(thunder rumbling)
I'm always three inches off.
Keep practicing.
We only get one shot at killing this thing.
I think creating a Sin Eater-slaying machine
has gone to your head.
Let's call it a Sin Eater-slaying system.
The sooner we get rid of the Sin Eater,
the sooner I can concentrate on helping Bess start
an underground historical society.
Even if she wins in court,
the FFTH isn't gonna let up anytime soon.
Putting up the night vision cameras was a good move.
And with Ryan on roundel watch,
-next time the Sin Eater's summoned, we can track it. -(clattering)
Oh. Secret admirer?
Uh, let me guess, let me guess.
Nemo? Ariel?
Every day since we survived the ghost web,
Tristan has been picking out the nicest shell from his catch
and leaving it at my door.
Well, I'm happy for you,
-if it's what you want. -Yeah, it is.
After everything got so complicated with Ace...
What I like about Tristan is how....
very uncomplicated he is.
He's open.
He says what he thinks.
His worldview, it's shiny, so I'm trying something new.
Honesty and communicating well.
(thunder rumbling)
Sounds mature. Healthy, even.
Yeah, I'm modeling after you and Jade.
Which seems to be working out?
Yeah. Yeah, we're better than ever.
So, how do we figure out
the first sin that the monster consumed?
(sighs) We return to the black door mirror
in the basement of the yacht club.
Straight from Bess, the metaphysical properties
of supernatural mirrors cause them to hold onto
everything they've witnessed, including--
in the case of this mirror--
the first sin ever spoken into it.
Thanks to Bess, we now know that the Sin Eater
is vulnerable under a black moon.
And if we inject it with the first sin it ever consumed,
it dies.
Then you've got 48 hours to improve your...
♪ ♪
Hey, do these pearls say "not guilty"?
No idea, but make sure you say that
when the judge asks, "How do you plea?"
The breaking and entering charge won't stick.
-We'll make sure of it. -(knock at door)
(sighs)
-Sorry I'm late. -Hey.
-Hi. -Hope I wasn't holding you up.
No. I didn't know if you were gonna make it.
-Did the bank give you the day off? -No, I took it.
Come on, a new job is no excuse for neglecting one's girlfriend.
How are you feeling?
Honestly, I just want all of this to be over.
And to have dinner with you
and maybe invite your parents.
Are they okay?
They stopped sending me texts.
Your mom used to send me flamingo memes every day.
Uh, about that...
They found out about my court case, didn't they?
They understand, as head of the Historical Society,
you're under fire, but...
when they heard the words "violated restraining order,"
they cooled on you a bit.
They'll come around.
(chuckles softly)
I know Bess is your friend,
but you can't give her false hope
or guarantee her any specific result.
Anything can happen in court.
No, she can't be on the hook for this.
You have to keep your feelings from clouding your judgment.
Advise your client as best you can, legally.
Can you do that?
(sighs) I'm Kevlar George.
Consider me feeling-proofed.
Okay, good.
The thermostat's stuck.
It feels like it's gonna start snowing in here.
Well, cold burns more calories.
I'll call the repair people.
We got a new one.
Found her in the woods near the coastline.
ACE: Jane Doe?
She's charred beyond recognition.
No identifying marks.
Couldn't extract a viable DNA sample.
But authorities suspect the body is Mia Preston,
a camper who went missing two days ago.
Hand me that clipboard.
(Connor groans)
(hisses) My mug.
Leo gave this to me for my birthday.
I promised I'd keep it forever.
He actually made me sign something.
Takes after his mom.
We're holding the remains until the police get in touch
with the Preston family.
Get started on that paperwork.
Hi, Mia.
I'm Ace.
It's nice to meet you.
♪ ♪
(radio static)
-(static stops) -(water shuts off)
Did you do this?
NANCY: We have one shot to get the mirror
to tell us its secrets.
No pressure.
I built us an extractor.
You were right,
supernatural mirrors hold on to everything they've ever seen.
Could you get it to show us
the first sinner who ever called to it?
Hopefully.
Once it's calibrated,
we basically get the mirror to rewind
everything it's ever seen and heard.
I-I put this together in like four hours,
so manage your expectations.
(whirring)
(overlapping whispering voices)
I...
I can't-I can't isolate the voices.
They're all mixed together.
(coughing)
The mirror's fighting back.
It's rejecting the extractor.
No, we have to wait.
(voices stop)
(speaking Latin)
Initium omnium finis.
Converte nos iniquitates nostras.
Indulgentiae.
Lava munda quod praeteritum est.
Anima remanet...
(continues in Latin)
Those men are the founders of Horseshoe Bay.
Initium omnium finis!
(distorted screaming)
(whirring, slows, stops)
That did not seem like the first sin.
No, that was what came before.
I think we just watched the creation of the Sin Eater.
(indistinct chatter)
GUARD: Hang on.
I know, my picture's terrible.
-I sneezed and coughed at the same time. -NANCY: Bess.
(mouths)
Oh, my God, you made it.
Oh...
I'll be right there. Where's Ace?
Oh. I told him not to come. But he's been sending me
-moral support voice memos every hour. -Mm.
Nancy. Hey.
Your message was kind of vague. What do you need help with?
This is a supernatural stomach pump.
It broke. We tried everything but can't fix it.
Think your artifact fixer person can handle it?
Yeah, I bet she can.
Also, it's, uh, it's a rush.
I need to get it back to its rightful owner
before he returns from a fishing trip.
This is a pretty unique item.
Where'd you say you got this from?
Just call me when it's fixed, please.
-Thank you. -Okay, yeah.
Okay, you can go through.
Okay, we're first up. This way.
We're up there with you in spirit.
Thank you.
(Carson clears throat)
Did Google give us anything yet?
No, can't find anything on that golden octopus-shaped thing,
but those men were definitely chanting Latin.
-Hmm. -I'm working on a translation.
I'm just...
just trying to remember that full phrase.
(whispering): Hey.
I thought I saw your name on the docket.
Cameron!
Are you here clerking for the defense
or are you just on trial for killing it in those loafers?
-(laughs) -Okay, wow. And that's enough.
We're number eight, so I'll be here a while.
So I guess me and my loafers get to see you in action.
-See your loafers later. -I'll see you.
BESS (whispering): Hey. Hey.
Are you seeing this?
Callie Farquar is here.
She's the spokesperson with the FFTH.
The one who called me an extremist.
You know what? Two can play at that mind game.
Here you go, information.
Okay. Here's my goal.
I'll deliver our remarks,
the judge will dismiss the charges
or tell the D.A. to plea you out as a first-time offender.
No jail time
and hopefully no risk of this having to go any further.
Okay. Yeah. I like that goal.
BAILIFF: All rise.
Court is now in session.
In the matter of The State v. Bess Turani Marvin,
-would the prosecut... -Your Honor, the prosecution moves
to drop the outstanding charges against Ms. Marvin.
-(murmuring) -JUDGE: Very well.
The breaking and entering charges are dismissed.
The State moves to file new charges against Ms. Marvin.
-One count of violating community standards, -What?
one count of endangering children
and one count of disseminating false information
contrary to the welfare of the public.
Your Honor, these charges are unscrupulous.
We were not notified.
My client has not had the chance to review these allegations.
We have received widespread complaints
from the citizens of Horseshoe Bay against Ms. Marvin
and believe this is the only path to keep the community safe.
No arguments today, counselors.
New charges, new case.
Preliminary hearing set for 48 hours from now.
See you then.
-(gavel strikes) -Next.
-(murmuring) -Let's talk in the hallway.
Whoa.
Those are the same men we saw in the yacht club mirror.
That's the leader.
He has the same pocket watch in this mural.
"Anima remanet.
Veritas nostra manet."
Anima ramanet. Veritas nostra manet.
That's it. That's-that's the Founders' Day motto.
Can you translate it?
NICK: Yep. They're saying...
"The soul survives.
Our truth remains."
What does this motto and this mural have to do with
the ceremony we saw in the black door mirror?
BESS: I can't believe this.
If I get convicted, I could get deported.
I wish there was more I could do.
No, you being here is enough.
Can you give me a minute, though, please?
Of course.
(Bess sighs)
It's called the Jar of Acquirement.
Took some time to track down,
but, uh, it finally came in the mail.
In the nick of time, too.
The black moon is two days away.
What does it do?
So, it can distill the essence of spoken truths
into liquid form.
Spoken truths?
-Like the first sin the Sin Eater ever consumed? -Yeah.
If you can figure out what the O.G. sin was,
speak it into the jar, I believe it can create a poison.
And then inject it into the Sin Eater.
Bess, you're a genius.
I can't believe you had time to think about this
in the middle of everything else that's going on.
Yeah.
Once a Keeper, always a Keeper.
(sighs)
-Hey. -Hey.
Get this.
I found towns all across America
that all have the same phrase--
"The soul survives. Our truth remains"--
inscribed on various landmarks.
We're talking monuments, murals, statues.
Maybe they all have their own Sin Eaters.
What'd you find out about
the golden octopus-shaped sphere the founders created?
The sphere is like sourdough starter.
So...
the Sin Eater was created from it.
The journals we got at the yacht club mentioned it
in the ritual to make a Sin Eater.
Is the sphere the soul?
The-the "soul survives"?
It tracks. Do we know anything else about the mural?
No. No. But I did find the names
of the two artists that worked on it.
One from the 1930s, long dead.
One from the 1980s is still with us.
-Kenneth Clarke III. -(phone vibrates)
Working on getting an address.
Mm. Drop me a pin when you get it.
I just...
need to deliver something first.
Here you go. One stomach pump, good as new.
Told you my artifact fixer could do it.
-I really appreciate it. -Wait.
-Wait, where are you going? -Got to go. Thanks again.
Since when are you interested in lobster crates?
You were acting weird, so, you know,
I thought you might be in trouble.
Well, I'm fine, and you really shouldn't be here.
Hold on. Did you just borrow that from the Glass kid?
'Cause I told you I don't want you near him.
His family's dangerous.
Haven't we learned not to judge people by their families?
(scoffs)
♪ ♪
Tristan borrowed this device from his parents
and he loaned it to me when I really needed it.
He's not his parents, Ryan.
Just saying, I don't...
SHELBY: What the hell are you doing here?
You steal clients from us, now you're messing with our son?
Don't look at her, all right? You look at me.
-She had... -I was just here
to return the stomach pump.
This was lovely, but now we're leaving.
Stay away from our son.
Yeah, gladly.
♪ ♪
"Missing camper after lightning storms
and breakout fires hit the area."
You needed my attention.
You want something. What do you want?
I'm here to fix the cooling system.
Yeah, it's, uh, it's over there.
(phone vibrates)
Hey, what do you got, Carson?
CARSON: The A.D.A.'s plea offer.
I just forwarded it to you.
Brace yourselves. It's not great.
No, it's worse.
"In exchange for all charges dropped,
"you have to agree to the following.
"Number one: lock up all the books in the Historical Society
so they are no longer accessible to the public."
-Wha... -"Two: submit all artifacts to be kept
"in a court-mandated high-security facility.
"Three: make a public statement that Bess Turani Marvin
"was wrong to disseminate teachings about
"paranormal phenomena and disavow such teachings
have ever been a benefit to the community."
So, in return for my freedom,
they insist I lie to the town?
You should take the plea.
George, that's not your decision to make.
You know that. Think it over, Bess.
I'm on my way home. We'll talk.
(sighs)
I didn't add the Latin phrase. That was part of the original.
I was just hired to restore the mural
after it was defaced in '85.
Who defaced the mural?
Uh, some teenagers from the reservation.
Here we are.
I kept the article as a memento.
It was my first commission,
and my work made it into the paper.
Mural defaced by Henry Soctomah and Adelaide Mitchell.
-Aren't they... -Addy's parents.
My teenaged parents were banned from the courthouse for life?
Uh...
No wonder I had trouble getting into the courthouse.
My mom and I have the same legal name.
And they never mentioned any of this to you?
Mom and Dad's crime spree?
No. That's something I would remember.
You met them.
I mean, they are law-abiding to a fault, and...
they expect the same of me. I just...
I cannot believe this.
Vandalizing public monuments
in the town where you still live--
pretty big secret to keep from your kids.
People have kept bigger ones.
But still, there is more to the story.
We grew up hearing stories of the secrets
hidden under that mural.
Our parents and our grandparents told us.
Our ancestors were attacked
on the very grounds the courthouse was built.
They say the spirits of those who perished that day
left a ghostly imprint on the courthouse wall.
And no matter what the town did, they couldn't clean it off?
A haunting like that can't be washed away,
so the town painted a false mural over it.
You weren't defacing the Founders' Day mural.
You were trying to reveal the imprint beneath it.
And to see if the stories we were told as children were true.
Why did you keep this all from me?
When we were teenagers.
We were angry.
The arrest
nearly derailed our lives, and...
You thought if you told me, I'd make the same mistakes?
But you defaced the mural because you were activists.
You took a stand for what you believed in.
But the consequences--
it almost cost our families everything.
Is this why you stopped sending me flamingos?
My court case?
-Bess... -I won't lead Addy into trouble.
I just want to try and help people
by using the supernatural.
I'm what's called a Keeper.
She wants the same thing you did.
She wants everyone to know the truth.
Then don't try, do it.
Our biggest regret is we couldn't reveal the truth.
ADDY: Mom.
I want to hear the truth in your own words.
What lies are the founders' mural covering up?
♪ ♪
-You sure they'll be okay? -Don't worry.
The guard owes me for finding his track medal
back in high school. Mr. Gibson stole it.
GOODMAN: Court is now in session.
(phone vibrates)
Bess, you're certain about your decision?
I get less certain every time you ask, but...
Sorry.
Ms. Marvin, please take the stand.
Have you and your counsel made a decision
on whether you will be accepting the offered plea deal?
Judge Goodman, pardon my directness,
but it is not for this court nor the A.D.A.
to determine who has access
to supernatural teachings.
Oh, I am rejecting the plea deal
because it is a lie.
(gallery murmuring)
The supernatural is not a threat to children,
despite what the prosecution has worked endlessly
to make this court believe.
When it is used correctly,
it can heal and even save lives.
Do you want to know what is the threat?
The lie that we turned into history.
For too long, this town has erased
the truth of its own sins.
But that lie
ends today.
♪ ♪
Consumet mendacium.
ADDY: My parents told me,
in the early 1800s,
the Governance landed in Horseshoe Bay.
They called themselves settlers,
but, really, they were newcomers by at least 12,000 years.
At first, it was peaceful
between the native tribe and the town founders.
But then, one morning,
the settlers invaded Passamaquoddy territory...
and kidnapped every child old enough to walk.
(children screaming)
My ancestors led a mission to get their children back,
but the founders refused.
They took up arms.
My ancestors were forced to fight for their lives.
Many were lost.
And the founders drove my surviving ancestors back.
The founders' children
went on to inherit the stolen land,
and the kidnapped children were never seen again.
(child screams)
My ancestors who escaped the town limits
before the sin was erased kept an oral history
of the kidnapping and the deadly assault.
According to our tradition,
there were many more sins erased by the town.
But this was the first.
The only record of the truth.
(gallery murmuring)
Uh, objection, Your Honor.
W-What is this and how is it relevant?
GOODMAN: Objection overruled.
Ms. Marvin, explain yourself.
We have a history of erasing voices,
and even now we continue to erase the truth
about missing and murdered
Indigenous women and children
to paint ourselves as the good guys, to pretend
that this town was built
on righteous values.
I will not be a part of that.
If you fear something you don't understand
because you refuse to educate yourself,
then that is on you.
The supernatural is not to be feared.
It is real
and it is a force for good.
I am Bess Turani Marvin,
and I stand for the truth.
-(indistinct chatter) -Hey.
Next time you pull a powder stunt-- little heads-up?
I have never seen anything like that in the world,
let alone in a court.
The judge could have held you in contempt.
But she didn't. And now everyone knows the truth.
Look, I appreciate both of you, but I stand by my actions.
-(phone vibrates) -I'm just gonna take this.
-Okay. -BESS: Hey.
I couldn't keep my personal feelings for Bess
out of this case. You were right.
Clients never do what you want them to do,
and your feelings for them can rip your heart out,
but I think they can also make you a more passionate lawyer.
Yours did.
Pushed you to think harder for her.
Thanks.
Let's just hope the rebuttal we drafted
convinces the judge.
Bess Marvin vandalized the courtroom
and made up a story
to desecrate the memory of our founders.
She'll continue doing it to pollute minds,
shame our children,
unless she's stopped.
So, just don't let a magic trick fool you.
Grooming a future jury pool?
Control your witness
or I'll make sure the judge hears about this.
(scoffs)
(sighs)
I don't think you're here to hurt me.
If you tell me what you want,
maybe I can help you move on.
Find peace.
So, now you don't want to talk?
Okay.
Too hot to chat in here, anyway.
Radio, broken thermostat.
It was freezing in here the other morning.
Do you need me to be cold?
Does that help you communicate?
Please let this work.
(radio static)
WOMAN (on radio): Please.
I'm cold.
The sky is gone. There's only one left.
Please.
What's going on?
Where's the sky?
I'm-I'm here, okay?
I'm listening to you. I'm listening.
Do you remember how you died?
No.
I'm cold.
You're cold.
But you-you burned to death.
All I remember is my hair
wrapping around my mouth.
Then the sky was gone.
Then I was so cold.
You have short hair. You...
How could it wrap around your mouth?
Unless you're not Mia Preston.
Are you someone else?
I don't know. Who am I?
(phone chimes)
I have a date lined up
for after we kill the Sin Eater tonight.
So, yeah, I'll probably change.
What's bothering you?
See that?
I recognize it.
It's one of the books you pulled from the yacht club basement.
Right.
Remind me what was in that one again.
-Well, that's the thing-- the pages were blank. -Mm.
It must mean something.
Why take all those kids and then cover it up?
Well, like Bess said, so the town could fool itself
into pretending they were the good guys.
Kidnapping children is a pretty terrible sin.
NICK: Yeah, but what happened to the kids they took?
It's definitely the first sin, but...
we're missing part of the story.
BAILIFF: All rise.
The court is back in session.
(gavel strikes)
It is not within this court's purview
to adjudicate what was witnessed earlier.
I only make my findings within the confines
of the black-letter law.
In light of the evidence reflected in the record,
I rule that Bess Turani Marvin...
-...is found not guilty... -(chuckles)
of the criminal charges the prosecution alleged.
(gallery murmuring)
However, I find that there is ample evidence to support
that Ms. Marvin has mismanaged the Historical Society
and misused taxpayer dollars.
As such, I am removing her
from her position at the Historical Society permanently.
In her stead, I am entrusting the Historical Society
to the Families for Truth in History
and their designated trustee, Callie Farquar,
-effective immediately. -(chuckles)
Ms. Marvin, please surrender your keys to the court.
(singsongy): I've got lemon pops.
There is no amount of sugar that can numb this.
(phone vibrates)
GEORGE: Oh!
Small wins.
-(chuckles) -Yeah?
Look, this doesn't mean
you have to give up teaching the supernatural.
Nick even said he'll help you start
an underground historical society.
All you lost was a building.
Bess, no matter what,
you're always a Keeper.
Plus, you have unstoppable determination.
Aw. (chuckles)
(sniffles) Thank you.
For reminding me who I am when I forget.
It's what best friends do.
-Aw, I'm your best friend, too. -(laughter)
No, you-you have been for a long time,
-but let's just not tell Ace. -Ah.
(sighs)
Uprooted, once again.
Say the words, I'll get us the moving van.
Don't tempt me. (chuckles)
In two weeks, I'll have a lot more free time on my hands.
I decided to give notice at the bank.
But you just started that job.
Yeah, because I didn't want to disappoint my parents.
But today was both inspiring and infuriating.
So, now I have a plan.
I want a seat on the town council.
It's an opportunity for me to channel my outrage
in a productive way.
You'd be brilliant on the council.
I can work to get a pardon for my parents' criminal records
and a public apology for what was done to our tribe.
Reparations, even.
I mean, my community needs resources to help us grieve
all the children that were taken away
to residential schools and never seen again.
Absolutely.
Mm. It's the girl who made the painting sad.
Cute trick, but foolish.
It wasn't a trick.
It was proof.
Proof we need to put this whole supernatural history
-nonsense to rest. -Can you just...
(clears throat) It's okay.
The Historical Society isn't yours anymore.
Don't come back or I'll have you arrested for trespassing.
Okay. We have a crossbow.
We have poison made from
the first crime the Sin Eater ever consumed--
the kidnapping of Native children
and the battle that followed.
What we need now is a new sin
to use as bait to summon the monster.
-Okay, I volunteer as sinner. -NANCY: Great.
Here's your marching orders.
Recite the incantation.
The black mirror turns into a door.
Masthead mummy behind you screams.
Speak your sin, wash your hands in the creepy fountain.
Get out of there without notice.
If you turn it into a song, it's easy to remember.
-I got it. -I feel like there are pieces that don't track.
-We-we still don't know... -What happened to the kidnapped children.
I'm totally with you. Can you work on that?
Because the black moon is tonight.
So, sins--
any ideas?
I might have an idea at the morgue.
Just... This one's gonna hurt.
(sighs) Tell him I'm on my way.
-I'm having second thoughts about this. -(groans)
Definitely getting fired.
♪ ♪
I seek to put the past behind,
so pay I must, but I will find
my trespass it will swallow whole,
this burden erased from my soul.
(distorted screams)
(whispering): I broke Connor the coroner's mug.
I destroyed something he deeply cared about.
On purpose.
♪ They don't know what I'm facing ♪
♪ Grows like a tidal wave ♪
♪ I'm going under... ♪
George did it.
The Sin Eater's on the move. It's go time.
Poison arrow, check.
Goal is to get to the creature
before it erases the sin. Sorry, Ace.
Okay, I don't really want to see that thing again,
-so I'm gonna stay here. -Yeah, same.
I'm gonna troubleshoot the extractor device for Tom Swift.
And I-I just feel like there's got to be something more
that we can learn.
Okay, well, I'll help you.
NICK: Okay, thanks.
I'm coming with you.
We're off to kill a Sin Eater.
Wish us luck.
RYAN: Hey, you said something today about kids not wanting
to be their parents, and I just want to say
I was wrong about the way I reacted,
you know, about Tristan Glass.
Uh, not that you need my approval or anything.
-I do not. -You do not, you know,
but-but I'm just saying, he wouldn't be my first choice.
But I'm not gonna stand in your way.
The point is is that I know what it's like
when a parent tries to keep you away
from somebody you care about,
and I don't want to be Everett.
You're nothing like Everett.
(chuckles)
I think this binding is hollow.
♪ She moved in quick ♪
♪ Cast off the sun... ♪
Each page
contains information about one of the Late Eight.
Sin Eater's victims.
♪ After the dawn... ♪
Nashua Kipp, first victim.
♪ From all the pain... ♪
This is a list of details
of the Native children that were kidnapped.
♪ Whisper to me... ♪
Nashua Kipp was one of the children
that the founders stole.
So, are you saying that they stole the children
for the Sin Eater to kill?
♪ No superstitions... ♪
NICK: No.
Anima remanet-- the soul survives.
♪ An eclipse of the sun... ♪
For the monster to live on, the founders needed
to fuse the essence of the Sin Eater
to the soul of a person.
The stolen kids.
They were test subjects.
Nashua was the only one to survive the ritual
that fused the curse
of being the Sin Eater to his soul.
So the first sin that Nashua ate
was his own kidnapping
and the battle from his tribe to try and get him back.
The founders erased that sin to keep control of the Sin Eater,
to keep their practice a secret.
(sighs)
NICK: All these records--
someone kept track of them for hundreds of years.
Wait.
Look what's written inside each of these portraits.
Sin Eater 1859.
Sin Eater 1882.
Sin Eater 1951.
The Late Eight
weren't victims of the Sin Eater.
They were the Sin Eater.
They shared the same soul.
It started with Nashua's, and then when he died...
His soul went to an unborn child.
Uh, Coraline Monet,
and then onto Onias Carver, and so on.
It's reincarnation.
Like Charity Hudson, except this soul stayed intact.
From generation to generation.
Nancy thinks she's gone to the woods to kill a creature,
but it's not a creature.
It's a person.
Oh, my God.
(phone rings)
(Sin Eater howling, growling)
-It's not a great time, Nick. -NICK: No, listen to me.
Listen to me. Don't kill it.
Tell Nancy to stop.
The Sin Eater is a person!
(screaming)
RYAN: Nancy!
(shrieks)
(groaning)
(thunder rumbles)
Tristan?
(woman screams, bell dings)
(pencil scribbling)