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The episode begins with a series of flashbacks showing recent events concerning
the Book of Zar-n'Atoth, the encounter with Cerne the Hunter, and Ethan's ongoing search for a new
apartment and his first meeting with Tina Jacobs.
Ethan is showing his new apartment to Tina and he comments on how normal his life
has seemed since they started seeing each other. The scene cuts to Dana looking around a darkened
room. She takes out her cell phone and calls Patrick. She tells him that she has to be out of town
for two or three days for a graduate student conference. She says that she will see if anyone at
the conference can help with the group's current problem and gives Patrick the name of some other
occult experts in LA he can check with if the group needs information in a hurry.
Ethan heads to his old apartment where he informs Jalen and Lauren he is moving out.
He signs the lease over to them, and Jalen calls dibs on the bedroom. Patrick arrives to tell the
others about Dana being unavailable for a few days and the three then fill Ethan in on what they
have found out during his recent absence.
Trying to find some additional information, Ethan sneaks into the psychiatric
facility where the two insane archaeologists are being held. He hopes that maybe some of the ghosts
of the archaeologists' teammates are still around. All he manages to discover, though, is that
Wolfram & Hart have provided magical and psychic measures to the facility to bolster its regular
security system.
Patrick begins hitting demon hangouts around LA trying to get some information. He
learns that a lot of demons have gone missing lately, and that the more psychic demons have been on
edge because they sense something bad is coming. He checks out the hideout of one of the missing
demons and it is apparent that the demon was attacked and taken by one or more supernaturally strong
opponents. He asks around some more, this time focusing his questioning on the subject of the Devourer. The demons he talks to tell Patrick that if he wants information on that sort of thing he should go to a particular address and ask for someone named Dave.
Patrick, Jalen, Ethan and Lauren go to the address Patrick was given and discover it
is a comic book store. When they tell the disinterested looking man at the counter they want to talk
to Dave he seems surprised, but he yells into a backroom to tell Dave his has visitors.
Dave turns out to be an overweight blue-skinned, horned demon who happens to be a
comic book and sci-fi geek. He leads the group to his room downstairs which is littered with gaming
miniatures, comic books, CD-ROMs, and half-empty pizza boxes. Despite his appearance and surroundings,
however, Dave turns out to be quite knowledgeable about demon mythology and the Elder Gods. Even
Wolfram & Hart are known to consult with him on occasion.
Dave tells the group about the legends and prophecies of the Devourer. According to
the legends, the Devourer was the first true demon, born of Chaos. From him came the first race of
demons to inhabit the Earth, hence his title of "Father of Demons". When a prophecy foretold that the
Devourer would be overthrown by one of his own children he tried to eat them all, earning himself the
name Devourer. Those that escaped banded together and imprisoned the Devourer in another dimension
from which he could not escape. However, there were other prophecies and legends that told that one
day the Devourer would be freed and he would wipe the Earth clean of all life, including demons, and
would then create a new race of demons and the cycle would start all over again. There are even a few
legends that say this has already happened a few times.
When they ask about the Book of Zar-n'Atoth, he tells them it is the closest thing
to the original writings of the Elder Gods to exist on Earth anymore. The Book itself contains more
information than it shows at one time, because if it were to reveal all it contained at once it would
destroy the minds of anyone nearby. As far as current cults worshipping the Devourer, Dave does not
know of any. He is surprised to learn from the group that Leland Richter is apparently trying to free
the Devourer since it means the destruction of all life, human and demon, on Earth. The group wonder
if perhaps the missing demons are being kept in a safe location and that Richter plans to make himself
a sort of demonic Noah, saving demons to repopulate the Earth after the Devourer wipes it clean.
The group tells Dave about the three prophecies they have uncovered. According to
the third prophecy, the Devourer is summoned by some kind of ritual on "sacred ground". Since he
doesn't know of any active cults or temples to the Devourer, Dave cannot help them with where the
location might be. They thank him for his help and leave, buying a few expensive books on the way
out to repay Dave.
Desperate for any clue as to the location of the Devourer's temple in LA, the group
strikes on the idea that maybe Ethan's special sight will let him see where it is. LA is a big city
so Patrick and Jalen decide to take Ethan up into the hills by the Hollywood sign. That should give
him a good vantage over a large part of the city. Standing at the foot of the sign, Ethan willingly
activates his Second Sight, opening himself up far more than he ever has in the past. Gazing out over
LA, Ethan sees for the first time just how much of the true face of the city is hidden from the eyes
of the normal people who live and work there. The sight of ethereal firestorms, Cyclopean towers and
pits of darkness overwhelm his senses.
Lauren, meanwhile, has gone to work at her new job. She is suddenly struck with a
vision of her friends' bloodied bodies. As soon as she recovers she calls Patrick's cell phone. On
the hill Patrick is listening to her warning when Ethan suddenly collapses, clutching his head and
crying "no more, no more". At that moment Patrick senses great danger and turns to see three figures
fade into few. It is Cerne the Hunter, flanked by two creatures that look like Frankenstein-esque
patchwork beings made up of the parts of different kinds of demons. He then realizes what has really
happened to all the demons that have disappeared lately. Patrick manages to tell Lauren to call the
police before he has to hang up and defend himself.
Cerne again ignores Patrick and goes after Jalen. He draws a huge sword and cuts a
large gash in Jalen, narrowly missing several major organs. The ninja tries to fight back but takes
another mighty blow that nearly cuts him in half. Patrick has his hands full trying to deal with the
two patchwork demons but turns his attention towards Cerne when he realizes that Jalen can barely
stay conscious. Patrick gets a few good hits on Cerne, but the Hunter returns the blows, badly
injuring him. Ethan, meanwhile, remains near-catatonic on the ground. Cerne and the demons are about
to move in for the kill when they hear an approaching police helicopter, summoned by Lauren's frantic
911 call. The demons flee before the police can arrive, leaving the police to wonder at the source of
the carnage.
The three are taken to the hospital where Jalen is rushed into emergency surgery and
Ethan is sedated while Patrick tries to come up with a good cover story for what happened at the
sign. Lauren arrives at the hospital and when she sees Ethan's condition she asks what happened to
him. When Patrick explains that all he did was look at the city, Lauren can only wonder just what it
was that Ethan saw that did this to him.
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