The Red Mist

**The Red Mist** is the fourteenth episode of *Primal*, and the fourth episode of the second season.

## Synopsis

Spear and Fang fight to save Mira from the warrior clan that enslaved her.

## Plot

The episode begins where the previous one left off, with Spear about to face down the bear-riders emerging from the mist. Many come into view, prompting Spear to draw his newly acquired sword, which the leader of the bear-riding party recognizes as belonging to a fallen Viking warrior. The riding party likewise draw their weapons and begin to slowly advance towards Spear, though the bears catch the scent of a much more dangerous foe, which Spear recognizes as Fang.

Once Fang dispatches the riders' leader, a vicious fight breaks out, with Mira and the other slaves taking the opportunity to escape their captors. As the slaves flee the village and the brutal fight continues, the noise awakens some other Vikings, one of whom strikes a toll-sheet to summon reinforcements. A Viking woman named Rikka emerges from her home with her child to lead the battle, whilst Spear single-handedly slices whole adults to pieces not too far away. From a rooftop, Mira spots an opening in the woods for the slaves to escape to, grabbing a spear from a rack in the process.

Meanwhile, the villagers manage to completely surround Spear with a shield formation, some combatants including the village's youngest members. Rikka's child takes a stand on a rooftop and fires arrows at Spear. In her first act of violence, Mira takes down a bear with her spear; when the rider falls from his mount, she takes his axe and swiftly decapitates him. The bloodbath worsens as more Vikings come to reinforce their defense effort, with many archers now active. Spear manages to break out of the Vikings' shield formation and kills several more of them. He throws one of them at Rikka's child, which knocks him off his perch.

Rikka herself enters the battle by throwing a large axe into Fang's leg, leaving her vulnerable to be stabbed in the snout with a spear. However, Fang grabs Rikka's legs in her jaws and repeatedly slams her into the ground until she perishes. Undeterred by the massacre, Rikka's child attacks Spear by latching onto his back and clawing at his face; the caveman throws the child off and into a rock, killing him on impact. Visibly distraught by his accidental kill, Spear meets back up with Fang as a thick red mist covers the village, allowing the two to slip away. Unfortunately, they end up running into a sheer cliff face that blocks their path, leaving them open for the pursuing Vikings to bombard them with arrows. Fully cornered and at their wits' end, Spear and Fang go on the offensive, using the mist to their advantage as they slaughter their assailants with brutal efficiency. Once all the Vikings are dead, Spear and Fang join Mira on the docks and escape aboard one of the Vikings' boats.

Some time later, another boat comes to the village, carrying a small group of slaves and a pair of Vikings: the Chieftain and his eldest child, Eldar. They announce their return to the village by blowing a horn, becoming suspicious when nobody responds. The Chieftain and Eldar dock the boat, whereupon they find a blood trail leading up to the village and another one of the boats missing; the chieftain quickly deduces that someone must have used the boat to escape. The two Vikings investigate the silent village, the chieftain finding the corpse of a tribesman under a group of crows. As he examines the body, the mist clears, revealing the full extent of Spear and Fang's handiwork.

As the Chieftain takes in the gruesome tableau, he begins to panic, calling out Rikka's name in vain. Finding no one in their shared dwelling, he rushes through the village in search of his wife, only to discover her lifeless body where Fang killed her. He weeps for her death as Eldar returns to his side, his younger sibling's corpse in his arms; the Chieftain can only embrace his remaining child as they mourn the loss of their tribe.

While what is left of their village burns, the Chieftain and Eldar fill a tomb with the wrapped corpses of the dead and seal it with a large rock. They return to the boat with their family members' bodies; the younger Viking frees their latest batch of slaves so the bodies of his mother and sibling can be loaded instead. Once the bodies are secure, the ship is set out to sea as the Chieftain readies a flaming arrow on a bow; however, he cannot bring himself to release the arrow. Seeing his father's grief, Eldar takes the bow from his hands and completes the ritual, setting fire to the ship and its grim cargo.

With their duty to the dead complete, the two remaining Vikings equip themselves with heavy armor and set sail on a journey for vengeance.

## Characters

* Spear
* Fang
* Mira
* Vikings
	+ Viking Chieftain
	+ Rikka
	+ Eldar
	+ Chieftain's second child

## Trivia

* The mist that envelops the Viking settlement at the climax of the episode causes everything to appear silhouetted, similar to the deaths of Spear's wife and child in "Spear and Fang".
* In some ways, this episode echoes "Terror Under the Blood Moon"; it features Spear and Fang fighting a massive horde of enemies amid a red-tinted environment in order to protect a small group of defenseless human(oids). Coincidentally, both episodes are the fourth of their respective seasons.
	+ Moreover, this episodes also echoes "Rage of the Ape-Men"; it features an entire hostile tribe being brutally massacred.
* The title of this episode refers not only to the physical mist that envelops the village, but the informal term for a sense of anger so extreme that it clouds judgment, as this is what happens to Spear and Fang in the episode's climax.

## References

 "Sea of Despair" • "Shadow of Fate" • "Dawn of Man" • "**The Red Mist**" • "The Primal Theory" • "Vidarr" • "The Colossaeus, Part I" • "The Colossaeus, Part II" • "The Colossaeus, Part III" • "Echoes of Eternity"