Jake continues via the machine, maybe work is the best solution, take it out on the bad guys. He gently points out Conchobar is the one who died, not Sara, and as he hangs up, Sara asks dully, "Are you sure?" She undresses and lies down on the bed, hiding under the covers.
Irons asks what Ian recommends, and Nottingham says he would like to watch over her; he expects 'The Great Test' is at hand. Irons raises a threatening hand, and Ian bends in submission, but instead, Irons sends him off to watch Sara, warning Ian he is a good and faithful servant, not his own master.
Sara dreams of the sheets twining as she and Conchobar make love, and starts awake to find herself bathed in an eerie green light, bound by her right hand and right foot to the bed by the Witchblade: it is not solid, but appears liquid, alive.
Jake answers phones frantically, losing calls, unable to talk fast enough, as more files are dumped on his desk. Dante comes in and mildly teases Jake about the change in his life from surfing to filing. Offhandedly he inquires about Sara and Jake re-assures him she is better and will be returning to work soon, maybe today. Dante asks what the problem is, and Jake hedges, food poisoning. Dante is unsympathetic, pressuring Jake to admit Sara was there when Conchobar was killed.
Sara tries to fight the Witchblade, it's growing, wrapping around her torso. Gabriel calls, but the phone is just out of Sara's reach: Gabriel speaks to the machine, he knows she is depressed, thought he'd do a little digging about the bracelet, he found something and if she wants to know, call him back. Sara screams her frustration as he hangs up, unaware of her situation.
Dante pushes Jake; where does his loyalty lie? He insists Conchobar's kidnappers were not thugs, they were Belfast Police, but Jake replies they were still thugs. Dante accuses Jake of having a crush on Sara, he's sure she was there, she was researching Edward Dougherty the day Conchobar died. Jake says Sara has an alibi, she was getting a deposition from Kenneth Irons; Dante lights up, Jake is going out for a drink with him after his shift - and he's not taking no for an answer.
Sara tries to reach a knife she'd been using to peel an apple, but it falls to the floor, and Danny is there. She comments drily on his formal Mandarin kimono, and he responds in kind about the Witchblade robing her. She asks why is it growing, and he asks why does she suppose? She thinks it may be a punishment for giving it to Fay, and Danny is evasive, it's a possibility, maybe she shouldn't have taken it back. Sara is confused, she didn't take it back, it was just there; she is unaware Nottingham returned it to her. The ticking of the clock is loud as Sara tells Danny of her fear.
Nottingham leads Jake to Irons' office, and Irons is animated, he is watching seven major storm systems around the globe on the display, a record. Jake tries to introduce himself, but Irons continues his scrutiny of the weather; he queries what could possibly cause such a thing? Jake starts to interrupt again, and Irons says he knows who Jake is: he's already corroborated the story told to Dante because he has the utmost respect for Sara. He'll call in the favor one day, though, he warns Jake with a false smile, and he backs Jake out of the office, closing the door in his face.
Danny tries to calm Sara, telling her to breathe, listen to her heartbeat, slow down, and he holds Sara's hand, kissing it softly. Sara is quieted - and then shocked to realize she can feel Danny, something she hasn't been able to do since he died. He tells her they can touch because she is also dying.
As the storms rage over the earth, Irons doubles over painfully in his office, his scar pulsing red: the Periculum has begun. Ian says Sara is the true wielder after all; he asks if they want Sara to succeed? Irons says she'll die if she fails, he can't wait another 30 years for a new wielder. Nottingham salutes her pending success, and Irons points out she has been intractable, headstrong, stubborn, if she comes to full power, she'll be harder to manipulate. Ian observes Irons controlled Elizabeth Bronte, and Irons responds he *killed* Elizabeth Bronte, a distinct difference. Nottingham asks why is he not enjoying the moment? Irons sends Nottingham to watch over Sara, he doesn't need Ian, and she does. He caustically adds it's what Nottingham really wants, anyway. Nottingham leaves a contorted Irons in his office.
Sara is spread-eagled on the bed, fully wrapped by the Witchblade, and then is whipped into a fetal posture, while Irons is strung into the same position.
A banner waves and ancient armies are on the march, and Sara - in a simple white dress and gauze scarf - lies on a battlefield, awakened by the touch of a sword by Jeanne d'Arc, who counsels Sara not to fear. Jeanne is intense, stoic, formal, and oddly delicate. Sara is confused, Jeanne is who she is, but she has Sara's face; Jeanne finishes for her, she also has Sara's heart and soul. Sara asks where is she? Jeanne explains she is in the Periculum, this is a test to see if she is worthy to wear the Witchblade - it's a trial by fire, she will live or die based on this test. She explains the wielder arises in times of great evil, born to balance the evil. The blade, she explains is not good as Sara would interpret it, it is governed by a different pair of opposites, not good and evil: and refuses to answer any questions about the opposites: this is Sara's test, she has been initiated by the blade, and now she must answer correctly, or die.
Jeanne recounts her history, her nation was conquered, other wielders chose enslavement or genocide, she asks why has Sara chosen to wear the blade? Sara says she had did not choose, so Jeanne approaches it differently, what is her 'battlefield,' why does Sara enforce the law? Jeanne tells her the crimes Sara lists are the symptoms, what is the cause and effect? Jeanne interprets Sara's reply the world has gone insane: the Latin origin for insane is 'unclean.' Sara argues, the Witchblade abandoned Jeanne, she was burned at the stake, how can she be sure it won't abandon her, how does she know it hasn't already abandoned her? For answer, Jeanne swings her sword, and Sara counters with the gauntlet. Jeanne encourages Sara: she has not been abandoned.
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