Episode: 8
Rowan notices their bond mark to Lyra fading, but Kaleb dismisses it. When the mark suddenly flares red with mortal danger, both princes fly to the Blight Marsh. There, a root colossus traps Lyra and Blair in thorny vines. Captors demand they pick one to survive. Lyra offers to freeze the swamp if freed first, but the brothers call her selfish. They cut Blair free and abandon Lyra beneath the water.
Rowan spots the mate mark fading on his skin. Kaleb tells him to let it die. Suddenly, the mark turns red to signal Lyra is dying. Both brothers unfold their wings and take flight from the castle hall.
The princes land inside the dark marsh. A massive root colossus holds Lyra and Blair in thick, barbed vines. Winged marsh captors circle above and tell Rowan and Kaleb they are only allowed to save one of them.
The brothers attack the winged monsters with magic blasts while the vines squeeze tighter. Lyra pleads with them to free her first so she can freeze the swamp, but Kaleb and Rowan yell at her and pick Blair instead.
Rowan and Kaleb cut through the vines surrounding Blair and lift her away into the sky. Nobody helps Lyra. The thorny vines choke her throat and drag her body down beneath the surface of the dark marsh water.
“The bond is dying. Once that light goes out, our connection to Lyra is gone forever.”
“Free Lyra, and the vines snap Blair's neck. So choose—which one lives?”
“Save me first, and I can save Blair! You have to trust me!”
“Shut up, Lyra! How can you be so selfish? We know you'd say anything to save yourself!”
Rowan and Kaleb fly off into the sky carrying Blair to safety. Back in the swamp, Lyra is left entirely alone as the barbed vines constrict around her throat and drag her deep under the murky water. Will Lyra perish in the depths of the marsh, or can she find a way to survive this abandonment?