Shadow of Fate

**Shadow of Fate** is the twelfth episode of *Primal* and the second episode of the second season.

## Synopsis

Spear and Fang get separated in a strange new land.

## Plot

Since washing up on a new beach, Fang has continued to wait in-case Spear washes up. A crackling noise from the forest behind her attracts her attention, and she goes to investigate. On her way, she mistakes a mossy branch for Spear, then sees another dinosaur-shaped object run past, prompting her to search around a large rock formation. She discovers a fresh set of unfamiliar tracks, and encounters a red Tyrannosaurus, but he runs off. She follows the rocks, but is unable to find the new dinosaur.

Elsewhere, Spear has washed up on the same island, but nowhere near where Fang did. A trio of humanoid figures approaches him and carries him off the beach, heading in-land. Fang and Red are competing to hunt an arsinoitherium, and whilst both are successful in catching it, Red submits and releases the catch before turning to walk away. Fang throws a chunk of meat his way, before the two share their catch.

Spear wakes up completely submerged in mud in a strange hut, decorated with dried animal carcasses and eyeballs. As he goes to move, he experiences a sudden sharp pain in his right arm, which is revealed to have broken during the fight with the shark the day before. As he stands back up, a one-eyed woman startles him, causing him to knock over some bottles and starting a small, purple fire. He escapes after tackling a local warrior, but is quickly pursued through a Celtic-esque village by a small horde of warriors, who he is able to single-handedly defeat. Eventually they corner him in a ruined house, but the Celts' leader intervenes and provides Spear some food and water, thereby proving they mean him no harm.

Meanwhile, Fang and Red are travelling together and find a fruit tree, and begin eating from it. Some fruits on the ground have fermented, however, and after consuming a large amount of the fermented fruits, the two become intoxicated. Back in the Celts' village, Spear's wounds are being treated by the local healer with a combination of snapping the arm into place, hot reeds from a fire, and dung smeared into the new lacerations. The healer blows a pink powder in his face, putting him to sleep.

Deeper into the forest, Red and Fang are continuing to bond, whilst Spear is invited into the Celt Leader's home. Red and Fang find a cliff to sleep on for the night, while Spear manages to bond with a local village dog. The following morning, Red leads Fang through the mist through a series of spiked wooden posts, before revealing the Celtic village. Red begins attacking local villagers and Fang joins in, only for Spear to emerge from a house to see her with a pair of legs dangling from her mouth.

Red goes to charge at Spear, though Fang blocks him from doing so, and Spear halts more locals from attacking. Unaware that Red and Fang have bonded, he jumps on her back, only to be thrown off but also saved from being attacked further by Red.

A tense three-way standoff begins before quickly erupting into full-on combat. Fang is knocked out by flying debris, preventing her from interfering with the fight, which only becomes more intense, as the villagers soon join in on Spear's side against the dinosaur. Multiple houses are destroyed, including the healing woman's house, which causes a small explosion, launching Spear and Red to their final battleground.

Spear is wounded many times by Red, and even comes close to being killed by him, but Fang once again, saves him. Fang defeats Red by giving him a powerful jump-kick into some spiky wooden debris, fatally skewering him. Fang seems almost regretful for him, and even comforts Red as he bleeds to death. A wounded Spear witnesses this, and he too becomes saddened of the whole ordeal, although perhaps for different reasons. The chief speaks to Spear, but he leaves with a visibly depressed Fang, back into the forest.

## Characters

* Spear
* Fang
* Red
* Celtic Tribe
	+ Celtic Chief
	+ Celtic Healer

## Trivia

* This episode marks the spoken use of another real-world language since "Slave of the Scorpion". In this case, it is Gaelic.
* Since bonding with Spear, Fang has learned to be more accepting and welcoming of strangers in her life, as illustrated in her meeting with Red. During the events of "River of Snakes", Fang would have had initially horded any food for herself. By contrast, in this episode she shares her meal of the hunted arsinoitherium with Red, whom she just met, and even works in tandem with him to collect and eat fruit.
* Fang and Red are shown eating fermented fruit in this episode and subsequently entering an inebriated-like state. In nature some animals have been known to consciously devour rotten fruit for this purpose, mostly primates, elephants, boars, other ruminants and birds. It has been speculated that human ancestral species had first discovered fermentation through the same method as Fang and Red had in the episode.
* In the following episode, Fang is shown grieving over Red. Two episodes after that, in "Vidarr", Fang's relationship with Red is further explored and she ends up carrying his legacy through a new family.
	+ A couple of white birds appearing at the beginning and the end of this episode are used to further emphasize Fang's growing friendship with Red. In the opening moments of the episode the two birds are shown fighting over an earthworm for food, but during the final scenes the two share a nest together, with one of them bringing the other a worm to eat.

## Gallery

 "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"