SLEEPY HOLLOW “Dawn’s Early Light” Review: Those Who Care Do Not Leave Things Unsaid

By Chris B.

In this week’s episode of Sleepy Hollow Pandora is tortured by The Hidden One, and accused of being like a spoiled house pet used to feasts instead of being grateful for the table scraps it should receive.

When he tires and orders her to clean herself up for more “punishment” later, she sneaks into the Masonic cell searching for bits of her box.  As it was originally forged by the gods, it is the only thing that can contain The Hidden One before he destroys all of humanity, which he will be able to do in approximately 48 hours.

The catch: it can only be regenerated in the Catacombs.

Pandora has little hope of traveling to the Catacombs since the Witnesses destroyed her hard-grown Tree of Fear, but Crane recalls that Betsy Ross’s cutlass made it there somehow, so true to the Witness mantra, there must be another way.  Abbie is understandably less than thrilled about the prospect of returning, and Crane respectfully allows her to make the ultimate decision about whether or not they choose to trust what Pandora has told them: “I know what that place did to you.  I know how hard it has been for you to recover.”

He will not force her to do what she cannot.

The team deduces that the crossing of the Delaware River by Washington and his army was actually a trip to the Catacombs, one on which Betsy Ross accompanied him, while Crane was left on shore.  The flag that she stitched before leaving, the one with the 13 stars, had been oddly laced with a golden thread.  Abbie is able to put that together with pieces of Crane’s research from the time Abbie’s absence.  The jug Crane had stolen was the one that had allowed Orpheus to locate Eurydice in the underworld, but when Orpheus wished to enter, he’d used a lyre, one strung with gold thread.  Thus, they need to get the original flag, supposedly still housed in the home of Paul Revere in Boston.

Unfortunately, the extra protection designed to keep the flag safe comes in the form of the Eternal Soldier, who now will pursue Crane and Abbie until he kills them.

While the flag at Revere’s home is a decoy, it does provide a clue to the original flag’s whereabouts via strategically placed holes in its fabric.  Joe realizes that these are musical notes that correspond to those of The Star-Spangled Banner.  Turns out Francis Scott Key was a Mason, and during the War of 1812, he secreted away Betsy’s flag and wrote the national anthem as the code to finding it in a secret chamber below a statue of Orpheus on the grounds of Fort McHenry.  Once it is found and the Eternal Soldier dispatched, they are able to put the last piece in place; thanks to the key lyrics “by the dawn’s early light,” they are able to see their path to the Catacombs.

The trip is a go.