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Death Watch

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Death Watch is the third episode of the Peacock American fantasy horror television series based on the novel series of the same name by Richelle Mead. It aired on September 15, 2022, alongside the other three episodes "Pilot", "Earth. Air. Water. Fire. and "Benchmark".

Premise[]

The Dominion suffers a great loss; Rose meets her match; Christian receives shocking news.

Plot summary[]

At St. Jude's, a massacre at the hands of the Strigoi takes place, and it is utterly devastating. The students fight bravely, and Rose's mom fights bravely, but many students' lives are lost that day.

On the giant TV screen, one of the Council members is heard saying how "this is a terrible tragedy," but to not fool themselves into thinking this was something out of the ordinary because if it happened at St. Jude, it can happen at any of the other 12 provinces, Which in turn means that none of them are safe.

At the Royal Census Bureau, The Queen is being informed about how, as it stands, the situation is dire. Dhampir numbers were already down. With the massacre at St. Jude's, if they don't take action now, their futures are in peril. As it is, there aren't enough trained Guardians to replace the ones they've lost. Thus, she is advised to emphasize to the community the necessity of the special relationship between Moroi and Dhampirs.

Later, the students of St. Vladimir are told that "the massacre at St. Jude's was unthinkable. All were taken too young. All will be mourned. "As is custom, tomorrow we will celebrate the traditional Death Watch for the fallen. We also mourn the loss of the Dhampir Guardians slain while doing their duty protecting our Moroi brothers and sisters".

After everyone leaves, Christian remains, and Lissa checks in on him. He confides in her that St. Jude's just so happens to be his old school. Lissa asked him if he knew anyone. But Christian replies that he didn't know anyone that well. Well, except for Xavier, his old roommate, who wasn't much of a nice guy.

At the Dhampir training grounds, the novices are told that "the only way to deal with the massacre at St. Jude's is to learn from it and prevent it from ever happening at St. Vladimir". Janine Hathaway then states that the Strigoi attack on St. Jude's was unique since the pattern of the bodies indicates that they were herding the victims and killing them in groups. However, the Strigoi are loners. They occasionally hunt in twos or threes, but they turn on each other as easily as they do on their victims. Then, Meredith theorizes that it looks like the Strigoi's attack was coordinated. Which means that historically, it goes against what they have learned about the Strigoi. Janine congratulates Meredith on looking at the facts without bias and goes on to explain how, in the past, the Strigoi's inability to cooperate had protected them. But it seems like the Strigoi that were present at St. Jude's, at least, seem to be working together.

The next day, Queen Marina gives a televised speech in which she implores the citizens of the Dominion to look to the future to safeguard their Dominion. She reiterates that with the Strigoi threat ever present, their need for Dhampir Guardians has never been greater. Thus, she states that it is time to set aside dalliances with Blood whοres and focus on preserving their society. The Queen then goes on to say that Dhampir women from the communes will be provided for those Moroi in need to complete the holy sacrament of rebirth. She then implores her subjects not to stray from their sacred duty to surrender to sin.

Meanwhile, Dimitri runs into Eloise, an old friend, who tearfully tells him that she has been chosen. Dimitri can't help but embrace her; unbeknownst to him, from outside the Royal Library, Rose is watching this scene unfold.

Elsewhere, Victor tells Sonya and Mikhail that they're overreacting. However, both of them remain firm in their belief that it's time to strengthen the wards. Victor reminds them that they still have two decades left on the enchantment cycle. But Sonya states that if they wait, they run the risk of the Strigoi finding a way to break through as the enchantment gets older and weaker. She theorizes that perhaps that is what happened at St. Jude's. Victor asks Mikhail if that was the case, but he informs him that "They're looking into Dhampir error, which is code for they don't know". Mikhail says that they want to take their evidence to the queen and the council tonight. But Mia, who has been listening the whole time, asks the two who will listen to them. Since they are going to need something more credible than the word of a Dhampir and the Bird Lady.

At the council meeting, Lissa feels like a fish out of water. One of its members mentions how the Guardians aren't the only protection they have. However, Victor states that they are too dangerous, and the first and only time they used them, it went badly. The same council member, however, is undeterred and mentions how these creatures were still experimental back then. Victor mentions how they haven't been tested since. But the female council member goes on to say that while the monk prepares, they need to protect themselves. Victor eventually explains to a lost Lissa that what they are talking about are the Psi Hounds, guard dogs created to only obey Moroi commands. They patrol the wards for signs of Strigoi, except they don't know when to quit.

After the meeting, Mia explains to Lissa that the only time they were let out was awful, since they tore through an entire farming village outside the gates before they were wrangled back into their cages.

Unfortunately, Lissa unintentionally hurts Mia's feelings when she asks her what mask she will be wearing to the Death Watch. This leads to Mia saying how it "must be nice, living by your own rules, oblivious to the real world". Before letting her know that the Death Watch is for Royals only. Once she leaves, Tatiana tells Lissa not to let Mia get to her. After all, girls like her only exist to make other people feel bad about themselves. Lissa continues by saying that she really had no idea that the Non-Royals were excluded. Especially given the fact that non-Royals died at St. Jude's too.

Eventually, Tatiana tells Lissa that her mother sent her to court a few months ago to study religious studies with her aunt, High Priestess Irene. But she was also a friend of Andre's. She explains that he knew the council needed to modernize, or the young Moroi would never engage.

Initially, only Royal Moroi were invited to the Death Watch, but thanks to Lissa, everyone got invited. Or so it seems, since in the end, this is just a ploy by the Queen to look good after Lissa goes above her.

At the Moroi library, Christian summons Rose, and upon arriving, he asks her if she has ever heard of an ancient magic used for mind control. He continues by saying how "the apocryphal text outlines fantastical powers, most prominently compulsion, the power to control the minds of Moroi and Dhampir alike with a golden-threaded tongue". He mentions to her how it is his belief that Lissa can do this. Rose is unsure, but he remains firm, saying that nothing else explains what he saw because one second she tells Mia to do something, and Mia just does it, like a puppet. However, in the story, they then burn the guy at the stake for using this ability. While one lady was tied to a millstone, they threw her into a pond. Unfortunately, no one says where this power comes from, and as far as he can tell, there's only one book that does. Which can only be found in the High Priestess' archives.

Sometime after, Alberta Casey informs Janine how she just got new information about St. Jude's. It turns out that the wards weren't breached. They were disarmed. Janine then wonders if it was an inside job. Later, the two women bring Christian in to question him about a possible connection to the attack. They then show him some security camera footage outside his old dormitory there. The aforementioned video shows that not only are his parents still alive, but they were also behind the attack, possibly looking for him. While everyone else is busy with the Death Watch, Christian and Rose meet up. After some pestering from Rose, he eventually confides in her that the worst part for him in regards to his parents is that everyone thought they were awful to grow up with, but they weren't. Christians admit that they loved him, and he loved them in return. One day, they were a family, sitting in their cabin at Mont Blanc, hanging out, skiing. Then next, they chose to become Strigoi over him. After that, he just assumed that they were dead, but now he doesn't know how to feel because they're not dead. They led the massacre at St. Jude's. He continues by telling Rose how her mom thinks they're looking for him. She brings up how that could put Lissa in real danger if she's with him. But Christian doesn't need a reminder of the gravity of this problem. He does, however, ask if, for now, she will not tell this to Lissa. Rose agrees, under the condition that Christian won't put her best friend in danger.

Meanwhile, at the Dhampir bar, Sonya goes outside, and Mia asks her, "Since when did the Bird Lady hit up parties?" To which Sonya replies that it has been this way since the right person asked her. Mia continues to be nice by telling Sonya that she looks gorgeous. Sonya compliments her on her lipstick, calling it a pretty color. Mia admits that Sonya originally picked it. She liked it on her, so she copied it. Mia then continues by saying that she used to do that a lot when she was little. She then shoos Sonya away, advising her to have fun.

Shortly before he heads to the Death Watch, Christian notices a nicely wrapped gift laying on his bed. He puts his mask down and proceeds to open it, and much to his horror, it is the lower jaw of his old roommate who dies in the Strigoi attack on St. Judes. There is also a note that came with the gory gift, but all it says is XAVIER, and nothing else.

Later, Christian shows up and surprises Lissa by dancing with her. She admits that she didn't think he'd come since there would be so many people around. But he explains that he just had to tell her what he and Rose found while researching a way to get her out of Rose's head. It turns out that the stuff they found was from 600 years ago. It talked about a fifth element. Thus, Christian deduces that Lissa actually already specialized but simply didn't know it. While it's true that there are four known elements, he thinks Lissa is someone who specializes in something called Spirit. Lissa tells him that she has never heard of that, and what Christian is saying sounds a lot like blasphemy. Thus, he advises her not to tell anybody and calls her a unicorn that needs to be protected. He then tells her that the two of them can't be together and departs. Later, Lissa and Victor meet with the Queen and learn that Lissa is no longer her successor to the throne thanks to an old rule that Tatiana pointed out. Since Tatiana wants to be the next Queen, she found a loophole to get Lissa removed from her position as princess and thus placed next in the line of succession.

After the whirlwind of the day's events, Victor arrives home but collapses and remains unconscious while Sonya yells for her father to wake up.

Cast and Characters[]

Starring[]

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Shown[]

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Mentioned[]

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Trivia[]

  • This episode, along 3 other episodes were released on September 15, 2022 as a breeder set.

External Links[]

Gallery[]

References[]

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