Chapter 4
Episode 4 of Tribes of Europa begins with Moses questioning Elja about the cube. However, Amena interrupts them, showing the fusion core inside which is completely fried. This means they need to visit Bracker, a treasure-collector from the South who may have what they need to replace it. Elja begins to despair though, believing he’s left his tribe behind for nothing. After agreeing to this plan, the group are unfortunately blindsided by Crows arriving at Amena’s house. While she distracts them, Moses and Elja make a break for the van and prepare to leave. On the way they stumble upon three children, who happen to be refugees from the East. Apparently they’re running from the Black Swarm, an ominous plague that apparently causes whoever to look upon it to die. Following this ominous meeting, the pair make it to Bracker’s place. His room holds numerous different TV monitors that seem to be broadcasting messages from Black December. Before Elja can dwell on this though, Bracker shows up and asks outright what they’re doing. Elja asks for a fusion module… prompting Bracker to double cross them both and take the cube for himself. In Brahtok, everyone awaits Kiano’s death sentence. Just before he’s strung up however, Varvara shows off what she found in the Volnik’s stomach, and forces Gregor to kill himself. After stringing up Linus for the wire, Kiano instead is allowed to live. He’s taken to Varvara’s private estate, a place called the Hakkar. There, he meets several men who claim to be Lubovniks. These happen to be Varvara’s “best slaves” as Kiano looks outside and notices bars on the windows. He’s essentially moved from one prison to another. Varvara invites Kiano and the other slaves down for dinner but Kiano is in no mood to eat. While the other obedient slaves are told to return to the Hakkar, Kiano is forced to undress before Lord Varvara in her chambers. Without much of a choice, she straddles him and warns that if he finishes before her, she’ll slice his head off. No pressure! Kiano arrives back in one piece, where Dewait struggles to control his growing jealousy in the wake of Varvara favouring her new slave. After, she dresses them up in some very BDSM-esque gear and attends a party with the Kapitan. This party happens to be for a new Boj being crowned. After witnessing this bloodshed, Kiano is brought back to Varvara’s chambers where he’s forced to undress again. In fact, he’s made to talk about the time his founder, Chloe, met her demise. She mentions his pain and suffering, prompting Kiano to disobey her again when he’s asked to leave. This seems to impress Varvara, who asks for the guards to leave them alone. Meanwhile, Liv gets geared up and ready to leave for Brahtok. Instead of guns, she decides to take a crossbow. Using Grieta’s knowledge, David splits the team into two groups where they concoct a plan to destroy the Wolk factories, which will cripple their economy. When their factory is blown apart, they’ll make their move. Just before they leave though, more Crimson guards arrive led by Commander Voss, who happens to be David’s father and the supreme leader here. They arrest David for high treason while Liv is forced to try and come up with a different plan.
The Episode Review
Episode 4 of Tribes of Europa grinds to a halt as we see Kiano in a new kind of prison. The interesting dynamic between him and Varvara is fun to see, although the world-building is starting to become a little blurry now. The clash of old and new technology together is the biggest culprit, with the explanation around the blackout never really explained, especially given the Crows seem to have fully functioning lights and Bracker appears to have electricity now. The story is intriguing enough to stick with for the time being, although there are already signs that this one is going to end on a cliffhanger during episode 6. The atmosphere and costume design of this show is excellent though and this does help somewhat when the script falters. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the upcoming episodes, but this one is certainly watchable enough to stick with until the end.
