The Outpost – The Book of Names

By: Patience Kapfer

Now that Talon (Jessica Green) has finally avenged her family’s death, there is still the small problem of banishing the demon back through the portal where it belongs. However, after finally conquering her most desired goal, it seems that Talon has gained some added confidence and lost that remaining fear of the demon. At the start of this week’s episode Talon beckons the demon to her and firmly instructs it to go back to where it came from. The demon has other ideas as it takes one of its sharp claws and once again deliberately stabs her (not quite as brutally this time) in the upper chest. Talon informs him that killing her will only close the portal and notices in that moment a particular scar on the demons arm, making her remember back to her childhood and realizes he’s the same demon that took an arrow for her in that cave as the men were destroying her village. Then, the portal opens behind the demon and she instructs him to go back and he begrudgingly steps back through the portal and out of this world.

Full of pride and relief Talon returns to the smith (Kevin McNally), but much to her dismay she sees he’s been stabbed and is barely alive. After confirming that she sent the demon back, she quickly checks the smith’s arm and sure enough he has the symbol of the Bones as Shek said. She asks why he took part in killing her family, to which he says that he’s not sorry he did it because if he hadn’t he wouldn’t have discovered her. Talon is clearly distraught, realizing that he helped to murder her family, but also full of sadness as the smith seemed to have become like family to her. Before the smith dies, he makes her promise that she will fulfill the prophecy because it is humankind’s only hope – but Talon doesn’t even know what the prophecy is. He also gives her a new sword that he constructed for her so that she will never forget and tells her to find the Book of Names. But he also tells her she doesn’t have much time as the Dragman is coming and he will find her.

In another part of the Realm, an ambassador (William Rubio) and a group of intimidating soldiers rides into a field where a man and his family are working on collecting firewood. The man chopping firewood is known as Karric Unger (John-Patrick Driscoll), Acolyte of the Shrine at Cadrian’s Pass. However, he assures the ambassador that was years ago and now he has to care for a family. The ambassador tells him that he’s looking for the Vex Rezicon – the Book of Names. Karric says at first that he’s never seen it as it’s kept in the Sanctum by the Elders. But since there was a Greyskin attack on the Shrine, all of the Elders are dead and Karric continues to insist he doesn’t know where the book is located. The ambassador knows that Karric is lying so that he won’t find the book, so he makes him choose to either tell him where the book is or he will kill Karric’s family. Finally, Karric tells him that it’s inside the altar of fire, begging that the ambassador leaves his family alone. Instead, the ambassador instructs his men to kill Karric’s family while making him watch. Then, before the ambassador kills Karric himself, he says, “When the moon is aflame, a Blackblood will summon the slayers of men to conquer and purge!”

Back at The Outpost, Talon gently covers the smith with a blanket and reads the inscription on the sword that he made her. Not surprisingly, the inscription reads “The moon is aflame, a Blackblood will summon the slayers of men, to conquer and purge the oppressors of old.” She then makes her way to the smith’s bookshelf and attempts to look through his old books while Janzo (Anand Desai-Barochia), very silently, makes his way into the residence. Janzo offers his condolences since he knew how close Talon was to the smith, but she is quick to point out that he was the Bones for which she was looking. She points out to Janzo that all of the books are written in a weird language that she can’t read and he tells her that it’s Yindrian and he can read it. He also tells her that the Prime Order also killed all those who spoke Yindrian because most ancient prophecies were written in their native tongue and if there is no one left to translate them then the Prime Order can interpret the texts however they wish.

Before Janzo can make any proper progress on reading the books, he is called away by his mother to handle the message back from the colipsum dealer. The dealer wants to meet at Gallows Rock at sundown the following night. Elinor (Robyn Malcolm) is ecstatic that the meeting is set for the following night and insists that Janzo himself will go to Gallows Rock with the gold. Janzo says that he’s way too busy and that no matter what he will wind up dead. Despite all his pleas and insistence that he isn’t going, he acquiesces after she threatens to put him back on the street any time she wants.

Meanwhile, Commander Calkussar (Michael Flynn) has determined that the time has come for Gwynn (Imogen Waterhouse) to be introduced to the encampment as the Queen. After telling Garret (Jake Stormoen) this he feels that it’s important Gwynn also know that Talon can summon demons. After learning this new information, Gwynn has Marshal Withers (Andrew Howard) bring Talon to her and begs her to stay and help her to overthrow the Prime Order. She further explains that her real name is Rosmund, the daughter of King Ranulf which makes her heir to the Realm. Gwynn and Garret insist that Talon could be of use to their cause as she has the ability to summon the demons, but Talon says she only knows how to summon the one since she needs their names in order to do so. That’s when she realizes that the Book of Names contains the names of other demons that she could summon. She rushes back to Janzo to tell him of her newly acquired information, but it seems he’s already figured it out from the reading he’s done so far. However, Talon is much more hesitant now to find the Book of Names because she doesn’t want to summon an entire army of demons. Janzo is insistent she needs to find the book even if she doesn’t plan on using it and tells her he will sit there for days reading all of the books to help her. Although, there is a catch: Janzo needs just the tiniest of favors in return. He needs her to come with him to meet the dealer and help carry the gold (but of course he leaves some of those small details out).

Once they are on their journey, Janzo finally tells Talon that they are going to Gallows Rock to buy an undisclosed volume of raw colipsum from an unknown seller. Understandably, Talon is furious, telling Janzo that whoever he’s planning on meeting is planning to kill him and take all of the gold that he’s carrying. When they decide to take a shortcut, they encounter two musicians offering to play them a song. Talon advises Janzo to nod his head and keep walking because if he stops the musicians will expect something. Once Janzo hears the music, he stops to listen to their song and attempts to give them a small amount of gold. The musicians are, of course, unhappy with the amount he gives them and pull their knives on both Janzo and Talon. Unfortunately for them, Talon is not pleased with being told to take off both her pack and her clothes and proceeds to break the man’s arm and leg.

Commander Calkussar and Garret take Gywnn/Rosmund out to the field to be introduced to the soldiers in the hopes that it will help to solidify their cause and heighten the soldiers’ spirits. On their journey they encounter a camp of covenant soldiers on their way to The Outpost for the late shipment of armaments, but Calkussar reminds Garret that they can’t afford to lose the swords and artillery they’re carrying. Garret attempts to keep the armaments by telling the opposing commander that he has direct orders to travel with it all the way to its destination, but the other commander will not allow that. So, instead of giving the commander the inventory and relinquishment papers, Garret pulls out his knife and stabs the man in the throat prompting an immediate battle between the two sides. Upon Gwynn’s orders, Calkussar joins the fight to help Garret, but this gives the opposing soldiers a chance to chase after her instead. When it looks like he might finally have Gwynn, Garret throws his sword straight into the other mans back, successfully saving her life and killing all of the covenant soldiers.

Garret assures Gwynn that she was put in this world to make things right again and she will be able to gain the soldiers loyalty. Commander Calkussar starts off with a speech asking the soldiers how many have lost someone they loved to the Greyskins, which almost every soldier is willing to admit they have. Then, he transitions into asking how many have lost a loved one at the hands of the Prime Order. At first no one is willing to acknowledge their loss, but after Garret admits his mother was killed by the Prime Order, more men openly admit the Prime Order killed someone they loved. Calkussar says the Greyskins will always be their enemy, but the real enemy walks among them wearing red armor. That’s when he introduces the men to Rosmund, their Queen. The men are hesitant to believe she is the true Queen, so she takes matters into her own hands, asking who of them had been to the Capital. She notices two men in the front of the crowd who used to work at the Capital and she remembers their names and encounters they had when she was young. The men recognize her in that moment and assure all the other soldiers that she is the true Queen Rosmund.

The end of the episode shows an ominous future for Talon and the Book of Names. The ambassador summons Essa (Sonalii Castillo), a terrifying warrior, to find the Book of Names and destroy it.  He is about to tell her that if she encounters any resistance to deal with them, before she cuts him off, telling him, “I’ll kill anyone who gets in the way of the book.”