Talon: Previously on "The Outpost"...
It's written in Blackblood.
Guardian of the Asterkinj, the moment to awaken me has arrived.
Why do the others of your kind call you the Betrayer?
After I put my brothers and sisters to sleep,
this is where I hid the kinjes,
the keys to our souls, our sources of strength.
My kind do not belong here.
From the seven handprints in the Skevikor room,
it seems all seven are needed to complete their mission.
Are you ready to pay for your sins?
I am ready. Meet me at the Skevikor.
- What have you done? - The end begins now.
You must save them.
Marvyn, we don't have the means
of reviving even one more of your people,
let alone thousands.
We could barely save you with the few herbs we had.
You don't understand.
The Skevikor opens so the Kahvi may wake at the hands of the Masters.
If they aren't woken soon--
( wheezing )
Janzo.
Oh!
If they aren't woken soon,
they will all die like this.
We need to get going.
The other six of your kind are on their way to the Outpost.
We need a plan.
It will come.
I don't understand why you can't just put them to sleep like you did last time.
Because I was too merciful the last time.
My brothers' and sisters' hunger for immortality is insatiable.
I should've known their captivity wouldn't last.
Sleep is not enough.
They must die.
Then how do we kill them?
I'm working on it.
What does that mean? Aster?
What's happening?
Talon?
( theme music playing )
So you wanna tell me what happened back there?
For a moment it looked like you were gonna kiss the weirdo.
It was so strange.
It was like I was peering into his soul.
I couldn't break free.
I never felt a connection like that before.
He's doing some magic mumbo jumbo to seduce you,
that's what he's doing.
It's not like that, I assure you.
That feeling you had,
you've been the guardian of my kinj for so long.
My soul and yours have spent many years entwined in your body.
They are bonded together.
Mm-hmm. Like lovers, I suppose.
More like family.
Do you understand?
Strangely, I do.
I don't trust him.
- I do. - Why?
Well, you heard his explanation.
Yeah, and I don't believe him.
I think he's got you under some sort of spell.
I don't think so. I'm linked to him.
It's hard to explain.
Hmm.
Aster, that's the wrong way.
- Wait here. - What for?
We need to cover more ground before nightfall.
Talon, wait. What if he needs to, like,
relieve himself or something?
I don't wanna know what that's like.
Aster, we need to keep moving.
What are you doing?
Whoa, look at that.
Aster: The being I loved above all others
was buried beneath all of that.
A friend showed me this once.
He told me it was an ancient Blackblood stronghold.
Were you here when this was built?
No.
This was after my time,
but it was built on the site of our first settlement.
The first settlement of the Seven?
No, the first settlement of my offspring,
those you call the Blackbloods.
Your offspring?
The Blackbloods? I don't understand.
How are we your offspring?
Has so much been lost over time?
Aster, what is your relationship to the Blackbloods?
- I am father of you all. - What does that even mean?
I don't understand.
This world, so full of life,
it took me years to find among all the other worlds out there.
When I brought the other six here,
I didn't realize the precious nature of its inhabitants.
- The Blackbloods? - The humans.
The other six didn't care. Only I was fascinated by them,
their ways, their intelligence,
so vulnerable, but with a strength of spirit I had never seen.
Before I knew it, I had fallen in love with one of them.
The lady at the river.
Yes. Tallya.
You said the Masters were endlessly taking life from every species out there
so that we might live forever.
But Tallya showed me the beauty of the first
intelligent species that we had found.
- Humans. - Yes.
To this day, I am convinced that you humans are related to us
in some even more distant past.
It's the only way it could have been possible for me
to father a child with Tallya.
Father a child?
The baby you protected from Golu?
( baby crying )
Yes.
That child was your ancestor, Talon.
The first Blackblood.
So all Blackbloods are part human?
Yes. Part human, part me.
Your human friend here is a distance cousin of yours.
That is why I betrayed the Six, Talon.
It's why I won't let them succeed now.
You're more my family than the other six ever were.
If being open makes the Kahvi vulnerable, then we simply close the Skevikor.
Yes, and then maybe we could put them back in their protective sleep.
Right. How do we do that?
- Uh... - Marvyn? Hold this.
You used this sequence to unlock the Skevikor, right?
Do you think if we use it again, it'll close it perhaps?
Maybe all the Kahvi will return to their stasis?
I do not know.
Well, it's worth a try, yes?
Sure, sure. All right.
- Janya. Kultor. - Janya.
Levare. Aster,
- Golu. - Golu.
Tera. Vorta.
Wren: Nothing.
Perhaps backwards.
- Yes, backwards. - Yes?
Right.
- Vorta. Tera. - Vorta.
Are you sure it was them?
The supposed gods? The monsters?
Inhuman they were, all six of them.
And they killed everyone? Burned their village to the ground?
Ankril's Crossing is halfway between the Capital and here.
They may be making their way to the Outpost.
Are you certain there were six? Not five? Not seven?
I know my numbers, sir. It was six.
This is what I was afraid of.
Even burning Golu to ash didn't stop him from rising again.
Yes, but Talon-- it sounds like she still has her kinj. Maybe she was successful.
Well, where the hell is she?
So, Blackbloods and us have been at war
forever over whose world this is.
- Aster: Fools. - But in the end, it was Blackbloods
fighting amongst ourselves that led to our near extinction.
I'm just grateful my kinj was kept amongst a clan
wise enough to renounce violence.
Your ancestral mothers were very wise women.
My grandmother and her grandmother were both called Tallya.
That was the name of your first love.
Yes, and you're named after all of them.
But they're Tallya. I'm Talon.
Tallya in Yindrian is the same word as Talon in your newer language.
Tell me, are you in possession of the ahl-kora blades?
The ahl-kora blades?
When we put the Six to sleep, we used weapons of ahl-kora,
a substance not from this world.
Only these weapons can be used to separate
the souls of my kind into kinj form.
I've never heard of such weapons.
If I'd seen one, I'd have stolen it for sure.
It sounds valuable.
How could they have been lost?
They were supposed to be passed from generation
to generation as my kinj was.
Your mother should've had them.
( screaming )
My mother's blade.
When my people renounced violence,
it was the one weapon she kept.
A wise woman, indeed, your mother.
This is ahl-kora.
This is what we need to stop my brothers and sisters.
There should be six more of them.
That's the only one I know of.
But each weapon can only be used once.
But there are six others of your kind.
Then you have to be sure to use it on the right one.
Backwards, forwards, order of the Masters' awakening.
Nothing works.
I thought I was freeing my people,
but I have caused their death.
If we cannot save them,
then perhaps it's better that the Masters succeed.
Better for the Kahvi to be slaves
to the Masters than to die.
Marvyn, the Masters succeeding
would mean the destruction of this world
and all its inhabitants.
Us.
- My friends. - Janzo: Mm-hmm.
And thousands more like us.
Too much death either way.
What does one do when there is no good choice?
Talon? Talon!
Garret.
I was afraid you wouldn't be happy to see me.
- The way we left things-- - I could never stay mad at you.
I'm just grateful to see you alive.
You succeeded then?
Destroyed the body of the seventh?
Mmm, not exactly.
I passed on my kinj, Garret. We woke him.
- What? - This is Aster.
Whoa. He's an ally.
- The hell he is. - He wants to help us.
I know exactly what he wants--
access to what's below the Outpost so he can free their army.
As soon as they have that, we're disposable.
He's the one who stopped the other Masters.
He helped put them to sleep thousands of years ago.
Is that so? And why should I trust you?
Don't trust me. Trust Talon. She loves you very much.
She deserves your trust.
The first time she met you, at that gate...
And she saved your life with a poison kiss.
The first time you made love--
That's-- that's enough.
- It's the kinj. - They're connected.
Trust Talon.
She knows I'm the only hope to end this evil once and for all.
And you have another way to stop the other six?
I do. No one wants them gone more than I.
You can trust him, Garret.
All right.
But you stay under Talon's watch
and keep that damn head of yours covered.
I am not the only one here
who has learned to hate your kind.
This space will be fine.
How long is this going to take you?
I don't know.
What is it you do with your power when you meditate like that?
I search the cosmos.
I couldn't use the kinj that way.
You will. You did.
When you first opened the portal.
Yeah, but I didn't even know I had it.
I mean, my mother didn't explain anything to me.
My kinj, my power, gave you an answer.
It took you time to understand it.
And what are you searching for now?
- More answers. - ( knock on door )
- Talon! - Zed, you're alive.
When I heard Golu was resurrected,
I thought you'd been killed for your kinj.
Unfortunately it was Nedra that was killed, not me.
I'm so sorry, Zed.
It's good to see you, Talon.
Luna.
Talon, who's your friend?
Talon: Remember that crazy idea I had to wake Aster?
You didn't.
Luna, with her Dragman abilities,
helped me realize it was the right choice.
Ah, no. You can't blame this on me if it all goes sideways.
Zed, Wren, meet Aster.
Gods above.
You're the one the Six call the Betrayer.
Happy to meet more of my children.
Talon told me there aren't many of you left.
Your children?
If you'll excuse me,
I have some work to do.
It was nice to meet you.
His children, Talon? He said his children. What does that mean?
Preferably in silence.
Luna, will you stay with Aster?
We need a drink.
I could use one, too, you know. Fine.
Fine.
So you're saying the entire Blackblood race
- began with Aster and human woman? - Yes.
He fell in love. That's why he betrayed the Six.
Munt, I told you, I'll do all our work today.
- You need to heal. - Thanks, Warlita,
but I'm done healed thanks to your tender touch.
And for Zed for saving me!
Remember? You saved my life.
Come on, come on. Let's go, let's go.
Go, go, go.
So the three of you are in fact half human
and half whatever Aster is.
And our child would just be another variation.
- Fascinating. - Janzo, this means that the Kahvi--
The Kahvi share common ancestors with you and our child.
Blackbloods have faced near extinction before.
We can't let the Kahvi die.
They're not just a people in need, they're our ancestors in need.
All the war, the division,
and the hate between humans and Blackbloods for thousands of years,
and it turns out we're family.
Thank you all for meeting.
The most pressing matter, of course,
is that the Six are on their way here.
Aster called them here to reconcile
knowing they will be drawn to the Skevikor room to take back their slaves.
And Aster says he has the means for us to defeat them.
- Right, Talon? - Yes.
- How? - He's working on it.
Working on it? That's not very reassuring.
You'd think maybe he would work out
his master plan first and then summon
his mortal enemies to our Outpost, wouldn't you?
- Just a thought. - How far away are the Six?
Two or three days from here.
Last spotted at Ankril's Crossing yesterday.
Aster put every person in this Outpost in harm's way.
- How can you be sure of his motives? - What does that mean?
He's called the Six here under the pretense of reconciliation, right?
What if that isn't the pretense?
What if the pretense is with us?
Because it's not.
- I know him. - For what, two days?
I know him because I've had his kinj inside my head for most of my life.
It's funny that, because I've had a kinj in my head, too,
and I know nothing about the monster it belongs to.
You had yours a few months.
Aster put the Six down to protect us,
and I'm telling you he'll do it again.
Talon, is it possible that Aster could be manipulating you
precisely because you've had his kinj in your head for so long?
For the last time, he's not manipulating me.
Either way, it sounds like we can't rely on Aster
to be ready to face the Six when we need him to be,
so I propose we evacuate the Outpost.
- Evacuate? - Everyone?
Yes, everyone. With the threat the Six pose,
there is no point sacrificing anyone,
- not even soldiers. - Agreed.
Then it's decided. We'll start preparations at first light.
Aster's one of us, Zed. We're his kin.
The gods are even more his kin,
and now they call him the Betrayer.
All right. Two carriages.
Munt, don't lift so much.
- Bah! - Let Janzo do it.
Don't worry, Warlita. He's completely recovered.
Right, I need the two of you to be in charge
of the Nightshade's stores going to the evacuation.
Janzo, shouldn't you be in charge of this stuff?
I'm not going, Munt.
Wren and I are going to stay here.
What? Why?
We have our reasons. Go on.
What do you suppose that's all about?
I don't know.
All right.
Marvyn, I've secured you spot on the caravan.
As long as you stay close to Warlita and Munt, you should be fine.
I will not leave the Kahvi.
Why risk your life, huh?
Once this is all over, you can come back.
When this is over, my people will either be enslaved or they will be dead.
Marvyn, Janzo and I are staying
to see if something can be done to help the Kahvi.
You are staying...
to stand against the Masters?
Ooh, I wouldn't--
We're hoping that Aster and the others
do most of the hard work, but, yes.
That's the plan.
- We can't abandon the Kahvi. - You are good friends.
I will stay as well.
All right.
Each of your captains will have 500 civilians
under their company's watch.
Every step that you put between your caravan
and this Outpost, is one step closer to safety.
Dismissed.
I used to visit my best friend in this room.
Watching her give orders.
It's strange seeing you in her place.
It should be you.
Don't start that again.
Garret, before I left, you asked me a question.
Look, it was selfish of me to ambush you like that.
- If you need time to figure out what you want, then-- - Shh.
The answer to your question is yes.
- Yes? - I'll marry you.
Are you sure?
I love you, Garret.
I've loved you since the night we met outside these Outpost walls.
So Aster implied.
And for the record,
I have always loved you, too.
( knocking on door )
Aster?
Uh, excuse me.
Sorry, I know you're busy working on a plan
to save the world and all, but, uh, we have a problem
which I wonder if you could help us solve.
What is it?
Well, as you know, the Skevikor's been unlocked.
And as a result, the Kahvi are now exposed,
and their protected sleep is, well, not so protected anymore.
- I'm aware. - Of course you are.
Uh, the best we can tell is that they're all going to die
if they're not properly revived.
Yes.
The Kahvi require the life force that Janya has been gathering
in order to wake from their stasis.
Without it, they will all be dead in days.
Exactly. Is there a way we can put them back
into their protected sleep so they don't all die needlessly?
You studied the altar at the Skevikor?
Yes.
And you noticed the seven handprints?
Yes.
The Kahvi cannot be returned to their stasis
without all Seven at the Skevikor altar,
and the other six do not wish the Kahvi to be suspended.
- They want them enslaved. - Yes.
As soon as Janya's life force has been given,
Vorta will insert the naviaspores and enslave them.
Well, surely there must be something you can do.
You-- you are a god after all.
There is not, and I'm no more of a god than you are.
If I may, you don't seem to care at all
about the fact that you've just let thousands of people die.
The Kahvi are not people.
They are bred for one purpose,
to serve their endlessly destructive Masters.
Regardless of what they're bred for,
the Kahvi are people, in a sociological sense, I mean.
They have the potential for a good life, a free life.
I'm afraid they do not.
The only way to save them requires that we allow the Six access to the Skevikor room,
and I cannot allow that.
Ah, so there is a way, you just choose not to do so.
There is a choice
between saving your kind and this world
or saving my kind and the Kahvi,
and I'm sorry, but that is an easy choice for me to make.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I'd like to continue with my work,
or I won't save either.
Smoke, sir, on the horizon.
Garret: That's Taernsmouth village burning.
- Are you sure? - Aye.
The Six are coming faster than we anticipated.
These people are not going to make it out of here in time.
At the rate they're coming, the Six will arrive
before our people can make it out of the valley.
- Lambs to the slaughter. - I mean, is Aster even ready?
I mean, can he ride out to face the Six now?
No.
He needs more time.
Then we have to find a way to stall the Six,
slow down their approach,
give our people a chance to get out.
- How? - They have Janya.
They're virtual unstoppable with her power of healing.
Zed: And unapproachable, with Kultor's fire.
We need something big.
Something that will get in their way.
What?
What is it, Janzo?
I have an idea, but, um,
well, I'm loath to say it.
If-- if they're just beyond Taernsmouth,
then that means they'll soon be coming through Gallwood Forest.
It's the only road to the East. The whole area is wooded thick.
So?
So I've been perfecting my incendiary oils.
Perhaps we could fight fire with fire, so to speak.
Burn the entire forest?
I doubt even the gods would walk through a forest fire, Talon.
They'll either have to wait it out
or follow the river bend north again.
- Add another day to their journey. - Exactly.
Meanwhile, we can evacuate our people
through Pickerick's Pass to the west.
They'll all be safe from the fire and the gods.
- I like it. - Of course you do.
It involves burning things. You're like a child.
Thank you. Zed, we'll ride out immediately.
All right.
I will tell Munt to load the barrels of oil.
I'm coming.
No. No, we need you here with Aster.
He's right. If we fail, you might need to improvise.
And see if you can't get him to hurry up a bit, yeah?
Can I help you with something?
The Six are closer than we thought.
And our people may not make it out in time.
I know.
Is there anything I can do to help speed the process?
I've done all that can be done.
Are you beginning to doubt your trust in me?
I'm worried.
My friends are worried.
There's people still in the path of the Six.
All you do is sit here.
My seeming inactivity must seem like indifference.
But not all battles are fought by the sword.
Well, can you at least tell me what you're doing?
What you're searching for?
I'm searching for another world.
A world? What for?
To send them to.
I'm searching for a realm so deadly
that none of the Six could survive it.
That is the only sure end to the immortality,
or we risk their return.
And you're positive such a world exists?
It is my hope.
Hope?
I have found there is nothing more powerful
than well-placed hope, Talon.
You must remember that when you face the Six.
When we face the Six.
Yes.
All right, up you go. Here we go. Up!
There you are. Everything's going to be all right.
All right?
We have to work faster, Munt.
Everyone has to be ready the moment we hear the signal.
Ooh, oh! Right.
Thanks for your help, Luna.
I'll see you on the other side of this.
What? You think I'm leaving?
Well, it's all up to Aster now.
You wouldn't even have him around if it weren't for me, would you?
There's nothing any of us can do at this point.
And yet you, Garret, and Zed are all sticking around anyway.
Janzo and Wren, too, by the looks of things.
We're just seeing it through to the end.
Then that's what I'm doing, too.
All right. It's your choice.
There's no money in it, you know?
That's what makes it heroic.
Didn't realize I was dealing with a hero.
Well, now you know.
- Let's go! - ( horse whinnies )
Damn.
Don't let us down, Janzo.
You fools don't know when to give up.
You sure you wanna do this? We each bested you separately.
And yet here I stand.
And here.
I'm as strong as ever because ours is the way of endless renewal,
of immortality, whereas your kind were born to die.
You can do better than that.
I already have.
Sergeant!
Ring the bell! Move out!
All right, lads. Off you go, Munt.
Janzo, I'm staying.
- What? - What? Why?
To face them villains what killed the King.
There's nothing you can do about that, Munt.
It has to be one of their own that faces them.
Well, why are you staying?
I told you, I have my reasons. Now go on, go.
I have my reasons, too,
to help keep you safe and to save everyone.
Munt, please come with me.
- I'm sorry, Warlita. - Then I'm staying, too.
Warlita, you took such good care of me.
Now these orphans and these old people,
they need you to do that for them.
But you can help me do that.
I'm not good with that stuff.
I'm just a big lug. Same with them soldiers, too.
Those people, they need your sweet touch.
Come on.
I'll be all right. I promise.
- You better be. - Yeah.
You all right there, big guy?
- Did that just happen? - Mm, it sure did.
That's the best thing that ever happened to me.
Hmm. I know the feeling, brother.
Janzo: All right, they're on their way.
All we can do for them now is hope.
- Any sign of Garret and Zed? - Not yet, but...
I saved a barrel of ale for us. Anyone interested?
Crack it open.
How's your grandpa doing?
He explained his plan to me.
Aster's searching for another world to send the Six to.
Another world?
Aster can open portals like my kinj did,
only not just to the Plane of Ashes.
He's searching for a world that will kill them instantly.
When the Six arrive, we'll pick them off one by one
kicking each one through the portal.
I'll finally get a chance to use my sword.
What does that mean for the Kahvi?
I don't know.
( bell ringing )
All right.
- Janzo, wait. Wait. - No, but we have to go.
I have an idea.
- You're both okay. - Oh, I'm fine.
We saw the caravan in the valley.
We might just have a chance.
Zed, Garret, glad you're back.
Janzo and I need a meeting with everyone in the Skevikor room.
- Pick up Aster on the way. - The Skevikor room?
We'd like to suggest a modification to the plan for killing the Six.
- Come on. - What?
Right. Thank you all for being here.
Aster, we know your time is precious, but this important. Janzo?
- Janzo? - Right.
From what we understand,
once the Six arrive at the Outpost,
the plan is for you all to force them through Aster's portal
one by one into instant death, yes?
- Yes, hopefully. - Right.
Well, we'd like to propose a slight variation to that plan.
- Wren? - Yes, as you can see,
there are thousands of Kahvi,
exposed, unawakened in the chamber below.
This is about the Kahvi again?
Aster confirmed that if not revived,
all the Kahvi will die.
Both: A few have died already.
So we'd like to suggest that you allow Janya
- to wake the Kahvi-- - Are you mad?
As I've already told Wren,
the others will wake them into slavery
controlled by Vorta's gold kinjes.
Soldiers whose first orders
would be the destruction of us all.
- Aster: Yes. - Hear us out.
Aster, you said that when the Seven come to the Skevikor,
Janya would have to revive the Kahvi
before Vorta passes on the gold kinjes.
- Isn't that right? - Yes.
- So, if we allow the Six
to come down to the chamber, Janya revives that Kahvi--
And then just when they finish, that's when we strike,
forcing them all through Aster's portal.
Starting with Vorta before she has the chance to enslave them.
Allow all seven of them down here
and interrupt them halfway through?
- Have you lost your minds? - Aster, is this possible?
The Kahvi aren't worth risking this entire world for.
Because you don't see them as people.
They are tools of destruction, of cruelty, nothing more.
Yes, but they could be more if you just bloody let them.
Even if I agreed, the simple truth is
I cannot be allowed near the Skevikor when the other six have arrived.
What? Why not?
Because they will hold sway over me.
And what does that mean?
I can't resist the collective will
of my brothers and sisters
when all seven of us are together.
But you've betrayed them once before.
Yes, each of the Seven are physically unable
to act against the collective will of the group,
so I needed help of the humans to do it.
I had humans use the ahl-kora blades
to put the others to rest.
So you see, if I join the other six on that altar,
then I will be unable to defy them
and you all will be lost.
The Skevikor lies beneath that fortification.
They delayed us,
but they cannot keep us from our army for long.
Once we find Aster,
does his love for this world's inhabitants remain?
- Can be trusted? - It does not matter.
We are prepared for his betrayal this time.
The Six have been spotted. We're out of time.
- I found it. Yes. - The world to send them to?
A world so barren and cold, they will freeze and die instantly.
Aster, why didn't you tell me you couldn't act against the Six
when you're in their presence?
I didn't want to overwhelm you with what's coming.
But I'm not sure I understand your plan.
If you can't act against them,
then how are you able to open a portal
to a world that would kill them?
- I can't. - What do you mean you can't?
I won't be able to open the portal when the time comes.
You can't open the portal? Was all this just a big lie?
The portal can still be opened but not by me.
It has to be you, Talon.
You have to wield my power against the others.
The Six must be sent to their deaths by you.