Raff explains the disaster to the naval officers from the icebreaker RSV Nuyina. The crew has arrived expecting to collect eight people and large amounts of stored cargo, but instead they find only four survivors, far fewer containers, Yen’s wrecked boat on the rocks, two missing people, and four dead bodies. Looking back, Raff understands the past months as a cascade of destruction.

Raff takes the rescuers south on cargo barges and shows them the physical evidence of what happened. From the water, he points out the collapsed seed vault, the broken cliff face, and the beaches that have disappeared. He then brings them to the graves on the hill so the bodies can be exhumed. Because of his injured arm, Raff cannot help with the digging, but he stays to witness it, believing someone must be able to account for everything and hoping to shield his family from as much questioning as possible.

Back at the base, the rescue operation becomes a rapid dismantling of the island’s remaining supplies and structures. Dozens of people from the icebreaker load materials and stores, and Raff is devastated by how much difference those hands might have made if they had arrived earlier. He thinks of the struggle to save the world’s seeds from the flooding cave, the danger of dealing with Hank after he lost his mind, the desperate effort to refloat the humpback whales, and above all Rowan’s death, which he sees as another loss that might have been prevented.

Raff forces himself away from that destructive line of thought by recognizing that rescue itself is a privilege many people on sinking islands never receive. He begins to think ahead instead. Orly is determined to take the family to Rowan’s land, and Raff allows himself to hope that they might somehow be able to stay there. Even though his injured arm may mean he never plays the violin again, Raff refuses to give up on recovering what he loves, and he decides to leave behind the punching bag rather than carry old burdens forward.

Finally, Raff thinks about Dominic, who must now try to survive and rebuild his life for a second time. Raff sees that as cruelly unfair, but he also accepts his own role in what comes next. Strengthened by what Dominic has taught him, Raff resolves to carry his father, and the rest of his family, for however long they need him.