Wythers arrives at the Capital in search of his son, determined to bring him home. Rosamund finally responds to Tobin’s proposal. Elinor sees an opportunity for advancement.

I’d almost started to think the writers had forgotten Wythers. I know he went to where Garret ‘died’ and we had been told that this was ten days from the Capital at least but still, seems to have taken his time getting there. Anyway, get there he does and it’s actually a joy to see one of the better actors in the show back on screen, doing a bit of actual acting. Wythers is a man on a mission, determined to either recover his son or his body, and he wastes no time in manoeuvring his way up to where he might reach Garret, though he won’t necessarily like what he finds.

Speaking of Garret, we at least get a hint here that it isn’t just his unbelievable mental ineptitude that has allowed him to fall for the routine that the Prime Order is pulling on him – there’s also some sort of medicine involved, and apparently it’s medicine whose effects can wear off. I wonder how this might affect the plot in future?

Anyway, away from the mind-numbing obviousness of the capital, The Outpost has all sorts of drama of its own. The mines can’t work to smelt iron because Rosamund won’t use slave labour but also has no money. She therefore also can’t feed the people or give the soldiery the equipment it needs. Can she bring herself to think of her people first and accept Tobin’s proposal? Admittedly the man is a drunken boor, but he’s made it clear he harbours no romantic illusions, that she’d be free to have other lovers than him and that they can live their lives quite separately, and in return she gets caskets of gold and a ready made army. In the end though, she decides against it, which provides Elinor with an unexpected opportunity to raise her station while also – and more importantly – getting one over on her sister.

Janzo and Nya continue to be the most cringeworthy ‘will they – won’t they’ couple in the history of genre TV, so precious little entertainment there. Meanwhile, Talon and new friend Zed are getting on quite well, well enough that Talon is prepared to defy a specific order from her Queen at any rate. My money is on everyone being happily paired off by the end of this season, and maybe that’ll be enough of a happy ending that they’ll not bother commissioning a third.

Things end on a portentous note, with Garret charged with a mission by his new masters, and required to complete a final test of loyalty before he departs. Oh how tense that might be, had the previous episode not revealed certain powers of the Three to us already.

Verdict: Obvious, poorly written, mostly badly acted. There are nuggets in here of good stuff, but mostly I just want it to be over. 4/10

Greg D. Smith