WARNING: The following contains spoilers for American Gods Season 3, Episode 10, “Tears of the Wrath-Bearing Tree,” which aired Sunday on Starz.
Last week on American Gods, Laura Moon accomplished what she set out from the start of the season, killing Mr. Wednesday with Gungnir. Killing a god was bound to have repercussions for a mortal, and Laura has to face the consequences of her action in the Season 3 finale, “Tears of the Wrath-Bearing Tree.”
Laura was planning on killing Wednesday no matter what at the start of the season, despite the odds being stacked against her. She tried to resurrect Sweeney so he could get Gungnir out of his hoard, but that only led to her dying yet again. When she came back to life, she then turned to Mr. Ibis and Shadow for any useful information on Wednesday, but neither were able to truly help.
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While Salim stood by Laura’s side throughout her quest for vengeance, he isn’t a killer, so her only real “help” is from the New Gods. Mr. World agrees to give her the resources necessary to kill Wednesday, and he also offers her, Salim and Shadow protection for a limited window of time after she completes the job. At the end of Episode 9, he seems to stay true to his word, with Mr. World’s men pulling Laura away from Czernobog before he could deliver a deadly blow.
While Mr. World saved Laura in Episod 9, in Episode 10, things are not looking up for her. The purpose of having Laura kill Wednesday was to avoid any backlash from the Old Gods, since Laura killing Wednesday would look like a personal attack. However, Mr. World needs to keep up appearances, so he’s handing over Wednesday’s remains to the Old Gods, forcing Laura to stay in the hotel the hand off is taking place in.
Laura thinks this puts her at risk since Wednesday’s allies are here, but Mr. World assures her that no god can harm her here. He also insists she stay in her room so the others do not think there was collusion. Again, Laura sees fault in this since she’s already in Mr. World’s custody, but the New God tells her he’ll lie to the Old Gods about torturing her, believing that they will buy his deception.
Laura goes stir crazy and sneaks out of her room through the vents. She ends up in the room with Wednesday’s body and hides under the table as Shadow, Wednesday’s allies and Mr. World hash out what should be done about her. When Mr. World says that they just want to respect the Norse traditions of the dead, Czernobog demands Laura face her consequences out of respect for Wednesday.
Unsurprisingly, Mr. World turns on Laura, claiming that he agrees that no mortal should act against a god like she has, but he adds that it needs to be Wednesday’s son who avenges him, in accordance to Norse traditions. Sadly, Mr. Ibis confirms this is the case, and Shadow requests Mr. World hand Laura over.
While Mr. World’s men find Laura and drag her to Czernobog and Shadow, she isn’t going down quietly. She reveals to Wednesday’s allies that Mr. World recruited her to kill Wednesday in hopes that they’d avoid war. Mr. World tries to play innocent, but Laura reminds them all that it would’ve been impossible for her to get Gungnir without a god’s help.
Given the special hotel they’re at, the gods cannot hurt one another, even though Czernobog tries to bash in Mr. World’s head. While the Old Gods have to figure out their next steps against the New Gods, Shadow is dealing with Laura right here and now. While he could kill her, like Czernobog wants, Shadow instead declares himself Wednesday’s successor, and since Laura doesn’t believe in him, Shadow lets Laura go free. She remarkably survives her day of reckoning, despite Mr. World throwing her under the bus and Czernobog being out for blood.
Based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, American Gods stars Ricky Whittle, Emily Browning, Bruce Langley, Yetide Badaki, Ian McShane, Omid Abtahi and Ashley Reyes. The series airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Starz.
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