Door to Destiny

**Door to Destiny** is the sixth episode of *Violent Hearts: A Western Epic* season two, the sixth and final part of the Blackwood Butcher Chapter, and the sixteenth episode overall.

## Summary

Terminus IX, 881 AE. While the group is on the hunt for Mary and Jenny, Damien Smith leaves the hotel room for the final time to face Saul Netherwood. Amaru Dorian left the hotel room to attend to his own endeavors, likely to go find the group.

The group travels through the desert, following Mary's poem, "Sunkissed", which has been flying westward for sometime. Along the way, the group passes by a mysterious Honovi ritual site, but press on in fear of losing the poem.

The poem eventually lands, and when Kinta Gardner picks it up, the group is met by a mysterious , long-haired woman dressed in a white sundress and hat. The group, on edge by the unexpected interaction, question her, but she only responds in cryptic phrases. She then walks out into the darkness, but not before asking the group, "can you believe in it?" The woman then disappears, and Gwen suddenly feels the presence of her owl familiar. Using its presence, Gwen and the group discover an old, abandoned wooden shack where Mary and Jenny most likely are.

Meanwhile, Damien Smith climbs up Blackwood Mesa and overlooks the town, admiring its lights and the view from the altitude. He reaches the very top, and is met by the presence of Saul Netherwood. He demands Saul explain the truth to his life, and Saul does.

The group makes their way into the shack, and see that it is empty. Gwen, however, stumbles upon a secret hatch that leads down into an underground passage. The group descends, and comes across Mary conducting a supernatural ritual on Jenny. Too bewildered to intervene in time, Mary finalizes the ritual by allowing Jenny to take in some of her blood orally, before stabbing her in the heart. Horrified, the group watches as Jenny's soul is bound to Mary's. The ritual concludes, and Mary falls unconscious for a few moments. Frankie runs over to Mary and fixes his gun to her head. Gwen orders Frankie to stand down, and he complies, placing his gun on the ground. Gwen demands an answer from Mary, and she begins explaining the nature of being Cain, and what drove her to commit the Blackwood Butcher murders.

Meanwhile on Blackwood Mesa, Saul Netherwood reveals that he and the Smith family have been cursed by a deal his grandfather, Nathanael Smith, made with Saul three generations ago. Angered by this revelation, Damien struggles to control himself. Saul further reveals that because of this, tragedy is inevitable for any Smith, explaining why Damien's life has been full of strife and death. Damien has enough, and after composing himself and fixating on the starry night sky, he draw his gun -- prompting Saul to do the same. While in Blackwood, Koda hears the gunshots from Damien and Saul's duel on top of the mesa. It is revealed that both Damien and Saul landed shots, but Damien had placed the killshot. Saul succumbs to the headshot Damien landed, and dies. Damien, however, is shot in the chest, and struggles to apply pressure to stop blood loss. As he begins to fade into unconsciousness, the Stardance Kid reveals himself.

Mary explains that she and Jenny had worked to free herself from God's curse set upon her. During her explanation, Mary adjusts her sitting posture, inconspicuously covering Frankie's gun with the skirt of her dress. Mary's idea of liberation was to bond Jenny's soul with her own, as a pure soul bound to a cursed one might "break" the curse, or cause something unforeseen to occur. After arguing with Frankie and Gwen over the nature of destiny and free will, Mary slips Frankie's gun into her hand and shoots herself in the head. Gwen attempts to shoot the gun out of her grip, but is too late in doing so. With a gunshot to the head, Mary dies after speaking her final words to Gwen.

The group is devastated by Mary's suicide. Shortly thereafter, Amaru Dorian enters the group, having revealed that he was searching out the group the entire episode. Realizing what had happened, Dorian too joins in on the bereavement. With nothing more to do, the group brings Mary and Jenny's bodies back to Blackwood.

The group decide whether they should bring the bodies to the Sheriff's Office or Austin Manor. Going with the former, Gwen convinces the group to obfuscate the truth of the ordeal without fully lying, treating Cain as a separate entity from Mary.

The group arrives at the Sheriff's Office, and bring in the bodies of the girls. Shocked, Chuck Cassidy demands an explanation. Overcome by unfounded guilt over Mary's use of his gun, Frankie says he killed them. Chuck then demands Gwen tell him the truth, and Gwen complies. Knowing she is being honest, Chuck swallows the insane reality of the Blackwood Butcher murders, and thinks of what to do. He decides to take on the burden of telling the Austins and Timbertons, and pays the group for concluding the investigation. The group then returns to the hotel room to finally rest.

Later that morning, Sheriff Chuck Cassidy visits Austin Manor to inform Frederick Austin on his daughter's death. The father breaks down crying, as the mysterious woman watches from afar, before walking away.

## Characters

### Protagonists

* **Adam Andrews**
* **Gwendolyn S. Blackwood**
* **Amaru Dorian**
* **Kinta Gardner**
* **Frankie Mitchels**
* **Damien Smith**

### Major Characters

* **Meredith Lee Austin** as **Cain** (Final appearance)
* **Jenny Timberton** (Final appearance)
* **The Stardance Kid** (First appearance)
* **Kadmon** (First appearance)
* **Koda**

### Minor Characters

* **Sheriff Chuck Cassidy**
* **Frederick Austin** (Final appearance)

## Insert Songs

This episode had two insert songs. The first played during Mary and Jenny's soul binding ritual, while the second played after Mary's suicide.

* "Jenny was a Friend of Mine" (Live Ver. 2) by The Killers
* "Ave Maria" by Schubert

## Poem Coda

**"Door to Destiny"**
*The Door to your Destiny is sealed,*

*And the key is only in your possession.*

*So many secrets hidden beyond,*

*And you alone can reveal them.*

*But what would it all matter*

*If you cannot reach the Door?*

**—M**

## Trivia

* This is one of the six episodes that contain a special post-credit poem.
* The episode's title, "Door to Destiny" points to the motifs of doors and the theme of destiny found throughout the series. Doors (such as the shack's door) and destiny in general also played a significant role in both the episode alone, and the Blackwood Butcher Chapter as a whole.
	+ In "Damaged Child", Saul Netherwood makes reference to the significance of doors and their subsequent connection to destiny and the unknown. He implies it is especially significant to Amaru Dorian.
* This episode had an altered version of the season two ending credits, including a unique ending visual.
* A special strings rendition of "Jenny was a Friend of Mine" played during the episode.
* This is the first episode to feature the Stardance Kid.
* This episode marked the departure of Damien Smith from the main cast.