Sara goes to Talismaniac; she finds Gabe standing on his head. He tells her she has a nice bracelet, surprising her. She asks if she knows him, and he tells her only if she believes in reincarnation. At her stare, Gabe relents, he saw her picture in the paper. Sara asks where his boss is, and Gabe smiles. He is the boss. Sara apologizes and introduces herself. Gabe asks if she’s buying or selling. Sara is surprised, and he explains many homicide cops buy talismans; she says she’s there on business, and asks if he knows Irons. Gabe says Irons is a client of a friend who buys religious relics for him, and Sara stares, where was Gabe the day before? Gabe is surprised, now, he replies he was in New Jersey, he went to buy one of Bruce Springsteen’s busted guitar strings. He shows her bus receipts, picking them up from atop a mirror [where the same dagger Irons used to stab Sara rests!]. They are for Route 111, left at 1:00pm, and returned after midnight.
Sara asks what this friend bought for Irons and he tells her it was something that belonged to a WWII spy, Elizabeth Bronte. He asks if Sara heard of her, and Sara says the name sounds familiar. She asks if Irons bought a spear, and Gabe says she must mean the Longinus Lance – he shows her pictures on the internet, Sara learns it is the Spear of Destiny, the lance said to have been used to kill Jesus Christ; but Gabe explains, no it’s the spear that *preserved* Christ’s status as the Messiah. As Gabe speaks, Irons is in his study, caressing his new toy. Hebrew legend was the Messiah would not have bones broken, but crucified criminals had their legs broken to help them suffocate and die faster: it was considered merciful. Longinus, a Roman soldier, stabbed Christ to prove he was dead ...Irons grasps the point of the spear..., and the end result was his bones were not broken. Longinus was also going blind, and when he stabbed Christ, blood spilled in his eyes, and restored his sight. The myth goes on, Gabe explains, men who carried the Lance were given great power and success on the battlefield, they became kings, he gives examples of Constantine and Charlemagne – who claimed his only defeat was in dropping the lance on the battlefield. The legend is dropping the lance is a guarantee of defeat. Gabe says, the last person to have it was Hitler, and Sara is surprised, the lance works for anyone? Gabe tells her the lance knows only power ...Irons picks up the spear off its sconces reverently..., it only works for those pre-ordained to carry it. A month before Irons had called for the spear, but Gabe told him he couldn’t get it, and then it was stolen from the Hapsburgs Museum in Vienna. Gabriel thinks Irons wouldn’t take no for an answer, and now has the spear ...Irons stares rapturously at the blade.... He also thinks Irons will come looking for Sara, because she wields the Witchblade. Sara wants to know how Gabe knows what it is, and he says it’s his job – and he asks her if it changes forms. Sara tries to deny it, but at his request Sara lets him look at it. Gabe explains the amulet is an icon of tremendous power, it can only be wielded by a woman – a chosen woman – and what that means is, there are people who will try to take it from her or control her. Sara appears frightened, and Gabe brushes it off, it’s just lore, right? Then he challenges Sara to tell him if she thinks it’s just lore, then draws her attention back to the picture of Longinus spearing the Messiah on the cross, “Until it’s not, right?” Gabe tells Sara there have been too many convergences, too many coincidences to ignore it as just lore – he thinks Irons is on a mission to confront the Witchblade ...Irons rubs his cheek against the spear... and on a mission to take her life. Sara begins to hear voices calling her, and whips around with her gun drawn in the shop, trying to find the source until Gabe calms her down. He warns her to be careful.
In a church, Lazar stands in the shadows in priest’s raiment, and Sara wanders through the sacristy, staring at the art on the walls. She wanders among the vigil lights and sees Joan of Arc, wearing the Witchblade in bracelet form on her wrist. Ian, ever near, says Joan heard voices, too. She had visions, he says, she claimed they were the source of her power, but history credits them with her demise. Sara says she looks sad, and Ian says it was a terrible fate to save a country, to be a hero and a saint, and be condemned by the clergy at 19. Ian says it was her destiny that mattered, but he doubts anyone ever understood her. She was abandoned, and Sara says she knows how she feels. Sara hesitates, she asks Ian to help her, no one else understands. Ian says he is there to kill herbut he can’t. He asks if she’s heard the adage take the cause that of a man there is no cause for a man, Sara says she doesn’t need the blade to bring criminals to justice, and Ian says that’s not true, her cause is to use the blade for good, her cause it to carry on feminine power, her destiny is to confront the Lance, but she cannot win – even with the blade, the Lance is too powerful, and Irons is out of control. Sara says Irons is going down, and Ian says he has already won in his mind. She says he killed two men and she thinks he’s behind Danny’s abduction – wasn’t he? Ian drops his gaze, and then kneels before her, “I will leave you to your decision.” He starts to leave, and then blows a kiss to an appalled Sara.
Sara stares at Joan of Arc, takes off the blade, and stares at it; with tears in her eyes, she tosses it up in the air – but it captures her wrist again, winking at her. Once more. Sara accepts it, staring at Joan one last time, resolute.
Sara enters Irons’ study, but instead of the boardroom table, numerous pillars of carved stone surround the room, six-foot two-faced busts topped with a candle block, drippings spilling over the sides. She stops before a two-faced bust of a woman whose features resemble hers, and the granite eyes appear to subtly move in the shadows of the flickering candlelight. Irons calls to Sara from behind, he carries the Lance, and he tells Sara she is not well, she’s lost her mind. With each word, his accent becomes thicker, more German. He says she is afraid, Sara denies it, Irons says she should fear the instrument which took a god’s life. Sara says again she does not fear him or the lance. He nods assent, saying, “As you wish,” and the gauntlet quickly forms on Sara’s hand, the blade sharp as Irons spins the Lance in a double helix before striking – Sara deflects the blow, and lights flare brilliantly around them.
They both adopt defensive postures, and as the lights flicker, they are in full dress armor, then back again: with each clash of Lance to the blade, their garb changes back and forth, and Irons’ face contorts with rage. He succeeds in a glancing blow to Sara’s head, but she is armored and only momentarily stunned. Irons continues to spin the spear about like a halberd as Sara jabs and thrusts, only able to meet the Lance, but not gain control – with its length, Irons has the reach of her. With a blinding flash of light, Irons knocks Sara down, and raises the spear to stab her on the floor, but he misses, catching a bench behind her, and Sara regains her balance momentarily. Irons manages to strike while she is not armored, and this time Sara falls: he grabs her by the hair, and throws her across the room. Crossing the floor, he jabs at her, lifting her by one arm with the end of the spear, raising her to face him again. He has the upper hand, now, and he mixes punches in with blows by the spear, and she responds in kind, sometimes with gloved fists, sometimes with bare hands. Bending her back, Irons kisses Sara with a tender statement on his face – while she looks ready to vomit. Releasing her, he begins his assault anew, but Sara succeeds in cutting him, and he leans on the spear. Sara watches him warily, unable to kill him, and Irons’ wrath is inflamed – he spins the Lance wildly, shrieking with fury, forcing Sara into retreat behind a pillar, Irons striking at first one side of the pillar, then the other. Sara tries to strike back, and the blade slices into the pillar – and the stone seals up, holding the blade inexorably! “The Sword in the Stone,” Irons gleefully comments, and he charges Sara with the Lance; but with a superhuman effort, she yanks the blade free, and swings, chopping off Irons’ gauntleted hand. The hand smokes on the floor, and Irons is in agony and shock, while Sara is appalled at what she has just done.
With a maniacal gleam in his eyes, Irons attacks once more, but is stopped by Sara placing the point of the blade at his throat. “You’ve lost,” she states matter-of-factly, and Irons commands her, “Finish it!” just as Ian enters, calling out, “Father.”
Irons glowers at Ian, “Come to watch me die, son? I told you to kill her. You failed. And now she will kill me before your very eyes.” Ian buries his face against the bust beside the fireplace. “Avenge me, son.” Irons says. Sara says, “I want no part of any of this, and Irons tells her, “You have no choice. How perfectly ironic: I’ve sought such power all my life, and now it is denied me: and you who have the greatest gift, the power of immortality coursing through your veins, you want nothing of it. Kill me this time, Sara, I cannot stand another lifetime of fruitless pursuit, you win – this time. This isn’t murder, it is sacrifice.” And he pulls the blade through his own throat, while Sara watches, horrified. Ian looks up to see Irons with the Witchblade in his throat, and he catches Irons’ falling body. He calls out to him, stroking his hair, trying to make him hear, as Sara stares, absolutely devastated. Ian looks up at her and asks what has she done? Sara spits, “Damn you! And damn him! You both led me here!” Ian says quietly, “We’re enemies, now.” And Sara responds, “We were never friends.” Ian ignores her, cradling and caressing his dead master. With the picture of Joan of Arc triumphant on the wall behind her, Sara raises the blade, and it morphs back into the bracelet. She is unmoving.
Sara sits in a bar, waiting for Danny. He sits, as he orders Dubonnet and soda from the bartender as a joke. Sara apologizes to him for not telling him what’s going on, and he says he feels like she doesn’t trust him. She reassures him, yes, she does, and asks him to trust her. Danny says it’s a leap of faith, and they toast to his resurrection. Sara asks him if he wants to at least know how she did it? He replies she has saved his life eleven times, so he figures he’s ahead of the game. “Blind faith with eyes wide open,” he says, and then, “Partner,” he smiles at her.
David Chokachi as Jake McCartey
Anthony Cistaro as Kenneth Irons
Will Yun Lee as Danny Woo
Eric 'Kaos' Etebari as Ian Nottingham
Kathryn Winslow as Vicki Po