The Sword and the Spirit is the 14th episode of Teen Wolf Season 5.
It aired on Tuesday January 26, 2016 at 9pm on MTV.
Synopsis[]
As Scott tries to put his pack back together, Malia and a new ally set out to rescue Deaton from The Desert Wolf.
Full Recap[]
Gerard and Chris Argent search a network of tunnels while discussing the Beast of Gevaudan. Gerard finds black soot on the tunnel wall and says it’s like a fingerprint. He explains that there were a lot of descriptions of the beast. Witnesses described everything from a red-furred giant wolf to a cloven-hoofed panther the size of a horse. Gerard’s grandfather told him the body was oil-black, solid but shapeless at the same time. It was like a shadow pretending to be real. Hearing this, Chris holsters his pistol and takes out a much larger weapon.
Gerard says, as far as legend goes, the only weapon proved effective against the beast was a simple spear wielded by a young woman. Chris realizes this is The Maid of Gevaudan.
The men split up. Chris hears a scurrying, scuttling sound rustling somewhere in the tunnel. Gerard meets the Dread Doctors in a different tunnel. He whips out one of the Hunters ultrasonic emitters and embeds it into the wall. The doctors seem unable to advance. Gerard says he knows their frequency. He wonders aloud what their reason for being in the tunnels might be. He walks away leaving the Dread Doctors motionless.
Chris follows the scurrying sound to its source, a grate in the floor of the tunnel. He drops a flare into the grate and the thousands of insects, the source of the noise, scatter from the flame revealing a pile of dead bodies.
Deputy Jordan Parrish watches as 23 bodies are wheeled into Beacon Hills Hospital morgue. The Sheriff, walking with a cane, tries to reassure Parrish that his dream is not coming true and tells him to get back to the station and go through recent missing persons reports.
Scott, Stiles and Kira exit the elevator. The Sheriff explains that Chris Argent found the bodies and says the Dread Doctors were there too. He also apparently thinks the boys might now what is doing the killing. The Medical Examiner has reported that the people were killed somewhere else and dumped in the tunnels. Scott speculates that the Doctors are hiding the bodies. Stiles says they may be protecting the Beast like parents would a child. Scott explains that it’s a werewolf. Kira adds that it is called the Beast.
The Sheriff says they need to figure out what they’re going to call Parrish because it appears his dream is coming true.
In her dream, Meredith Walker is trying to teach Lydia to use her voice as a weapon. Meredith says she should user her hands to direct her scream. Lydia complains that none of what’s happening to her is real. Meredith screams and shoves Lydia to the back of a cell. The door, bullet-resistant polycarbonate, slides shut locking her inside. Meredith says Lydia will need to make her voice like a bullet to break it.
Theo says he’ll help Malia Tate find Dr. Deaton. He says there is something in the Doctors’ lair that can help but he needs to inject her with Wolfsbane to weaken her so that she can’t figure out the location of the lair. He says the Doctors used it on Theo when they took him there. (See Ouroboros) She allows herself to be injected.
The voice on the PA at Beacon Hills High School announces a curfew is in effect starting at sundown by order of the Sheriff. After school activities have been canceled and students are told to go home at the end of the school day. Several sheriff’s deputies roam the hallway with shotguns. Stiles mentions to Deputy Strauss (Aaron Thornton) that it seems a bit much in terms of firepower for a high school. Strauss says the Sheriff issued the weapons but wouldn’t say why. When asked about his theory about it he asks Scott and Stiles if they believe in the supernatural.
Kira’s father takes her sword away. She protests that she is useless without the sword. He quotes Napoleon, “There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.” She says she thought she was supposed to conquer the fox spirit. Her father explains that he means her own spirit will prevail and says she is still stronger than the fox. She protests that she is useless to her friends without a weapon. He says the sword is a gateway to the fox and the fox is too dangerous. He says her mind is a weapon and that she should trust herself. He says she can outfox the fox. He then releases a clasp on the sword’s hilt and it breaks into its component parts which fall to his desk.
- EDITOR’S NOTE: The blackboard in Ken Yukimura’s History classroom has details about the Ojibwe or Chippawa group of Native Americans.
Malia awakes in the Dread Doctors’ Lair. She is strapped to an examination table. Theo says the restraints are to keep her from hurting herself or him. He says they’ll need to attach a pair of spiked goggles to her face. He explains that all supernatural creatures vibrate at certain frequencies. The Doctors gave each of their chimera a different frequency and, with the goggles, they could find them easily. Theo says Malia will need to concentrate on the Desert Wolf in order to make them work.
Theo places the goggles over her eyes and flips a switch. The spikes shoot out and embed themselves in the soft tissue just below Malia’s eyes. She screams. Blood streams down her face. Theo urges her to focus and to open her eyes. Once she does, she can see Deaton and the Desert Wolf at a military base called Fort Jewett. She is duct taping him to a chair and he’s trying to explain that whatever she is planning has to be on the full moon.
Theo removes the goggles and Malia explains what she saw. She says her mother is in Beacon Hills.
Malia enters the boy’s locker room at school. She tells Liam to tell Scott that he was right about the tunnels. She explains that, by scent, she’s figured out that the Dread Doctors operating theater is down in the tunnels.
Braeden isn’t thrilled about the idea of going into Fort Jewett without better recognizance. She is even less thrilled about Theo being part of the plan. Malia says he has to come. Braeden points out that he tried to kill Scott. Theo points out that, technically, he did kill Scott. Braeden thinks they should kill him. Theo claims that he did what he had to do to survive. He claims the Dread Doctors wanted everybody dead but he convinced them that they should just kill Scott.
Braeden says they should tell Scott. Malia says Scott might try to stop her from killing her mother. Theo says he’s planning to helping. Braeden says the Desert Wolf carries pretty heavy firepower. She explains that, at some point, the werecoyote lost part of her powers so she is not as fast or as strong as she used to be so she started using guns and became a perfect shot.
Liam Dunbar wanders around the tunnels lost. He gets a text from Hayden asking if he is free tonight. He runs into Scott who admits he’s been following Liam and has been watching him as he made the wrong turn in the tunnel five different times. Liam explains that Malia says the tunnel smelled like the Dread Doctor lair.
Fort Jewett looks abandoned. This makes Braeden nervous she says she’s not going in with so much uncertainty. Malia isn’t backing down. After some more hemming and hawing, they decide to proceed.
In her dream, Lydia is exhausted. She begs Meredith to just tell her how she learned to use her voice as a weapon. Meredith says her way gets people hurt and Lydia must find her own way. She relates the story of her first experience using her voice as a weapon. She was in chemistry class and the voices in her head were screaming so loudly that she couldn’t stand it. She says everyone everywhere was screaming, dying.
She slammed her hands down on her desk and screamed. Her voice caused all the windows to explode and injured her classmates. It was explained as a chemical explosion but everyone knew it was Meredith. She knows her voice is like a bomb and says Lydia needs to find a better way. She needs to make her voice like a bullet.
Lydia hears a slide-action shotgun. She turns and the back of her cell disappears. She sees a cave and Malia cowering in fear. Meredith says it is a Banshee premonition. Lydia realizes Malia is going to die.
Stiles visits Lydia, still in a catatonic state in the real world, and explains that he checked on her classes and picked up assignments for her. He says they’re going over the Riemann hypothesis, non-trivial zeros and Zeta functions. He says it all went over his head. He urges her to wake up and explain it to him. He holds her hand and begs her to come back. He says they won’t make it without her.
Natalie Martin shows up and says Stiles has to leave. He notices that someone has shaved a patch on Lydia’s head. He thinks it might be for trepanation. Natalie claims it is for Electroconvulsive Therapy or ECT. She says it requires that they shave small portions of the scalp. She claims it’s done under general anesthesia and that it is perfectly safe. Stiles claims the head shaving isn’t for ECT.
- EDITOR’S NOTE: ECT is an acknowledged treatment for “life-threatening catatonia” for patients who do not respond to other treatments. However, the shaved spot on Lydia’s head does not correspond with the most common electrode placement used for ECT.
Natalie tells Stiles to go or he won’t be allowed back. Nurse Cross (Mandy Levin) says it’s time for Lydia’s shower.
Exiting the Eichen House ward, Stiles bumps into an orderly and steals the man’s access card which is necessary to open the various locked gates in the hospital.
Scott and Liam feel a vibration in the tunnel. Liam says it’s coming from everywhere. He has a heart to heart with Scott about trying to kill him. He says just saying “sorry” won’t do. Scott says he hasn’t even done that. Liam explains that when he was at Devenford Prep he got into a fight and knocked out another boy’s teeth. He was forced to write a letter to apologize but he knew, and the other boy knew, that they didn’t really mean it. He says he feels like he needs to save Scott’s life to make up for what he did to him. Scott says he’ll probably get the chance.
Liam is frustrated that they’ve been wandering in the tunnels with nothing to show for it. All he’s managed to find is a snake sculpture on the wall. Scott turns the snake and the vibrations wind down. A door appears in the wall of the tunnel. They enter to find Chris Argent pointing a gun at them.
Scott smells Gerard and is in disbelief. Chris says they’ll need him. Gerard comes around the corner and Scott flashes his red eyes at him. Gerard says the color suits Scott. Liam asks about “the old guy” and Gerard introduces himself saying he’s the “necessary evil.” Gerard says if they want to catch a werewolf like the Beast of Gevaudan they’ll need more than one Argent. Chris explains that his father knows all the folklore and all the stories, those written and passed down, about the Beast.
Chris shows Scott and Liam the fresco of the Beast fighting the Hellhound. Gerard says a Hellhound is a guardian of supernatural places. He says they’re both creatures of the night but human during the day and they both probably have no idea what they are.
Scott explains about the Damnatio Memoriae message the Dread Doctors have been leaving around. Gerard says they want it to remember itself. Chris says it might give them time to prevent what’s coming.
They break away more of the tile to reveal the bottom of the fresco. It shows a pile of bodies. Scott says he thinks those bodies are all of them, all of them.
Inside Fort Jewett, Malia, Braeden and Theo creep around. Malia senses something is wrong. They find Deaton duct taped to the chair and Theo attacks Braeden, knocking her unconscious. He takes her shotgun and shoots Malia in the guts. Theo says Malia picked up a chemosignal from him and that it was probably regret. He kicks the gun to the Desert Wolf and she tosses him a jar with some glowing blue Garuda claws inside. (See Creatures of the Night)
Deputy Parrish explains about his role in Afghanistan with the military. He was part of an EOD team (Explosive Ordinance Disposal). They show him a picture of the hellhound. Chris presses him to remember his experiences in Afghanistan. He’s shown in his uniform attempting to disarm an IED as his fellow soldiers run away. He cuts a wire and the device explodes. He walks away mostly unharmed with most of his uniform burned off.
Gerard reminds him that he came to Beacon Hills because he felt drawn to the town, that he hid the bodies of the Chimera and have a resistance to fire. Gerard lights a blowtorch and says they’re wondering just how flame retardant he is. Chris grabs Parrish and Gerard puts the blue flame close to his face. Parrish’s eye flashes orange, he roars and shows a set of double fangs. He catches sight of himself in the mirror and draws back. He reverts to his regular form and shouts at Gerard. He asks if they were prepared to burn his eye out if they’d been wrong. Gerard says yes.
- EDITOR’S NOTE: At this point the show has “caught up” to the first scene of the first episode of Season 5 (Creatures of the Night).
Lydia stands under a steaming shower there is an angry red scar or bruise on her side just below her ribs. Nurse Cross stands nearby with a towel waiting. She is impatient and says she believes Lydia is faking catatonia and is just waiting for the staff to drop their guard.
In her dream, Lydia is still in the cell. She is pacing, worried about Malia. Meredith urges her not to get lost. She says Lydia can help them but she has to get out of Eichen first. She can see Malia with her gunshot wound and hear the Desert Wolf explain that her real name isn’t Malia.
The Desert Wolf grabs Malia’s throat. She says that Talia Hale took her away before she had a chance to name her. She punches Malia in the face and throws the gun away. She says Malia, by being born, took away much of her speed, healing ability and power. She puts her foot on Malia’s wound and grinds her boot heel into it. Malia screams.
She wants her power back and plans to kill Malia to get it. Deaton says she can’t kill Malia now. He says if she wants her power it has to be on the full moon. Deaton calls her Corinne and says if she kills Malia now she’ll get nothing.
Still dreaming, Lydia feels all of this. Meredith yells at her that she can help, telling her to break the glass. In the real world, Orderly Schrader (Clayton Fronning) seems to draw some sort of pleasure from injecting Lydia. He moves to inject her in the neck.
Dream Meredith screams for her to break the glass. She takes a deep breath and pushes forward with her hands.
Schrader is startled as Lydia snaps upright and screams causing the lights to explode in the room.
The Desert Wolf is going for the death blow but Lydia’s scream seems to reach Fort Jewett too. The light over Deaton’s head explodes in shower of sparks and the Desert Wolf jumps back. With her mother distracted, Malia kicks her viciously. She makes it to her feet and the two Werecoyote face off with eyes flashing and fangs bared.
They trade kicks and blows.
Lydia is quickly up and out of her cell. Two orderlies have her cornered in the hallway. She takes on one directly using the martial arts skills she learned from Parrish to incapacitate.
Still fighting her mother, Malia yells that she killed her family because the Desert Wolf shot up their car. Corinne points out that they were Malia’s adopted family. They punch some more.
The other orderly is now upon Lydia and she pushes him back with both hands and screams. Waves of power seem to emanate from her hands and, propelled by the scream, send the orderly flying down the hall. Several of the overhead light fixtures explode.
The Desert Wolf seems to have the upper hand in the fight. She taunts Malia saying that she didn’t care about her adopted family, she was just trying to kill Malia.
The fight at Fort Jewett is interrupted as the Beast of Gevaudan begins punching through the wall behind Deaton.
In the pouring rain, Eichen House security guards begin shocking Lydia with tazer-prods. She is distraught. She says she has to get to her friends to warn them that they’re all going to die.
The Beast continues clawing his way through the concrete block wall. Malia has a choice, continue her fight with her mother or save Deaton. She chooses to save Deaton. As the Beast picks up his chair, Malia quickly cuts the duct tape securing him and he is free. Braeden regains consciousness and they escape as the Beast roars.
Theo returns to the Dread Doctors operating theater to find his pack, Tracy, Josh, and Corey (with his head down) wounded. He is a bit disgusted that they got that hurt trying to take down one blind werewolf. Deucalion is hooked up to a wolfsbane drip to keep him under control. He explains that he was recently re-blinded.
He explains that healing of his eyes by a Dark Druid was only temporary. A parting gift from his time with Scott McCall. Deucalion has been informed of the part he is to play in Theo’s plan. He is to help him steal the power of the Beast of Gevaudan. Theo says he believes Deucalion is “open to negotiation.” Deucalion says he wants only one thing, Scott’s eyes on the tips of his claws.
Scott and Liam arrive at Beacon Hills Animal Clinic and find Braeden, Malia and Deaton. He hugs the vet.
Later, at the McCall House, Kira, Scott, Stiles, Malia and Liam have collected, blueprints and pictures of Eichen House. They also have a security log book and the key card Stiles stole earlier. Scott says it’s time to go get Lydia.
Soundtrack[]
- SYML - “Where’s My Love”
- Scene: Stiles pays a visit to Lydia at Eichen House.
- The Oh Hellos - “Dear Wormwood”
- Scene: Scott gets his Teen Wolf Pack together.
Episodes List[]
| ← Season 5 Season 5 Season 6 → | |||
| #01 Creatures of the Night | #06 Required Reading | #11 The Last Chimera | #16 Lie Ability |
| #02 Parasomnia | #07 Strange Frequencies | #12 Damnatio Memoriae | #17 A Credible Threat |
| #03 Dreamcatchers | #08 Ouroboros | #13 Codominance | #18 Maid of Gevaudan |
| #04 Condition Terminal | #09 Lies of Omission | #14 The Sword and the Spirit | #19 The Beast of Beacon Hills |
| #05 A Novel Approach | #10 Status Asthmaticus | #15 Amplification | #20 Apotheosis |
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