
You'll kill everyone.
Including your mother.
The King wants you in custody.
We know you lost your Healer.
Hold your arms wide.
I know how your Small Science works.
Your hands must touch first.
If he moves his arms, shoot him.
I have no army to fight yours,
so I shall remake yours as my own.
Submit to me!
What did you do?
I made something.
Sir, she is close by.
Is this all we have left?
Jesper, my bag.
Mother of Saints.
It's not healing on its own. I need to stitch it.
- How long before you can travel? - Not long.
- Where? - Ketterdam.
Between our dwindling funds,
lack of time and conflicting interests,
it's time we cut our losses.
I guess the Bastard misses the Barrel.
You can watch a bullet tear through a man, but a needle's too much?
It…
Yeah, well, you see, bullets are bam, in and out. That's…
That's just…
- Where'd you learn to do that? - When I was at the Menagerie.
Yeah, but why would you…
Oh, that's dark.
Which is why I can't go back.
If you told Kaz that story, I think he'd murder Heleen himself.
Jesper, you're not hearing me.
I can't go back.
What?
Well, I was…
I was going to tell you to trust Kaz
and that he'd never let you go back, but…
I don't have the right to tell you
what you should do with your shot at freedom.
You make this a lot harder, you know.
I know.
I'd miss me, too.
I'm fantastic.
Mal, when we find the Stag, I need to be the one to kill it.
You're a terrible shot. They made you a cartographer for a reason.
Of course. I'll line it up for you, you take the shot.
It's just…
Do you really wear its bones?
Yeah.
At least, that's how it's been done.
That way.
- Hang on. - What are you doing?
I need to get closer to it.
If we keep it alive, how do we...
I don't know.
Kirigan didn't want me to have an amplifier.
So he didn't teach me about this.
Maybe there's another way to do this.
That animal's not meant for you.
Mal!
Okay.
No!
You can't save them, Alina.
You may have the power of light,
but not the power to heal.
I know the tracker is important to you.
Give me the Stag, and I'll have my Healer save him.
No.
Stay still. You've lost too much blood.
You have to kill it.
You have to.
No! No! No! No!
No.
No! You said you wouldn't hurt him!
Bring me its antlers.
Yes, sir.
You murderer!
You stupid fool!
And the otkazat'sya, sir?
I am a man of my word.
Heal him.
He was only protecting Miss Starkov.
Are you hungry?
Or just saying goodbye?
Jesper fixed your cane.
So, you are leaving.
That's it?
After everything,
there's nothing else you want to say to me?
What else is there?
You were right!
About what?
The Sun Summoner.
You were right.
She's real.
I played it over and over in my head.
None of it's a trick.
The light was hers.
So, what?
Kaz Brekker finally believes in Saints?
- Hardly. - But you just said that...
I said Alina Starkov is a Grisha with the power to manipulate light.
She's a girl with a gift, not some savior of lore.
Fine.
Kaz, if not Saints, what do you believe in?
Myself.
- Why'd I even ask? - And you.
And Jesper.
My Crows.
Because we flock to your bidding?
Like the animals of vengeance you named us after?
Crows don't just remember the faces of people who wronged them.
They also remember those who were kind.
They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for.
No Saint ever watched over me.
Not like you have.
I can't go back to the Menagerie.
You won't.
What are you doing?
I'm going to place this around your neck.
I meant why?
I didn't kill the Stag. It's not my amplifier.
He killed it. He gets its power.
You asked for this yourself, when we met.
To transfer your gift to someone who could use it.
I can use it now.
You know so little.
You'll learn.
I know things.
General Kirigan, is it?
Or is Aleksander a fake name, too?
Careful with your words, Alina.
Consider whose life is in your hands.
You said you'd let him go.
I said I would heal him.
What happens next is up to you.
None of this has been up to me!
Do you know the only thing more powerful than you or me?
The two of us. Together.
Together, we can end all wars.
We can protect our own.
Is that not what you want?
Are we destroying the Fold?
We can do anything.
Together.
What… What's happening?
Wait. I don't understand. What…
That should, uh…
Bridge the gap?
Yes.
You should now have full access to all of her light.
In theory.
This is my power.
But now I control it.
- How many are there? - Two.
At some point, one of them
will have to go tell a superior what they found.
We'll go in then.
Not to be that person, Kaz,
but are you sure you can drive that thing?
Yes.
On the way to Kribirsk, while you were busy hugging bait…
Milo. The goat's name was Milo.
…I was memorizing Arken's timings.
Not to gang up on you,
but Jes has a point.
Arken's system was complicated and the ride was chaotic.
No one would blame you for missing a count.
"Jes"?
It's Suli, for friendship.
No, it's not.
Trust me. Arken and I think alike.
Too soon to appreciate the irony, am I right?
Yeah, too soon.
Mal! Mal!
- Alina! - No! Mal!
Mal! No, Mal!
You look awful.
The Little Palace hasn't been the same without you.
Oh, Genya.
I need to get word to the King about Kirigan.
The King's been taken ill. His affliction is quite serious.
The Apparat's been ruling in his stead.
- And the Queen? - Confined to her quarters.
No one wants her exposed to the King's contagion.
Right.
You were made Corporalnik?
Hmm.
I never did like this color red.
It clashes with my hair.
You said Kirigan gifted you to the Queen when you were 11.
Does that mean…
You were a spy for him.
I tried to warn you.
"Be careful of powerful men"?
You should have included devious women.
The King's illness,
we can assume you had both the inclination and the proximity to make that happen?
My letters to Mal, you never sent them.
I had no choice.
Except that you did.
And you chose to betray our friendship.
I was a whipping girl for the Queen
and a Grisha without a color. I…
Choosing friendship over survival was not a luxury I could afford.
I know what it means to be an outsider struggling to survive.
And it's no excuse.
I used to struggle.
I used to try…
to fight him off.
That never worked in my favor.
I waited for years for my chance of revenge.
To finally bring him a fight that he cannot…
That he cannot fend off.
I never expected it to come to this. Here.
Wouldn't you have done the same if you were me?
The King deserves every bit of your vengeance.
But Kirigan does not deserve your loyalty.
He is just as responsible for your position.
I am his soldier.
We all are.
We are his pawns. Nothing more.
The skiff is still here.
Travelers downstairs are complaining. They were due to cross this morning.
Orders from the Black General. He plans to cross on it tomorrow.
The general?
Is that the same general who tried to… Oh, yeah, kill us all.
That one?
He has the Sun Summoner.
Was this your plan all along?
To have the general get her back so you can take her again?
My plan is to get us across the Fold.
We aren't prepared for another fight.
So you're not going to take another run at Alina?
And you're really willing to let a million kruge go?
Jesper and I can't do it without you.
Been saying that since day one.
And you've made your position perfectly clear.
So all you want is to cross the Fold?
Once we land in Novokribirsk, it's your choice what you do next.
Okay.
Hang on.
Are we talking about boarding a skiff with people who will recognize us?
People who don't like us much.
We'll have to blend in. Who else was on that skiff?
Some people from the winter fete.
Dignitaries from Kerch and Novyi Zem on their way back home.
Now they're audience to one more light show.
Jesper, how did you enjoy playing a Zemeni guard?
You?
You come here to kill me off?
No.
How many times do I have to tell you people?
I'm a man of my word.
And when does your word mean anything?
Black Heretic.
That's right, I know who you are.
And whatever you have planned for Alina, she won't forgive you.
And if you keep me alive,
I will hunt you down
and I will claim the bounty the old King put on your head.
Alina has strong feelings for you.
And you for her.
I read your letters.
All these years, you never truly appreciated who she is.
But it's all right, because I do.
Oh, you have no chance, shadow man.
Because I'm the one she chose.
You are a child.
And she is Grisha.
Take away my shadows
and I still have something that you don't.
Patience.
Alina may well take years to forgive me,
but I can wait.
Meanwhile,
you will grow old.
Your hair will gray.
And she will remain ageless.
Like me.
And one day,
maybe a year from now,
maybe 50,
she'll realize that she has only one equal.
That there are no others like us.
And that there never will be.
I'm not going to kill you, Mal.
I don't need to.
Time will do it for me.
You'll wish you killed me here!
- Are you all right? - What's going on?
What are...
Are you gonna help?
Oh.
Well, isn't that convenient for you?
You look fine.
Oh, I look more than fine.
I made some edits to their papers.
Should be enough to get us through the checkpoint and onto the skiff.
Huh?
No one is ever going to believe I'm that old.
You tell yourself that.
Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Yes. Yes.
Oh, you're beautiful, aren't you? Yes, you're a good boy.
You're a good boy.
Oh, thank you.
You smell.
Thanks.
You are special.
You do know that?
And you're about to prove it to the world.
There will be foreign diplomats on this crossing of the Fold.
If you want me to play along with your demonstration,
you will release Mal.
Please. I just want to talk to you.
I've had enough of your lies.
And what lies are those?
About the Black Heretic.
You spun all this guilt around your burden,
the sins of your father.
There was no father.
You created the Fold.
You killed my friends.
My parents.
And now your perversion of power extends to me.
Baghra.
How could you so easily believe
the twisted words of that angry, old woman?
And who should I believe?
You've been lying to me since the day I met you.
Telling you half a story is not the same as lying.
And what about conspiring with the Apparat to poison the King and usurp the throne?
Did you? Or did you want to tell half-truths about that, too?
Continuing to serve such a king
would make me a traitor to my country.
- And my conscience. - So then you're a martyr?
I would've thought you of all people would understand what it's like.
To live in hiding
for fear of being murdered simply for being.
It's why I built the Little Palace in the first place.
Everything that I have done, everything that I have ever done,
has been to make Ravka safer, to make Grisha safer!
Did you think Genya was safe
when you placed her under the King's watch?
Am I to believe that you will show Baghra mercy?
I could have made Grisha safe, but you never gave me a choice.
Perhaps.
But you have given me one.
A chance to make amends. To finally win.
- The Fold was not your mistake... - The Fold was no mistake!
I never intended for it to be the blight it's become.
Or for men like the King or Zlatan to exploit it for their own gain.
You put this collar on me to exploit my power for your gain!
For us.
To help us conquer the Fold together.
You and me.
You cannot do this on your own.
And neither can I.
We could've had this.
All of it.
You could've made me your equal.
Instead, you made me this.
You don't care who suffers, as long as you win.
Fine.
Make me your villain.
Sir. The tracker has escaped.
What?
Sometime last night. I have a team looking for him.
If he flees, good.
If he gets anywhere near Miss Starkov, put him down.
Consider yourself lucky.
You're travelling with the Black General and the Sun Summoner,
which means you are about to witness the destruction of the Fold.
I know. I look amazing for my age.
Well, I thought you looked older.
I know. Not until Novokribirsk.
The tracker's being kept in camp, under guard.
Do what's expected of you and he'll be released.
This isn't a good look for you.
Everyone will see that I'm your prisoner.
I doubt very much they'll notice your feet.
Good news? It's just as terrifying as I remember.
Except this time we're going in completely exposed.
If I'm meant to die today, and either of you two survive,
make sure I have an open casket.
No one's dying today.
No mourners.
No funerals.