"Otkazat'sya"
The episode starts with a view of soldiers from the First Army walking along a desert-like plain with Mal at the back as it comes to narrating a letter he writes to Alina. But though we know she has been writing letters to him, we find that he has not heard a word from her after his own letters - the first signs of Kirigan's manipulations to separate her from her old life. It's here that the mission to find Morozova's Stag is first revealed with the promise of going straight to Os Alta with confirmed news of it - which Mal jumps at the chance at. Going back to Alina, she asks Genya if there are any letters for her confirming that they are being intercepted. She is presented with a new kefta before going riding with Kirigan that is black rather than the blue one she was wearing - black having only ever been worn by the Darkling. Not being entirely at ease with her position just yet, she sticks to the blue kefta. I was surprised they had Kirigan tell Alina to call him Alexander so soon, readers will know his name isn't revealed until the third book but I can see how this would be used by Kirigan to get closer to Alina.
On this ride, we see that this is about a more personal look into these characters, a chance for them to share how they're feeling or have felt before, an insight into their minds. With the fountain they stand by, we get the extended version of what Ravkan's are taught about the creation of the Fold and the Black Heretic, less abbreviated than the version Inej gave in the second episode. Either I'm forgetting or this is the first time in the show that Kirigan has said the Black Heretic was his ancestor - the power of the Shadow Summoner only passing through a single bloodline - and that he has been looking for a solution to his ancestor's wrongdoing. Alina no longer sees the story of the Black Heretic as just a part of Ravka's history and her purpose to destroy the Fold, she sees it as a reminder that if she fails her training and cannot destroy it she will be the new Heretic. By the end of this conversation, it seems that Kirigan has succeeded in making himself Alina's confidant in ways that Genya may not be.
A lesson with Baghra is something I was eagerly looking forward to seeing. She's cold and harsh but in many ways a harsh, effective teacher. Nadia and Marie share some of their own horror stories about their teaching with Baghra and hear about Mal for the first time. Though Mal is now on his journey to look for the Stag, with friends who's loyalty puts me in mind of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbits in the Fellowship. As this happens, Baghra sends Alina back to the day that she and Mal were supposed to be tested by the Grisha Examiners, to the truth of what really happened that day and how she managed to unknowingly hide her Grisha power for so long, how she managed to hide from her true self because she did not want to be separated from her only friend. What follows is a quieter moment in the middle of the night between her and Kirigan. Though this opportunity probably wasn't staged by him, it's a great opportunity for him to expose his vulnerability to gain her trust - it helps Alina in a way as well because she feels alone in a way that he has shown he is, possibly making her feel less so.
This loneliness that Alina feels with the Darkling, once again not getting a letter from Mal, is what ignites the acceptance of her power she needs to be able to summon the light without a whack or harsh word from Baghra. Baghra sent a horde of bees after Marie so she could summon at will, Kirigan isolated Alina from her past so she could do the same. Though it hasn't been confirmed by any character on screen, the letters that Mal narrates in this episode show more and more that it is likely they are being intercepted and are being isolated from one another. It would be reasonable for Alina's letters to go missing as Mal is constantly on the move but Mal's letters are all going to the Little Palace so there must be something going on behind the scenes.
In the north, the Fjerdan army attack the team tracking the Stag leaving Mal semi-conscious on the ground as his friends are killed. Another flashback is shown of how far Mal and Alina would go to stick together, the early days of their training in the First Army show that he'd get into a fight to be locked in the brig with her if it meant being together and defending each other. They end up with matching scars on their hands from when she tricked the Grisha Examiners. These scenes are those that I think made their relationship on screen a whole lot better, more believable and emotionally healthier than they were on the pages of the books. But though it's a fond memory, Alina has believed wholeheartedly that Mal has forgotten and abandoned her that she has Genya tailor the scar off her palm. It's a harsh moment for Mal as he is still fighting to be reunited with her and his opportunity comes when Morozova's Stag finally shows itself to him while he narrates his letter repeating the truth north sentiment Alina had in the previous episode.
Nina is still very much connected to the rest of the Grisha when it is shown that Kirigan has acknowledged her absence and there being no word from her since she was sent out on her mission - the one we know got her captured by the druskelle. Now trapped aboard a ship locked up with other Grisha while water pours through every crack and crevice from a storm. Nina and Matthias' back and forth as enemies flows so well here and I think that owes to her confidence and headstrong personality. Matthias is shown to be quite righteous and favours the right and honourable way to do things when he is told that the Grisha aboard the ship should be killed if the ship were to break - he believes that they should still have the chance to stand trial no matter what happens to the ship, an inkling of what may make him seem that the druskelle were not what he believed them to me.
Back with the Crows, we see they survived after crossing the Fold with a little comical extra snippet of screaming, crying, a call to the Saints and Milo bleating. I think at nearly halfway through you can guarantee that Jesper will be the comic relief of the show without sacrificing his own personal story. And then comes the best thing on the Crows side of the episode - a pre-heist before the big one! The heist goes off almost without a hitch, smooth with a couple of problems they stumble across but nothing this group can't get past. As this season serves as a prequel to the events of Six of Crows, the heist gives us a great idea of what one of their biggest heists will look like.
Just before their hopes of getting inside the Little Palace are dashed, an opportunity presents itself as a result of the Conductor's craftiness - a troupe needing an acrobat as their own had a "tragic" accident. And so Inej's past as a Suli acrobat performer is put on show which means she has a way inside the Little Palace. Jesper sweet talks his way into the show as well as a sharpshooter, a further hint as to what may be revealed about him sometime in the future. And, obviously, Kaz doesn't play along as a performer.
I'd rate this episode a good 9/10. The bounces between each group of characters was really well done and there weren't any repeated uses of scenes that had already taken place in previous episodes. It aided in developing the past and bond between Mal and Alina and how that could effect either of them if they thought one had given up on the other. And, of course, there was a mini Crow heist to build on Kaz, Inej and Jesper's character history and setting up their future.
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