Now, before I start I want it clearly understood that I havent heard the thing through yet, I am in fact writing as I listen, so there'll be spoilers ahead.

Arkhan: #Several episodes ago# Shauna, wake up foolish girl, time to face the sun.

Winged Herald: #Now# Wake up foolish girl...time to face the future...

***

Now I'm not saying anything. I'm Not. I'm not saying anything I swear. But clearly Mike and Shauna are the Ross and Rachel situation in Laundi. And with Arkhan being the girlfriend, she clearly has to be evil, or doomed.

Okay, continuing...

Laundi has hold music?

Yeah...okay...

***

Something is wrong here. What's Arkhan doing?

Quote:

Arkhan: Well, no, I cant say that it was really there...it was dark.

EndQuote.

Something isnt right here. Unless I misheard the entire scene, wasnt Arkhan IN THE ROOM when Shauna went ballistic? She must have been since Shauna was screaming at her to get out fast, and if it were me, then I wouldnt take my eye off the thing for a second.

Ergo, it must have still been there once they got out, otherwise Shauna wouldnt have wanted to bolt the door from the outside.

So what the hell's going on?

***

Mike: You can fool them, but you cant fool me. I can see right through the act.

Arkhan: Really?

Mike: Yep. You're afraid of losing us.

Arkhan: #Relieved# Yeah, that's true.

***

Okay, now I'm saying it. I'm stopping the episode till I've thought this out.

Okay, back now, I have a theory. I hope I'm wrong, and I'm not saying what it is yet, except to say that all warfare is bsed on deception, so the only thing left is to see who's deceiving who.

***

Okay, I've heard out the rest of the episode.

Y'know, I must be an entirely new and unclassified level of stupid to not have worked this out from four episodes ago!

I'm the one that spelled it out. Bad guy summons evil through, and by now will be looking for his missing prey!

This person would have power over the evil doers of Laundi, so this person woukld have contacts. Jareth and Fesmer spelled it out in plain english during the last episode! The Legion has already tried to conquer the world, they failed, so if they're still there, then they must be up to something. If they werent, then we never would have heard of them, if they are, then they'd be following some sort of timetable.

So if the bad guy is looking for Shauna, then ALL the badguys must be looking for Shauna.

Now follow the thought through to conclusion. Who are the only OTHER newcomers to the area? Arkhan's parents! And they go and MOVE IN with Shauna without warning.

Now we all saw it, Arkhan didnt seem happy to see them, they were standoffish, and Arkhan kept showing up with bruises after 'doing errands' for them. We all agreed they were bad news, but we all thought they were just a garden variety bad news. Unkind, unforgiving, abusive even, but that doesnt explain where Arkhan picked up painsticks, to say nothing of interrogation techniques.

NOW I get it! They werent mistreating Arkhan, they were giving her assignments! If the Legion wnted to retake the world, then they wouldnt want any competition, and having the Laundi equivalent of the racketeers and mobsters gone would be a good way to start!

Arkhan's been doing jobs under the table for them all this time, reporting back on what Shauna and the others are up to, and her constant enquiries about the Shift spell, and how it was progressing wasnt anything wierd from such a good friend.

Even this very episode: "Okay, we have to run for our lives, let me go tell my parents we're going." Why wouldnt her parents try to stop her?

Why'd it have to be Arkhan? Mike's new girlfrined, Katherine's temporary surrogate sister, and Shauna, with the 'You understand me best here' speech has got to be burning deep.

Katherine saw it first, Katherine saw it clearly, but since discretion is the better part of valor, nobody cared, because discretion is not what Kae is known for. Katherine hates and mistrusts somebody? Stop the presses!

So now we've got a more important question: How much was the act, and how much was genuine. You know that's going to be the big question on the minds of our noble adventurers.

Was it all an act when she worked with Fesmer all those years? Was it all a lie when she went with Mike to the dance?

Was she really playing for the other team this whole time, or was she merely pressed into service when her parents showed up? She wouldnt be the first kid pushed into betraying her friends by her mom and dad. I honestly dont know just how much of a baddie she is.

For instance, she immediately told her parents she was leaving, but when the Legion started moving in on them, she wasnt waving her arms screming "Here, over here!" Nor did she immediately tell them: "There's one more coming soon, his name is Jareth."

In fact, she made a point of saying: "Shauna, do you really need to be out in the clearing to do this spell? We can stay in the trees to do it."

Secondly, she gave the Legion what they needed to block the escape, and it certainly looks like she was the one to KO our team, but Shauna was rolling up her sleeves, and to a wizard/spellbinder/witch this is the equivilent of pumping a pump-action shotgun.

If Shauna had blasted off a spell then:

a) There would be a body count, and if Arkhan didnt want to get her friends hurt, then putting them down would be the only way to save all their lives.

b) Shauna would waste her energies. Remember she said "I cast any spells and I cant get us home."

So, where next. Two possibilities:

If Arkhan is really a reluctant turncoat, then her next move will be to bust her friends out and send them someplace Shauna can zap em home, and then pretend not to know anything about it. "No Mom honest, I turned around and the room was empty!" Clean hands and innocent looks all around, and Arkhan doesnt get the business end of a painstick behind her dad's woodshed if she's being forced into this.

Problem is, the only way to find out if someone is trustworthy is to trust them. That's gonna be hard now. Next episode will settle some issues, make the other ones impossible to figure out. Arkhan either's gonna have to gain redemption, or she'll be the real nemesis. You know, the really PERSONAL enemy.

Plus, our hereoes are gonna be out for blood now, and Shauna's finally just sleep-deprived enough to start firing back with all she's got, which is not an inconsiderable amount of firepower.

Since Shauna was panicked enough to move up the flight 24 hours, they still have a day to get loose and get home.

Plus, Jareth and Zana are still free.

So now we've got ourselves a show.

You can read more of Matt's work at mattstephens.me