The episode opens when the mark vanishes and one person confronts the other—now a ruler—asking if blind loyalty still holds. The ruler tries to restore buried memories but insists he never wanted to return to the past, only to make the truth clear: the pain wasn't caused by the mark. Flashback reveals a vow at sixteen to become lord and knight and change the North. That promise curdled into betrayal when the new ruler used Mental Power to torture them, forcing kneeling outside the palace while screams echoed for six hours. With that history exposed, loyalty hangs unresolved as a choice looms.