In a tense flashback aboard the Erebus, Assistant Surgeon Harry Goodsir examines Graham Gore and notes Gore’s swelling feet, warning that Gore will walk on them regardless. Nearby, Stanley panics and bellows for hot water as the sick bay strains under cold injuries.

Lieutenant Le Vesconte presses Gore for confirmation about a killing Gore has just reported. Gore insists he mistook an Esquimaux man for a seal, ran to the shouting, and found the man bleeding through his furs; by the time Gore reached him, the man’s eyes were already cloudy.

Gore states he shot the man through the heart and orders Le Vesconte to send men to the body with offerings—tobacco, and if possible steel knives—to show peaceful intent, while insisting they must not interfere with the corpse. Le Vesconte worries about “arming those people,” but Gore holds to the gesture, prioritizing clarity and restraint.

As Gore forces his injured feet back into his boots, Goodsir wordlessly squeezes Gore’s arm, a small attempt at comfort that makes Gore briefly question his own emotional response. Above deck, the watch erupts into stamping and shouting: a party of Esquimaux has been sighted moving toward the ships.