The Price of Sacrifice, The Sleepy Hollow Fall Finale “The Akeda” 

Is he really gone?

You never can tell with a show like Sleepy Hollow, but it sure seems like Capt. Frank Irving, Abbie’s advocate and the dad who would do anything-including going to a psych ward for his daughter, made the ultimate sacrifice in the fall finale. Wielding the Sword of Methuselah like a badass, Frank charged into the fight against Moloch’s army and took down War, Henry’s proxy suit of armor. But War got a stab in before going down and Frank died in Katrina and Ichabod’s arms. Just….noooooo!

Granted, Frank hadn’t had much to do this season but no one wanted to see him die and not just because Orlando Jones is so badass. (Yes, I’m using badass multiple times in this recap but come on, Orlando Jones really just made Capt. Irving worth rooting for.) After he finally came around to Abbie and Ichabod’s side, he spent most of this season in Tarrytown Psychiatric to keep his family safe from the demons creeping into Sleepy Hollow. He became Henry’s pawn early on, accidentally signing over his soul and fighting off demented visions of his role in the apocalypse. So when the team learned that the only way to use the Sword of Methuselah was to sacrifice a soul, soulless Frank came up as an obvious choice. Everyone voiced meager objections, but Frank ultimately made the decision to take arms against Moloch.

And boy did he ever. It was so gratifying to see Frank out there in battle, guided by the sword that could slay demons and paving the way for the team to get to Moloch. Part of his decision to ultimately charge into action had to depend on his final grip on his own free will. In the end, he was a weapon for good, not a pawn in Henry’s twisted plans. He brought down a major player on Moloch’s side and gave the good guys an advantage they desperately needed.

Again I ask, is he really gone? You want to see someone as strong as Capt. Irving vindicated and reunited with the family he sacrificed so much to keep safe. So fingers crossed we come back in the spring with some Katrina hocus pocus that can reverse Moloch’s victims or something. Plus, what happens to his soul considering Henry still had ownership? Although as Abbie pointed out, to win the war you have to be prepared to lose your loved ones. It looks like Frank is that heavy price.

With his armor puppet gone, Henry was charged by Moloch to recover the Sword of Methuselah himself, a task Henry was not too eager to take on. When a confrontation finally went down, Ichabod couldn’t bring himself to kill his son. Henry quickly gained the upper hand and next thing you know, Ichabod, Abbie, Jenny and Katrina are lashed up to the same four white trees we ended with last season, right above Henry’s coffin/birthplace. Bowing before Moloch, Henry is actually surprised when Moloch goes back on his promises to keep Katrina for Abraham/Headless. Moloch demands Henry kill his mother, shouting arrogantly that Henry was nothing but what he made him and blah, blah, blah. In typical bad guy monologue style, Moloch made the ultimate mistake and pushed Henry too far. While Ichabod pleaded with Henry to sacrifice him instead of Katrina, Henry had another plan and shoved that sword up to the hilt into Moloch. Hooray! Moloch disappears in a screaming pile of ash! Never insult the man/demon/horseman holding the weapon that can kill you, Moloch.

So where does that leave us? Interestingly, while Moloch is appropriately back in hell for now, neither witness Ichabod or witness Abbie were the ones to put him there. Frank took down the War armor puppet thing, Henry took down Moloch and Hawley is playing baby-sitting duty over Abraham/Headless in the tomb. Did Ichabod and Abbie then fulfill their role as witnesses or is there more work to do? Where will the players of hell be when we come back next season?

Perhaps with Moloch damned back to hell, our good guys will get a long-awaited chance to put their lives back together. Who else would like to see Ichabod and Katrina in some modern marriage counseling? Finally saying what’s been lingering on his mind, Ichabod put all his doubts in Katrina on the table. She obviously wasn’t too happy to hear it, although she can hardly deny it. Her affection for Abraham/Headless is getting harder to hide. They’ve waiting 250 years to be reunited so you’d think some work on the marriage is in order. Especially now that their son has saved their lives….

With Henry released from Moloch’s hold, can we count on him to be redeemed? The road back from campaigning from evil isn’t as simple as sitting down to a family dinner. Henry is still one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. You don’t just shake that off. Count on some interesting dynamic between Katrina, Ichabod and Henry when we return.

One thing is for sure. We BETTER see Ichabod with his own motorcycle when we get back to Sleepy Hollow. Now, is he a Harley or a Triumph kind of guy?

Sleepy Hollow returns January 5, 2015 to FOX.