Jenny visits Diana and Molly answers the door. The girl says that Diana told her not to talk to Molly or her friends, just as Diana comes over. Jenny was supposed to meet Ichabod there, but Diana tells her that he never came there. Diana insists that she's going to protect her daughter, and tells Jenny and Ichabod--when Jenny finds him--to not come there again.
Malcolm is exercising in his basement vault, and tells Jobe that Dr. Lonigen said that Malcolm's current life expectancy is 85 years. Malcolm hopes to live much longer for the world's benefit, and Jobe sarcastically asks if it has anything to do with what will happen to Malcolm's soul after his death. The CEO asks where they are with the next talisman, and Jobe tells him that they're still tracking. Meanwhile, he's located a map of the ley lines and it's arriving at a museum that night.
Jenny breaks into Ichabod's apartment and finds black goo on the floor. She follows the trail to the closet and finds it full of a weblike substance. She takes a sample to the vault, and Alex confirms that it's spider silk. Jenny tells them that Ichabod isn't returning his calls, and insists that they shouldn't call Diana. She wonders if they brought something out of J Street, and Alex demonstrates that the goo reacts poorly to bright light. Jake checks Benjamin's journals and finds a reference to a photophobic substance that colonists in Maryland found. A farmer went missing and was cocooned in the substance. The map shows the location as "The Cave of Despair" near Aberdeen, and Jenny prepares to head out to it even though it's now a military proving ground. Jake offers to go with her, but Jenny says that it's out of their league. Once she leaves, Jake tells Alex that they can handle the supernatural since dealing with the Horseman. He points out that the creature in the cave, the Slayer of Despair, feeds on its victims misery until they kill themselves.
In the cave, Ichabod lies suspended in the webbing. In his mind, Ichabod wakes up and finds himself handcuffed in a colonial courtroom. The British judge informs Ichabod that he is charged with murder, and Ichabod demands to confront his accuser. Henry enters the courtroom and greets his father. Ichabod realizes that the courtroom isn't real, but Henry assures him that it's as real as the guilt in Ichabod's heart. He points out that Ichabod abandoned him and left him to be prosecuted as a child, and killed him as a man. Ichabod figures that he's waiting limbo for eternal judgment, and Henry makes his accusation: that Ichabod killed Abbie.
Jenny breaks into the military base and two soldiers confront her, guns ready. She claims that she got separated from her boyfriend and they take her bag. When the wire cutters she used fall out, the soldiers realize that she's dangerous and handcuff her. Jake and Alex are watching from outside the fence, and Jake says that he knows a way to free her.
Henry tells the jury that they're there for justice, and Ichabod killed her with her senseless actions. Ichabod insists that Abbie sacrificed herself to stop the Apocalypse and there was no other way, and Henry says that "there's no other way" is the excuse that Ichabod uses for all of his friends' deaths.
As she sits in an interrogation room, Jenny works at her handcuffs. Diana comes in and says that she's saving Jenny' ass. Homeland Security has had Jenny released, and anything Jenny does no reflects on her. She explains that Jake and Alex called her, and Jenny says that she would have soon escaped. As they leave, Diana says that she has the GPS for the Cave. She points out how she and Ichabod got along fine before Jenny came along, and knows all about Jenny's history from her file. Jenny explains that she and Abbie ran into something supernatural when they were Molly's age, and it messed them up for a long time. She tells Diana that Diana can try to deny what's happening, but warns that eventually it will catch up to her and Molly.
The women find a trail of someone dragged and follow it, and come to the cave. They go inside and find the cocooned Ichabod. As Jenny tries to cut through it, the spider demon drops down behind them. Diana shoots it in the arm.
In the courtroom, Ichabod clutches at his arm.
The demon leaps away and Jenny sees the blood on Ichabod's arm. She tells Diana to stop because the agent is hurting Ichabod. Jenny figures that Ichabod and the demon are psychically linked, and the demon screeches as it moves back. The two women have no choice but to leave.
Henry's face flickers and Ichabod realizes that his accuser is a demon and it's an illusion. He figures that the demon needs him to succumb willingly, and Ichabod asks the jury if they will let him defend himself. Henry agrees, saying that Ichabod will only make things worse for himself.
When Jenny and Diana return to the vault, Jake finds a reference to a freed slave that encountered the demon at Valley Forge. Jenny realizes that Grace Dixon wrote the coded entry and gives them the cipher. While they work, Jenny tells Diana that it's no coincidence that when Ichabod woke up, he met Grace's descendant Abbie. She warns the agent that they're part of each other's lives and they can help Diana and Molly understand what is happening to them. Jake and Alex decipher the code and read the entry.
George calls Grace to the camp to investigate the disquiet consuming the men. The British had unleashed a demon that fed on the soldiers' despair by capturing a single soldier and imprison his soul. The demon created the illusion of a spiritual trial and fed on its captive's despair, expanding its power to feed on others and drive them to suicide.
The group realizes that Ichabod is going through the same thing, and if Ichabod dies then all of the soldiers at the military base will be driven to suicide.
Ichabod admits that everyone around him dies, but insists that he is a soldier engaged in a vital war. Abbie was a fellow soldier and his partner, and he would die a thousand times to give her one more hour of life. However, Abbie made a choice to sacrifice herself. Henry asks if he was a soldier as well and summons the box he was trapped in for 200 years, and says that he was there because Ichabod failed to protect himself. He asks if anything would have changed if Ichabod had known, and Ichabod admits that he failed the first duty of a parent to protect his child. However, Ichabod cherishes the opportunity to speak once more with his son and never gave up hope for him.
Diana calls Molly and says that she has work and won't be home. She says that she loves Molly and hangs up, and tells Jenny that her daughter has a mind of her own. Jenny says that her mother did everything to protect her daughters, but she couldn't do it alone. Jake interrupts to show them an entry about how Grace defeated the demon with the "Fire of Joy." She invented a flammable compound that would burn through the demon's webbing. Alex has all of the ingredients except for HMX, a high-grade military explosive. It's illegal but Jenny says that she can get it from one of her contacts. The projection device that Grace used is stored at the Smithsonian, and Jake says that they can sneak in and get it.
Jake and Alex take the tunnels to the Smithsonian, and Alex figures that Jake is enjoying himself. He says that five weeks ago he was considering leaving the vault because all he was doing was sitting around reading about amazing things. Now that Ichabod has come along, everything is real for Jake. Alex asks if some things should be left in the books, but Jake says that now he's ready for anything. They enter the Smithsonian through a vent and find the devices: a 12th century Chinese welding torch. A guard opens the door and they quickly hide. Jobe appears and casually suspends the guard in mid-air, choking him. He then opens the drawers with a gesture and finds the map he's looking for. Once he has it, Jobe disintegrates the guard with a gesture and looks back briefly, hearing something. However, he then leaves.
Jenny and Diana go to a bar to meet Jenny's contact, Bunker. Bunker is less than happy to see Jenny and draws a gun on her. Diana sees his Marine tattoo and tells Bunker to stand down, and says where she served. She then asks Bunker to cut Jenny some slack, and Bunker agrees. He sells them the HMX and Diana bumps fists with him before the two women leaves.
As they drive back to the base, Jake tells Jenny what they saw at the Smithsonian. He's determined that Jobe is the head of Malcolm's security detail, and Jenny says that they'll deal with it later.
Henry asks about Diana, pointing out that Ichabod has moved on with a new partner. Ichabod has no defense, and Henry asks why he didn't grieve for Abbie. He says that soon one of Ichabod's new partners will be killed, and there's a child involved. Henry asks how Ichabod will explain Molly's death to Diana, and shows Ichabod a vision of his allies dead in the cave. The jury disappears, and Henry tells Ichabod that he's guilty and always will be. A noose dangles down from the ceiling, and Henry says that Ichabod knows what he has to do before disappearing.
The team enter the Cave and find Ichabod. Alex and Jake start cutting Ichabod free, and the demon attacks and slams Diana back before ducking back into the shadows. Jenny and Diana go after it while the archivists free Ichabod. The two women split up and the demon attacks Diana. Jenny tries to get a clear shot, and Diana shoves it away long enough for Jenny to shoot it. They go back to Ichabod, who is free but still unconscious. Jenny figures that Ichabod is still trapped in the illusion.
Ichabod approaches the noose.
Diana realizes that Ichabod needs an anchor to find his way back. She calls Molly and asks her to tell her mother what she can about Ichabod. Molly says that he's a good man but feels alone, and he's let down all of his friends. Despite that, he gives everyone hope.
As Ichabod puts the noose around his neck, he hears Molly's words about his hope.
Diana tells Molly to say what she would say to Ichabod. Molly says that she would tell Ichabod to never give up hope.
Ichabod realizes that Molly is speaking and is enveloped in light. He wakes up and says that he heard Abbie's words, and that he and Diana have much to discuss.
When Jake and Alex return to the vault, Jake is thrilled with what they did and Alex admits that she's impressed. The goo in the jar in inert, and Jake figures that it died with the demon. Alex says that she'll dump it the next day and they leave. On the counter, the goo in the jar changes, forming Henry's face.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 28, 2017