A Killing Cold

After her argument with Connor, Theo visits the empty Dragonfly cabin, reflecting on Liam. While there, she recalls a childhood memory of Liam leading her into the woods. Startled by noises, Theo encounters Daniel Vance and Duchess. Vance invites Theo to his rustic cabin for coffee, where he shares memories of working for the Daltons and confirms that Mallory Cahill lived at Dragonfly with her daughter.

When Theo asks about Mallory and her daughter, Vance appears uneasy but retrieves a bag containing a teddy bear, a blue scarf, and a photograph of Mallory and her daughter. Vance reveals that the child’s name was Rowan, nicknamed “Teddy,” triggering Theo’s emotional memory of hearing a woman’s voice saying, “Rowan, run.” Theo recognizes the Mallory in the photo as the same woman from the pictures in Alexis’s suitcase—the woman who Connor told her was Kayla—connecting more pieces of her past.

Theo insists that Vance drive her back, and he drops her off near White Pine. While walking alone, Theo experiences a vivid flashback of discovering her mother dying from a cut throat. In this traumatic memory, Mallory clutches a blue scarf and urges young Rowan to run and hide. This confirms what Theo has begun to suspect—she is Rowan Cahill, Mallory’s daughter.

Dazed by this revelation, Theo returns to White Pine and gets into bed with the sleeping Connor. Half-awake, Connor pulls her close and murmurs that he loves her. Though Theo reciprocates, she feels frightened and conflicted. She resolves to stay at Idlewood to uncover the truth about her mother’s murder and Connor’s involvement in bringing her there.

The next morning, Olena summons Theo to meet Louise at the lodge, and Connor agrees to let Theo go alone. In the lodge kitchen, Theo finds Louise preparing rabbits. Louise shares her family history, explaining how her wealthy father made some bad business decisions and faced financial ruin shortly after her marriage to Magnus. Her father came to Magnus and asked him to invest in his newly struggling business, but Magnus refused to help her father. Louise argues that Magnus was right and that one must prioritize one’s own family before helping others. She then confronts Theo about her past, including the attack on Joseph and accusations involving Peter Frey.

Louise offers Theo a $75,000 check to leave Connor and never return. Theo firmly refuses the bribe and exits the kitchen, encountering Magnus in the hallway. Magnus confirms their hunting plans for the next morning, speaking loudly enough for Louise to hear. This exchange reinforces Theo’s suspicion that the Dalton family, particularly Louise, wants her gone at any cost.

Following Louise’s confrontation, Theo and Connor spend a tense day avoiding discussion. The next morning, Connor reveals that he spoke to Magnus about Theo’s past. Magnus and Nick meet them for the hunt, and Magnus deliberately pairs Theo with himself and Connor with Nick, mentioning concerns about poachers. During their time alone, Magnus has Theo practice archery, criticizing her form, and questions her about her past and her motives for marrying Connor.

Magnus warns Theo about giving Connor power, comparing her situation to that of Rose with Liam. He advises her to leave before getting hurt. He directs Theo to wait by a boulder while he circles for a buck. As she approaches the boulder, Theo spots a deer standing just in front of her. The deer suddenly bolts. Across the clearing, Theo sees Connor with his arrow aimed toward the spot where the deer was. To her horror, Connor releases the arrow, which flies directly toward Theo.

Theo realizes that Connor’s arrow has grazed her arm and questions whether he saw her. Connor rushes to her, shouting in distress, while Nick arrives and takes charge of the situation. Theo panics, fearing that Connor intentionally shot at her, and shoves him away when he touches her injured arm. Nick assesses the wound as needing stitches but having no muscle damage. He rebuffs Connor’s suggestion that they take her to a hospital.

Daniel Vance appears with a rifle, offering assistance, but Nick dismisses him, insisting on providing medical care himself. As Nick leads Theo away with Connor following in shock, Vance watches them depart. Theo feels increasingly hunted, uncertain of who she can trust in this dangerous situation.

Nick transports Theo to the lodge, excluding Connor, and stitches her arm in Magnus’s office. When Theo mentions Mallory Cahill and suggests that Nick knew her, he notices two birthmarks above Theo’s collarbone and visibly pales in recognition. He finishes treating her wound and leaves abruptly. Alone in Magnus’s office, Theo discovers a scrap of green wrapping paper matching the threatening gift and finds a disposable phone in Magnus’s desk, which she secretly takes.

Connor enters and apologizes, claiming that he didn’t see Theo when he released the arrow. When Theo pleads for them to leave Idlewood, Connor agrees to depart the next morning but says that he needs time to smooth things over with his family first. Despite this promise, Theo feels increasingly trapped as evidence mounts that someone in the Dalton family—potentially Magnus or Nick—means her harm.

At dinner, Nick stares at Theo while Connor announces their planned departure. After excusing herself early, Theo searches Trevor’s room in the Wildflower cabin and finds a remorseful unsent message to Kayla on his phone. Finding nothing in Rose’s room, she moves on to the Red Fox cabin, where she retrieves the photos from Alexis’s suitcase, noting that the bruises on the woman’s body suggest assault, not a car accident, making it clear to Theo that this is Mallory, not Kayla.

Paloma discovers Theo with the photos and reveals that the family knew about Mallory. She confirms that Liam died by suicide and that Alexis knew that he was experiencing suicidal ideation beforehand, with Magnus likely enforcing the family’s silence about this truth. Paloma warns Theo to run from the family’s dangerous secrets, reinforcing Theo’s growing certainty that the Dalton family is hiding something terrible about her mother’s death and her own past.

Theo tests the disposable phone she found in Magnus’s desk, confirming that Magnus sent the threatening texts. Then, Joseph calls, apologizing for mistreating her in the past. He is married to a man now and lives in Colorado. In the past, he married the Christian fundamentalist Beth in an attempt to escape his sexuality. He expresses remorse for his complicity in Beth’s abuse of Theo. He warns Theo that someone has been looking for information about her: A private investigator contacted him, asking about her past. He tells her some new details about her adoption: Someone contacted him and Beth through their church, offering them money to adopt her without asking questions about her origins. They named her Theodora not because it means “gift from God” but because when they first took her in, “Teddy” was the only word she would say. Theo hangs up and blocks Joseph.

As Theo stands outside in the cold, she begins recalling a series of short memories of her and her mother. She then comes back to the present; it’s snowing, and she’s becoming increasingly close to developing hypothermia. As she starts to get delirious, she sees and hears her mother again but isn’t sure if it’s a real memory. She realizes that she has to move to avoid freezing to death, and as she begins walking, she tries to piece together her memories.

When Theo finally makes it back to White Pine, Connor helps her warm up. He asks what she was doing outside, and she tells him that she confirmed that Magnus has been sending her threatening text messages. Connor is confused by this and suggests that it may have been Trevor. Connor then confesses that he sought Theo out after seeing her photo at Harper’s show, recognizing her dragonfly tattoo from the Dragonfly cabin, and asking Harper for an introduction.

When Theo shows Connor a photo of Mallory, he recognizes her and recalls meeting Mallory and Teddy (Rowan) as a child, revealing Theo’s true identity as Rowan Cahill. Connor disputes Paloma’s claim that Liam’s death was a suicide, citing the autopsy report of hypothermia and a head injury from falling. Theo recovers a crucial memory: Liam was trying to help Mallory and Teddy escape from Nick, not harm them. Connor confirms that Mallory lived with Nick before Liam, and Theo realizes that Nick recognized her birthmarks and had motive to hurt her mother.

In Theo’s recovered memory, she sees Liam bursting into her hiding place with a bloody face, urgently telling her that they must flee. When she asks about her mother, Liam avoids answering directly and pulls her out into the deep snow, instructing her to run without stopping or looking back.

As they escape through the woods, the injured and bleeding Liam slows and eventually collapses in the snow. Young Theo (then Rowan) tries desperately to wake him but fails. Alone in the darkening, freezing cold forest, she lies down beside Liam’s unconscious form, waiting for him to wake up, unaware of the danger still pursuing them.

Theo tells Connor what she has figured out: Nick hurt Mallory, and Liam died while trying to help them escape. Connor suggests that Rose likely told Nick about Rowan after Connor (who was seven at the time) mentioned meeting her. Connor affirms that he believes Theo and insists that he didn’t know her true identity when he asked Harper to introduce them, denying that it was a trap and explaining that Rose convinced him to bring her to Idlewood.

Though skeptical about Connor’s suggestion that fate brought them together, Theo acknowledges the connection when Connor recalls young Theo wanting to go to school for books and live somewhere warm like Los Angeles, California. She jokes about eloping, which Connor eagerly accepts. Despite her lingering doubts, Theo feels certain of Connor, and they share an intimate moment, reaffirming their trust in each other while planning their escape the next day.

The next morning, Theo and Connor discover that they’re snowed in. At breakfast in the main lodge, Paloma mentions that something woke Sebastion during the night and that he couldn’t get back to sleep after that. Louise demands Theo’s departure and suggests that Vance escort her off the property. In the foyer, Nick aggressively grabs Theo until Trevor intervenes. Trevor reveals his self-inflicted burn scars, apologizes for previously hurting Theo’s hand, and asks for help finding Olena, who is missing after being with him at the Dragonfly cabin.

Noticing Nick and Magnus watching them intently, Theo agrees to help Trevor search. In the woods, they spot Olena’s red coat and find her dead at the bottom of a steep depression with a head injury and a bloodied rock nearby. Theo recalls a sound from the previous night and realizes that Olena was wearing a red coat identical to hers. She concludes that Olena was mistaken for her in the dark and attacked. She tells Trevor simply, “She fell,” while internally recognizing that someone murdered Olena because they believed she was Theo.