Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
A flooded crossing stops Geralt's party while Jaskier recovers from his wound. Cahir argues for rest, then reveals that he shares Geralt's troubling dreams about Ciri. Unable to hurry onward, the travellers begin telling their histories around the fire. Zoltan's account exposes the betrayal that drove him from his home and repairs his friendship with Yarpen. Milva speaks about killing her abusive stepfather and the path that brought her to the dryads, followed by more losses among the people she cared about.
Jaskier turns his own story into a musical recollection of mentoring Valdo Marx, who stole his songbook. Regis returns to tend the wounded and describes his addiction to human blood, his love for Bethane and the violence that followed her death. Cahir explains how protecting the cursed Duny led him into Emhyr's service. Geralt and Jaskier finally connect the emperor to the man whose life Geralt saved at Pavetta's feast. Emhyr is Ciri's father, making the announced marriage even more horrifying to them.
Geralt recalls Ciri teasing him about his childhood wish to be a knight and recognizes what his companions have offered him. When the crossing becomes possible, he accepts their company. Elsewhere, Skellen pressures Teryn to keep playing the princess while news of the deception spreads. Vilgefortz tortures Fringilla into revealing Montecalvo's location, and she manages to warn Yennefer that he is coming.