0:01

We hope you're enjoying Season 2 of

0:03

Impact Winter.

0:05

All episodes of Season 2 are

0:07

now available ad-free in fully

0:10

immersive Dolby Atmos, exclusively

0:13

on Audible. Visit audible.com

0:16

slash wintercontinues and sign

0:19

up for a free trial.

0:32

Welcome to the new season of Impact. Season 2

0:36

will be available in full immersive Dolby

0:38

Atmos, exclusively on Audible. All episodes of Season 2

0:41

are now available ad-free in fully immersive Dolby Atmos,

0:44

exclusively on Audible. Visit audible.com

0:46

slash wintercontinues and sign up

0:49

for a free trial. All episodes of Season 2 are now available ad-free in fully

0:51

immersive Dolby Atmos, exclusively on Audible.

0:55

A sweet hope of

0:57

glory in my soul. Look

1:00

at me, Baruch. Who am

1:03

I? You're

1:05

the wife. Whose wife am I?

1:08

Queen's wife. I am

1:10

the Empire's wife. The

1:12

only Empire left. Where

1:15

have you sent your daughter? I haven't sent

1:18

her anywhere. She is free to

1:20

move about as she desires.

1:23

Where is she hiding? I do not know. What

1:25

is she planning? I do not know. We

1:27

are trying to protect her, Baruch. She

1:30

is a rare and powerful thing. The

1:32

first anointed one in three centuries. Help

1:35

us locate her before she's further radicalized.

1:38

I haven't the slightest idea of what you're... You deny

1:40

any knowledge of the Lindisfarne text? I haven't heard

1:42

of this. You deny any knowledge of the Winter Child?

1:45

I have never heard of this.

1:49

Why did Calistrata believe otherwise? Only

1:52

she knows. And she is dead. Who

1:55

killed her, Baruch? I told you all

1:58

of this. You have lied to us! I want the

2:00

truth! I want the truth! I killed her! Your

2:02

daughter killed Kalistrata! We have the

2:04

footman's testimony! Kalistrata

2:08

is the one who attacked us. She believed

2:11

you were plotting against the Queen. Why?

2:14

Tell me. I do not recall. Your

2:17

memory leaves much to be desired. I haven't

2:19

felt in some time. There's

2:21

a human sitting in your cell. That

2:24

human is my Sion's own

2:27

sister. Is that right? Well,

2:31

that puts you in a difficult position. Perhaps

2:35

you need more time to decide where your loyalties

2:37

lie. Give

2:39

him another injection. As you

2:41

wish, your grace. If

3:03

you told them, this would all

3:06

be over. There's nothing to

3:08

tell. You don't honestly expect

3:11

anyone to believe you simply don't know

3:13

where your Sion is. Do you know

3:15

where your Maker is? Careful.

3:17

Look. How long

3:19

has she been missing now? It

3:22

must be almost 20 years? The

3:24

Queen does not keep appointments. She

3:27

comes and goes as she pleases. Still,

3:31

a decade into the winter and she's not shown her

3:33

face, do you really

3:35

think no one's noticed? You

3:38

really think they're not talking? Do not

3:40

test our friendship look. You

3:43

are lucky they haven't entombed you at the bottom of

3:45

the Adriatic. Day 3

3:48

in this horror place, with little to my name, but the clothes

3:55

on my back. back

4:01

a tiny notebook and this nub

4:03

of a pencil. It's

4:08

a pain in the ass but I'm writing it down. Mostly

4:12

to keep sane, to know that this

4:14

is real. I read

4:16

somewhere that words are jumbled in dreams.

4:23

In you go. Brooke! Keep

4:27

back. What have you done

4:29

to him? You should eat your stew,

4:31

little one. Before the rats get

4:34

to it. I'll pass,

4:36

thanks. Careful,

4:40

child. Hunger will drive

4:43

you mad. Isn't

4:45

that right, Brooke?

4:51

What was that? What did he mean? Nothing.

4:54

Don't worry about it. You told

4:57

me you'd fed. I have. When?

5:01

Look, if you need blood... No, don't. Why

5:04

not? Because

5:07

if I take a drop, I'll take all of it. And

5:11

that's the idea, is it? That's why I'm in here

5:13

with you. God,

5:17

there must be some way out of here. I'm

5:20

open to suggestions. How

5:23

often does he come back? It was

5:25

any more than that much think of a pencil you've got

5:27

to stake him. What is he,

5:29

an overlord? He's a royal in Carnata. A

5:33

what? A shade, who

5:35

was turned by the queen. Practically

5:38

an overlord as far as you're concerned.

5:41

What about you? You're the real thing.

5:44

I'm in rather poor shape

5:46

at the moment. But you've got powers

5:48

he doesn't, yeah? They

5:51

have ways of muting our powers. Like

5:53

how?

5:54

Uh... What?

6:00

We don't discuss such things with

6:02

outsiders. Feels like we're both outsiders

6:04

here. Fine.

6:07

Keep your bloody secrets. Colloidal

6:13

silver. I'm sorry? They've

6:15

injected me with a solution of silver. It

6:19

temporarily takes away our higher

6:21

order abilities.

6:25

And the preceptor? Is he like you? Would

6:27

silver take him down? Yes.

6:31

But I doubt there's enough in my blood to make a pin much

6:33

less a stake. Besides, he's

6:36

too quick. You'd never get close enough to hurt him.

6:39

You're in pain. I'm fine.

6:42

When will it wear off? Not until I can

6:44

feed again.

6:46

Right.

6:53

He scares me, Rook. He

6:56

doesn't try to. He seems like a decent

6:59

man, but he's still the one vampire

7:01

in all the world who managed to kill my sister.

7:05

I've tried not to fall asleep, but

7:08

it's getting harder to stay awake. And the

7:10

longer I go, the more it feels like I'm not really

7:12

here at all.

7:21

Hope. Hope. Hey.

7:24

Lydia? Be

7:26

still. Lydia, what are you doing here? It

7:29

came to find you. Who's we? I'm

7:31

with your sister. She needs

7:34

you, Hope.

7:34

I don't feel so weak. Here.

7:39

Drink this.

7:49

Ah, what is that? What

7:51

did it taste like?

7:53

It tasted like... blood.

7:56

That's so strange. It

7:59

was... You taste like sunlight. Lydia,

8:04

have you been turned? Would

8:06

it surprise you that the people

8:08

you die for would die

8:09

for you? Yeah,

8:12

you're not Lydia. No, but

8:15

you know me. Who are

8:17

you? I am the well you draw

8:20

from when all else is dry. What's

8:25

happening? Am I gonna die here?

8:28

No hope.

8:30

You can't. Hope

8:32

never dies.

8:34

Good

8:39

morning.

8:42

I was asleep. It

8:44

was bound to happen sooner or later. Was

8:47

I here the whole time? Yes. Why?

8:51

No reason. Who's

8:55

Lydia? What? You

8:57

talk in your sleep. I was

8:59

having a dream. I think it was a dream. I don't know.

9:03

It's hard to know what's real. This is real.

9:05

Maybe. Maybe they're toling around in my head again.

9:07

How would I even know? I

9:11

asked you where your sister is. You

9:16

know, do you? Right.

9:22

Sorry. Lydia's

9:25

a... she's a friend. No,

9:29

no, no. She's

9:32

more than that, Julie. I

9:34

kissed her the day I was captured. I

9:40

kissed her and I told her I'd be back.

9:43

Well, perhaps you will. We

9:47

both know how this ends. You need blood. I've

9:49

got it at some point. At some point,

9:52

but not yet. Why do you

9:54

hold back? You'd rather

9:56

I didn't. I'm just trying to understand.

9:58

You're in pain, trapped. You don't know me

10:00

at all. You could have just taken me in my sleep

10:02

just now, drunk up. You'd

10:05

have your powers back, you'd be free. And you'd

10:07

be dead. That matters to you, does

10:10

it? You, uh, care for

10:12

this girl, Lydia? Yes.

10:16

Would you kill someone she loves just to get

10:18

out of this cell?

10:20

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to

10:22

offend you. You seem like an honourable man. No,

10:24

I'm an ordinary man. Do

10:27

you care for Darcy the way I care for Lydia? She's

10:31

my son. It's fucked.

10:34

Putting us in here like this, forcing you to betray

10:36

her.

10:39

They know what they're doing. Day

10:55

four. Rook puts on a

10:57

strong face, but I recognise

10:59

the look in his eyes. The same

11:01

look Penelope had off the weeks of drinking

11:03

rat blood.

11:04

It

11:06

won't be long now. But

11:08

maybe there's a way to make it work in our favour.

11:19

There is one idea we should probably talk

11:21

about. What's that? The

11:25

one where I die... and

11:28

come back. I'm

11:30

not sure your sister would like that plan.

11:33

She's not here. And

11:36

you'd roll the dice, would you? Risk

11:40

coming back as some... ravening

11:43

beast.

11:45

Is that what I'd be? A blighter?

11:50

What makes you think I can tell? I've

11:54

been around enough vampires to know they see something special

11:56

in me. It's

12:02

a kind of light. It's uh... it

12:05

is special. I've

12:08

only seen it once before. My

12:10

sister? Yeah. What

12:12

does it mean for me? I

12:16

don't know. Do

12:19

you really want to find out? It

12:21

might be your only choice. Doesn't

12:25

work like that I'm afraid. The

12:28

change won't take unless you truly

12:30

want it desperately in

12:33

your soul. Any

12:35

doubt and you'd simply die.

12:39

Then I'd die. I

12:45

used to want it. You

12:47

should have asked me sooner. I almost did.

12:52

You were there weren't you? By the ruined abbey

12:54

when I first came to the Vale. You saw me

12:56

there. It

12:59

was a bold invitation. I

13:02

was tempted. What stopped you? I

13:06

watched your sister for years. You

13:09

were young, new to me. An

13:11

unknown quantity.

13:14

So in some other world I'm the winter

13:17

child. In

13:19

some other world perhaps. Lucky

13:22

you I'd have been a fucking handful. Your

13:24

sister was no walk in the park. Tell

13:27

me about her. She's

13:29

your sister. You know her better than I

13:31

do. Well then you her. You

13:34

were there for the start of her whole other life.

13:37

I can't remember the last time I'd been away from her so long

13:39

as that.

13:40

There was a moment

13:43

that's been

13:45

on my mind since you turned up. It

13:48

was shortly after her first kill. And

13:51

Jory. Yeah. She

13:54

was still processing it all. Leaving

13:57

on long walks I'd follow her carefully.

13:59

to keep my distance. She

14:02

didn't like to feel worried after. Oh

14:04

shit. Once

14:08

I found her venturing into the city,

14:10

the train station

14:11

in Exeter. I

14:25

can feel your presence, you know that

14:27

right? Sorry,

14:30

I didn't mean to intrude. And

14:33

yet you keep following me like

14:36

you think I'm looking for a guillotine to stick

14:38

my head in. It can be difficult.

14:42

The first life you take. Relax.

14:46

I'm fine. Just

14:50

reminiscing. You've

14:53

been here before, have you? Not

14:56

since the comet hit. My

14:58

mum died a few blocks away. Clipped

15:02

by a lorry in all the chaos. Was

15:04

this the train you were on? It

15:06

was, yeah. They

15:10

were holding us at the station. Nobody

15:13

knew why. Jepp was on the phone,

15:16

over there. He came back

15:18

in and told us the comet had hit.

15:21

We needed to get to shelter. We left in such

15:24

a hurry. Mum didn't

15:26

even think to grab her handbag. It's

15:29

still right here, where

15:31

she left it.

15:37

A photograph? Yeah.

15:41

You're young. I'm

15:43

surprised you recognise

15:44

me. I barely

15:46

recognise myself. I

15:48

recognise the look on your face. Yeah,

15:51

it's annoyance. Mum

15:56

always wanted nice photos of us. Paid

15:58

a photographer to follow us around. on Battersea Park.

16:01

I was so over it. Hope's

16:04

trying, bless her. With

16:08

that vaguely panicked smile.

16:14

Is this what you came here for? I

16:17

don't have any photos of her anymore. They

16:20

were all back at the castle. Who

16:23

missed that? Did you

16:25

have siblings?

16:26

One

16:28

that I knew very well. They

16:32

changed you. I

16:35

was a feather when she was born. Breeze

16:37

would have knocked me over. But

16:40

she made me the older one. The

16:43

strong one.

16:44

Look after

16:46

your sister. That's

16:48

the last thing mum said. She

16:52

still believed you failed her. I

16:59

can almost see her sitting here. Glued

17:02

to the window, knees bouncing like she had

17:04

firecrackers in her sandals. Like

17:07

she'd been waiting the whole of her short little life

17:09

to hit that beach. She'll

17:15

get there. As

17:17

long as she's alive, I've kept

17:19

my promise. That

17:21

girl will see the sun again,

17:23

so help me God. Even

17:26

if I won't.

17:27

She's

17:30

my home.

17:46

That's why I hold back. You'll

17:49

destroy her if anything would have happened to you. As

17:53

sure as an axe to the neck.

17:56

Yeah. We

18:00

have to get out of here. Still

18:06

thinking of ways to get the drop on our capture. What

18:10

makes you say that? You're staring

18:12

rather intently at your boots. Do

18:14

you like them? I suppose. They

18:18

belong to a friend of mine, Penelope.

18:22

Not really my style, but she promised they'd

18:24

be more practical than the pink trainers I had.

18:26

Penelope, where does

18:28

that name sound familiar? She's

18:31

our resident vampire at the castle. She

18:33

was a spy back in the day. Ah, yes. The

18:36

one who killed her maker. Yeah,

18:39

that's her. I once asked

18:41

her how she managed it. Killing an overlord.

18:44

What did she say? You know what?

18:47

It sounded so ridiculous that I thought she was

18:49

joking. What

18:54

are you doing? See, Brooke, I

18:56

think you're underselling it. I think

18:58

you love my sister. Why

19:01

are you taking off your boot? And

19:04

even though you'd never put yourself in the position to

19:06

test it, I think you'd die before you hurt

19:08

her. And so you'd die before you hurt

19:10

me. Now, where

19:12

is that fucking... Ah,

19:16

here we are.

19:18

You had a knife in your boot.

19:20

Yeah, I got an idea. What

19:23

are you doing? What sort of idea? Kind of

19:25

a mad one. It's all good, though. Just

19:27

try very hard not to kill me when you see it. When

19:30

I see what? My blood.

19:33

Hope. No. It

19:55

is you. You have been standing at the

19:57

windows so long I thought you were a statue.

20:00

I'm thinking. You

20:03

worry too much. It's been

20:05

handled. Our hold

20:08

is slipping, Belo. Did

20:10

you ever take Baruch for a radical? Finur maybe,

20:12

but Baruch? He is just protecting

20:14

your scion. We must find her.

20:18

She is not the first usurper

20:21

to come for us. This

20:23

one is different, Belo. Do

20:25

not tell me that even the wife

20:28

believes these ridiculous stories

20:30

of the Winter Child.

20:32

I've been around long enough to have seen my

20:34

share of strangeness. You're older

20:36

still. Even so, I will

20:38

give no quarter to the raving of a Christian

20:41

monk. The quick have

20:43

no such insight.

20:46

They don't know us. They can't

20:49

know us. She killed Callistrata

20:51

with a bite. There's

20:53

only one other twice-born who can do that.

20:56

There is still only one, as

20:58

far as I'm concerned. Until

21:00

we can verify the footman's account.

21:04

What's really bothering you, Edusio?

21:10

Amaika. It

21:12

still unnerves me that I can't sense her. It

21:15

is not the first time Her Majesty's

21:17

disappeared. You know

21:20

how she covets her solitude.

21:21

It's rarely been so long. I

21:24

can't remember my last words to her. They

21:27

won't be the last. You

21:30

think she's dead? Is that what

21:32

you think? I don't know. Stop.

21:36

The Queen will return to us.

21:38

She always does.

21:40

What if she doesn't? What

21:42

if she can't? What if she's

21:45

sealed herself away somewhere, holding

21:47

the dark up with her mind until the end of time?

21:50

We will see that she is protected,

21:53

and that her effort is not

21:55

squandered.

21:56

And how much longer will they accept our authority

21:59

without her showing up? Knowing her face, this

22:01

winded child business could be just the first of

22:03

many revolts. Then

22:06

we will break it. And all who

22:08

follow, as surely as we have broken,

22:10

all who have gone before.

22:13

Then let's break it now. Have

22:15

the preceptor bring both Bahrukh and the Dunraven

22:17

girl to the chamber. What

22:20

do you intend to do? I'm

22:23

going to do what she would do. The

22:33

The The The The The

22:36

The The The Ask not

22:38

for whom the bell tolls, dear Rook. You

22:43

and the girl have been summoned. Sounds

22:46

like the wife has grown impatient with

22:48

your defiance.

22:49

Ah!

22:54

I see we'll only be needing one chair. I

22:57

told her I wouldn't be able

22:59

to stop. I

23:02

tried to warn her. I

23:04

tried to warn her. Calm

23:07

now, Rook. The way

23:09

she smelled, I'm impressed you

23:11

lasted as long as you did. You

23:16

made me do this, Bradshaw. I

23:18

don't want to hurt anyone.

23:20

Now you remember

23:22

that. She is food,

23:24

look. You cannot hurt your food. I

23:28

wasn't talking about her. Hello

23:30

there.

23:37

See there. Told you it was real silver. Silver

23:39

knife in a bit. You're right. It

23:41

did sound ridiculous. Well,

23:43

she was a spy in the 50s, so... How

23:46

do you feel? Did I take too much? No,

23:49

it was a good show, but we were just waiting for her. I

23:53

was always you, but I'll live. That was a risky

23:55

move. Pleading yourself in front

23:57

of a hungry vampire. I knew you'd

23:59

stop. yourself well that makes one

24:01

of us maybe give me some warning

24:04

next time deal now come on let's

24:06

get out of here wait what are you doing

24:08

you'll just wake up when they take the silver

24:11

out we have to finish him but

24:13

we don't have anything to call

24:17

this yeah or

24:19

you could just pull his head off right

24:23

good life hack yeah take the silver

24:26

we may need it later got

24:28

it

24:54

you

24:59

we hope you're enjoying season 2 of

25:02

impact winter

25:04

all episodes of season 2 are

25:06

now available ad-free in fully

25:08

immersive Dolby Atmos exclusively

25:11

on audible visit audible.com

25:15

slash winter continues and sign

25:17

up for a free trial