The Unit, accompanied by an unlikely ally, go on a mission in the latest episode of Motherland: Fort Salem. Let’s jump in.
Tally reports to Alder in her protection circle where she receives new orders. Tally, because of her Sight, will accompany a mission to find and kill Nicte Batan, the leader of the Spree. It’s clear that the mission will fail without Tally’s help, so she demands that Abigail and Raelle go with her. Alder doesn’t want Raelle put in harm’s way again, but Tally won’t relent ,and ultimately Alder agrees that they will pick them up on the way. With that, Tally departs to the Unit’s room where she finds Petra waiting for her. Instead of reiterating what Alder said, Petra informs Tally that she’s changing the mission. She wants Tally to capture Nicte, giving her witch cuffs once the mission is complete. Petra knows Tally is frustrated with Alder and the truth behind the Martyrdom; she’s offering her a chance to uncover the whole truth.
Following the events at the Camarilla headquarters, Scylla takes Raelle, Abigail, and Adil to Willa’s safe house where Raelle can rest. Abigail and Scylla butt heads as Scylla attempts to care for Raelle; however Raelle is up and walking. She tells Abigail to let them talk, so Abigail heads to her and Adil’s room where she decides to join him in the shower after looking at his necklace (a vial of Khalida’s blood) and her own Army medallion. Raelle lays into Scylla about Willa’s actions and her selfishness for not reaching out to her or her father. She’s furious that Willa would leave them to join the Spree, and now she’s lost her all over again. Scylla and Raelle talk until early morning, with Raelle filling her in on the Witchbomb and Scylla explaining her and Willa’s recent mission. As they visit, a helicopter can be heard overhead — their ride to the mission has arrived.
The Unit share a reunion hug as Tally walks in, though she is wary of Scylla when she arrives. Abigail and Tally dress in their combat uniforms and review the mission with Tally when Scylla says she’s going with them. Abigail doesn’t want her help (in fact, she’d rather Scylla be shipped off to prison immediately), but Tally agrees Scylla could be useful in facing Nicte’s off canon work and trusts her now that she saved Raelle’s life. Adil has been tasked with accompanying the recovered children to get them settled. With that, The Unit, Scylla, and the strike team head out.
At the drop point, the team heads out together as bats swoop overhead, much to Tally’s distaste. It’s then when Raelle notices a chair, her father’s chair, set in the middle of the woods. She walks away from the team and is sucked into a vision. Willa and Edwin invite her to set the table for a family meal. Things are only pleasant for a moment before Willa begins to say horrible things to both Raelle and Edwin. She attacks Edwin, knocking him out, and turns on Raelle. Willa forces her back with a knife to her throat, and through the nearby radio, Raelle hears a voice yelling that this is Nicte’s work and to fight. She manages to pull herself from the vision just as she’s about to slit her own throat. Scylla is there to shake Raelle awake; she’s seen this work before. They race away to find Abigail and Tally in the hopes of saving them from the same Work.
Tally is sucked into the Work, finding herself alone with Alder in her office. Alder tells her that their connection is unique, special, and should have never been severed. The moment borders on intimate as Alder is inches from Tally’s face as she delicately tells her Tally will become a Biddy once again. The Biddies suddenly appear and attack Tally, strapping her to the chair for the ceremony to begin. Alder tightens the strap around her neck as she tells Tally she knows this is what she really wants. Alder begins to strangle Tally, but Raelle and Scylla can be heard shouting for Tally to use her Sight and break free of the Work. She breaks free moments before her own scourge chokes her to death.
The trio head off to find Abigail, but it’s not hard to find her as three tornadoes are visible circling one another. Inside her mind, Abigail is building a huge Weatherwork storm in demonstration for Petra and several higher-ups. The storm approaches as Raelle and Tally shout for her to wake up while Scylla uses her own work to create a shield. In the vision, the Work gets away from Abigail as three tornadoes barrel toward her. Behind her, everyone is dead from flying debris, and she sinks to her knees in defeat. Finally, Raelle screams at her to focus, and she breaks free of the vision moments before the tornadoes reach them.
Together they search for the strike team but find them too late. They’ve all been killed by Nicte’s off canon work. They are now on their own, and they set out to locate Nicte. Scylla says that such strong work means she has to be close by. As bats swoop overhead again, Raelle accuses Scylla of knowing everything they’ll face because she’s Spree. Before the argument can continue, they spot a cabin and charge forward together. Inside, they discover the two Spree members that Nicte used as sacrifices to try and kill Alder. Tally pieces it together and realizes they are seeing the cabin Nicte used for her work. There are bats here too, and the Unit begin to fight. Abigail shouts that there is nothing special about Raelle — it took the Witchbomb to make her stand out. Raelle shoots back that Abigail’s only claim to anything is her name. Scylla too begins to weigh in as it comes to blows, and the three begin throwing punches and all out fighting. Tally is fully over it and doesn’t care, leaving the cabin behind.
She walks through the woods and realizes she can see Nicte’s work in the patterns of the bats flying. She’s using the sound of the bats to affect them. Of course, this is when Nicte steps forward and agrees. Using so much power makes her too weak to attack Tally, but she opts to let the Unit go and kill Tally. In the cabin, Scylla realizes the work caused their fights, and they head out to find Tally as they hear her scream. Meanwhile, Tally and Nicte battle it out as Nicte throws Tally to the ground and Tally grabs a rock. Abigail, Raelle, and Scylla arrive just in time to find Tally standing over an unconscious Nicte holding a bloody rock. Tally steps forward and places the witch cuffs (one that covers her mouth like a gag, and hand cuffs) on Nicte.
As they march her back to the drop point, Raelle and Scylla steal a moment to speak. Scylla says she won’t go with them, she can’t or she’ll be arrested again. Instead she plans to continue what she and Willa started: to find Tiffany a nice dodger family where she can grow up safe. Raelle is happy she’s going to continue that work while also trying to hunt the Camarilla. Nicte is loaded into the helicopter, and Tally and Abigail (grudgingly) thank Scylla for her help on the mission. They’d have been dead without her. Tally and Abigail board, leaving Raelle with Scylla. Raelle tells her to take Tiffany with her to visit Raelle’s father. She likes the idea of him having company, and Raelle will know where to find Scylla. Raelle walks away as the helicopter starts but runs back to kiss Scylla.
On the helicopter, Nicte continues to try and scream at Abigail and Raelle along with several death glares. Abigail and Raelle apologize for what was said in the cabin. Raelle reminds her that sisterhood comes first, and they will always have each other’s backs. Tally is oddly silent but agrees that they will always have each other.
After a long ride, the Unit arrive back on base with the captive Nicte to a full audience of upper-ranking members. Alder is furious that Nicte is alive and quietly asks Petra what this is. Petra reminds Alder she has an audience, and Alder angrily responds that this is her army.
Alder gives a speech about the success of capturing the Spree’s leader. Everyone stops in acknowledgement … everyone except Tally who is staring down Alder. She breaks out her scourge and moves to attack Alder, but Abigail is quicker. Abigail uses her own scourge to put Tally on the ground. They pin her down, and Anacostia uses a lighter to burn away her face revealing Nicte. Nicte stole Tally’s face and pretended to be her in hopes of killing Alder. They quickly unchain Tally who everyone thought was Nicte until that moment. Nicte gives a cold greeting, “Hello, Sarah. You’re looking surprisingly well.”
Episode 9 of Motherland: Fort Salem will air Tuesday, August 17. Check out the images for the episode here while you wait for the penultimate episode!
