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Elena struggles with nightmares after the assassination attempt. At the memorial, she decides to expand the pilot program. She offers Celeste co-administrator role for Western Province and arranges for Aria to learn practical governance.
Maya faces forty families in a four-hour video conference, sharing unredacted files and bearing every accusation. Robert Volkov agrees to conditional participation.
Coordinated economic warfare as traditionalist nobles embargo taxes, Valdris suspends trade, merchant guilds withdraw. Elena responds by granting Northern Province independence, forcing them to fund their own governance. Aldric arrives to navigate diplomatic crisis.
Synchronized exposure of three corrupted cells. Ashworth sacrifices Sao Paulo and Cape Town to save Sydney. Sarah Morrison guides Echo through ASIS extraction using her cop instincts — channeling old skills into legitimate framework. Lily calls about Chen, Maya lets her go.
Elena and Celeste negotiate the pilot program for democratic councils. They form an alliance, propose the plan to contentious council meeting, and Elena writes to Aldric hoping for reconciliation.
Lily receives David Chen's signed confession letter naming the Board and its eight-agency network. She calls Maya, who connects it to Sage's and Iris's investigations. Maya argues keeping Chen alive for testimony could expose the entire Board conspiracy.
Aldric arrives to discuss Celeste's proposals. Tense breakfast confrontation reveals deep philosophical divide. Aria debates her father about democracy. Elena convenes study committee and commits to transformation despite fear.
Chen arrives with arrest warrants drafted by Ashworth but uses Maya's intelligence briefing to secure expanded authorization instead. His personal sacrifices are visible - burned relationships, exhaustion, trembling hands. Alliance saved with 30-day review and 60-day kill switch conditions.
Celeste formally presents her democratic reform proposals to the packed council, skillfully using Elena own philosophy against her. The council divides along factional lines. Elena establishes a three-month study committee while Aria privately pressures her mother to act.
Sarah recognizes MI6 elimination teams surrounding her London cell. Seoul cell offers extraction but cannot reach Rachel in Shoreditch. Rachel is killed during breach.
Elena faces philosophical challenges from daughter Aria about hereditary succession. Celeste Harwick proposes democratic reforms. Elena recognizes she may need to give up power, terrified but determined.
Iris Sawyer receives a warning call giving her 48 hours, but discovers the kill team is already outside. She uploads everything to Maya in a desperate race against the breach.
