Vampire Academy (2022–…): Season 1, Episode 7 - Beyond the Wards - full transcript
- There's something
strange happening
with me and Rose.
- Remember!
- [gasps]
- Don't freak out.
- Okay.
[dramatic music]
That's, um, new.
- I'm actually a Spirit
User just like St. Vladimir.
- When I become queen,
we'll know if someone is
an incompetent fighter.
- That's a lie.
He was one of the best.
- Mikhail Tanner betrayed us
by allowing himself
to be turned Strigoi.
- [growling]
- Guardians follow orders, Rose,
or the system crumbles.
- The system is broken.
- I have to follow orders.
- I don't.
- Lady Vasilissa,
the last Dragomir.
I'm Adrian, by the way.
- So what do you know
about Saint Vladimir?
- I can help you, but
only if you come back.
Wake up.
- You Dream Walked.
You're a Spirit User.
- You up for an adventure?
Get some of those
answers that you want.
- I know you're hurting.
And I'd do anything
to make it stop.
♪ ♪
- Once there were 13 saints.
Today, their children's
children's children
are called Royals.
But they were saints back then,
the best of the Moroi.
[foreboding music]
And the best of the
saints was Vladimir,
the Messenger, the Founder.
It was Vladimir
who had the vision:
a world for the Moroi,
secret and isolated from
the barbarous humans
with their wars of
religion, wars of conquest,
wars of intolerance.
And that vision was embodied
in the human treaty,
which gave all Moroi a
home and gave all Dhampirs
a purpose in the great,
holy Elemental Order.
You know this story.
It's the one they tell
children in the academies
and in Feast Day homilies.
It's the first great lie.
The happy lie of St. Vladimir.
- [speaking Portuguese]
- [hissing]
- But the truth will come out
because the truth always does.
- Shh.
[speaking Portuguese]
- And woe unto us if we
let the lies make us forget
the real dangers out there
because they are out there,
and they are very, very real.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- It is time, Your Majesty.
The hope we had for
unanimity from the Council
has gone by the wayside.
Yes, because of my
daughter's outburst.
But we need to act.
The only way we'll get a
clear and decisive mandate
is if you lead us there.
You need to declare for me.
- They are so
beautiful after a feed.
I know they say it is
the outrush of chemicals
in their brain that
our bite releases,
but there is a part of
me that always believed
we take their cares
along with their blood.
I hate the idea of an
Elementalist on the throne,
especially Tatiana Vogel.
Happily, by my count, even
after last night's fiasco,
if you bring the
three more persuadable
heads of family home...
Abby Batista, Peter
Tarus, and Evette Ozera,
you should have a majority.
Six to five... That
is enough for a win.
- Yes, but...
- No, Victor.
I cannot mandate this.
There was a moment in the
wake of Andre's death, yes,
but now, all our hatreds and
troubles are out in the open.
The only way to hold the
throne is to win the crown,
legitimately and
without my help.
You have until
tonight's closing caucus
to get your votes.
- ♪ No escape ♪
[upbeat music]
♪ Get away ♪
♪ My game to play ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I got you where I want you ♪
♪ No escape ♪
- [panting]
♪ ♪
- ♪ I got you where I want you ♪
- Gotcha.
- Cheater.
There's no way that
you beat me here
and set up an ambush unless
you scouted ahead of time.
- Recon is just basic
perimeter control.
- You said we were going blind.
- Suddenly, Rose Hathaway
is a believer in rules.
- Or maybe you've
been scouting out
secret places to get me into.
[soft music]
♪ ♪
- Rose?
- Uh-huh.
- I need a favor.
- The risk of even one
more person knowing, Lissa.
- Yeah, after he just
walks into my dream
and makes himself at home?
Rose, Adrian Ivashkov and
I are in the same boat.
I know of three
confirmed Spirit Users.
Vlad went Dark.
I might be losing my
mind, and the last one...
- Is a stone drunk,
from what I hear.
- A self-medicating drunk
who drinks to keep
the Darkness at bay.
But he might have
answers, and right now,
I need answers more
than I need lectures
about how scary it is.
Because I might end
up the same as Adrian
if I don't find another way of
keeping the Darkness in check.
And this might be our only shot
to figure out this
link you and I have.
- You're going to need
Dimitri as well, you know.
And what am I
signing up for here?
- That's the part
that doesn't suck.
- A trip into the human world.
Do you realize the
kind of pre-planning
that normally takes?
It's a playground for
Strigoi out there.
Route planning, recon,
coordination of guards.
We don't have the
necessary clearances.
They won't so much as open
the provincial gates for us.
- They will for me.
- This is foolhardy.
Go another day, when I
know I can keep you safe.
- Wow, you got a real
earnest one here.
Are you sure he's cool
for what we got to do?
- I trust him implicitly.
This is what I'm doing.
And your job is to make
sure I don't die doing it,
so are you in, or
are you leaving me
to the human world with
only Adrian to protect me?
- I am useless in a fight.
Speaking of which, listen.
You told me that I would
have my own Guardian.
- I know, I'm late.
- Well, hello, little Dhampir.
[suggestive music]
♪ ♪
- This is the guy?
[laughs] I'm driving.
- I am in your hands.
♪ ♪
- Have you ever even
driven a car before?
- Guess I'm in your hands.
- ♪ Make a night to regret ♪
♪ Makes 'em go and sweat
to the moon, yeah ♪
♪ Come alive for the sunset ♪
♪ Hearts racing
in the darkness ♪
♪ We go, we go ♪
- And they just comply?
Whatever you tell them?
- Most of the time.
- When you tried that
with me, I could feel you
knocking at the door
of my consciousness.
I'm envious.
- Says the man who can
just stroll into my dreams.
- About that.
[clears throat]
Now, Rose, just so you
know, when I start making
inappropriate cameos
in your dreams,
just know that's not
Spirit Magic, all right?
That's just your intense
attraction to me.
Are you a whiskey kind of lady?
- Where did you find this guy?
- So have you ever
healed anyone?
- He... heal? You
can heal? How?
- Well, it's just
like the other power.
It's like this part of me
drops inward and pools,
and I get this warm
rush, and I can do stuff.
- So maybe I should explain.
- Have you seen the auras yet?
- Auras? No. Not yet.
- What the hell is all this?
And where are we going?
- Time to clue us in.
[inquisitive music]
- [clears throat]
There is a scholar that we think
has some answers that
Lissa and I very much need.
- A Moroi scholar
in the human world?
- She's written some
things about St. Vladimir
that haven't made her very
popular with the church.
Or the Queen.
Or anyone, really.
- A heretic?
- An iconoclast
who's been accused of heresy.
♪ ♪
- Lissa.
[dramatic percussive music]
♪ ♪
- ♪ Let's make a
night to regret ♪
- We need different clothes.
[dramatic classical music]
♪ ♪
- I understand the fear
that St. Jude touched off,
I feel it, but how much of
our souls are we willing
to trade away just to
feel a little less afraid?
Lady Ozera, these
Dhampirs that the others
are talking about elevating
aren't just bodies.
They're children,
just like your nephew Christian.
♪ ♪
Abby, it's down to you.
Your family has the honor
of hosting the Royal
Caucus tonight.
Do me the honor of
giving me your vote.
- Victor, spare me the pitch.
I'll do anything to stop that
xenophobic monster Tatiana
from taking the throne.
♪ ♪
- [breathing heavily]
- Sir, are you all right?
- This scholar of yours,
she lives around here?
- Approximately.
- You do know where we're going?
- I know where we're going next.
[laughs] What?
I don't know where she lives,
but I know someone who might.
- Might?
- She's not exactly living out
here on an official permit.
You know, a heretic and all.
She keeps a low profile.
- For fuck's sake.
- Do we look human now?
[both chuckle]
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
- Okay.
- All right.
So where's this
friend we're meeting?
- Who wants to go clubbing?
- ♪ Everywhere we go ♪
[Sofi Tukker's "Greed"]
♪ People wanna know ♪
[upbeat music]
♪ Who you are ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Everywhere we go ♪
♪ ♪
♪ People wanna know ♪
♪ Who you are ♪
- [laughs] What is this music?
- It's fucking perfect.
- And all these people.
I mean, have you ever
seen this many anybody?
- I've never been in a room
where I literally know no one.
- I don't think anybody
knows anybody here.
- No?
- ♪ So we tell them ♪
♪ Your ill will, your
sad song, your haircut ♪
- ♪ Keeping you up all night ♪
♪ ♪
- ♪ Your ego, your
crashing, your greed ♪
- ♪ Keeping you up all night ♪
♪ ♪
- Focus, Rose. This is
a protective nightmare.
- I got it,
Mr. Perimeter Control.
- Really?
How many entry and exit points?
Yeah, I don't know either.
You've got 360 degree
exposure on our two charges
with only two of us to cover.
- I'm aware, but we're good.
- We could be walking through
a Strigoi buffet line.
- I'll know if
there are Strigoi.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
- Hi.
♪ ♪
- Muscle stays out
here, Ivashkov.
You know that.
- Go. Be quick.
- Got it. One drink.
Maybe two.
- No uncovered entry points.
They'd better be quick.
- We're only here
for information.
And maybe one drink.
- Hey, uh, Rose, try
not to get too bored
without me, all right?
♪ ♪
- Want to do a shot?
Joking.
Ish.
[indistinct chatter]
- Is it okay with
you if I let them in?
- Let me... let me
just get this straight.
You'd marry Jesse Zeklos?
Listen, that guy makes
me look eligible.
- Look, it's Jesse
or Ralf Dawoud,
Anthony Carter, or
Wade Vogel, okay?
[chuckles] And...
it's not that I would marry him.
- But they say you have to.
- If I want to get
my quorum back, yeah.
- Hoo.
You know, back home,
they'd look at a room
full of humans like this
and see only a feedlot.
You know, like cattle.
But you spend some
time out here,
among the humans with all
their mess and chaos and fun...
Suddenly, when you turn
around and look back
into our little
world with all its...
All its pious rules and
sacred bloodlines...
It's those Zekloses
and those Dawouds
and those Carters who start
to look pretty fucking bovine.
But Lissa, seriously,
you got to know.
When a wise old Moroi
gives you a list like that,
it's just a fact.
The names they left off are
sure to be a lot more fun.
Time to play.
[upbeat dance music]
♪ ♪
- This isn't our world.
- No.
This is fun.
You're so awkward. [laughs]
- I'm doing my job.
- Or maybe you don't know
what to do with yourself
when you're actually
kind of free.
No Moroi.
No Dhampirs.
None of your rules.
Just the music
and us.
Come on.
Just dance with me.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
- Fuck.
[groans]
- Which is it?
Is it Strigoi or Lissa?
I've seen this enough times,
Rose, at home, in Caroni.
You feel things
coming. Which is it?
- Strigoi. We have
to get out of here.
- Lissa. Go.
Go, go, go!
- Go!
- ♪ If you let go ♪
♪ If you're down for more ♪
♪ Till we six feet below ♪
♪ Till we six feet below ♪
♪ If you gotta know ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Till we six feet below ♪
♪ ♪
[tires squealing]
- I don't see anyone following.
- What the hell was
that back there?
- There were Strigoi.
- I didn't see any Strigoi.
- They were there, trust me.
- What the hell was
that back there?
Not the Strigoi.
Took you long enough.
[soft music]
I like it.
- Just tell us
where we're going.
- A little moonlight
boat ride, anyone?
♪ ♪
- They're down there,
brainstorming questions
for their heretic.
It's the nerdiest
I've ever seen her.
- Keep warm.
- Do you ever think
about another life?
Being more than just a pawn
they can rip from your home
or throw Strigoi at for fun?
A life outside the Dominion.
While we were dancing,
you wanted that freedom too.
- When I was 13, two years
into my academy training,
they gave us a
Feast Day furlough.
I went to see my mother,
my little sisters
back on the Commune.
This time, my father...
Or the Royal who fathered me...
Was visiting too.
I'd met him a few times,
heard him a few times
on the far side of the wall,
taking it out on her.
Whatever a posh Moroi fucker
has to take out on anybody.
I had no idea how angry I was
till I found myself on him.
Years of anger just...
poured out of me.
And when it was done,
I remember the fear,
not just his.
But also the fear in
the eyes of my mother,
my sisters.
And the fear I felt
of that thing in me.
It's why I need the code
of the Guardian life,
to keep that thing in check.
Freedom.
Freedom scares me
to death, Rose.
Or it did until...
- Until now?
♪ ♪
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- Where the hell are we?
- You've had a line on
this woman for a while now.
How have you never come to
ask these questions before?
- Sometimes you need the
right answers to be able
to ask the right questions.
♪ ♪
- Clarice Sewani.
I'm Adrian...
- I know who you
are, and the answer
is the same as it's
been for everyone
you've sent to
hassle me: fuck off.
- Adrian, what are you doing?
- What do you think,
Lord Ivashkov?
Just gonna force your way in?
- Adrian...
- Gonna set your
Guardians on me?
You think you can make me talk?
- No.
She can.
She's not gonna give us
what we need if you don't.
- I will.
- You have Compulsion.
You're a Messenger.
- Which means I
can make you talk,
if I choose to.
♪ ♪
- Are you okay?
- I should be asking you.
I'm fine.
- Here.
[sighs] You're
pushing yourself.
- I'm just... I'm just tired.
But I did it.
I will be king.
I... [coughs]
[groans]
I just... I just need to make
it through this last night.
The Queen will
submit me to caucus,
the votes will formalize it,
and then you and
I can both rest.
- But you have to make
it through tonight
looking like a king, and
you can barely stand.
Do you really think they'll
allow it if they see this?
Dad, would the Unionists
even support you?
I believe in you.
And I'm better. Look at me.
I slept. I had a feed.
I'm gonna heal you again.
I am. I can handle it.
And after last night,
there isn't much in my life
that's come to anything.
But this, I can do.
[soft dramatic music]
I can make you king.
Ready?
- A man who raises
such daughters
seeks to be the
father to our people.
It cannot be.
Your Holiness, it's
time you stopped Victor
once and for all.
- Me?
I represent the
Elemental Way, my dear.
Not the mortal one.
- That distinction is
exactly the problem.
The Strigoi are at the gates.
Our numbers are dwindling,
and we are dithering.
We need to think bigger.
You, my dear aunt,
need to think bigger.
You will speak for the Church
and end this humiliation.
♪ ♪
- Okay.
I think I need to know
what's happening here.
- What do you want to know?
- All of it.
- And then this
corner looked like
it was Vladimir healing someone,
which is also
something I can do.
- That leaves the center,
where Vladimir's eyes are.
- Where he's
consumed by Darkness.
His eyes are black in a way
I think I've seen in myself.
He was a Spirit User, and
it did something to him.
And a long time
ago, someone decided
that no one should ever know.
And they gave us some bullshit
story about happy Vladimir.
- We want the truth about Vlad.
All of it.
- We want to know
how he fought it off,
the Darkness.
He must have, somehow.
♪ ♪
- Compulsion. Dream
Walking. Healing.
That's Anna there.
Faithful Anna, the
model Dhampir Guardian.
Shadow-Kissed Anna.
But what about
the fourth corner?
- It's been worn away.
I've never been able
to find that out.
- If early accounts of this
altarpiece are to be believed,
the image here originally
looked something like this.
It's called a Spirit Bond.
Anna knew his heart
like it was her own.
Sometimes his thoughts.
Maybe even saw through his eyes.
This is your answer.
Vladimir's solution to the
Darkness, as you call it.
He passed it to her.
♪ ♪
- They actually
believe all of this.
A Fifth Element?
Secret Magic that Vladimir
had and the entire Dominion
has kept a secret for centuries?
- Or they just edited it
out of the whole story
after they burned a
bunch of people alive.
That's what they
do... Lie and kill.
So why not?
- Because... it goes against
the whole holy Elemental Order.
The four-part
harmony of the world.
I shouldn't have
let this happen.
- Fuck.
They're coming.
- Go.
- Vladimir didn't
beat the Darkness.
He just gave it to someone else.
Have I been doing this to Rose?
- She does sort of walk on
the Dark side of things.
- No, no.
He was supposed to show me
I could be someone good.
When everything's telling me
that what I have in me is bad,
he was supposed to be good.
But he's just another
parasitic Moroi like all of us,
just using his
Guardian like that.
- Strigoi coming.
We're going now.
- What?
You children.
You led them right to me.
- Yeah, lady, we did, but
we've got the jump on them,
and we're going
with or without you.
- Rose, no, she has...
- Lissa, we've got to go.
[tense music]
- They're here.
♪ ♪
[Strigoi snarling]
Inside.
- You'll be safe in here.
- You knew they were coming.
You can sense them in your gut.
♪ ♪
[pounding on door]
[Strigoi snarling]
♪ ♪
- Hey.
Hey, listen, you're
assuming that Vladimir
forced his Darkness onto Anna,
but what if she took it?
Isn't that what we
learned in Sunday school,
the holy devotion of
Shadow-Kissed Anna?
- What is Shadow-Kissed?
I mean, how does any of
this even makes sense?
♪ ♪
- This is one of the
parts of Vladimir's story
the authorities
wanted to expunge
because the Spirit Bond
was the fruit of
Vladimir's ultimate sin.
- [screaming]
Rose! Rose!
♪ ♪
Rose! [screams]
- Lissa!
- She's just a kid.
[groans] What the actual fuck?
[Strigoi snarling, screeching]
- [panting]
- Never hesitate.
♪ ♪
- [murmuring in Old Moroi]
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
May the succession bring
prosperity to the Dominion.
- Very good.
Thank you all.
Is there something else, Irene?
- There is.
Your Majesty...
For decades now, you and I
have maintained a balance
between the vagaries
of the political realm and the
durable interest of the faith.
- As have all eight
of my High Priests
and Priestesses before you.
- Yours? Hmm.
That, Marina, is
precisely the problem.
The balance has collapsed.
This ugly chapter
with Victor is only
the latest indignity to
be forced on the faith
by political interests.
The time has come for the
faith to assert itself.
- To muck about where it
doesn't belong, you mean?
- To call in the
many chits we have
piled up against the crown.
Do not mistake
forbearance for weakness.
I am telling you that
nominating Victor
would be a very grave error.
- Better your niece.
How much balance would there be
if one family controlled
both Church and state?
Unless you're retiring.
- Tatiana is the only
candidate for the throne
that the Church will tolerate.
And without the
support of the Church,
the new monarch will fail.
The Elementalists
will make sure of it.
Iwill make sure of it.
Victor will not rule.
♪ ♪
- I saw him.
They followed us
here from the club.
- They had a human
smorgasbord there.
What would we matter to them?
- My life here is dead.
- No, the Strigoi are dead.
You could clean up, and...
- You're so far
out of your depth.
You have no idea how
this world works.
It's not the Strigoi
I'm worried about.
It's the ones who
come after them.
You've burned my world down.
But to make us even,
I'm going to give you
what you came here for.
[inaudible speech]
♪ ♪
- What the hell is going on?
How can you have
possibly lost the Queen?
- What are you
talking about, Abby?
The Queen has assured me...
- I have it from
Tatiana's own lips.
The Queen won't submit
your name to the Council.
Word's already getting out.
You've lost her confidence.
Tarus, the Ozeras,
they're all wavering.
You may not have your
votes much longer.
♪ ♪
- No.
[panting]
Not now. [groans]
No. [groans]
No.
[knock at door]
♪ ♪
- Your father sent me.
Are you all right?
- I just need to feed.
- Of course.
[groaning]
Sonya.
Hey, easy.
Sonya.
[gasps]
Slow down, please!
[gasps]
Please! No! [groans]
- This is the moment.
I have the votes.
You only need to name
me, and it's done.
They will do your will.
Marina, please, after
all we've given,
I have to have this.
- I'm sorry, Victor.
The Church has forced my hand.
But I have one
final card to play.
♪ ♪
I want to thank my dear
friend Abby Batista
for hosting us on
this weighty day.
As we choose our next leader,
I remind you that a good
monarch must know when to rule
and when not to.
As there is no clear majority
for either the Elementalist
or Unionist candidate tonight,
I am suspending this caucus...
[crowd murmuring]
And invoking the ancient
rite of Royal Trial,
a ritual steeped
in and sanctified
by our religious forebears.
The candidates must face
a series of sacred tests.
Whoever wins will rule.
Thus, the Elements
will decide our fate,
not your aging Queen.
As of now, the future
of our Dominion
is in the hands of the Elements.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- It was just a moment.
We hesitated for
one tiny moment.
- There's no room for divided
loyalties in this world, Rose.
There can never be a question
of you or them,
me or your charge.
There can be no hesitation.
- Of course not.
It's a fucking dream.
But you felt it.
Right?
[soft music]
What we could be?
- Every second of it.
But never again.
[somber music]
♪ ♪
[tense music]
- For 500 years, we've
burrowed down in our provinces
and let ourselves
forget that the Strigoi
aren't the only ones with
the power to do us harm.
Beyond the wards,
they watch and wait,
ready to come down on us with
all their fury if we err.
But if history is our guide,
the first wound we suffer
will be self-inflicted.
We turn on our own first.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[knock at door]
- Thank God you're here.
I needed to see you.
- I don't want you
to be my Guardian.
Not now, not ever.
It's just... it's
too wrong, all of it.
The way we exploit you.
I just can't do it
anymore, not to you.
They'll give me someone,
and I can't avoid that.
But I just can't have it be you.
You deserve better.
- I deserve?
- I'm trying to do what's best.
- You have no idea what
it's like to be us.
None.
And now you're gonna
tell me what I deserve?
You're going to make
that choice for me,
but I don't get a say?
I have no option but
to be a Guardian,
and the only thing that makes
all that shit worthwhile
is you.
And now you're
gonna take that away
as some kind of a favor to me?
You have no idea what I
would give up for you.
I would die for you.
- Yeah, I know you
would, because you did.
- The ultimate sin
Vladimir committed
was resurrection.
In a faith built on the
cycling of Elements,
there is no greater violation...
Than bringing life
back to the dead.
That was the source
of the bond to Anna,
the Shadow Kiss.
Death left its mark on her...
- [gasps]
- Just as it has on your friend.
- You died
saving me in the accident.
I brought you back.
You're Shadow-Kissed.
That's why we have this
bond between our spirits.
But now...
Now I know how toxic
that's been for you.
I've been passing my
Darkness off to you.
I'm not gonna do it anymore,
not if I can help it.
- So firing me is
going to solve that?
- It's a start.
- Lissa...
- I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
[somber music]
♪ ♪
- Lissa.
Lissa!
[pounding on door]
Lissa!
Lissa!
[pounding continues]
[groans]
Lissa!
♪ ♪
- Sonya?
Sonya.
♪ ♪
Sonya?
[eerie hip-hop music]
♪ ♪
[dog barks]
strange happening
with me and Rose.
- Remember!
- [gasps]
- Don't freak out.
- Okay.
[dramatic music]
That's, um, new.
- I'm actually a Spirit
User just like St. Vladimir.
- When I become queen,
we'll know if someone is
an incompetent fighter.
- That's a lie.
He was one of the best.
- Mikhail Tanner betrayed us
by allowing himself
to be turned Strigoi.
- [growling]
- Guardians follow orders, Rose,
or the system crumbles.
- The system is broken.
- I have to follow orders.
- I don't.
- Lady Vasilissa,
the last Dragomir.
I'm Adrian, by the way.
- So what do you know
about Saint Vladimir?
- I can help you, but
only if you come back.
Wake up.
- You Dream Walked.
You're a Spirit User.
- You up for an adventure?
Get some of those
answers that you want.
- I know you're hurting.
And I'd do anything
to make it stop.
♪ ♪
- Once there were 13 saints.
Today, their children's
children's children
are called Royals.
But they were saints back then,
the best of the Moroi.
[foreboding music]
And the best of the
saints was Vladimir,
the Messenger, the Founder.
It was Vladimir
who had the vision:
a world for the Moroi,
secret and isolated from
the barbarous humans
with their wars of
religion, wars of conquest,
wars of intolerance.
And that vision was embodied
in the human treaty,
which gave all Moroi a
home and gave all Dhampirs
a purpose in the great,
holy Elemental Order.
You know this story.
It's the one they tell
children in the academies
and in Feast Day homilies.
It's the first great lie.
The happy lie of St. Vladimir.
- [speaking Portuguese]
- [hissing]
- But the truth will come out
because the truth always does.
- Shh.
[speaking Portuguese]
- And woe unto us if we
let the lies make us forget
the real dangers out there
because they are out there,
and they are very, very real.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- It is time, Your Majesty.
The hope we had for
unanimity from the Council
has gone by the wayside.
Yes, because of my
daughter's outburst.
But we need to act.
The only way we'll get a
clear and decisive mandate
is if you lead us there.
You need to declare for me.
- They are so
beautiful after a feed.
I know they say it is
the outrush of chemicals
in their brain that
our bite releases,
but there is a part of
me that always believed
we take their cares
along with their blood.
I hate the idea of an
Elementalist on the throne,
especially Tatiana Vogel.
Happily, by my count, even
after last night's fiasco,
if you bring the
three more persuadable
heads of family home...
Abby Batista, Peter
Tarus, and Evette Ozera,
you should have a majority.
Six to five... That
is enough for a win.
- Yes, but...
- No, Victor.
I cannot mandate this.
There was a moment in the
wake of Andre's death, yes,
but now, all our hatreds and
troubles are out in the open.
The only way to hold the
throne is to win the crown,
legitimately and
without my help.
You have until
tonight's closing caucus
to get your votes.
- ♪ No escape ♪
[upbeat music]
♪ Get away ♪
♪ My game to play ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I got you where I want you ♪
♪ No escape ♪
- [panting]
♪ ♪
- ♪ I got you where I want you ♪
- Gotcha.
- Cheater.
There's no way that
you beat me here
and set up an ambush unless
you scouted ahead of time.
- Recon is just basic
perimeter control.
- You said we were going blind.
- Suddenly, Rose Hathaway
is a believer in rules.
- Or maybe you've
been scouting out
secret places to get me into.
[soft music]
♪ ♪
- Rose?
- Uh-huh.
- I need a favor.
- The risk of even one
more person knowing, Lissa.
- Yeah, after he just
walks into my dream
and makes himself at home?
Rose, Adrian Ivashkov and
I are in the same boat.
I know of three
confirmed Spirit Users.
Vlad went Dark.
I might be losing my
mind, and the last one...
- Is a stone drunk,
from what I hear.
- A self-medicating drunk
who drinks to keep
the Darkness at bay.
But he might have
answers, and right now,
I need answers more
than I need lectures
about how scary it is.
Because I might end
up the same as Adrian
if I don't find another way of
keeping the Darkness in check.
And this might be our only shot
to figure out this
link you and I have.
- You're going to need
Dimitri as well, you know.
And what am I
signing up for here?
- That's the part
that doesn't suck.
- A trip into the human world.
Do you realize the
kind of pre-planning
that normally takes?
It's a playground for
Strigoi out there.
Route planning, recon,
coordination of guards.
We don't have the
necessary clearances.
They won't so much as open
the provincial gates for us.
- They will for me.
- This is foolhardy.
Go another day, when I
know I can keep you safe.
- Wow, you got a real
earnest one here.
Are you sure he's cool
for what we got to do?
- I trust him implicitly.
This is what I'm doing.
And your job is to make
sure I don't die doing it,
so are you in, or
are you leaving me
to the human world with
only Adrian to protect me?
- I am useless in a fight.
Speaking of which, listen.
You told me that I would
have my own Guardian.
- I know, I'm late.
- Well, hello, little Dhampir.
[suggestive music]
♪ ♪
- This is the guy?
[laughs] I'm driving.
- I am in your hands.
♪ ♪
- Have you ever even
driven a car before?
- Guess I'm in your hands.
- ♪ Make a night to regret ♪
♪ Makes 'em go and sweat
to the moon, yeah ♪
♪ Come alive for the sunset ♪
♪ Hearts racing
in the darkness ♪
♪ We go, we go ♪
- And they just comply?
Whatever you tell them?
- Most of the time.
- When you tried that
with me, I could feel you
knocking at the door
of my consciousness.
I'm envious.
- Says the man who can
just stroll into my dreams.
- About that.
[clears throat]
Now, Rose, just so you
know, when I start making
inappropriate cameos
in your dreams,
just know that's not
Spirit Magic, all right?
That's just your intense
attraction to me.
Are you a whiskey kind of lady?
- Where did you find this guy?
- So have you ever
healed anyone?
- He... heal? You
can heal? How?
- Well, it's just
like the other power.
It's like this part of me
drops inward and pools,
and I get this warm
rush, and I can do stuff.
- So maybe I should explain.
- Have you seen the auras yet?
- Auras? No. Not yet.
- What the hell is all this?
And where are we going?
- Time to clue us in.
[inquisitive music]
- [clears throat]
There is a scholar that we think
has some answers that
Lissa and I very much need.
- A Moroi scholar
in the human world?
- She's written some
things about St. Vladimir
that haven't made her very
popular with the church.
Or the Queen.
Or anyone, really.
- A heretic?
- An iconoclast
who's been accused of heresy.
♪ ♪
- Lissa.
[dramatic percussive music]
♪ ♪
- ♪ Let's make a
night to regret ♪
- We need different clothes.
[dramatic classical music]
♪ ♪
- I understand the fear
that St. Jude touched off,
I feel it, but how much of
our souls are we willing
to trade away just to
feel a little less afraid?
Lady Ozera, these
Dhampirs that the others
are talking about elevating
aren't just bodies.
They're children,
just like your nephew Christian.
♪ ♪
Abby, it's down to you.
Your family has the honor
of hosting the Royal
Caucus tonight.
Do me the honor of
giving me your vote.
- Victor, spare me the pitch.
I'll do anything to stop that
xenophobic monster Tatiana
from taking the throne.
♪ ♪
- [breathing heavily]
- Sir, are you all right?
- This scholar of yours,
she lives around here?
- Approximately.
- You do know where we're going?
- I know where we're going next.
[laughs] What?
I don't know where she lives,
but I know someone who might.
- Might?
- She's not exactly living out
here on an official permit.
You know, a heretic and all.
She keeps a low profile.
- For fuck's sake.
- Do we look human now?
[both chuckle]
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
- Okay.
- All right.
So where's this
friend we're meeting?
- Who wants to go clubbing?
- ♪ Everywhere we go ♪
[Sofi Tukker's "Greed"]
♪ People wanna know ♪
[upbeat music]
♪ Who you are ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Everywhere we go ♪
♪ ♪
♪ People wanna know ♪
♪ Who you are ♪
- [laughs] What is this music?
- It's fucking perfect.
- And all these people.
I mean, have you ever
seen this many anybody?
- I've never been in a room
where I literally know no one.
- I don't think anybody
knows anybody here.
- No?
- ♪ So we tell them ♪
♪ Your ill will, your
sad song, your haircut ♪
- ♪ Keeping you up all night ♪
♪ ♪
- ♪ Your ego, your
crashing, your greed ♪
- ♪ Keeping you up all night ♪
♪ ♪
- Focus, Rose. This is
a protective nightmare.
- I got it,
Mr. Perimeter Control.
- Really?
How many entry and exit points?
Yeah, I don't know either.
You've got 360 degree
exposure on our two charges
with only two of us to cover.
- I'm aware, but we're good.
- We could be walking through
a Strigoi buffet line.
- I'll know if
there are Strigoi.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
- Hi.
♪ ♪
- Muscle stays out
here, Ivashkov.
You know that.
- Go. Be quick.
- Got it. One drink.
Maybe two.
- No uncovered entry points.
They'd better be quick.
- We're only here
for information.
And maybe one drink.
- Hey, uh, Rose, try
not to get too bored
without me, all right?
♪ ♪
- Want to do a shot?
Joking.
Ish.
[indistinct chatter]
- Is it okay with
you if I let them in?
- Let me... let me
just get this straight.
You'd marry Jesse Zeklos?
Listen, that guy makes
me look eligible.
- Look, it's Jesse
or Ralf Dawoud,
Anthony Carter, or
Wade Vogel, okay?
[chuckles] And...
it's not that I would marry him.
- But they say you have to.
- If I want to get
my quorum back, yeah.
- Hoo.
You know, back home,
they'd look at a room
full of humans like this
and see only a feedlot.
You know, like cattle.
But you spend some
time out here,
among the humans with all
their mess and chaos and fun...
Suddenly, when you turn
around and look back
into our little
world with all its...
All its pious rules and
sacred bloodlines...
It's those Zekloses
and those Dawouds
and those Carters who start
to look pretty fucking bovine.
But Lissa, seriously,
you got to know.
When a wise old Moroi
gives you a list like that,
it's just a fact.
The names they left off are
sure to be a lot more fun.
Time to play.
[upbeat dance music]
♪ ♪
- This isn't our world.
- No.
This is fun.
You're so awkward. [laughs]
- I'm doing my job.
- Or maybe you don't know
what to do with yourself
when you're actually
kind of free.
No Moroi.
No Dhampirs.
None of your rules.
Just the music
and us.
Come on.
Just dance with me.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
- Fuck.
[groans]
- Which is it?
Is it Strigoi or Lissa?
I've seen this enough times,
Rose, at home, in Caroni.
You feel things
coming. Which is it?
- Strigoi. We have
to get out of here.
- Lissa. Go.
Go, go, go!
- Go!
- ♪ If you let go ♪
♪ If you're down for more ♪
♪ Till we six feet below ♪
♪ Till we six feet below ♪
♪ If you gotta know ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Till we six feet below ♪
♪ ♪
[tires squealing]
- I don't see anyone following.
- What the hell was
that back there?
- There were Strigoi.
- I didn't see any Strigoi.
- They were there, trust me.
- What the hell was
that back there?
Not the Strigoi.
Took you long enough.
[soft music]
I like it.
- Just tell us
where we're going.
- A little moonlight
boat ride, anyone?
♪ ♪
- They're down there,
brainstorming questions
for their heretic.
It's the nerdiest
I've ever seen her.
- Keep warm.
- Do you ever think
about another life?
Being more than just a pawn
they can rip from your home
or throw Strigoi at for fun?
A life outside the Dominion.
While we were dancing,
you wanted that freedom too.
- When I was 13, two years
into my academy training,
they gave us a
Feast Day furlough.
I went to see my mother,
my little sisters
back on the Commune.
This time, my father...
Or the Royal who fathered me...
Was visiting too.
I'd met him a few times,
heard him a few times
on the far side of the wall,
taking it out on her.
Whatever a posh Moroi fucker
has to take out on anybody.
I had no idea how angry I was
till I found myself on him.
Years of anger just...
poured out of me.
And when it was done,
I remember the fear,
not just his.
But also the fear in
the eyes of my mother,
my sisters.
And the fear I felt
of that thing in me.
It's why I need the code
of the Guardian life,
to keep that thing in check.
Freedom.
Freedom scares me
to death, Rose.
Or it did until...
- Until now?
♪ ♪
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- Where the hell are we?
- You've had a line on
this woman for a while now.
How have you never come to
ask these questions before?
- Sometimes you need the
right answers to be able
to ask the right questions.
♪ ♪
- Clarice Sewani.
I'm Adrian...
- I know who you
are, and the answer
is the same as it's
been for everyone
you've sent to
hassle me: fuck off.
- Adrian, what are you doing?
- What do you think,
Lord Ivashkov?
Just gonna force your way in?
- Adrian...
- Gonna set your
Guardians on me?
You think you can make me talk?
- No.
She can.
She's not gonna give us
what we need if you don't.
- I will.
- You have Compulsion.
You're a Messenger.
- Which means I
can make you talk,
if I choose to.
♪ ♪
- Are you okay?
- I should be asking you.
I'm fine.
- Here.
[sighs] You're
pushing yourself.
- I'm just... I'm just tired.
But I did it.
I will be king.
I... [coughs]
[groans]
I just... I just need to make
it through this last night.
The Queen will
submit me to caucus,
the votes will formalize it,
and then you and
I can both rest.
- But you have to make
it through tonight
looking like a king, and
you can barely stand.
Do you really think they'll
allow it if they see this?
Dad, would the Unionists
even support you?
I believe in you.
And I'm better. Look at me.
I slept. I had a feed.
I'm gonna heal you again.
I am. I can handle it.
And after last night,
there isn't much in my life
that's come to anything.
But this, I can do.
[soft dramatic music]
I can make you king.
Ready?
- A man who raises
such daughters
seeks to be the
father to our people.
It cannot be.
Your Holiness, it's
time you stopped Victor
once and for all.
- Me?
I represent the
Elemental Way, my dear.
Not the mortal one.
- That distinction is
exactly the problem.
The Strigoi are at the gates.
Our numbers are dwindling,
and we are dithering.
We need to think bigger.
You, my dear aunt,
need to think bigger.
You will speak for the Church
and end this humiliation.
♪ ♪
- Okay.
I think I need to know
what's happening here.
- What do you want to know?
- All of it.
- And then this
corner looked like
it was Vladimir healing someone,
which is also
something I can do.
- That leaves the center,
where Vladimir's eyes are.
- Where he's
consumed by Darkness.
His eyes are black in a way
I think I've seen in myself.
He was a Spirit User, and
it did something to him.
And a long time
ago, someone decided
that no one should ever know.
And they gave us some bullshit
story about happy Vladimir.
- We want the truth about Vlad.
All of it.
- We want to know
how he fought it off,
the Darkness.
He must have, somehow.
♪ ♪
- Compulsion. Dream
Walking. Healing.
That's Anna there.
Faithful Anna, the
model Dhampir Guardian.
Shadow-Kissed Anna.
But what about
the fourth corner?
- It's been worn away.
I've never been able
to find that out.
- If early accounts of this
altarpiece are to be believed,
the image here originally
looked something like this.
It's called a Spirit Bond.
Anna knew his heart
like it was her own.
Sometimes his thoughts.
Maybe even saw through his eyes.
This is your answer.
Vladimir's solution to the
Darkness, as you call it.
He passed it to her.
♪ ♪
- They actually
believe all of this.
A Fifth Element?
Secret Magic that Vladimir
had and the entire Dominion
has kept a secret for centuries?
- Or they just edited it
out of the whole story
after they burned a
bunch of people alive.
That's what they
do... Lie and kill.
So why not?
- Because... it goes against
the whole holy Elemental Order.
The four-part
harmony of the world.
I shouldn't have
let this happen.
- Fuck.
They're coming.
- Go.
- Vladimir didn't
beat the Darkness.
He just gave it to someone else.
Have I been doing this to Rose?
- She does sort of walk on
the Dark side of things.
- No, no.
He was supposed to show me
I could be someone good.
When everything's telling me
that what I have in me is bad,
he was supposed to be good.
But he's just another
parasitic Moroi like all of us,
just using his
Guardian like that.
- Strigoi coming.
We're going now.
- What?
You children.
You led them right to me.
- Yeah, lady, we did, but
we've got the jump on them,
and we're going
with or without you.
- Rose, no, she has...
- Lissa, we've got to go.
[tense music]
- They're here.
♪ ♪
[Strigoi snarling]
Inside.
- You'll be safe in here.
- You knew they were coming.
You can sense them in your gut.
♪ ♪
[pounding on door]
[Strigoi snarling]
♪ ♪
- Hey.
Hey, listen, you're
assuming that Vladimir
forced his Darkness onto Anna,
but what if she took it?
Isn't that what we
learned in Sunday school,
the holy devotion of
Shadow-Kissed Anna?
- What is Shadow-Kissed?
I mean, how does any of
this even makes sense?
♪ ♪
- This is one of the
parts of Vladimir's story
the authorities
wanted to expunge
because the Spirit Bond
was the fruit of
Vladimir's ultimate sin.
- [screaming]
Rose! Rose!
♪ ♪
Rose! [screams]
- Lissa!
- She's just a kid.
[groans] What the actual fuck?
[Strigoi snarling, screeching]
- [panting]
- Never hesitate.
♪ ♪
- [murmuring in Old Moroi]
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
May the succession bring
prosperity to the Dominion.
- Very good.
Thank you all.
Is there something else, Irene?
- There is.
Your Majesty...
For decades now, you and I
have maintained a balance
between the vagaries
of the political realm and the
durable interest of the faith.
- As have all eight
of my High Priests
and Priestesses before you.
- Yours? Hmm.
That, Marina, is
precisely the problem.
The balance has collapsed.
This ugly chapter
with Victor is only
the latest indignity to
be forced on the faith
by political interests.
The time has come for the
faith to assert itself.
- To muck about where it
doesn't belong, you mean?
- To call in the
many chits we have
piled up against the crown.
Do not mistake
forbearance for weakness.
I am telling you that
nominating Victor
would be a very grave error.
- Better your niece.
How much balance would there be
if one family controlled
both Church and state?
Unless you're retiring.
- Tatiana is the only
candidate for the throne
that the Church will tolerate.
And without the
support of the Church,
the new monarch will fail.
The Elementalists
will make sure of it.
Iwill make sure of it.
Victor will not rule.
♪ ♪
- I saw him.
They followed us
here from the club.
- They had a human
smorgasbord there.
What would we matter to them?
- My life here is dead.
- No, the Strigoi are dead.
You could clean up, and...
- You're so far
out of your depth.
You have no idea how
this world works.
It's not the Strigoi
I'm worried about.
It's the ones who
come after them.
You've burned my world down.
But to make us even,
I'm going to give you
what you came here for.
[inaudible speech]
♪ ♪
- What the hell is going on?
How can you have
possibly lost the Queen?
- What are you
talking about, Abby?
The Queen has assured me...
- I have it from
Tatiana's own lips.
The Queen won't submit
your name to the Council.
Word's already getting out.
You've lost her confidence.
Tarus, the Ozeras,
they're all wavering.
You may not have your
votes much longer.
♪ ♪
- No.
[panting]
Not now. [groans]
No. [groans]
No.
[knock at door]
♪ ♪
- Your father sent me.
Are you all right?
- I just need to feed.
- Of course.
[groaning]
Sonya.
Hey, easy.
Sonya.
[gasps]
Slow down, please!
[gasps]
Please! No! [groans]
- This is the moment.
I have the votes.
You only need to name
me, and it's done.
They will do your will.
Marina, please, after
all we've given,
I have to have this.
- I'm sorry, Victor.
The Church has forced my hand.
But I have one
final card to play.
♪ ♪
I want to thank my dear
friend Abby Batista
for hosting us on
this weighty day.
As we choose our next leader,
I remind you that a good
monarch must know when to rule
and when not to.
As there is no clear majority
for either the Elementalist
or Unionist candidate tonight,
I am suspending this caucus...
[crowd murmuring]
And invoking the ancient
rite of Royal Trial,
a ritual steeped
in and sanctified
by our religious forebears.
The candidates must face
a series of sacred tests.
Whoever wins will rule.
Thus, the Elements
will decide our fate,
not your aging Queen.
As of now, the future
of our Dominion
is in the hands of the Elements.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- It was just a moment.
We hesitated for
one tiny moment.
- There's no room for divided
loyalties in this world, Rose.
There can never be a question
of you or them,
me or your charge.
There can be no hesitation.
- Of course not.
It's a fucking dream.
But you felt it.
Right?
[soft music]
What we could be?
- Every second of it.
But never again.
[somber music]
♪ ♪
[tense music]
- For 500 years, we've
burrowed down in our provinces
and let ourselves
forget that the Strigoi
aren't the only ones with
the power to do us harm.
Beyond the wards,
they watch and wait,
ready to come down on us with
all their fury if we err.
But if history is our guide,
the first wound we suffer
will be self-inflicted.
We turn on our own first.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[knock at door]
- Thank God you're here.
I needed to see you.
- I don't want you
to be my Guardian.
Not now, not ever.
It's just... it's
too wrong, all of it.
The way we exploit you.
I just can't do it
anymore, not to you.
They'll give me someone,
and I can't avoid that.
But I just can't have it be you.
You deserve better.
- I deserve?
- I'm trying to do what's best.
- You have no idea what
it's like to be us.
None.
And now you're gonna
tell me what I deserve?
You're going to make
that choice for me,
but I don't get a say?
I have no option but
to be a Guardian,
and the only thing that makes
all that shit worthwhile
is you.
And now you're
gonna take that away
as some kind of a favor to me?
You have no idea what I
would give up for you.
I would die for you.
- Yeah, I know you
would, because you did.
- The ultimate sin
Vladimir committed
was resurrection.
In a faith built on the
cycling of Elements,
there is no greater violation...
Than bringing life
back to the dead.
That was the source
of the bond to Anna,
the Shadow Kiss.
Death left its mark on her...
- [gasps]
- Just as it has on your friend.
- You died
saving me in the accident.
I brought you back.
You're Shadow-Kissed.
That's why we have this
bond between our spirits.
But now...
Now I know how toxic
that's been for you.
I've been passing my
Darkness off to you.
I'm not gonna do it anymore,
not if I can help it.
- So firing me is
going to solve that?
- It's a start.
- Lissa...
- I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
[somber music]
♪ ♪
- Lissa.
Lissa!
[pounding on door]
Lissa!
Lissa!
[pounding continues]
[groans]
Lissa!
♪ ♪
- Sonya?
Sonya.
♪ ♪
Sonya?
[eerie hip-hop music]
♪ ♪
[dog barks]