Quiet back there.
Deaf and mute.
-Quiet!
One more time,
-and you'll feel my boot up your--
Gods' mercy! Kill it!
-Kill it! -No!
Goddess.
Sagan, no. I'm not a snack, you great mop.
Marci. Thank the God. Thank you.
And him?
If I stitch the two of you together, I can make one healthy person.
-Captain.
So, you care if I live or die.
A little less all the time.
They killed the Emperor!
Get him up. We're leaving.
That thing…
It took the Emperor. They've killed him.
You've done your bit.
Whatever that creature is, it's my problem now.
Sun's valor, Slayer. Sun's my--
Sun's glory.
The rear! He's coming in behind us!
-
Whoa!
The Slayer.
Fall back!
Fly clear!
-Fly clear! -Fly clear!
Blaze against the Father of Fire?
You would do better to hurl rocks at the mountain.
-Davion, you have to listen to me. -There's no Davion.
I have no idea how you came to be, but I know who you possess.
Davion.
I finally understand the connection I feel with him.
It's you, isn't it? It's always been you. You don't belong here.
You need to give Davion back to us.
The mouse has fled. His song fades.
Only I remain.
No. I… I can hear him. See him.
He's lost. Frightened. Alone.
An echo of thunder, nothing more.
Davion doesn't want this. He would never want this.
What a mouse wants is nothing. What he has is nothing.
You'll give me the Eye.
I won't give you a damned thing, and I won't let you have him.
There is no distinction. There is no "you".
You are the child of the fire, a part of me, and you will obey.
I am no one's child! I am the fire!
I've always been the fire.
Make it stop! Make it stop!
Lina?
I'm guessing the Emperor said no, given you dropped him off a roof.
I… I don't remember.
I remember rage about the Eye, about…
Mirana? I know. I felt it.
I wanted to throw you in the stockade. A nice concrete pit all on your own
until we could figure out what to do with you. How to help you.
Viceroy Kashurra disagreed.
-They just let me go free. -They made you the hero.
Kashurra told everyone how the creature appeared,
and you, the brave Dragon Knight, tried to stop it.
It just wouldn't do if someone so close to the Princess
was tangled up in the murder of the Emperor.
A lie doesn't make it better.
You'd be surprised how much it does and how much it doesn't.
The Imperium is still in chaos.
The senate will appoint a regent, but that won't matter.
There is no one all the houses will rally behind.
Civil war is inevitable.
The things some used to say about me. All I know how to do is destroy, kill,
and burn things down, maybe they were right.
You didn't do this.
Stop acting like you know me, like you know what I've done.
After last night, I think I do.
I was gone forever, then you pulled me back. You saved me.
You may have saved a lot of people. I think you can save even more.
I need the Eye. The Helio Imperium needs a regent.
Davion.
I see how everyone reacts to you. They love you. You're their hero.
I have no title, a minor house, and you think they'd name me regent?
The people will rally behind you.
Gather around the fire.
Should we shout for the guards, or do you think the banging is enough?
-I must have died. I see angels.
-Bandages.
This infernal noise disrupts my solitude.
That is the finest silk in the Imperium, stolen from the palace.
Cheers.
Ahh.
I'm glad you made it, but it was all for nothing.
Your Princess is dead.
In repose, not dead but dreaming. Breathless, still as winter's morn.
The Dawn Star rises, silent, gleaming elegies of rage forborne.
It's beautiful. I have no idea what it means.
-How does it make you feel? -Sad? I think.
Then you understand perfectly.
-And if I'd said it makes me happy? -Then I would say the same.
Hey, is she supposed to be doing that?
-It's getting worse. -No, it's something else.
More light, more sun. The windows!
The Princess rises.
The aura of death is gone, as if you burned it from your own blood.
You were trapped, Princess, caught between worlds, living and dead.
I tried to capture your agony in a poem. Would you like to hear it?
It's pretty good.
She's a dragon.
There are 36 stanzas.
Uh… Thank you. Perhaps later.
I'd scarcely allowed myself a hope.
I will inform the Senate and the War Council.
Hold. Until we identify the assassin, this event does not leave this room.
-With the Emperor dead… -I… I'm sorry? With the Emperor, what?
Yeah, I, uh, I probably should have told you.
He got dropped off a roof by a half-dragon man.
Splat.
Give us the room. The Princess and I have a need to talk.
I remember a feeling, a certain warm serenity
I could have remained inside of forever.
But there was also a voice. It was gentle, but persistent.
It was my mother's voice, waking me as though I were a child.
-And what did your mother say? -A word. "Remember".
Remember your place. Remember your duty. Remember you are loved.
-Yes. -Her admonitions for you as a girl.
I miss her, and Father as well.
Were your parents here, they would have you claim your throne.
The throne.
It was all so simple when it was just to be the army.
The Oracle's prophecy is not yet fulfilled.
Selemene has fallen, but Mene has yet to rise.
The Elven Empire is still in its infancy.
As Empress, you would command far more than an army.
But my place would be here.
So you remember your place, and you remember your duty.
Yet my mother's final admonition gives me pause.
You see those banners? They honored your father.
Those others, they did not.
But the people beneath the banners, they were your father's strength.
They can be yours.
You mean to say I should make the people love me.
You should be who you are.
The Senate selects a regent today.
I prefer we name our Empress.
I remember my duty.
-Let me help. -Oh, thank you, child.
You shouldn't be out alone. Not this close to the Shadow Terrace.
The Shadow Terrace. Is that where I am?
Here. Sit with me.
It used to be I didn't need my eyes to wander these woods,
but things have changed.
-Oh, yes, they've changed so much. -I hardly recognize it here.
I hardly recognize my own home.
Not the same without our family.
Dyfed, Adara, Idwal. Oh, I'm sure you miss them horribly.
You knew them?
Everyone knew them. How they loved you. They would follow you everywhere.
Even to their death. Everyone knew it was your fault.
There's a way it could go back, you know. What would you do for that?
Anything. I would do anything.
Come to me, child. Fymryn. Closer.
It's easy. All you have to do is let me in.
You put your faith in a liar.
He used you to take his revenge.
He will always lie. Always use you.
Deny his lies.
-Deny him.
You cannot march your private legion into the city flying a house banner.
You assert an authority you lack.
Zal is gone, Shabarra is dead, but the law remains.
The Imperium needs leadership, strength. My name and my legion can provide it.
Provide it then, from the other side of the river.
These men and women are citizens on their way to a public meeting.
As is she.
-Power is not a game. -I want to go home.
You have burned seven homes in seven years.
This is your home now.
The Temple of the Sun will turn your chaos to order,
your weakness to strength. We will save you.
This is a prison.
You think I'm just a little girl who might burn down the world.
I can be a warrior, a protector.
You have nothing to teach me. I've had enough of this place.
You are a weapon. Destruction without guidance.
I fear that's all you'll ever be.
You have no idea who I am. No one does. No one ever will.
They're going to kill each other.
I'm sure they want to. I'm sure they think it's worth it.
I used to have such dreams.
I used to think how much better things would be with no Emperor,
no royal family, a Helio Republic.
I thought if only Shabarra would step down,
maybe the Senate would take control and turn this into a better place,
a fairer place. But now?
Tihomir's legion is in the streets. The Praetorian Guard is ready to fight,
but the Senate will name her Regent anyway.
They're afraid of her. They like her money too much.
Then I guess it's just a question of what you plan to do about it.
I won't watch another home burn.
The Imperium is in grave peril.
God-Emperor Shabarra was murdered by a demon that remains at large.
The Princess of the Sun is dead. There is no heir nor hope for one.
We need a regent,
a strong leader to bring a new dawn to the empire.
And who would that be?
Tihomir used her family wealth to buy a title.
Now she thinks she can use it to buy an empire.
Shabarra was weak.
He could not protect the Imperium. He could not even protect himself.
Now we are asked to follow another pretender?
I can protect us. Name me Regent.
You? With all your power, you managed to destroy half the city
and still failed to bring the Emperor's assassin to justice.
I tried to stop that thing. I failed.
The Slayer sent it back to wherever in the seven hells it came from.
She saved countless lives. I would be dead without her.
You have no voice here, Dragon Knight.
Turn your eyes.
Her Royal Highness, Mirana, Daughter of Zal, Princess of the Sun.
Gaze into her light.
Viceroy, honored council members, senators.
An assassin's arrow nearly took my life, but I am not so easily dissuaded.
As sole heir to this throne by blood,
I intend to rule as my father ruled before me.
Years ago, I was forced by treachery to flee my home.
New treachery compels my return.
The threat from the Coriel'Tauvi looms as prophesied.
The enclaves, silent for generations, mass for war.
We will join with our allies and drive them back together.
This is madness. I don't know who is worse.
Tihomir, who uses her wealth to buy power,
or Mirana, who claims it by accident of birth.
You abandoned us, renounced your claim to the throne,
and we're just supposed to accept this, and you?
I have never forgotten my home or my duty.
I risked my life time and again for the Helio Imperium.
Princess Mirana wants to send your sons and daughters
to bleed and die for the Nightsilver Woods.
And for her goddess.
If Mene returns, it means the end of everything.
How convenient for your ambitions.
Honor the Princess out of respect for her father, salute Tihomir's service,
but for the empire's sake, offer the crown to one of your own.
Enough. I call for a vote.
The Princess is not ready to rule,
but I can serve the empire best as I serve it now.
I withdraw my name and rise in support of the Slayer.
Legatus Tihomir calls the vote.
This circle we now lay upon your head
represents not the scope of your power
but the weight of your burden, our regent, our voice,
servant, and protector.
I am your voice, your servant, your protector.
Ready shields!
Ready weapons!
-Up there! -In the sky!
What in the hell--
The Solar Throne commends your bravery.
My generals report you single-handedly drove off the arachnid army.
The Seventh Legion was fortunate you intervened.
Yes, Majesty.
But why did they need me when they have you?
I beg your pardon?
You're God-Emperor. Why did they need me when they have you?
They do have me. Everyone has me. Now, how shall I reward you?
Your own legion, a seat in the senate, or perhaps a name?
Your legion gave me a name.
Slayer!
Slayer! Slayer!
Slayer! Slayer! Slayer!
We should discuss the composition of the Imperial War Council
at your convenience, of course.
Yes. Yes, of course. Excuse me.
I used to sit in my father's lap in this chair.
It was a horrible breach of protocol.
I didn't understand. I'm not sure he cared.
I'm sure he didn't. Your father was a decent man.
Too decent for this place.
I'm sure of that as well. I'm more sure of that than anything.
I can't stay here.
There are things I have left undone for too long.
-Then perhaps this was for the best. -If it helps you to think so.
None of this was personal.
Everything is personal. That's what makes us human.
You're not what I imagined you to be, or who.
I thought you were like him, like Shabarra.
I thought the two of you would make things so much worse.
Well, things are worse, so I suppose we did.
Just not as your imagination suggested we might.
-I was mistaken. -Not irreparably.
So, you know, if the Coriel'Tauvi dare attack us,
I will travel to the Nightsilver Woods myself.
I will make deserts of their enclaves and I will call it peace.
Your Highness.
Princess.
Gods, it's good to see you, to know you're safe.
Asar, give us a moment.
If I'd known you were, you know,
that you'd gotten better, I would have come.
You couldn't know.
-You should have told me. -We told no one.
Look, none of this is what I wanted.
What was it you wanted, precisely?
Slyrak sent me.
I had no idea you'd be here. I… I didn't even hope.
Slyrak sent you to kill the Emperor and lie to the Senate.
He sent you to turn this place upside down.
He sent me to find the one thing that might stop Terrorblade.
Lina can help me get it. The rest happened.
-So, you're with her? -For now. Until this is over.
-Until you have what you want. -You know what I want.
The last time I saw you in the enclave, fighting for our lives,
I remember what you risked for my sake.
I prayed to the Goddess you were still in there.
I prayed my Davion would not be lost to the monster he carried inside of him.
Now here you are, a familiar face, but I wonder if I know the man.
I am the man you remember.
The man I remember promised me he would see it through.
He promised we would find a way together.
-Asar. -Mirana.
I'm glad you're safe.
I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour, Princess.
You have a visitor.
I have news you'll want to hear and news you won't.
We tracked down your assassin.
And what is it I don't want to hear?
She's still alive, and we know who hired her.
They just put a crown on her head.