Immortal Consequences

Silas leads the eight remaining nominees into the woods as snow begins to fall. In a clearing, eight stone arches stand in a ring. He explains that each arch is a portal to a separate illusion trial where they must find an elixir, dismantle the illusion, and return. He vanishes.

After a tense exchange with Masika, Irene enters her portal first. Carter, Josie, August, Wren, and Masika follow into their own portals. Olivier and Emilio share a final moment together before passing separately through the last two arches.

Irene lands in a snow-blasted tundra, her connection to Mateo severed. She finds a teacup holding a black elixir, drinks it, and is imprisoned inside a transparent glass cage. A vision of her mother appears and taunts her for choosing emotional isolation over connection. Dark water rises around her legs, and her magic fails. As she drowns, Irene faces up to her pattern of pushing people away. Refusing to yield to the trial, she hardens her resolve to survive and win at any cost.

In the snow, Emilio finds Josie’s corpse, which disintegrates into ash, proving failure means real death. On a frozen lake, he finds his own elixir and drinks it. He enters an illusion of his childhood home, where his parents plead for him to stay. He resists and breaks the illusion. He returns to the snow, where a monstrous replica of Olivier mocks him for cowardice. Emilio runs for his arch, but the replica tackles him and drives a dagger into his stomach.

Inside a mountain, Masika finds a chamber where Housemasters Birdie and Russo reveal they belong to a resistance. Catherine, Masika’s former friend, arrives and exposes Silas’s past: He is a Corrupted Soul who overthrew the original Headmaster and warped the Ether. Those he banished formed the Demien Order, which seek to counteract Silas.

August appears, and the resistance forces him to admit he is an undercover agent for the Order. Feeling betrayed, Masika attacks him. A stray spell triggers a collapse. As the chamber crumbles, Catherine, Birdie, and Russo vanish. August tries to save Masika, but she is trapped.

Irene returns to the Bonestrod dining hall. She finds Wren unharmed and sees August with a wounded shoulder. Nearby, Olivier cradles a badly wounded Emilio. Wren reports that Carter and Josie have been eliminated. Headmaster Silas arrives and ignores Olivier’s pleas to heal Emilio, stating he will not heal trial injuries. He declares Masika eliminated, saying she must have died in the collapse.

Silas announces the final trial will occur the next day and departs. The survivors sit with their losses, bound by the rules.

Olivier carries Emilio to his bedroom and searches for a way to heal him. Emilio stops him and asks him to lie down with him. Olivier holds him close and speaks about his mortal life in the late 1800s, admitting he did not feel truly alive until he met Emilio. Emilio grows weaker, slipping in and out of consciousness. Olivier promises to stay awake but falls asleep from exhaustion with Emilio in his arms.

Emilio finds himself in a sunlit valley. He feels weightless and hears a loved one calling from a distance. He lets go of fear and pain. The valley softens into brightness, and he drifts into the quiet beyond, accepting his fate.

That night, Irene summons Mateo and confronts him about the Decennial’s true nature. He admits he knew. Irene declares her intent to join the Demien Order to get revenge on Silas. Mateo outlines their plan: She must win the Decennial, become an Ascended, and serve as their spy within Blackwood. He warns this path will demand her humanity. Irene accepts the role, and Mateo promises they will carry out the plan together.