Vivacia gives in to her blood lust chasing a slaveship. She proves herself worthy of Kennit and sparks jealousy in both Etta and Wintrow. Althea visits Grag as we learn and discuss the worsening political events in Bingtown. Althea finally confronts her own feelings and lets Grag go after his second proposal. 

Brashen, Amber, and Althea are hard at work to scrounge up laborers to fix up Paragon. The deadline is moving closer and the ship is definitely working against them to scare everyone away. Brashen and Althea finally have an argument as tensions rise that may result in some introspection. Finally, Malta has fallen into hopelessness and seems to be weakening to a certain dragon's requests. 

We explore viewpoints on the Vivacia regarding Kennit's manipulations, the ship's first taste of piracy, Wintrow's reticence for action, and Etta's love for the pirate. Meanwhile, Althea, Brashen, and Amber have to prepare Paragon for the news that he has been sold by his family. 

With Althea home, Brashen and Amber lay out their plan to save Vivacia. Keffria, Ronica, and Althea are very skeptical of the plan to purchase Paragon, but Malta stays even-keeled. The family discusses their plans and the potential pitfalls, but ultimately agree that it's the best course of action they have. 

Althea Vestrit drives Davad back safely to his estate. She confronts his serving staff for lazyness and Davad himself with his mindset of profit over morals. She ultimately leaves with a former slave boy that Davad agrees to free. 

Althea Vestrit gets ready for the Trader meeting, hoping to plead her family's case about rescuing Vivacia from Kennit and the pirates. However, the Bingtown Traders are fairly divided on current political topics, and there is a lot of discussion about personal versus city problems. Althea leaves defeated and finds vandalism at Davad Restart's carriage. 

Wintrow confronts Kennit about his missing father, Kyle. Kennit, of course, turns the situation back on Wintrow and implies Vivacia agrees with the pirate captain, not Wintrow. Wintrow has a discussion with the ship and we discuss how far Vivacia has fallen in with Kennit. We end the episode catching up with Althea, getting ready for the Bingtown Trader Meeting. 

Captain Kennit is on the mend, and it's time to take action. He journeys out to Keyhole Island and his mother with Sa'Adar, Kyle Haven, and some former slaves in tow. We talk about Kennit's tragic backstory, his plan to get rid of his problems, and Sa'Adar's fate. 

We're reading Mad Ship by Robin Hobb, book 2 of the Liveship Traders in The Realm of the Elderlings.

We catch up with Brashen, after his meeting with the Vestrits, wallowing in despair. He decides to sleep at the one place he's welcome at, Paragon, where he meets Amber; harsh truths are revealed and he walks away. Meanwhile, Malta is sharing a dream with Reyn, asking for his help. However, a certain trapped dragon makes an appearance and introduces herself to Malta. 

We delve into Althea's reaction to Brashen and his news about Vivacia. She misses him but is still convincing herself she doesn't have feelings for him. Malta is also reacting to the news of her father, Kyle, being taken captive and enacting a plan. She meets with Cerwin Trell to garner his family's aid.