Chapter 2
Episode 2 of Tribes Of Europa begins in the ruined cities, as Kiano and the other Origines are taken hostage and forced into Crow territory. Specifically, he’s taken to the capital city called Brahtok. Back in the village, Liv patches up her knife-wound and sees the dead villagers carpeting the ground for herself. Her sobbing is interrupted by Crow voices in the distance as she grabs a crossbow and takes off into the woods. She blindsides this English-speaking Cow and holds her up at knife-point. She cackles, taunting Liv and telling her that the villagers have been taken to Brahtok. Liv is interrupted by the Crimson Guards arriving, dressed in soldier outfits and lead by Commander David Voss. He speaks English and German interchangeable, and his opening speech to Liv is enough for Liv to let her defences down. Which is a really bad idea, given the Corporal sneaks in from behind and knocks her out with the butt of his gun. At the same time, Elja meets a nomadic scavenger called Moses. Believing he can trust the man, Elja shows off the cube. Moses immediately becomes wide-eyed, staring at the trinket, as he asks to hold it for himself. Elja is hesitant but eventually agrees to hand it over. Moses recognizes this as an Atlantian Cube and believes it could be worth a fortune. Unfortunately, he outsmarts Elja and takes off alone. When the Crows swarm on their location, Moses eventually helps Elja out of this situation, allowing him to scramble onboard. Elja is not particularly enthused by this team-up though, especially given Moses stole the cube from him. Eventually Moses manages to convince Elja to sell the cube and make a profit as the two form a loose allegiance. At least for now. Liv awakens in Camp Ahrenberg, an outpost within the Crimson Republic. They apologize for knocking her out as she echoes the story about the crashed Atlantian ship. When they find out, the soldiers ask outright about the Cube. Liv is untrusting of them though and feigns ignorance. What she does know however, is that her people are in Brahtok and she remains determined to try and break them out. Before se can do that though, Liv is shown around camp where she learns more about these Crimson guards. They’re a military state, using order to fight for peace and trading with different clans along the way. Liv is shown a map, detailing where Brahtok is. It’s a four or five day trek on foot and in order to get there, Liv needs to cross the Newlanders and the Black Skull territory. If she makes it that far, she’ll need to somehow make it through Crow territory. In other words, there’s no easy way in. With one of the crows already captured, Liv confronts Grieta and asks why they attacked Little Praha. Grieta mentions the cube and how it’s a key to great power. She antagonizes Liv, telling her that her people will not face a nice death while being forced to work as slaves. Liv smiles and tells her about the trade she intends to conduct – Grieta’s life in exchange for the slaves.
The Episode Review
Episode 2 of Tribes Of Europa splits each of our characters up and allows for some subplots to bleed through into the story. Elja and Moses have some pretty comical interactions but one would expect them to be integral to the story moving forward. Meanwhile, we’ve got the Origines captured in the capital of Brahtak while Liv desperately tries to use Grieta’s knowledge to break in. This helps to add some urgency to the storyline, as pockets of exposition are delivered pretty well across the breadth of the story. However, there’s already some cracks being formed in the history of this world, partly thanks to the disappointingly short run-time here. Still, the post-apocalyptic vision of our world is pretty well-realized and has enough intrigue to keep you hooked for the time being.
