Synopsis[]
The party gathers in Isaac's office to make plans for the upcoming wrestling match with The Minehead Boys and discuss the mysterious sandal-wearer upsetting the boar.
Guard expresses a willingness to go to any lengths to win the wrestling match, but is cautioned that any permanent damage to his opponent is likely to spell ruin for the town as surely as losing the match, since in order to get the millstone, they need to both win the match and maintain a functioning relationship with the Minehead Boys.
Isaac approaches Bennie about setting up an appropriate venue for the match, and finds her cleaning the last remnants of paint off the general store - paint which, later in the conversation, is revealed to be graffiti that read "STOP THE CUT."
Guard patrols the town as they wait for the Minehead Boys to arrive, and Harisa seeks out Martin, who has taken Harisa's sarcastic statement that sandals are forbidden quite literally and rounded up all the people wearing sandals - that is to say, the children - and detained them in the non-operational mill. Harisa jumps into action to liberate the children, and clarifies with Martin that it is not in fact all sandal-wearing that poses a concern, but only the specific sandal-clad individual whose footprints indicate involvement with whatever is afoot in the town and disturbing the boar. She further indicates that June's feet have been examined and found not to match the footprints.
The children seem entirely unbothered by their arrest, and in fact must be threatened with loss of Guard-climbing privileges to oust them from the mill; however, after Martin's departure, Harisa discovers that one child - Elmira - has remained behind, hidden in a pile of sawdust. Spotting an opportunity, Harisa deputizes Elmira as Rally's youngest internal spy before sending her home.
June takes the day to gather some herbs for tea in the forest, and has a peculiar interaction just after nightfall with a bright white, almost glowing gecko that fully disappears right in front of her. She remembers that years ago, she witnessed something similar, and in this moment all her uncertainties about what she'd really seen back then are dispelled. After making a brief note in her journal, she jogs back to Rally and reconvenes with Harisa.
While the two of them are in June's home brewing the tea, Harisa spots an empty can of bright orange paint and comments on June's color selection for her billboards - prompting June to realize that this particular paint is definitely not hers, and further, that a single sandal-print in bright orange paint can be found just outside her front door.
Though the new evidence is puzzling, it does not lead to any new conclusions, so Harisa pivots to teaching June about lying and cheating as an approach to handling men. She outlines a plan to thoroughly inebriate Big Paul before the match, and they head to Scrumpy's to round up some scrapsparilla as they hear the Minehead Boys approaching.
Understanding the existential threat to the town but not wanting to panic the townsfolk, Isaac has arranged a big celebration to accompany the wrestling match, including libations and "medicinal" herbs and a hog roast feast.
Isaac and Sherwood introduce Guard and Big Paul to one another, and as they discuss the rules of engagement for the wrestling match, Sherwood expresses the opinion that if one is capable of tearing their opponent limb from limb, he does not in fact consider this to be against the rules.
Harisa tries to manipulate Big Paul into over-drinking, only to discover that he does not drink - so she proposes an eating contest instead, betting that Big Paul cannot eat the entire roast pig within an hour. However, Harisa has no intention of playing fair, and sends June to surreptitiously obtain a strong laxative from the medic, which she slips into Big Paul's plate as he systematically demolishes the boar.
After Big Paul has hurriedly excused himself from the party in stomach distress, June thinks she spots a pair of the same unique wood-block sandals that have been leaving suspicious prints around, but by the time she looks again, they're gone. As she makes her rounds to bid Guard and Isaac goodnight, she secretly attaches a sign to Guard's back that reads "I fight for the trees."
A thoroughly inebriated Isaac promises June that if she can come up with a way to keep Rally afloat without logging, he'll be with her 100%, but until then they all need to get behind the acquisition of a new millstone. June acquiesces, and they reminisce a little about June's mother, Kataryn.
Guard seeks out Big Paul at the end of the night, finding him by following a series of deeply concerning sounds from the latrine, and - fully unaware of the slew of social norms he's violating - indicates his excitement for tomorrow's wrestling match in a decidedly Guard-like and unsettling manner.
The following morning, everyone gathers for the big match, and as Guard gets the upper hand, both Isaac and Sherwood clock Big Paul's ill health. Nevertheless, in the second round, Big Paul gets a hit in, so Guard - prioritizing winning - punches him hard in the kneecap, and Big Paul faints as it pops out of place.
Unrest sets in as the crowd witnesses this unsportsmanlike conduct, and just then, Guard and Harisa spot a crimson-robed monk in the crowd, wearing the wood-block sandals they've been hunting for. The monk disappears just after they clock him, and in the distance they hear the boar break through their pen and rush into the field, and the Minehead Boys rush in to start a fight over Guard's last "wrestling" move.