Letharia Vulpina

**Letharia Vulpina** is the nineteenth episode of Season 3 and the forty-third episode of *Teen Wolf*.

## Synopsis

Scott and the others try to prevent a disaster. Lydia and Allison seek out an unlikely teacher.

## Plot

Deaton retrieves a poisonous plant that will aid him in defeating the Nogitsune. Derek and Chris Argent are arrested by Agent McCall for the murder of Katashi after being framed by someone. Stiles, who is still missing, reappears in the school basement. After finding a map of the cross-country trails, he, Scott, Aiden and Ethan realize that the path has been booby-trapped by Stiles. The boys are successful in stopping the runners from being injured but Coach Finstock is shot with an arrow. Allison and Lydia seek the aid of Peter Hale. He asks for Lydia's help in finding the memory that his sister took away from him. Lydia discovers that Peter is a father. The Oni, attack Stiles, Scott and Kira at the animal clinic. They manage to escape but Stiles—still possessed by the Nogitsune—knocks Kira unconscious and tortures Scott with an Oni *ninjato* until Deaton returned and suppressed the Nogitsune's influence on Stiles with *letharia vulpina*.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Tyler Posey as Scott McCall
* Crystal Reed as Allison Argent
* Dylan O'Brien as Stiles Stilinski
* Tyler Hoechlin as Derek Hale
* Holland Roden as Lydia Martin

### Supporting Cast

* JR Bourne as Chris Argent
* Melissa Ponzio as Melissa McCall
* Linden Ashby as Sheriff Stilinski
* Daniel Sharman as Isaac Lahey
* Ian Bohen as Peter Hale
* Orny Adams as Coach Bobby Finstock
* Seth Gilliam as Dr. Alan Deaton
* Arden Cho as Kira Yukimura
* Charlie Carver as Ethan
* Max Carver as Aiden
* Matthew Del Negro as Rafael McCall
* Tamlyn Tomita as Noshiko Yukimura
* Susan Walters as Natalie Martin
* Keahu Kahuanui as Danny Mahealani
* Tom T. Choi as Ken Yukimura
* Ryan Kelley as Jordan Parrish

### Guest Cast

* Nobi Nakanishi as Ikeda
* Clark Freeman as Dying Deputy
* Robert Huynh as Ikeda's Bodyguard
* Jeremiah Sutheim as Jared
* Katie Myers as Electrocuted Woman (uncredited)

## Continuity

* It is stated by Melissa McCall that Stiles has been missing for two days, which confirms that there was a time jump of almost 48 hours between the chaos caused by the live wire at the hospital (between the end of *Riddled* and the beginning of this episode) and when Melissa, Scott, and Allison visited Isaac in the hospital.
* This episode marks the first "international" episode of the series when Alan Deaton travels to Japan to seek out a rare lichen known as *letharia vulpina* to neutralize the Nogitsune.
	+ Additionally, he goes to the home of Ikeda, the son of the Yakuza leader who was possessed by a Nogitsune during Chris Argent's first gun deal twenty-four years prior, and who is the owner of the home with the Japanese garden where Argent helped save the life of Katashi and the other survivors. This event was seen in flashbacks in *Silverfinger.*
* Argent and Derek are framed for Katashi's murder by Nogitsune/Stiles and are arrested by Rafael McCall. Katashi was last seen in *Silverfinger*.
* This episode marks the first time Stiles has killed someone when he murders Katashi and causes a bomb explosion at the Sheriff's station that killed several deputies. However, since he was possessed by the Nogitsune at the time and was not in control of his body, it technically does not count as intentional murder, though Stiles will continue to carry guilt for it throughout the rest of the series.
* Kira starts to further develop her Kitsune abilities in this episode after she discovers she has superhuman strength (though still inferior to that of a Werewolf), super speed, super agility, an intuitive proficiency in combat, and the ability to control and absorb electricity and foxfire. Another new development was that, when Kira was absorbing the electricity, her irises glowed an orange-gold color.
	+ She was able to neutralize a live wire by siphoning the electricity from it, run faster than anyone else on the cross-country team, use super strength to knock an Oni on its back by hitting it with a lead pipe, and managed to use the pipe as though it were a sword with no prior training in combat or weaponry.
* It is revealed that Noshiko Yukimura has been summoning the Oni demons from the Nemeton by sacrificing her Kitsune tails, which are represented by black ceramic daggers called *kaiken*. As of this episode, Noshiko has broken seven of her nine tails to summon the Oni, who were first seen arising from the Nemeton at the end of *More Bad Than Good*.
	+ This episode also marks the first appearance of Kitsune tails.
* Alan Deaton uses Kanima venom to paralyze Ikeda and his pet wolf Yuki. Kanima venom was last seen in Season 2's *Master Plan* when Jackson Whittemore used it to paralyze Derek in battle, though it is unknown where Deaton got the venom he used in this episode.
* Peter Hale confirms that it was his Bite that activated Lydia Martin's latent Banshee abilities and claims she was meant to be his backup plan in case he died as a result of his revenge murder spree in Season 1. He attacked her and gave her the Bite in that season's penultimate episode *Formality*.
	+ Peter also reveals and confirms several more details about Banshees, including the fact that their sense of hearing is enhanced to such a degree that they can hear things at the level of the universe that no other being can, and that their scream can be used not just to announce someone's impending/recent death, but also to clear out their auditory channels in order to allow them to focus on the specific sound they need to hear, the latter of which Lydia first demonstrated in *Galvanize* while trying to determine where William Barrow took Kira.
* Malia Tate was mentioned in this episode. She was last seen in *More Bad Than Good*.
	+ It was also revealed that Peter is Malia's biological father, and that Talia Hale (last seen in *Galvanize* in wolf form and in *Visionary* in her human and wolf forms in flashbacks) used her Alpha powers to take his memories of her existence for a yet-unknown reason. This storyline will be explored more in Season 4 and Season 5.
* Jordan Parrish is revealed to have been an HDT (Hazardous Device Team) technician while he was serving in Afghanistan in the United States Army, which will play a role in many more episodes and will be especially important in Season 5.
	+ Additionally, Jared mentions how preternaturally young Parrish looks, the first indication that Parrish may be more than he appears in the series.
* Kate Argent was mentioned in this episode. She was last seen in Allison's hallucinations in *More Bad Than Good*, and last seen in the present day in *Code Breaker*.
* William Barrow was mentioned in this episode. He was last seen in *Galvanize*.

## Trivia

* The title refers to a specific strain of lichen, or moss, known as *letharia vulpina*, or "wolf lichen." It is commonly used as a poison by mixing the lichen with raw meat and pieces of broken glass to cause the vulpinic acid to enter the bloodstream of the fox, coyote, or wolf who eats it and kills them. The specific letharia vulpina that is found by Alan Deaton in Ikeda's garden was born from the blood of the Nogitsune who possessed Ikeda's father, the Kumicho of the Japanese Yakuza clan who had an arms deal with Chris Argent in the late 1980s, making it powerful enough to use to temporarily weaken the Nogitsune possessing Stiles Stilinski.
* The Nogitsune demonstrates that he has the ability to absorb pain, just like Werewolves can, only to a much more powerful degree, which confirms what Katashi and the Nogitsune have said about Void Kitsune feeding on chaos, strife, and pain. The Nogitsune used this ability to siphon all of the pain that Scott had absorbed throughout the day from Isaac, Coach Finstock, and a dying deputy who was injured in the explosion at the Sheriff's station.
* In this episode it is revealed that Malia Tate is the biological daughter of Peter Hale. Lydia discovered this information after using her Banshee abilities to listen to the memory inside Talia Hale's claws.

## Body Count

* Katashi - unknown; killed by Nogitsune/Stiles Stilinski
* Sheriff's Deputy - bomb explosion; killed by Nogitsune/Stiles Stilinski
	+ Possibly several other Sheriff's deputies killed by the same explosion

## Locations

* Japan
	+ Ikeda's House
		- Living Room
		- Garden
* Beacon Hills, California
	+ Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital
		- Parking Lot
		- Intensive Care Unit
	+ McCall House
		- Scott's Bedroom
		- Kitchen
	+ Beacon County Sheriff's Department
		- Sheriff's Office
		- Bullpen
	+ Beacon Hills High School
		- Locker Room
		- Basement
		- Bus Bay
		- Mr. Yukimura's Classroom
	+ Beacon Hills Preserve
		- Running Trails
		- Nemeton
	+ Argent Apartment
		- Chris' Office
	+ Derek's Loft
		- Living Room
	+ Beacon Hills Animal Clinic
		- Parking Lot
		- Exam Room

## Soundtrack

* "Hold On" by William Fitzsimmons
	+ Scott and Melissa discuss Stiles before making plans to visit Isaac in the hospital. Sheriff Stilinski gets a text from Stiles telling him not to look for him.
* "Renegade (Radio Edit)" by DANK
	+ During cross-country practice, Kira realizes that one of her Kitsune abilities is super-speed and is amazed when she easily laps Danny, who is the fastest human runner on the team.
* "Dreaming of You (Svenson & Gielen Remix)" by Thrillseekers
	+ Ethan tackles Danny in the preserve and makes out with him. Kira runs so fast that Scott has to leap in the air and spin them both around just to stop her.
* "2 Thingz" by Basecamp
	+ Lydia and Allison go to Derek's loft to get help from Peter regarding Lydia's Banshee abilities
* "Apple Pie" by Cameron the Public
	+ After being shot with an arrow at cross-country practice, Coach panics and tells Stiles, Scott, and Ethan to pull out the arrow in his stomach

## Gallery

*Teen Wolf Wiki* has 46 images related to ***Letharia Vulpina***.