John crouches in his sizzling cage, collapsing onto his knee. He stands, looks up, and sits again, staring at his burnt palm, and finally falls onto his face. Parallel structure, such as it is: the world will have its flesh. They're both in it. John in his cage is D'Argo in his fear and rage; D'Argo facing Macton is John facing the next level in the game: subjugation to the Scarran.

D'Argo kneels beside Lo'Laan as Macton approaches: "Ka D'Argo. Time to revisit your memories." D'Argo asks what happened to Katoya, and I admit I laughed at Macton's response: "I refocused his energies." Lo'Laan looks up at D'Argo. Macton says hello to his sister. D'Argo hisses and attacks; Macton easily knocks him down. Macton stands in D'Argo's kitchen, over Lo'Laan's body. "Welcome home: the scene of the crime." D'Argo hisses. "The scene of your many crimes," Macton taunts him, and D'Argo gives him exactly what he wants, punching him in the face. Macton becomes Lo'Laan as D'Argo rears back to hit her again. She cries out, and he stops, to touch her hair. It's not Lo'Laan he was hitting, it was his own rage. Macton becomes Lo'Laan becomes Macton, but it's really just D'Argo, now and forever: fear and hate and self-denial. "Just like before," Macton says, and D'Argo protests that it never happened. Macton hits D'Argo, dropping him to the floor of the arena. "Go ahead, hit her," says Lo'Laan, arms akimbo, and approaches him. He pulls himself up. Her voice becomes Macton's: "Never a problem for you when she was alive." D'Argo says he never meant to, and Macton, who is Lo'Laan, who is Macton, who is D'Argo: "Aww." Lo'Laan exposes her bruised leg, her bruised arm, her wounded neck. "Never meant to do this?" D'Argo pants, giving himself the excuse of hyper-rage. Lo'Laan speaks in Macton's voice: "It was you." It was Harvey, it was Harvey's Lovely Assassin. It was Zhaan with eyes gone red. "Because you couldn't control yourself. Because you were weak!" Macton hits D'Argo heavily in the face again; what I wouldn't give for some fucking spider soup right now.