The time of the Tethering has arrived. Either Eve and one of the Librarians join the Library, or it will separate from the world, concerned only with protecting its artifacts. Ignoring Jenkins's warnings, the Librarians read an ancient spell for choosing a Librarian, which causes the Library to possess Jenkins and threaten to kill him, if they refuse to fight to the death. To this end, the Library sends them each into his or her own personal nightmare, turning them against one another, while Eve can only helplessly watch the events unfold, but unable to intervene.
Tropes
- Anyone Can Die: Jenkins is killed by the Library.
- Big Bad: Nicole takes over as the primary antagonist.
- Downer Ending: Despite Eve succeeding in saving everyone, the Library still kills Jenkins. The Librarians resign, causing the untethered Library to separate from the world, leaving Eve as the only one who even remembers what the Library is, and those memories are already starting to fade. Eve finds herself on a factory parking lot in a bleak Big Brother Is Watching-type world. The only possible positive thing is that Eve learns that Flynn didn't abandon them willingly.
- Evil All Along: Nicole has planned all this out over a century ago and was merely playing the Librarians, Eve, and Jenkins, all for the goal of destroying the Library. She also reveals that Flynn didn't leave of his own volition.
- Grand Theft Me: Jenkins is possessed by the spirit of the Library after Cassandra convinces Jacob to read the first scroll. A little bit of his personality seeps through, but not much.
- Hope Spot: Eve manages to stop the Librarians from killing one another and saves Jenkins. Everyone is happy... Then the Library kills Jenkins anyway, starting a chain of events that results in the Library's destruction.
- Just Between You and Me: After the Librarians resign, Nicole spends a long time carefully explaining her plan to Eve.
- Long Game: Nicole has been planning for this for centuries, using her knowledge of everything up to her disappearance to set up the dominoes to fall exactly as she wanted them to. She didn't mind spending 100 years imprisoned under the Library in order to exact her revenge.
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Moral Event Horizon: The Library appears to cross it by forcing the Librarians to fight one another to the death and, when they refuse, killing Jenkins. This is in stark contrast to the Library's previous incarnation as the kind-hearted Ray. - Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Librarians ignore Jenkins's warning about the original scroll and read the incantation, resulting in Jenkins dying and the Librarians resigning.
- Nightmare Sequence: Each of the Librarians is placed in his or her worst nightmare, all for the goal of turning them against one another.
- Cassandra finds herself at a school camping trip, where everyone, including two jocks that look like Jacob and Ezekiel, bullies her.
- Jacob finds himself cursed with a Power Tattoo all over his body and forced to go to a witch (who is revealed to be Cassie) for help. The witch and her assistant (Ezekiel) hold him captive.
- Ezekiel finds himself Working on the Chain Gang with a psycho killer (Jacob) and a prison guard (Cassie) about to beat him to death.
- Eve also eventually realizes that she herself is in a nightmare - being forced to watch the Librarians go through it all without being able to help.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Jenkins's death, all three Librarians resign and leave.
- Thanatos Gambit: Nicole deliberately caused Rasputin to take away her immortality and wound her, so that Jenkins would be forced to give up his own immortality to save her.
- While Rome Burns: Nicole shows up in a very nice dress, explaining she has been holding on to it for a very special occasion - to watch the world burn, as the Library is destroyed.
