Title: Sacrifice (Go to glossary for definition)

Original Airdate: July 3, 2001
Season: 1
Episode: 4

Writer: Richard C. Okie
Director: David S. Jackson

Music:
Saboteur - Kid Gloves 1. 56K 2. 56K 3. 56K 4. 56K
Signs - Five Man Electrical Band [Lyrics] 56K
Demon Called Deception - Grant Lee Buffalo 56K
Cathain - Grant Lee Phillips 1. 56K 2. 56K
Stuck in this Hell - Black Toast 56K
Bullet - Fluke 56K
Green Eyed Lady - Sugarloaf 56K
Honey Don't Think - Grant Lee Buffalo 56K

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Guest Stars:
Nestor Serrano as Captain Bruno Dante
John Hensley as Gabriel Bowman
Kim De Lury as Conchobar
Paulino Nunes as Brian??

Irons is looking at a large open book in his office.

A druid is in a dark, rat infested warehouse. A woman is lying on a stone table. He carves a circular symbol on the wall and then stabs a large stone dagger into the woman's chest.

Sara and Jake arrive at the crime scene. The 40 to 45 year-old victim has strangulation marks on her neck and a large deep wound on her chest. Jake asks whether it's vampires.

Jake is outside the warehouse interviewing the security guard (Brian Reilly) who reported the crime. Brian calls out to the woman who had walked passed them and tells her not to go in. The woman, Iona McCleary, knows Brian and runs a soup kitchen nearby. She is concerned that the victim may be one of theirs. Jake asks her for a list of names of the men who were there the night before, but she refuses and tells Jake that her mission is a sanctuary and that the men are homeless, not evil.

Sara's bracelet glows. She looks up and sees the symbol carved on the wall. Sara's clairvoyant abilities kick in, and she sees flashes of the druid and of a sword fight. She asks a crime scene investigator to take a picture of the symbol.

Sara shows Gabriel pictures of the symbol on the wall from the murder scene. Gabriel tells her that it is rune, Gaelic and old. Gabriel also has info on the Witchblade. The blade was once in the private collection of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was an avid collector of objects of power. One of his own SS lieutenants stole it to give to his mistress.

Sara is at the station's gym. Danny appears and tells her that she needs other skills more urgently. Jake walks in and thinks Sara is talking to herself since he can't see Danny. Sara, already annoyed, asks Jake what he wants. Jake tells her that she has a visitor.

Gabriel is the visitor. He's come to tell Sara that an Irish rocker named Conchobar uses the same symbol that was carved on the wall. Conchobar sells out every show, but Gabriel has tickets.

Conchobar is performing at a club. Ian is also in the club. Sara and Gabriel walk in. Gabriel leaves Sara's side to talk to someone he recognized from a previous show. Conchobar sees Sara and can't seem to take his eyes off her. Someone walks by a young woman's table and spikes her drink. After finishing the song, Conchobar walks over to Sara. He tells her that he knows her before she even introduces herself. Sara tells him about the murder and his symbol on the wall, but he doesn't seem too serious or concerned. He walks back up on stage and sings an unfinished song about Cathain. The young woman unknowingly drinks the spiked drink and leaves. The Witchblade on Sara's wrist glows. The druid ties the young woman on a stone table and sacrifices her in a warehouse.

Sara has a dream of Cathain and Conchobar practicing sword fighting.

Sara is at Dante's office. He tells Sara that her case isn't a homicide and that the the 40 to 45 year old woman from the crime scene was already dead. She was stolen from a morgue. Dante tells her that it isn't human sacrifice and that she should drop the case. When Sara disagrees, he gives her an attitude.

Sara leaves Dante's office and receives a phone call from Irons. Irons tells Sara that he has info about her case and that she should come over. Sara goes over to his office and sees a large book opened to Cathain's legend. Sara starts to read it. Cathain was a war goddess who lived in isolation and fought off everyone who tried to approach her. The crown prince Conchobar convinces her to teach him to fight, and they fall in love. He eventually ascends the thrown and begs Cathain to lead his armies. Cathain agrees and leads successful battles, uniting a kingdom. Irons enters the room and tells her that not everyone is able to read a language dead a thousand years. Irons tells her that Cathain wore the Witchblade. If Cathain can be resurrected, she'll reunite the scattered Celtic tribes and lead them to their rightful glory...if a worthy offering is made. Irons warns her to be careful because Cathain is a tragic figure.

Sara and Jake are at the second crime scene. The victim is Debra Mason, the young lady who drank the spiked drink. The same symbol is carved on the wall. Sara tells Jake to go to the morgue while she goes and talks to Conchobar. Jake is a little annoyed that they're not working more together on the case.

Sara goes to Conchobar's pad and tells him that there's been another murder. Conchobar doesn't have an alibi. Sara asks him about the witches glove he mentions in his song. Conchobar tells her that Cathain wore a gauntlet that made her invincible in battle, but which also cut her off from the rest of the world. Sara brings Conchobar to the station.

Jake finds the morgue worker (Vaughn) who sold the dead body to the druid. Jake brings him back to the station and roughs him up until he tells him everything. Dante sees this, but does nothing. Jake then brings him to see Conchobar, who's was brought in by Sara. When the man couldn't identify Conchobar, Sara lets Conchobar go.

Jake asks Sara if she wants him to follow Conchobar, but she chooses to follow him herself, which upsets Jake.

Sara arrives at work the next day. She can tell Jake's mad. Jake spent the night trying to figure out the case. The two warehouses where the murders occurred are owned by the same company and guarded by the same security company and maybe even the same guard.

Jake asks Iona when she last saw Brian Reilly and learns that Brian is a wounded Irish Catholic. Iona doesn't believe that Brian is involved.

Sara goes back to Irons and reads more about the tale. Conchobar needed Cathain's skills in battle. He sends a druid to summon her back. The druid sacrifices an old woman. When Cathain still wouldn't return, the druid sacrifices her sister, Dierdre. The druid strangled her with a silk cord and stabs her with a stone dagger. Irons enters, and Sara notices that the last page is missing and accuses Irons of tearing it out. Her case is following the story, but she can't read the last page to find out who the next victim is. Irons mentions that the next chapter of the book leads to the death of Conchobar.

Dante asks Jake why he isn't with Sara and that most rookies are with their training officers all the time. Though Jake is upset with Sara, he doesn't let it show in front of Dante and just brushes it off. Dante also tells Jake that he saw him rough up the suspect, but doesn't mind.

Sara goes to request a favor from Conchobar at the club. She wants him to sing or make up the last verse of the song since the killer is following the lyrics. Conchobar refuses citing that the tale is sacred and he wouldn't debase it for any reason. Conchobar has actually finished the song and goes on stage to sing it for the first time to the audience. The verse included sacrificing an innocent named Iona. Sara figures that the next victim must be Iona McCleary.

Brian talks to Iona outside St. George's. They walk off together.

Sara calls Jake to let him know that Iona's next and that they should each check out one of the warehouses from the previous murders.

Brian grabs Iona and ties her down on the stone table. Iona's screaming. Brian puts on his druid robe. Sara is in front of the warehouse. The Witchblade glows and transforms into a glove. She uses it to break the chains off the doors. The druid begins performing the sacrifice. Right before he stabs Iona, Sara, pretending to be Cathain, convinces him to let Iona live. Ian is watching everything that's happening. The druid hands over the dagger, but someone shoots and kills the druid. She frees Iona and tries to find the shooter. Jake arrives, but he's not the shooter. She finds a bullet casing with a black bull engraved on it.

Dante commends Sara for saving a life, but Sara is a little down that she couldn't save the life of the druid. Dante doesn't seem at all concerned that the druid died.

At Talismaniac. Gabriel tells Sara that the last wearer of the Witchblade was Elizabeth Bronte. Bronte was a WWII spy and wormed her way into Hitler's inner circle. She took a lover, an SS colonel named Ralph Germer, who stole the Witchblade for her. Her intel was key in breaking the enigma code, which helped win the war. Gabriel shows Sara a picture of Elizabeth Bronte, who looks just like her.

Conchobar is singing to Sara at her apartment.

• The Witchblade was once part of Adolf Hitler's collection of objects of power. One of his own SS officers steals it to give to his mistress.
• Cathain was a bladewielder
• Sara and the Irish rocker Conchobar seem to be leading in the same path as that of Cathain and the crowned prince Conchobar
• Irons mentions that the crowned prince Conchobar dies tragically in the book
• Someone hidden in the dark shoots and kills the druid. The bullet has a black bull engraved on it
• Elizabeth Bronte was the last bladewielder. She was a WWII spy who took an SS officer for a lover and got a hold of the blade and Intel that was key in breaking the enigma code that helped win the war.