- While Brea races to solve a puzzle in a hidden room beneath the throne, the Chamberlain hatches a plan to catch Rian and win back the Emperor's trust.
- The Stonewood Gelfling have Hup locked away in a prison. He sings to himself in his own language. The guards tell him to shut up, which only prompts Hup to start singing louder. Deet comes to rescue him, scaring away the guards by imitating an animal call. At Ha'rar, Brea goes into the secret chamber and discovers a riddle: "Thra's true balance will be found when natural order is sound". Inside the chamber are the symbols of all the Gelfling clans. She figures that it's a puzzle and that the key she holds is meant to be inserted into the symbols, from highest order to the lowest. At the castle of the Crystal, Emperor skekSo has locked skekTek away in his laboratory until his machine is fixed. Over a feast, skekSil and skekVar argue over tactics. skekSil argues that his plan is working and he needs more time, but the Emperor, wanting results chooses skekVar as his counsel. Aughra searches for answers and for the Song of Thra. She sees an arrow near her, and learns that urVa, the Archer, is nearby. skekSo barges in on skekTek, who announces that repairs on his machine have been completed, with upgrades: a chair with shackles facing the Crystal. The Scientist suggests draining Gurjin, but the Emperor tells him not to, in case the Drenchen provides useful information on Rian's whereabouts. The Emperor tells the Scientist that he will bring Gelfling to strap to the chair and demands to know how many are needed for the essence. skekTek warns against overuse of the machine: the more essence they consume, the weaker the Crystal grows and the faster the Darkening spreads. skekSo denies the existence of the Darkening and starts strangling skekTek's pet. The Scientist hurriedly throws out a number: Fifty every trine. skekSo agrees and storms out. Bitter about being rejected from his position, skekSil uses the horn to summon skekMal, the Hunter, to catch Rian. Aughra reaches the Sanctuary Tree and there, she meets urVa. She asks him why Thra has stopped singing, and tells him she needs to hear the Song of Thra to guide destiny. urVa hints that Aughra needs to get answers from Thra itself by shooting an arrow into the air and having it land on the ground. skekSil covertly meets with skekMal and convinces him to hunt Rian, presenting a piece of his clothing as evidence. The General interrogates Gurjin, first by electrocuting him with a cattle prod, then strapping him to the new chair without skekTek's consent. skekTek, remembering the Emperor's advice, feebly objects as skekVar uses the Crystal on Gurjin. As Gurjin prepares to meet his demise, the Emperor interrupts the session, stopping him short of killing Gurjin and asking him to depart for Ha'rar in the morning. In the Chamber, Brea questions why the Grottans are the lowest clan, and realizes that there is no natural order; the Gelfling are all one. The stones in the center of the room all form into a single, Golem-like creature, a gentle creature, who plays a voice recording on his arm, which introduces the creature as Lore. The voice recording says that Lore will guide Brea to the answers she seeks, and that he has become her guardian and will guide her to the Circle of the Suns. Seladon, accompanied by two gards enters the chamber demanding to know what's going on. At a Podling village, Rian runs into Naia, Gurjin's sister, Kylan, a Gelfling of the Spriton clan, and Tavra. Naia and Tavra have both been sent to arrest Rian for killing Mira and getting Gurjin captured. He convinces them to dreamfast with him and they learn the truth. Unbeknownst to Rian, Ordon has arrived and dreamfasted with them, finally seeing what Rian has seen. He apologizes to Rian for doubting him. The Gelflings agree to try to rally the All-Maudra to their cause. Naia and Tavra resolve to go to the castle to rescue Gurjin, and the Gelflings go their separate ways. Out in the forest, Ordon and Rian are intercepted by skekMal the Hunter. While fleeing from him, they run past Deet and Hup, who rush to Rian's aid. Ordon sacrifices himself by dragging skekMal down with him into a pit of Gobbles, but skekMal survives and captures Rian.
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