Episode Recap: I Fought the Fae (and the Fae Won)

Bo is taking the breakup with Dyson surprisingly well - she's viewing it as a chance to start over. Dyson agrees to talk about it, but when an emissary from the old country, an official named The Blackthorn, shows up to announce that a new Ash will be named in two days' time, the lovers' chat has to wait.

Bo is invited to the festivities, but she wants no part of them, since they involve the ritual hunting of a stag and a complicated political dance. She and Kenzi head home, only to find they have a visitor - a former prisoner who explains that she traded her prisoner status in order to be the stag, but she did it for love. Since Bo is unaffiliated, this Light Fae woman, Sabine, knew she could count on Bo to deliver a message to her former lover, a Dark Fae named Hamish. She asks Bo to help her see him one last time before she's hunted to death. Then, she returns herself to the hands of her captors.

Bo and Kenzi locate Hamish, but he insists he wants nothing to do with Sabine. If that's the case, reasons Bo, there's no choice but to rig the hunt so that Sabine has a chance to escape with her life. She enlists the help of Hale, Trick, and even Dyson to get the job done.

First, Hale enters himself as a candidate in the political race to be Ash. Through singing and seduction, Hale makes it into the final round - the stag hunt - but now comes the part where they have to stop the other contestants from shooting Sabine before she rings the mystical bell that will save her life.

She's within running distance of the bell when the final contestant appears and lodges an arrow in her shoulder. She falls to the ground, lifeless, as the crowning committee gathers around her and her murderer, a dark haired stranger who is now the new Ash. Once The Blackthorn and his party have left, Dyson calls the coast clear, and Lauren appears with a hypodermic needle full of serum that revives Sabine just in time to see Hamish appear from where he was hiding in plain sight, using his unique Fae power of invisibility. The two lovers are reunited, and since everyone believes that Sabine is dead, the Light and Dark pair can be undisturbed for the rest of their lives.

As for Bo and Dyson, their love story is not so happy. They finally get a chance to talk, but Dyson doesn't go in for any of Bo's charms. The Norn permanently took all of his love for her, and it seems he will never get it back.

Before returning home, The Blackthorn pays a visit to Trick and hints that he's aware of the true identity of The Blood King, as well as the return of Ifa. Trick denies everything as best he can. He responds that he's enjoying his quiet existence as a barkeep, and hopes that The Blackthorn will convey that information to the High Council. The Blackthorn assures that he will, but it's clear that he no longer doubts Trick's true identity as a major player. Where this knowledge will lead, however, no one yet knows.