Spear and Fang

**Spear and Fang** is the first episode of *Primal* and the first episode of the first season.

## Synopsis

Tragedy forces a caveman and a dinosaur to trust each other in order to survive.

## Plot

A caveman named Spear makes his way back home from fishing for food for his family while avoiding predators such as a giant crocodile and a pterosaur. When he finally reaches his family's den, he finds his mate, daughter, and son all being attacked and eaten by three horned theropods. Enraged, Spear prepares to take on the trio, but their gargantuan alpha appears and summons them back into the forest before they can attack Spear. A distraught Spear walks into the cave that once housed his family and angrily removes a cave painting of them. Later, he climbs a tall cliff and stands at it's edge, where he attempts suicide. Ultimately, he decides to continue living and stays the rest of the night on the cliff. As the sun rises the next morning, Spear sees a vision of his mate and children in the sun, which gives him a chance to live.

Sometime later, while hunting fish for himself to eat, Spear spots the silhouette of a Tyrannosaurus catching a mouthful of fish before retreating into a marsh. Still filled with hatred as he mistakenly believes it to be one of the horned theropods who killed his family, Spear follows the dinosaur with the plan of killing it. Upon catching up with the Tyrannosaurus, Spear is shocked as he finds out that it is a hornless female with two young offspring. Before Spear can act further, the same theropods that had killed his family arrive and attempt to kill the mother and her offspring while choosing to ignore Spear. Not wanting to see another family torn apart, Spear intervenes by helping the mother Tyrannosaurus kill the hostile dinosaurs.

With the pack now dead, the mother Tyrannosaurus's offspring approach Spear and nuzzle him affectionately for saving them while Spear smiles as he reminds them of his children. However, the moment is interrupted as the pack's alpha bursts from the marsh and attacks the group. Spear and the mother Tyrannosaurus, now known as Fang, helplessly watch as the massive alpha devours the young offspring in a single bite. After a long and brutal fight with the help of Fang, Spear manages to slay the alpha by impaling it through the brain with his spear, finally avenging both his family and Fang's children, although Fang is left distraught over the loss of her offspring.

Later, Spear wanders on a beach alone, contemplating the day's events. He is suddenly approached by Fang, who appears to want to follow him since she has nothing left. After a moment of consideration, Spear accepts Fang as his new companion, and the two decide to head off on new adventures.

## Characters

* Spear
* Spear's Mate
* Spear's Daughter
* Spear's Son
* Fang
* Fang's Offspring
* Tyrannosaurus pack
* Alpha Tyrannosaurus

## Trivia

* A test glimpse of the episode first premiered at Annecy Film Festival 2019.
* The title, like the main characters, is an homage to the Robert E. Howard short story *Spear & Fang*.
* This is the first and so far only episode that opens without a title card (excluding the show's title).

## References

1. ↑ James, Tito W. (June 19, 2019). "Annecy 2019: Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal Is A Primordial Epic Filled With Visceral Emotion". *COMICON*.

 "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"