02x01 - This is w*r

[bunniefuu]

My name is Ichabod Crane.

In 1781, I d*ed on the b*ttlefield, Now I've been awakened 250 years later in a land I no longer recognize...

Sleepy Hollow.

[Horn blares]

♪ Running through my... ♪

You were called to defend humanity from the forces of hell... we both were.

♪ And I need to fight... ♪

We need to fight with every breath that we have left.

♪ ...just to know that I'm awake ♪

I have faced horsemen without heads.

Even discovered my own son is the horseman of w*r.

Let us release our own horseman.

♪ Until we go down ♪

They've been planning this since before the birth of our nation.

What are we willing to do to keep everyone safe?

w*r isn't coming to Sleepy Hollow.

It's been here waiting all along.

Good-bye, Father.

No! No!

(panting)

Lieutenant?

(low rumbling)

Lieutenant, please.

Anyone?

♪ Happy Birthday to ya ♪

Surprise.

♪ Happy Birthday to ya ♪

It's a surprise party.

♪ Happy Birthday... ♪

I got you.

A surprise party.

And why must your era celebrate terror with dessert?

I'm sorry I couldn't find a cupcake big enough for 251 candles.

Happy Birthday.

Well, then...

I shall consider myself "punk'd."

Well, what? Do we just stare at it?

You blow it out.

Make a wish.

Oh, a wish?

Another modern tradition.

And here I thought science had won over superstition in modern America.

Very well, a wish.

I wish...

Not out loud.

Is there no end to this birthday madness?

Just wish for something good.

Given everything we've been through, we could use a little celebrating.

(rain falls on roof)

Revenge won't bring them back.

No, but it will be eminently satisfying.

(sighs)

It's been almost a year.

The future is perilous enough.

I'd rather not discuss the past, thank you.

Today of all days.

We keep avoiding it.

We avoid it because it is hard.

It is hard to believe.

It is even harder to accept.

We both lost someone we loved.

Let us leave it at that.

I just...

I don't think I would've made it without you, Crane.

Nor I you, Lieutenant.

(thunder rumbling)

(phone ringing)

(door closes)

Mills.

All right, we'll be right there.

Party's over.

Thank God.

The sheriff's department didn't say why this fellow requested our presence?

Only that he's the attending professor at the Historical Society.

Couldn't wait.

He had something to show us, thought he might be in danger.

And he specifically summoned us?

Yep.

Well, that's never good.

The Horseman.

He's back.

This is what we've been training for. You ready?

I've been ready for 200 years.

(thunder crashing)

Clear.

ABBIE: We're too late.

Professor.

"First Among Founders:

"Benjamin Franklin's Impact on Colonial America."

"Impact"?

On the scores of strumpets he crushed beneath his girth, perhaps.

I take it you knew Franklin.

I was his apprentice.

Under General Washington's insistence.

The man was insufferable.

We are talking about Benjamin Franklin?

The editor of the Declaration of Independence?

Blowhard, braggart, blatherskite and gasbag.

He had an insatiable need to prove he was the sharpest intellect in the room.

Could see how that would be hard for you.

The Horseman was looking for something.

Why would he want a history professor's research on Benjamin Franklin?

Any student of Franklin's would be as shrewd and conniving as the man himself.

Ah.

"Diligence is the mother of good luck."

And we could use a little of that right now.

Crane, down!

Consecrated rounds!

I'm all out.

Kali's arrows.

Lieutenant!

(wind whistling)

He dies tonight.

Crane!

He pays for what he took.

We can't. Look at me.

He k*lled my wife!

And my sister.

We are low on a*mo.

He was here for a reason.

We stay on mission.

(gasping)

You okay?

(softly): Yes.

We have what he came for.

Now we find out why.

And these documents are from Franklin libraries around the country.

Albany, Boston, Philadelphia.

What have we here? Boston.

These notes say he found a charcoal key rubbing in the archives at Harvard University.

That place still exists?

I know this key.

(thunder rumbling)

Franklin requested my help with his experiments on electricity.

You were there when he was out in the storm flying a kite?

Of course. I was his apprentice.

He had just returned from England, where he claimed to have infiltrated a secret society known as the Hellfire Club.

They were fixated on defeating America's quest for freedom.

And, as was typical of our Founding Father, I found him unabashedly exposed.

(Franklin speaking French)

Crane!

Just getting in a little air bath before the end of the day.

Very good.

Don't be such a prude, Ichabod.

Clearly they never taught you how to tie a knot at Oxford.

Well, I suppose I should have spent more time studying the Hellfire Club.

Study Washington, Jefferson, Adams and me.

You're one of us now.

An American.

There's a storm coming to our shores, lad.

We must be prepared to weather it.

(thunder rumbling)

Sir, please!

We must go back inside!

Not yet!

Not till this key is struck.

CRANE: What's wrong?

It failed.

This key cannot be destroyed.

I don't follow, sir.

I was hoping the fire from the heavens might neutralize it, but it's no use.

It must be secreted away.

Far from evil's grasp.

So, his experiments had nothing to do with electricity.

Indeed.

He was trying to destroy this key.

But why?

The professor's notes refer to it as the "Gehenna key."

What?

"Gehenna."

It's the name for the realm between life and death.

Also known as purgatory.

The one rule of purgatory: A soul cannot leave unless another takes its place.

Right.

Wrong.

This key can break that rule.

A loophole.

A way to release souls trapped in purgatory.

Would've been nice to have a year ago.

(bellowing)

Crane, you know what this means?

This key can let anyone or anything out.

Moloch.

Of course.

He's the guardian of purgatory.

Therefore, he is bound by the same laws.

Lieutenant, if he discovers this key, everything we've sacrificed will be for naught.

We've combed through the professor's notes.

I've gone through Corbin's files, everything in the archives.

There's nothing left about the... location of this key.

We're out of leads.

There's one option left.

I loathe even considering it.

You want to talk to your son?

If the Horseman is searching for a key to open a door to purgatory, Henry may be the only one who can tell us where it might be.

Assuming he'll tell us the truth.

He's a mastermind, Crane.

And the freaking Horseman of w*r.

I'm aware of the dangers.

He will try to prey on our vulnerabilities.

But we will not let him.

We cannot.

He is our prisoner.

You're right.

I hate this. (exhales)

Let's talk to him.

Ah, the prophesied Witnesses have come to grace me with their presence.

Hello, Father.

What have you brought me this time?

CRANE: These belonged to a history professor.

We need to know if they hold any secrets about the location of a key that belonged to Ben Franklin.

What I meant was... what have you brought me?

Oh...

Magnificent.

Funny, isn't it?

These plants have no idea that their sunlight isn't real, yet they bloom nonetheless.

A testament to the fact that anything can be tricked into believing a lie.

These documents reveal nothing.

I taste no sin.

Not even a fib.

That drawing was from the Hellfire Club, the den of sin.

Do you have any other papers?

Perhaps from your mentor, Sheriff Corbin.

He collected files on the supernatural.

Nothing about the key.

Are you sure?

Give me your hand.

Shall I read your sins?

See if you're suppressing any memories?

Sins of omission?

You want me to let you read my sins?

This is absurd.

It's in the interest of the case.

You do want to find the key, don't you?

Crane, a minute alone.

Jenny.

Pardon?

When he mentioned Corbin, I remembered.

She told me Corbin had her go to Philadelphia to acquire an important sketchbook that belonged to Franklin.

Did she tell you where it is?

No. I've never actually seen it.

Then it is a secret she took to her grave.

(gasping for breath)

You all right?

This is the strangest sensation.

All of our experiences, all of our training over the past year...

I know they happened, but I can recall no detail.

It's as if my memory... blurs... from the day Henry betrayed us.

Good-bye, Father.

No! No!

How did we capture him?

I don't remember.

Moloch brought you here for one final mission, to tell me where to find Franklin's key.

And now I know.

With your sister Jenny.

Jenny's still alive.

We're still in purgatory.

It's all a trick!

You want out?

The illusion has been shattered.

Abigail will remain in purgatory, and you will suffocate in that plain pine box I buried you in, back on Earth.

Whilst I... retrieve the key.

Crane!

You have to get out of that coffin, find Jenny and find the key.

I'll try to stop Moloch from here.

I promise you! I will return for you!

Crane!

(breathing hard)

(gasps)

JENNY: Henry.

How did I get here?

Jennifer Mills.

Don't you remember?

(g*nshots)

Just so you know, my father and your sister... all gone.

No.

Abbie said...

"Abbie said"? You sound like a child.

She used you, and she left your carcass to me.

Always a predator, that one, like your Sheriff Corbin.

He sent you to Philadelphia five years ago to acquire a sketchbook that was created during the American Revolution.

In the pages of that book was a drawing.

Of a key.

I don't know what you're talking about.

There's no use hiding the truth from me.

I am a Sin Eater.

I can taste your lie.

You don't have to tell me.

Your sins will speak for themselves.

I've done a lot of sinning.

I hope you choke on every one of 'em.

(gasps)

w*r is hell.

(birds singing)

(sniffs)

Sulfur.

(breathing hard)

(grunting)

She's finally yours, Abraham.

CRANE: Don't you dare...

No!

(neighs)

CRANE: Katrina!

(grunts)

I am not afraid of you.

(grunts)

(grunting)

(thunder rumbles)

(crows cawing)

(deep growling)

(voices wailing)

Shh.

You need to get to someplace safe before Moloch finds you.

Last time I saw you, Brooks, you were dead.

Sorry if I don't take your safety advice.

Have fun in hell.

It's purgatory, not hell, which means you still have a chance of getting out of here, but only if you listen.

(Moloch speaking Romani Greek)

Tell me, what is he doing?

Preparing to enter the earthly realm.

(speaking Romani Greek)

BROOKS: He's creating a demon army to bring with him.

A demon army?

That's why Moloch needs the key.

Every tortured soul in purgatory, fighting for the End of Days.

Unless I can help you stop this from happening.

You want to help me?

I need to warn Crane.

Katrina found some way to communicate with us when she was down here.

If you know how she did it, show me.

Come on.

And if I do not survive, I want you to know, Lieutenant, I never stopped fighting.

And... none of that recorded.

Wonderful.

It's rudimentary, but it is gunpowder.

Hear, hear for fire and brimstone.

(cell phone ringing)

(grunting)

(body thumps on floor)

(cell phone dings)

JENNY: Trapped in the export warehouse off Route 9.

Working on a way out.

(thunder crashes)

This is Moloch's lair.

It's where Katrina came.

She'd wait for him to leave, then sneak inside.

What's in there?

A mirror.

Capable of reflecting a path to the outside world.

It's how she found you... and Crane.

And how Moloch found you, too.

Just recite the incantation on the stone beneath the mirrors, then say Crane's name.

So it's like a demon hologram is basically what you're saying?

(Moloch roars nearby)

I got to go.

And I won't be here when you come out.

What do you mean?

Moloch would tear me to pieces if he knew.

But I needed to know that I still have some trace of free will left.

You remind me that I am human.

(man yells in German)

(g*nf*re nearby)

(Jenny yells)
(tires screeching)

Madam. Care for a lift?

Where's Abbie?

Purgatory.

(g*nsh*t)

(grunts)

Step on it, Crane! Reverse!

You don't know how to reverse.

No! I do...

Move!

(grunting)

Must learn to drive.

Hold on.

Holy hell, Crane. This is really happening.

As usual, the impossible becomes our reality.

If it's any consolation, in purgatory, we were led to believe you were dead.

Well, I'm glad that illusion's been crushed.

Though you did miss my birthday party.

Abbie's still trapped there, isn't she?

Let's get to the ley lines and get her out.

A living soul cannot exit purgatory unless another takes its place.

Who left with you?

Katrina.

After 200 years, she is finally out of purgatory only to be captured by the Horseman of Death.

Is there any good news?

We may have a way to reclaim your sister.

A single chance to sidestep the rules of purgatory.

Are you familiar with a sketchbook created by Benjamin Franklin?

One with a drawing of a key in it?

The very same.

Henry is looking for it.

Or at least he was until he read my sins and saw the pages.

It should still be at the archives.

Let's hope so.

It's written in some kind of code.

You still haven't learned my alphabet, have you?

There are only so many hours in the day.

Rise earlier.

The key to success lies under the alarm clock.

Learn my alphabet, Crane.

Did you know Franklin invented his own alphabet?

I did, because he forced me to study it endlessly, insisting that it was far superior to the standard 26-letter one.

I see the world rejected it.

And this tickles you because...?

This code is his failed alphabet.

Typical self-aggrandizing style, it says Franklin left the key in Sleepy Hollow with the only person he trusted.

Himself.

Benjamin Franklin isn't buried in Sleepy Hollow.

Although I have an idea of one place to look.

Oh, my God.

(growling nearby)

(bats squealing)

(muttering quietly)

(speaking Romani Greek)

Ichabod Crane.

Crane!

You're alive. (laughs)

Yes.

We are survivors, you and I.

You made it out of that coffin.

And I found your sister.

She is having a rather trying day as well.

And yours is not looking much better.

We're in Moloch's lair.

Moloch's lair.

We don't have much time.

Moloch is raising an entire demon army.

Every lost soul in purgatory, unleashed on Earth.

Moloch needs the key to unlock the door to purgatory.

A key he does not yet have.

Miss Jenny and I are on our way to retrieve it.

And we can get you out.

What if that's what they want?

We get the key for them.

That's why they tricked us into believing that a year had passed.

What if we're walking into another trap?

Maybe you don't come back.

And leave you here?

No.

Lieutenant?

I do not accept good-bye.

I need you to protect the key.

We're fighting a w*r, Crane.

Coming back for me is a risk I cannot let you take.

The Bible foretells two Witnesses.

You and I must remain together if there is any hope of victory.

The only risk, Lieutenant, is in leaving you behind.

No matter what I say, you're coming back, aren't you?

I made a promise.

We need to be prepared.

The second you open that door, Moloch and his army will do everything in their power to get out.

Katrina left you a charm to defend against Moloch. Do you have it?

I dropped it in the woods behind the church.

I'll find it.

We'll meet there.

Hold fast, Abigail Mills.

I'm on my way.

Go!

What was that?

Crane?

I've just seen your sister.

What?!

She doesn't have much time.

Jenny: Hessians.

Henry must have deciphered Franklin's alphabet as well.

Hmm.

Franklin created riddles in threes.

The first was decoding his alphabet.

The second was a clue to this location.

This is the only statue of Franklin in Sleepy Hollow.

Wait, there are more?

All over the country.

Plus the Franklin Mint, the $100 bill.

It's all about the Benjamins.

Yes. It always was.

Oh, Franklin was full of... aphorisms.

The key to success lies under the alarm clock.

"The key to success lies under the alarm clock."

Oh, the arrogant...

(hammer banging)

'Tis easy to see...

...hard to foresee.

(snarling)

(door opens)

I shall never submit to you.

What do you want?

This wasn't the introduction I had hoped for.

Abraham.

If the point of this illusion is to convince me that... that part of you still remains human, I assure you, it will not work.

I don't blame you for being confused.

You have borne so much.

We both have.

Since the day you were stolen from me.

My heart shall never belong to you.

I have given it to one man only.

Ichabod Crane will be dead by midnight.

Shh.

(sniffles)

It's okay.

The sooner you accept your fate, the sooner your life begins anew.

Tell me the incantation.

No, I do this alone.

Crane!

Miss Jenny, this is my duty as a Witness.

She's my sister.

I'm coming with you at least.

You, me and your sister, we're the only ones who know the truth about any of this.

Now, if anything should happen, if I don't return for some time...

Don't even say it.

You know the rules.

No eating or drinking anything in there.

Don't accept anything from anyone.

(sighs)

We, the penitent, with humble heart, upon this threshold do summon thee.

In mirrored form appear, a gateway to the world between worlds.

Go get her.

I need that amulet.

Where is the damn thing?!

This amulet, it will protect you from Moloch.

(whimpers)

(rumbling)

Come on.

Moloch's coming.

I need this amulet.

(crying)

I'm here.

Just as I promised.

All right.

You're all right.

(panting)

Wait.

I couldn't find Katrina's amulet.

My God, you're parched.

Here.

Drink this.

CRANE: Lieutenant!

Lieutenant, no!

(snarls)

She doesn't belong to you.

You both do now.

(grunting)

Go.

Go!

Go, quickly.

We have to go.

(panting heavily)

Are you all right?

Let's go home.

We recite the incantation, we return to your sister.

Finally, Lieutenant.

Lieutenant!

How did you know that wasn't me?

Because he didn't say "lef-tenant."

Well, I kept my promise.

Pow.

I'll show you that other part later.

(thunder rumbling, Moloch chanting)

It's Moloch.

(thunder and chanting continue)

(gasps)

Now is a good time to leave.

Couldn't agree with you more.

BOTH: We, the penitent, with humble heart, upon this threshold do summon thee.

In mirrored form appear, a gateway to the world between worlds.

(bellowing)

(horse whinnies)

(whinnying continues)

(hoofbeats)

(sighs)

(groans)

Now Moloch will never have it.

I hope we'll never need that key again, either.

(laughs)

Oh!

Welcome home!

I am so glad to see you.

(chuckles)

Heard I missed a surprise party.

(Abbie groans)

So...

Who's had a rough day?

(thunder rumbling)

Come on, we stopped Moloch from launching phase two of the End of Days.

I'd say we've earned a victory lap.

A little one.

You and I have some catching up to do.

Where to begin?

My wife is now a c*ptive of the Horseman of Death.

And the Horseman of w*r is my son.

We may have stopped Moloch today, but he is still down there.

The w*r has begun in earnest.

Today was merely an opening salvo.

They've been planning this since before the birth of our nation.

They used v*olence. They used deception.

They twisted our blood bonds for their ends.

One thing I know for sure, we're not gonna be fooled again.

This is w*r.

(snarling)

Father, my Lord Moloch.

With my heart, King.

The key is destroyed.

I could not retrieve it.

♪

As God himself declared, I bring not peace, but a sword.

Magnificent.