| “ | This may be the last article I ever write. Either I might not be here tomorrow or the town might not be, or both of us might be gone. Our villain's name is Percival Pickens. He's an immortal, inter-dimensional sorcerer whose power is growing by the hour. He wants to claim Riverdale or destroy it, depending on the outcome of a war that we're literally pre-destined to lose. In advance of our battle, Percival shut down the town's borders. To keep people from leaving, yes, but mostly to keep help from arriving... but the truth was, no one was coming. No one knew what was happening outside of the town. Riverdale was a sealed-off ecosystem. We were on our own. Not that we were giving up. We had Archie Andrews who'd served two tours of duty in the US Army, leading us, planning our counter-offensive. | ” |
— Jughead
| ||
"Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen: The Stand" is the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of Riverdale and the one hundredth and sixteenth episode of the series overall.[2] It premiered on July 24, 2022.
Synopsis[]
GOOD VS. EVIL — When Archie and Veronica's attempt to negotiate with Percival doesn’t go as planned, the forces of good and evil finally face off, leading to some unexpected revelations.
Plot[]
Jughead writes what may very well be his final article
Jughead writes what may very well be his final article, fearful that by the night's end, he, his friends, and the town of Riverdale may perish to Percival, an immortal, inter-dimensional sorcerer who is growing more powerful by the hour. In advance of their battle, Percival has shut down the town borders to keep people from leaving and keep others from coming in to help.
Holy Grail filled with darkness
Having served two tours, Archie is in charge of leading the gang into battle and planning their counter-offensive. They begin by mitigating the sources of Percival's power. Pop's was built on a Hellmouth, but moving it has resulted in Percival's becoming stronger. So, in an attempt to prevent him from becoming any more powerful, they seal and sanctify the Hellmouth with Tabitha's holy grail and capture the escaping darkness.
Cheryl burns down the Curiosity Shop
Elsewhere, Reggie raids the Curiosity Shop, but he is too late, as Percival has already cleared out and relocated. Reggie suspects that he's armed his troops with the weapons he's collected and calls Archie to inform him. In an effort to prevent Percival from ever returning, Archie instructs Reggie to burn the shop down. After grabbing Hiram's painting on the way out, Reggie tells Cheryl to burn the building down using her pyrokinesis.
Betty is determined to get her mother back
Betty is still a bit shaken by her mother's death, unable to think beyond her own rage. She just got Polly back, only for Percival to execute their mother. As horrible as her fate may have been, Polly argues that their mother is in a better place, but Betty refuses to hear any of what Polly has to offer. She simply wants their mother back, and Polly assures her that Cheryl will be able to resurrect her using her Phoenix powers, but without their bodies, Betty explains that Cheryl is just as powerless as the rest of them. Polly pleads with Betty to have faith, to which she replies, "Screw faith."
Kevin and Moose
Kevin, like the others, is still coming to terms with his father's death, seeking comfort from Toni and Fangs, who agree that while his father was doing Percival's bidding, he didn't deserve to be executed. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door; it's Moose, who was invited over by Toni and Fangs. He slipped back in before the borders closed and embraces Kevin.
Archie asks for Veronica's help
Veronica checks in with Archie and wonders how he's dealing with Frank's passing. Archie explains that Frank was a soldier and if he was there with them, he'd tell Archie to focus on the fight. So that's exactly what he's doing. Archie has already instructed Cheryl and Heather to look for a spell to block the energy Percival might be absorbing from the comet. He also sent word to Percival, who has agreed to meet with Archie at the Babylonium to establish rules of engagement. In need of an expert negotiator, Archie is hoping Veronica will join him.
The gang
Archie and the gang meet up at Pop's to discuss his and Veronica's meeting with Percival. They're hoping to negotiate the return of Alice, Frank, and Tom so that Cheryl could resurrect them, but they're going to need bargaining chips. While Baby Anthony isn't an option, Veronica believes they should at least offer Percival half of Riverdale, but Jughead doesn't want to split the town in half again, recalling back to the days of northsiders versus southsiders. Cheryl again suggests that she simply kill him herself, but Tabitha argues that it's too risky, as Cheryl "going supernova" could initiate the apocalypse. Regardless of what they offer, one thing is certain: Percival is going to demand their complete and immediate surrender. And if they're not willing to offer that, they have to be willing to say goodbye to their loved ones.
Tabitha tells Archie and Veronica about future scenarios
Tabitha approaches Archie and Veronica as they prepare to meet with Percival and inform them that in all the future scenarios, she only saw two where they were successful. One of them involved Archie and Veronica meeting with Percival at the Babylonium. And in that scenario, they simply shot him point-blank.
Twyla has rebuilt the Ghoulies
Archie and Veronica arrive at the Babylonium, where they are greeted by Twyla Twyst and the Ghoulies. They were under the impression that the Ghoulies died out, which they did, which is also why Twyla recruited new members, including Dr. Curdle Jr., Weatherbee, and Janet.
Percival declines Archie and Veronica's offers
Upon their arrival, Percival informs Veronica that he has a filter in his nostrils and that his body is coated in a special sealant, making him impervious to any kind of venomous attacks. Veronica insists that she's simply come to negotiate. First, they want their dead back in exchange for Archie handing himself over, but Percival isn't interested. Why that is, he grabs his mace that was forged in the fiery pits of Asgard and explains that it's strong enough to break anything, including Archie's invulnerable skin. Therefore, Archie's sole surrender benefits him none. So, Veronica proposes splitting the town in half instead, but he turns down that offer as well. What Percival wants is revenge against them and the town of Riverdale under his complete control. Either they surrender and pledge their allegiance or perish. Refusing to bow, Veronica informs Percival of how before him, her father was the town's great tormentor. He spent years trying to destroy Riverdale until Veronica put a hit on him. She claims that her only regret is that she didn't kill him herself, just before pulling out a gun and shooting Percival. However, he anticipates her move and when she pulls the trigger, flowers shoot from the barrel. With that, Percival ends their negotiation, arranging for their showdown at night fall outside of Pop's. Should they submit, he promises to be merciful and generous. And as a show of good will, he allows them to take Alice, Frank, and Tom. Confused and suspicious, Veronica and Archie head down to the casino floor, where three caskets await.
Back upstairs, Twyla questions why Percival would so willingly give Archie and Veronica what they want. Percival explains that Archie and the gang ruined his plans for the dead, so he's simply repaying the favor.
Betty discovers that her mother is headless
Archie and Veronica bring the dead back to the El Royale, but Cheryl insists that they be moved to the mines, otherwise, she'd burn Pop's to the ground during the resurrection ritual. Just in case Cheryl's spell doesn't work, Betty wants to see her mom one last time, but when she opens the casket, she discovers that her mother is missing her head. Kevin rushes to open his father's casket and discovers that his head is missing as well, thus preventing Cheryl from bringing them back.
Tabitha pleads with Jughead to leave town
Tabitha pleads with Jughead to leave town before he can die in the final battle, but Jughead recalls Tabitha saying that there's a chance they beat Percival, but his powers are the key to doing so. And so, Jughead refuses to leave and insists that he face Percival, even at the cost of his own life. Tabitha knew he would say this, as he said it in every scenario she visited, but she had to at least try.
Meanwhile, Percival is preparing to launch a ghoulish stealth attack in direct violation of his agreed upon terms with Archie, using dolls crafted in the likeness of Reggie, Glen, Jason, and Veronica's abuelita.
Archie tells Reggie his plan
Archie reveals to Reggie that he intends to lure Percival to Fox Forest. Percival's got magic and telepathy, but they have Cheryl and Jughead, evening the odds in their favor, allowing them to take out his troops. Reggie asks Archie to get him another beer, but when he leaves the room, Bingo begins growling at him.
After a brief phone call with Polly, during which Betty tells her that she needs some time alone, she hears a noise coming from the kitchen.
Veronica receives a surprise visit from her abuelita, asking to come inside.
Jason shoots Heather in the shoulder
Heather has checked various texts for any and all references to Bailey's Comet, and she's learned that they've been making an incorrect assumption, but before Heather can elaborate, Jason interrupts, armed with a bow and arrow, asking if Cheryl wants to play. When she blows him off, he becomes upset and shoots Heather in the shoulder with an arrow, then taking aim at Cheryl, who flees.
Archie returns to the living room with the beers, only to be stabbed by Reggie with one of Percival's daggers, cable of piercing Archie's skin.
Glen is reanimated
Betty comes downstairs and finds Glen's reanimated corpse digging through one of the kitchen drawers. She grabs a poker from the fire place before engaging with Glen, who charges at her with a hand held battery powered saw.
Veronica asks her abuelita why she didn't call, to which she replies that she wanted it to be a surprise, before taking aim and blowing a hole through Veronica's front door with a shotgun. She effortlessly makes her way inside and begins firing at Veronica, who flees into the back room.
Tabitha has a feeling
While eating lunch with Jughead, Tabitha has an overwhelming feeling that something is wrong. Her sense of the divine is tingling. Her heightened awareness is alerting her that one of the souls of the town is dying.
Betty evades Glen's attack and momentarily renders him unconscious after hitting him over the head with a glass vase.
Meanwhile, Abuelita continues to put holes all throughout Veronica's apartment, accusing her of having killed Hiram.
Jason turns his hunt for Cheryl into a game of Marco Polo.
Betty has fled into the garage, where she starts up the chainsaw just in time to take out Glen, who has regained consciousness and is charging towards her.
Veronica hides
Veronica hides in the bathroom, locking the doors behind her and leaving behind a paralytic toxic on the door knob that leaves Abuelita paralyzed temporarily.
Reggie follows Archie to his room, where the two face off. As Archie tries to hold Reggie against the wall and suffocate him, Reggie repeatedly stabs Archie in the lower body, nearly killing him as they both collapses to the ground.
Jason is burned alive
Jason has hunted Cheryl down to her room. She apologizes for bringing him back to life, realizing now that it was a mistake, forcing her to burn Jason alive.
Tabitha arrives at the Andrews house to find Archie bleeding out in the floor and Bingo licking his wounds.
Veronica's toxins have worn off, as has Percival's spell. Abuelita apologizes for attacking her. She recalls hearing a voice in her head telling her to punish Veronica for killing Hiram and Heraldo, but she doesn't remember what happened after that.
Polly checks on Betty
Polly was getting anxious and decides to check on Betty, only to find her sitting at the kitchen table, covered in blood. Betty explains that Percival launched a stealth attack against her using a stitched together Glen, who now lays twitching in the garage.
Cheryl patches up Heather and admits that Sabrina was right that she shouldn't have resurrected Jason, though Heather suspects he was controlled by Percival. Cheryl then asks Heather what was she about to reveal regarding the comet before Jason attacked.
Archie is completely healed
Archie is completely healed from his wounds, as a direct result of Bingo licking him. Tabitha reasons that Bingo's saliva must carry the same healing properties as the rest of his body. Reggie is remorseful for having attacked Archie. The last thing he remembers is being with his dad before hearing Percival's voice in his head, telling him to find out Archie's plan and then kill him. Toni then arrives and reveals that she, Fangs, Kevin, and Moose came up with a plan.
Toni has a plan
There's a saying among the Serpents: "Always kill a baby snake in its egg so it doesn't grow up to bite you." This is essentially what Percival is trying to accomplish with Baby Anthony. She and the Serpents intend to break into the Babylonium, bust up his army, and look for the missing heads while Baby Anthony take out Percival. While Anthony is currently a baby, she and Fangs had the privilege of seeing him in the future, and he's a warrior, leaving Toni to wonder if Tabitha is capable of speeding up time solely for Baby Anthony. They would miss his childhood, but he would be old enough to face Percival. In Rivervale, Tabitha created a time loop; she may be able to create a time bubble around Baby Anthony, in which she accelerates his aging.
Anthony is older now
Archie and the gang reconvene at the El Royale, where Tabitha creates a time bubble around Baby Anthony and ages him upwards. He exits the office and embraces Fangs, now a grown man and prepared to take on Percival. Along with Anthony, they also have Percival's dagger, which Archie suspects should be capable of at least hurting him.
Fangs reminds the Serpents that they're not trying to kill the Ghoulies, rather subdue them, as they're being mind controlled. They're to seize command of the casino and clear a path to Percival.
Tabitha wants to go back to Riverdale
Jughead is doubtful that the Serpents' surprise attack will be effective against Percival, but Tabitha informs Jughead that the battle at the Babylonium is one of two possible ways they defeat Percival. So she's hoping for the best, but is prepared for the worst. Speaking of which, whatever happens to Jughead, he doesn't want Tabitha to mourn him. He'd rather she chase her dreams and live her life. When she asks how can he be so causal about his death, Jughead explains that he's already accomplished all he could have ever wanted. He's fallen in love, published a book, and even traveled to an alternate universe to meet other versions of himself. The mere mention of Rivervale gives Tabitha of an idea. All of the scenarios in which they lost against Percival were in Riverdale, but they have access to an alternate universe now.
Cheryl informs Archie that Bailey's Comet isn't arriving at nightfall
Cheryl informs Archie that Bailey's Comet isn't arriving at nightfall, rather the following night, despite Percival claiming that the comet would empower him and grant him the ultimate advantage. In the meantime, Cheryl intends to set up her Nana's telescope to track the comet's movement more closely.
Twyla's face
Twyla expresses her concern about the army to Percival. While he may be controlling them, they're not battle tested. Percival explains that Twyla and the Ghoulies are merely pawns in his war. Just then, the Serpents, led by Toni and Fangs, infiltrate the Babylonium and attack the Ghoulies. Twyla grabs a gun, but before she can pull the trigger, Toni disarms her, throwing two shurikens in Twyla's face.
Percival performs a sealing spell
Anthony and Kevin take out a couple of Ghoulies on the main floor before heading upstairs, where Percival shoots Kevin in the shoulder as he enters the office. He then turns his attention to Anthony, initially unaware of who he truly is. But after he shoots Anthony to no avail and realizes exactly who he is and that he's armed with a dagger, Percival flees, teleporting downstairs, where he performs a sealing spell, locking everyone inside as he escapes.
Tabitha speeds up time
Archie and the gang gather at the community center. The good news is that Toni and the Serpents took the Ghoulies out, but Percival escape and trapped them inside the building. Jughead and Tabitha then arrive after a trip to Rivervale, revealing that they have a plan. After Jughead opened up a portal to Rivervale, Tabitha explored different future scenarios. In Rivervale, their odds were better due to the supernatural energies. However, for their plan to work, the final battle has to take place at Pop's, at the diner's original location, but that would take days and they only have two hours until the battle. Fortunately, the same way Tabitha was able to speed up time for Baby Anthony, she can speed up the moving process at Pop's, forming a time bubble around all of them and speeding up time to move the dinner.
Archie and the gang attack Percival
With everything back where it belongs, the gang prepares for the final battle with Percival. Betty, Veronica, Cheryl, and Reggie watch from inside the diner as Archie, armed with a metal baseball bat, faces off in the parking lot against Percival, armed with his mace capable of piercing Archie's skin. Percival gains the upper hand, but becomes distracted after noticing that Archie's friends have exited the dinner, allowing Archie to gain control. Surrounded by the gang, Percival is pummeled by Archie, Betty, Veronica, Cheryl, and Reggie. Archie grants Percival the opportunity to surrender, but instead, he conjures up another spell, this time, he turns their powers against them; he poisons Veronica, blinds Betty, freezes Cheryl, and turns Archie's into an iron statue, and Reggie into a life-sized dummy.
Mr. Cypher takes Percival away
Percival enters the diner and joins Jughead inside a booth as Gilda and the remaining ghost bear witness. Rather than a fight to the death, Jughead proposes a game, where the winner takes the soul of Riverdale while the loser gets lobotomized. Percival agrees to Jughead's terms and they enter each other's minds. Jughead is halted, as the door to Percival's mind is locked, whereas Percival uses his vast knowledge and sorcery to gain access to Jughead's mind, where he immediately begins tearing out memories. However, Percival has seemingly walked into Jughead's trap. While he was in Jughead's mind, he left his body vulnerable to his friends, revealing that they're no longer in Riverdale. Percival awakens to discover that he's been stabbed multiple times, leaving him weak. He looks around and sees Archie and the gang surrounding him despite leaving them incapacitated in the parking lot. Jughead then reveals that those he sees before him are his Rivervale friends. When Percival stepped through the doors of Pop's, he came through a portal to Rivervale. Percival reminds them that he's immortal and can't be killed, which is why Tabitha takes him 440 years into the past, to 1580, before he made his deal with the devil. Tabitha presents him to Mr. Cypher in 1580, but before he is taken away, Percival exclaims that if he can't have Riverdale then no one will, before muttering a spell as Mr. Cypher disappears in a cyclone of flames.
Jughead and Tabitha exit Pop's and greet their friends back in Riverdale, revealing that they defeated Percival.
Heather shows Cheryl the comet
After Percival's death, the casino is no longer sealed. Toni and Fangs also find the missing heads, which they take to Dr. Curdle Jr., who Betty supervises as he attaches the heads back to their respective bodies, at which point, Cheryl brings Alice, Frank, and Tom back to life before returning to Thornhill, where Heather alerts her of an alarming discovery regarding the comet.
Jughead and Tabitha discuss why he isn't dead
Jughead and Tabitha head back to the apartment, where they recount their victory against Percival, though Jughead is confused about something. Tabitha claimed to have seen Jughead die in everyone one of her future scenarios, making it a fixed point, and yet, he's still alive. Tabitha isn't exactly sure why, but she was only exploring scenarios in Riverdale, not Rivervale. Perhaps outcomes shifted between universes.
Betty and Polly reunite with Alice while Kevin celebrates his father's return with Moose at Toni and Fangs' apartment. Meanwhile, at the Pembrooke, Veronica and her abuelita clean up the mess left behind from her shotgun assault while Smithers repairs the door.
Cheryl and Heather reveal that the comet is headed for Riverdale
Cheryl and Heather head over to Archie's, where they reveal that it's not over yet. Archie then calls over the rest of the gang, and Cheryl reveals that Bailey's Comet isn't simply going to pass over them tomorrow night. She suspects that Percival did something, as it's now headed straight for the town. Based on Heather's calculations, the comet will obliterate Riverdale in less than 24 hours, an extinction level event, killing everyone and everything. Tabitha realizes that the comet hitting Riverdale is the destruction she saw in the future, not fall out from the war with Percival.
Cast[]
Soundtrack[]
- Broken Bells - We're Not In Orbit Yet…
Trivia[]
- The episode title comes from Stephen King's 1978 novel of the same name.
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
Screencaps[]
Videos[]
