Darrow lands in the Sovereign’s shuttle bay and finds Octavia, Aja, Karnus, Fitchner, and Praetorians waiting. He tries to leverage a pulseGrenade to force a landing, but Octavia has the pilot roll the shuttle, dislodging him, and Aja kicks the grenade out of the bay. Octavia activates a shipwide ghostCloak to prevent rescue and orders Fitchner to record Darrow’s execution.

Karnus demands the right to kill Darrow, while Fitchner argues for keeping him as a propaganda prisoner. Octavia instead commands Fitchner to kill his student. Before that can happen, Karnus charges; Darrow slips inside the attack, impales him, and decapitates him, then drops a Praetorian with a thrown razor.

Bleeding from a deep shoulder wound, Darrow falters. Octavia appraises his resilience before Aja closes and brutally beats him, leaving him on his knees. Fitchner stalls by proposing a public execution, but Octavia insists, and Aja opens the drop ramp to dispose of the body in Martian fashion.

As Darrow drifts toward unconsciousness, Fitchner approaches and reveals he has been Ares all along. Donning his helmet, he blasts the Praetorians with a pulseFist and tosses a sonic grenade. Octavia brands him a traitor as chaos erupts; Darrow is pitched into the open air, only for Fitchner to catch and carry him away to safety.