Bjorn is brought before the man wearing Snorri’s face and realizes that Harald has taken his father’s place. Leif greets Ylva with relief, then turns on Bjorn as a traitor, while Ylva is horrified by the deception. When Ylva openly denounces Harald as a trickster, Harald orders Skade to act, and Skade kills Ylva’s accompanying warriors with her magic-marked bow while Bjorn, bound and wounded, can do nothing.

After silencing the room, Harald drops Snorri’s appearance and resumes his own form. He orders Tora to dispose of the bodies and commands Ylva to maintain the fiction that Snorri still rules and has allied with Harald against Freya. Harald’s plan is to blame Freya for Saga’s death, the curse, and the wider bloodshed, using fear and confusion to secure control of Skaland.

Harald then focuses on the missing Ragnar, realizing that Ragnar may know where Freya is imprisoned. He beats Skade for letting Ragnar escape and tortures Bjorn for information, reopening Bjorn’s wound when Bjorn refuses to answer. To protect Freya, Bjorn lies that he sent Ragnar to spread the truth that Harald killed Snorri and now wears his face, hoping to send Harald’s search away from the island.

Ylva complicates matters by warning that her wards only hold the living, so if Freya died and returned through Hel’s power, the prison might no longer contain her. Faced with the twin threats of exposure and Freya’s possible escape, Harald orders Skade to hunt Ragnar, then sail to the island, kill Freya, and burn the body. Bjorn realizes Ragnar is likely doomed, but also sees that Harald is losing control and growing more unstable.

Bjorn mocks Harald’s failing scheme, and Harald decides to kill him, boasting that he also caused Bjorn’s mother’s death. Ylva intervenes and argues that Bjorn should live because Freya will try to rescue him; she also reminds Harald that Leif, as Snorri’s son, may still be able to command Freya through her binding oath. Harald threatens Ylva and Leif to ensure her obedience, then accepts the plan, returns to Snorri’s form, orders Volund to keep Bjorn alive under Tora’s watch, and prepares to stage Bjorn’s public execution as a trap for Freya before Bjorn loses consciousness.