Previously on "The Outpost"...
- You summoned another demon? - And a Blackblood.
- Your ears? - I cut the points off.
The last two Blackbloods I met
killed innocent people I cared about.
They were Blackfist. They believe the only way
to free our people is to wipe out all of the humans.
Mind control? So that's what you kinj does.
I am honored to bow before The Three.
I thought you were dead.
A very large Prime Order army are only a day's march away.
We don't have enough men to fight this battle.
The Blackblood will summon the slayers of men.
Hell of a time to call me back.
Start calling names. We need help.
Why did you bring the Blackfist through?
- We're all Blackbloods. - So what are you saying?
You're all our prisoners.
And from this point forwards,
this is our outpost.
If you humans want to eat tonight,
you'll start working faster.
The sooner you find what we're looking for,
the sooner you can eat and rest.
Get to work!
Wish I knew what we were looking for.
Pick it up and keep working.
Hey! His hands are frozen.
Get him some gloves!
He can work until his hands fall off.
- Sammy! - Don't do anything stupid, Garret.
Hey!
Stop!
Your standing orders were to keep them alive and well enough to work.
This human attacked an overseer.
He must be punished.
Looks like you've done that.
Does anyone else want to make trouble?
Good.
Keep moving.
Keep moving! Faster! Go!
You need to put a leash on your Blackfist.
Dead humans are of no use to us.
You command your Blackbloods. I'll command the Blackfist.
You're under my command, Yobahn.
That's how Yavalla wants it.
Their Queen should be long dead.
Her very existence is a threat to our order.
The Queen's well-being is the only thing keeping order.
You kill her, and she will rise up against you.
And why should we listen to you?
Because she understands the humans
better than any of us.
Every Blackfist wants the Queen's death.
I don't know how long I can hold them back.
- Synced and corrected by Firefly - - www.addic7ed.com -
What were you thinking, Spears?
He did what was necessary.
Garret, you better start getting along before they kill you.
I will not stand by while they beat innocent people.
I can take care of myself. You didn't need to intervene.
It's been 39 days since Talon brought the Blackbloods through.
39 days!
When are we putting our plan in action?
Spears and I can get the Queen out.
Out of her chambers, not out of the Outpost.
We'll figure that part out.
Until you do, you're not going off half cooked.
You'll get yourself and Queen Rosmund killed.
- We should have never trusted Talon. - No.
She's a filthy Blackblood through and through.
As I recall, it was you who agreed with her
that she should bring the Blackbloods
and their demons through to fight for us.
Can we not rehash this?
Let someone else do this. You need to heal.
I can't just sit and do nothing.
Spears, I'm still your ranking officer.
We'll wait for the right opportunity.
For the sins of your ancestors.
Kezzun!
Remove your sword.
Your orders were that she not be harmed.
Now get out.
Thank you.
Don't take this for anything other than what it is.
For now, I need you alive.
Did you send Kezzun to kill the Queen?
- No. - He tried to murder her an hour ago
and you didn't know?
Get control of your people, Yobahn.
- And I want Kezzun locked up! - For what?
- Being a bit overzealous? - Overzealous?
Yavalla made herself clear. The Queen is to remain alive.
Yavalla isn't here.
She might never be,
thanks to your human-loving friend.
Yeah, you have that kinj.
Won't be much good against all the Blackfist
and our seven Lu-Qiri.
What does your side have?
We're on the same side, Yobahn.
For now.
If Yavalla doesn't get here soon...
the Blackfist are growing restless.
- I'm trying to convince Talon. - Don't convince her.
Force her! Start torturing her friends.
No! I won't do it that way.
Your infatuation with that girl is making you weak.
Convince her soon,
or we'll start doing things my way, cousin.
- Is Gwynn all right? - For now.
If you hadn't brought the Blackfist over,
you wouldn't be having these problems.
I had no choice.
I had to maintain the balance between the Blackfist
and the Blackbloods on both sides of the portal.
This is what Yavalla wants.
If you'd open the portal and bring her through, you'd understand.
And she's the only person who can control the Blackfist.
If she's so important, why didn't you
bring her through with the rest of them?
I was about to, but you closed the portal before I could.
She should have been one of the first.
You needed warriors, Talon. Yavalla is anything but.
She's the last remaining Blackblood prophetess,
the only keeper of the old ways.
Zed, I'm on your side,
but I'm not going to bring through someone
I have no reason to trust.
We have company.
Send her away.
I heard what happened. Are you all right?
Clearly you don't care
or you might have come to visit me before today.
- I'm sorry. - I understand.
You're with your people now.
I'm still on your side.
Yes. That's apparent.
I can serve you better by serving them.
And what does that even mean?
It means I need to work from the inside to keep Zed in power.
If I don't, the Blackfist will kill you
and keep your people digging until you die.
Why are you waiting till now to tell me this?
Because when I heard they almost killed you,
I couldn't bear the thought of you dying
thinking I was a traitor.
If they find out, they'll kill me,
and then none of you stand a chance.
Mum loved the pine sap ale.
She wouldn't let me have any 'cause she said...
... it would be wasted on me.
Big warthog, come here.
I know you, big ogre.
I miss her, too. Hey.
You can have all the pine sap you want.
Oh, Janzo.
Whew. She wouldn't like that.
Get out.
- Excuse me? - Get out.
I'm requisitioning this facility for official use.
- And what's that supposed to mean? - Requisition?
It's a verb. To take or acquire...
I know what requisition means.
This is my lab. Nobody's taking it.
If I call a Lu-Qiri down here, it will make an awful mess.
No!
Don't be so dramatic.
This is my brewery. There'll be no violence.
You'll go peacefully then?
As soon as you tell me why you want to open that box.
- Box? - Box, noun, six-sided container...
- Very funny. - Let's start off by saying
that box is no ordinary box, is it? Hmm?
No, that... that is a meld box,
and those three funnel holes in the lid
are receptacles for reactive compounds.
An ancient alchemists' lock box that only opens
when the correct components are poured into it.
- Hmm. Smarter than you look. - Thank you.
Just stay out of my business and get out of my lab.
Excuse... excuse... excuse me?
I live here. Where am I supposed to sleep, hmm?
Not my problem.
- This woman. - Excuse me.
This woman. This woman!
Just who does she think she is, huh?
She's a bully, that's who. A nasty little harpy.
Who is?
The Blackblood that just hijacked my brewery.
I'm moving in with you.
Thought you weren't even talking to me.
Well, I'm not, but I've got nowhere else to live, do I?
Besides, I'd much rather you be my Blackblood guard than him.
It's the least you can do.
I'll take responsibility for him.
I'm still very angry with you.
Can't say I blame you.
I thought I knew you, Talon.
You know me better than you think.
Then explain it to me.
Explain why you turned traitor.
I wish I could, Janzo.
For now, the less you know, the safer you are.
Make yourself at home.
What's this about, Yobahn?
Time for leadership to pass to the Blackfist.
Yavalla gave that task to me.
And she would take it from you if she saw your incompetence.
You don't want to do this, Yobahn.
That thing can only control one of us.
Pick one. The rest of us will kill you.
Human lover!
You are as good as the one who cut off her ears.
Didn't know you still cared.
Do it!
Blackbloods don't kill Blackbloods, right?
I should kill you.
But it's not what Yavalla would want.
I'm still in charge, Yobahn.
You should have killed him. He'll just try again.
Probably, but I promised Yavalla.
Why does that matter? What does this woman have on you?
Nothing. She's the last Blackblood priestess, Talon.
Don't you understand what that means?
She's the last of our kind.
I believe in her teachings of peace and harmony
for everyone, Blackbloods and humans.
If you'd just bring her through, you'd see.
You haven't even told me everything she wants.
- Like what? - Like what she has you digging for.
- It's just some crystal for Wren. - Yes, I know.
- But what's it do? - That's all I know.
Do you have any idea
what this Yavalla wants to do once she gets here?
- No. - That's why I won't bring her through.
This is insane.
I miss her too, big guy.
And you. Here, come on.
All right, Janzo. All right.
Trying to find my lichen spore, if I'm not mistaken?
You keep rustbeetle venom in a random, unmarked bottle?
Excuse you, but there's nothing random about it.
My classification system is really quite meticulous, I assure you.
Oh, really? And how is it sorted?
Because it's not by color or texture or alphabetically.
- Chronologically. - Chronologically how?
- In the order I first smelled them. - Oh, you're a madman.
And also, chemosensory memory is really quite powerful.
Just think back to the first time you ever smelled, hmm,
ninny blossom or bat guano.
- You're a madman. - And also, it also keeps snoops
from invading my private laboratory.
I will break that fancy nose of yours,
and then we'll see about your chemosensory memory.
Oh, you think my nose is fancy, do you?
Hey!
The paralysis will wear off in a few moments.
Yes. Do you not think I know that?
It seems to me like you know very little
given that you almost just killed yourself
using my rustbeetle venom.
Well, maybe if it was labeled as such, I might not have.
Good luck trying to find my lichen spore.
I don't need your lichen spore. I'll make my own.
Make lichen spore? That's impossible.
- Is it? - Mm.
Watch me.
It's not safe down there.
The fumes haven't dissipated yet.
Why am I always surrounded by such idiots?
Hey!
I think we found it.
Give it to me. Give it to me.
It's abracite, all right.
Yobahn, you've done a miraculous thing.
I mean, this stuff is so rare,
like one crystal in a mountain of rock,
and you found it.
Oh!
Yavalla will be quite pleased.
I'm glad I could be of service.
Please be sure to tell your mother Yavalla.
Yes, yes. I will, I will.
You all right, Sammy?
Better, thanks to Captain Calkussar
convincing them to give me the day to heal.
Zed understands you're more valuable alive than dead.
They're gone.
Gentlemen, I think I've figured out
how to get Rosmund out of the Outpost.
I spent the whole day listening to the guards.
Seems like the gate's gonna be open tonight just before midnight.
They're all excited for a shipment of food they raided from a village,
- including a herd of sheep. - So what?
There's always two Lu-Qiri
guarding the gates at one time, day and night.
Well, here's the interesting part.
The Lu-Qiri will be moved off the front gate
or else they can't drive the sheep in.
Too skittish to be near a predator like that.
So an open gate, a couple Blackblood guards,
- and a bit of commotion. - Yeah.
- Has to be tonight, then. - Sammy, I admit I never
really forgave you for pretending to be Alton,
but you've just redeemed yourself a little.
Maybe this will redeem me more.
I finished the tunnel.
- One kick, it's open. - Sammy, I could kiss you!
That's all right. You're not my type.
Tonight then, we rescue the Queen.
Yeah.
Tobin.
How did you get in here?
We've come to break you out.
Oh. Garret.
- Your Majesty. - Hello.
Around your waist.
Your hands.
We have to hurry. Come on, let's go.
Just like Sammy said.
Tobin! Tobin!
These three were caught in the act of escape.
This is open rebellion.
They must be executed immediately by your own decree, Zed.
We'll give them a trial.
The evidence is undisputed.
- They won't deny it. - Were you trying to escape?
- What choice did I have? - A confession.
They must die at once.
Starting with the Queen.
- No. - Hey.
Zed, you have to stop him.
Your friends knew what would happen if they got caught.
Zed, if you kill the Queen, the humans will revolt.
What can they do? We have them under control.
- They are weak. - It wasn't Rosmund's idea.
All right? It was mine.
She was just following me.
Very well. Execute the two men.
The Queen will be spared for now.
You are still too weak to do what is necessary.
Don't test me, Yobahn.
I've given you most of what you want.
Now execute the two men.
By your command.
I'll bring Yavalla through.
I'll bring Yavalla to this world if you spare them.
- Yobahn? - Do it now.
Zed.
What exactly has been going on here?
Your Majesty.
My apologies for the way
you have been treated by these men.
They will be dealt with appropriately.
I assure you our true intentions are peace and unity
for Blackbloods and humans alike.
- I'm Queen Rosmund. - Pleased to meet you.
I am Yavalla, prophetess of the Blackbloods.
- Honored, I hope. - I assure you, I have the same hope.
If you mean what you say about peace,
it must start by freeing my people
and returning the Outpost to my control.
The manner in which Yobahn conducted the mining operation
was unfortunate.
With my sincere apologies,
I release your people from their labors.
And freeing them?
Within these walls, they are free, yes.
However, I cannot allow them to leave the Outpost just yet.
Given the hostilities between our people,
you understand I cannot risk reprisals from outsiders.
Mm. And what of me?
You are to remain our guest, extended every kindness.
We are to be friends, not enemies.
- It's not going to work. - Why are you even here?
Your mother said that we're allowed to go wherever we want.
Oh, not here.
You can't just grow lichen spore from a bowl
made from cave mold and flyweed.
What else do you have there? Some common acids.
Obviously coming from the Plane of Ashes,
you're at a major disadvantage, aren't you?
And you've got no access to alchemy journals
or archives to tell you standard methodology.
Well, access to ingredients,
that must be impoverished to say the Le...
Do you ever shut up?
Only when I don't have anything to say.
And right now I have quite a lot to say
- because what you're... - Shut up!
Uh-huh.
Impossible.
Just the right amount of heat and acid causes a stress reaction
in common cave mold, forcing it to release...
- Lichen spore. - In small quantities, yes.
But by the time the sun rises, I'll have enough.
Don't bother wasting your time.
There's enough lichen spore in there for whatever you need.
Why would you want to help me?
Well, I don't want you to use up all my flyweed, do I?
Thank you.
No.
Why did you save me when you've obviously
taken their side against humans?
I thought you of all people would understand what I've been doing.
I'm clearly not as clever as you thought,
so why don't you explain it to me?
I mean, you've seen it yourself.
Zed is the only thing keeping the Blackfist from killing Gwynn.
- Kezzun already tried once. - Wait, what?
Kezzun snuck into Gwynn's quarters,
tried to kill her.
Luckily, Zed was there to stop him.
This time maybe, but, ah...
but what if he tries again?
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
The only way I can keep Gwynn alive is to keep Zed in power.
Even if it means the rest of us are shackled and beaten?
I tried everything I could to stop that.
Well, forgive me if it didn't look like it from down in the pit.
Do you have any idea what I've had to do
to keep Zed believing I was on his side?
Do you think I like watching my friends get beaten
and worked to exhaustion?
For you all to think I'm a traitor? To hate me?
I did what I had to to keep Gwynn safe.
Suppose I believe you.
That would mean you took an awful risk
saving Tobin and me.
I couldn't let you die, Garret.
You should hate me, Talon,
after all we've been through.
I've tried to hate you, Garret.
I'm just not very good at it.
I'll let you rest up.
Good morning.
And what do you want?
I want to get to know the One.
Now that the prophecy's fulfilled,
- I'm just plain old Talon. - But it is not fulfilled.
Do you really think the Prime Order are the oppressors of old?
Do you think the prophecy was simply about liberating
some humans from some other humans?
I try not to overthink it.
Can I ask you a question?
Why am I here? What am I after?
Yes. Zed won't tell me.
Zed's mission was to bring me here.
He does not know why.
And now that you're here?
I am happy to share all. I have nothing to hide.
You have seen the Plane of Ashes, yes?
Yes.
- It's an awful place. - Yes. Yes, it is.
But there is another world,
opposite to the Plane of Ashes in every way.
A fertile paradise where the Blackbloods can unite
as one people again and live in peace.
It's a nice dream, but hard to believe.
Why do you think this Outpost is so vital to the Blackbloods?
The power to open the way to paradise is here
somewhere at the Outpost.
- A kinj. - What other true power is there?
And when we find it, the Blackbloods will unite
and rebuild our once great nation.
The suffering of our people will at last be over.
You're talking to the wrong person about this.
You need to be talking to Queen Rosmund.
Gods, it's good to be back in here again.
Ah. Thank you, Janzo.
Cheers, Janzy.
Yes.
Make no mistake, we're still prisoners.
And Gwynn is still locked up,
and one of those bastards already tried to kill her once.
So who knows what that Blackblood priestess is up to?
She released us from digging.
You have to admit, that's something.
Yeah, once she got what she wanted.
Until she frees us completely, it's not much.
Jualita? Have they allowed you to attend to Queen Rosmund?
No. They still won't let me see her.
But I was happy to see they've changed her guards.
The one who attacked her isn't allowed in the building anymore.
I'm going to get something stronger.
Hey, Jualita.
They posted that Blackfist Kezzun somewhere else?
East gate, if I heard right.
The gateway to a paradise world?
Forgive my skepticism, but that sounds like a children's fable.
Does the Plane of Ashes also sound like a fable to you?
Because as your friend Talon will attest, it is all quite real.
Where exactly is this kinj that will transport us to a new world?
This Outpost was built over an old Blackblood citadel.
The entrance is hidden, but we will find it.
My daughter Wren is working on it even as we speak.
And when you find this kinj, you'll free our people for good?
You have my word.
All of your people will be free.
But I need your word
that there will be no more trouble from your people.
It there's no trouble from yours.
You have my word.
My people will remain peaceful.
For the Queen.
- Synced and corrected by Firefly - - www.addic7ed.com -