After several tough months at War College, the Unit take leave for the Fall Break and return home in Motherland: Fort Salem season 2, episode 6. Raelle and Tally visit the Cession while Abigail and Adil arrive at Abigail’s family home to a flurry of activity she isn’t expecting. Let’s jump right in.
A hooded figure looms in a darkened room with a familiar face, Jonas of the Spree. He and several witches give metal offerings to a melting pot as the hooded figure speaks magic over it. She thanks Jonas and they all chant, “We are the Spree.”
Tally and Raelle arrive in the Cession, and Raelle asks Tally not to mention the Witchbomb, the Spree, or Scylla to her father. Meanwhile, Abigail and Adil arrive at her home in Annapolis, Maryland. Abigail warns Adil that the house will be empty except for her grandmother, Minerva, who cannot know what they are planning. Abigail’s worries that the tradition of witch burial, they are planted straight into the ground and a tree is planted over them, will hinder their ability to retrieve some of Charvel’s blood. However, Adil tells her it won’t be an issue. With that, they head in but are shocked to find many male witches and a flurry of activity.
Tally and Raelle are waiting for Raelle’s father, Edwin, when Tally spots a gratified poster of Alder. Raelle explains people are very opinionated in the Cession, but Tally understands. Elderbrook made her see that Alder forced Nicte to use her work to cause the mass suicide and make it look like martyrdom. Tally worries that Alder could order Raelle to do something similarly bad, but Raelle assures her she’ll always have a choice just as her father approaches. They head inside the restaurant as a van pulls up, and people inside watch them.
Inside now, Abigail is greeted by not one, but three men who call her daughter. Claude tells her, at Petra’s request, they have invited all of Abigail’s top suitors to give Abigail the opportunity to make her choice. She’s less than happy about it. Gregorio appears, and Abigail and Claude step away for a private word. Gregorio explains that Abigail has three fathers to Adil, “the average amount for a High Atlantic kid.” He’s a little confused.
At lunch, Tally tells a story about her time at the matrifocal community which prompts a story about Raelle’s birth at Fort Senox. He was given special permission (as a civilian) to visit and Willa, still bloody, stepped into the hall to defend Raelle and Edwin from judgmental witches who claimed Raelle would be weak. Tally loves the story, but Raelle isn’t happy to be discussing Willa.
Scylla enters a house, Tiffany’s grandparents’, to find the couple have been killed by the Camarilla. The grandmother’s throat is cut open and her vocal cords are missing. Tiffany is asleep in the car while Anacostia and Scylla argue over what to do. Anacostia won’t let her go to the Spree, and Scylla doesn’t want her sent to the army. They argue to no avail, but Scylla calmly says Tiffany shouldn’t hear this. Anacostia leans in to check on her, and Scylla places a hand on her neck, knocking Anacostia out cold. She wakes Tiffany and takes her.
Edwin heads off to work, and Tally tells Raelle she should ask him about Willa. She’s still upset about Samhain, but she doesn’t want to upset her dad too. As they talk, Tally spots a familiar looking van with people watching them. They sneak around the hedge and use Work to remove the rearview mirror. It seems Alder has put a tail on Raelle. Three witches have been assigned to “keep her out of trouble” while she’s on break, much to Raelle’s displeasure.
Two of Abigail’s dads find her in her room, where she tells them she wants to focus on being a soldier. They remind her that having a daughter is part of that duty, but she feels this is no time to bring a child into the world. They ask her to keep an open mind at the dinner with the suitors and head down.
Anacostia and Petra report the loss of Tiffany to Alder, who is displeased that she’s now with the Spree. Alder instructs Petra to bring any additional children the Camarilla have taken home safely and pulls Anacostia out of the field altogether. Petra agrees to continue monitoring Intelligence’s efforts from Maryland and departs. Now alone, Alder tells Anacostia it’s a dire moment in the war and she needs her back by her side. Anacostia only nods.
Raelle and Tally visit a healer, Quinn, who was Willa’s best friend and often babysat Raelle. They find her healing a man with cataracts, taking on the illness and restoring his sight. He pays her and leaves just as Raelle and Tally arrive. Quinn welcomes them, and they guide her inside while she waits for her sight to return. Inside, Quinn serves up a brew (that’s delicious according to Tally) and tells them about a siege during her and Willa’s time in the Army. Quinn tells Raelle that Willa loved her beyond all doubt, and Tally tells Quinn about the failed summoning. Quinn says that the requested dead must answer when summoned on Fort Salem grounds. Raelle assumes it must be more of a suggestion, because Willa didn’t show.
The suitor dinner commences at the Bellweather estate, and Gregorio talks with Charvel’s betrothed, who seems to think it wouldn’t be weird if he hand-fasted with Abigail. Gregorio assures him it would be. The suitor sitting next to Abigail assures her he would stay with their child full-time until her second spouse joined them. Meanwhile, Claude asks Adil what he would contribute to the Bellweather line. He’s a little taken aback by their asking about his physical and magical attributes. He reminds them again that he’s not there for that and points out that they talk about like breeding stallions. Claude clarifies, “Mares”. Fermin assures him they will also take note of his temperament, intellect, and family. Adil asks about how it works with them all siring Abigail, and Anton says, “We each contributed the best of us to make Abigail,” at the same time. Claude asks again, but Adil answers that he wasn’t planning on an official union with Abigail, so he’s unsure what his attributes to a child would be. That’s when Petra arrives and thanks everyone for attending. Just as she sits, Minerva arrives. Everyone stands immediately and waits for her to take a seat.
Willa brings Tiffany a stuffed toy and gently asks about where she was held. She prompts her regarding other children and uses her Work to read her memories. From them she discerns that the Camarilla are keeping the other children in cages in a vet’s office, like dogs. She relays this to Scylla, who is equally upset by the information.
Raelle gives a toast to Willa in Mothertongue and asks Quinn if she was there when Willa died. She wasn’t. The front was chaos, and they were dealing with Weaponized Pushing in bottles. Tally jumps on this detail and asks when they first appeared. Quinn tells her around 1994 in Sudan, then in Minsk it was tweaked. Tally tries to ask more questions, but Quinn sends them off to bed. Outside, Tally begins to put everything together. The bottles moved across the world in two years, Nicte invented them, and they were unlike anything seen before. The first Spree attack was in 1997, and Tally realizes that Nicte must have founded the Spree.
Back in the secluded cabin, Jonas is strapped down to a chair as two witches sing. Nicte tells him not to be afraid.
Tally had no luck reaching Abigail on the phone. She and Raelle discuss Alder removing Nicte from the history books, and Tally laments that it’s just another war Alder has created. Raelle reminds Tally they will survive whatever happens, but Tally wants to be able to change things.
The suitors clear the dining table as Wyatt asks Adil how things are done with the Tarim. They seem to dismiss Adil, but Gregorio defends him by saying he has incredible earth Working. In the other room, Petra, Minerva, and Abigail discuss the suitors. Abigail doesn’t want to make a choice, and Petra and her argue about the Army’s war against the Camarilla. Minerva breaks up the fight. She’s been reflecting on her life and tells Abigail, “That fire in your eye. Follow it to the ends of the earth, Abigail. Don’t let us stop you. Don’t let anyone stop you. Make your mark, not your mother’s, not mine, not Jem’s.” With that, Abigail leaves.
Dressed in civilian clothes, Abigail and Adil find Charvel’s grave in the family grove. Using his earth Work, Adil calls up Charvel’s arm through the dirt. He uses a knife to cut one of the growing roots and extracts blood into a vial. Adil returns her arm to the ground, and they are set to start their hunt.
Tally grabs a guitar and asks Raelle for a song. Raelle sings a little of “Book of Love” as Edwin listens from the door. When she finishes, Tally dismisses herself to go for a walk. Edwin asks what’s bothering Raelle, and she tells him that the letter from Willa said that Willa loved her more than anything. She shares that she and Willa fought on the last day Willa was with them, and while Edwin was gone Raelle confronted her about sneaking out the house. Willa denied it, and Raelle told her if she was keeping secrets then she didn’t really love her. It’s haunted her that those where the last words she spoke to Willa. Edwin reminds her their bond was unshakeable, and Raelle breaks down.
Nicte watches in what looks like a fetch as Alder inspects Izadora’s discoveries from the India attack. The plague has been adapted to lie in wait and self sustain until witch blood is near, then it attacks. It can self replicate too, and Anacostia questions how the destroy it. Izadora says as of now, the only way to destroy it is by fire. As Alder examines the plague in the tank, Nicte thanks Jonas for his devotion and picks up the melted metal. She pours the molten liquid into his mouth. As it scorches his throat and vocal cords, Alder begins to scream in agony. She and the Biddies drop to the ground all suffering the Work enacted by Nicte.
The Exarch arrives at a vet’s office where the Camarilla guards are immediately suspicious. They turn on their devices, which causes the Exarch’s face to dissolve into Scylla. On the nearest roof, Willa uses a wind strike to explode the lights and take out the guards and their devices. Willa and Scylla stack the bodies inside and search for the girls. Just when it looks hopeless, Willa finds a hidden door, but they are too late. The cages in the backroom are already empty. The girls have been moved.
Alder wakes in agonizing pain. She can’t speak as she and the Biddies are being treated by the staff. This is Off-Canon work they’ve never seen before. They believe this is a Spree attack, the Camarilla can’t make their own works. Alder uses a nearby Biddy to ask Anacostia to stay with her.
Scylla inspects a wall covered in papers and uncovers a photo of Raelle labelled “highest priority,” and it’s clear she’s their next target. Meanwhile at Raelle’s, she takes a tray of drinks and snacks outside to the witches guarding her. A light flickers off, and they hear a noise. Before any of them can react, the witches are hit with darts in the neck, and they drop to the ground. Raelle is hit with one just as Tally runs from the house screaming her name. The Camarilla load an unconscious Raelle into the van and make their escape as Tally can only watch before succumbing to the sedative.
Motherland: Fort Salem airs Tuesdays on Freeform.
