It was as subtle as a hammer blow, but the message got through.

Two brothers on opposite sides during the Civil War came back to haunt the town of Feud on The Librarians Season 4 Episode 9.

Hmmm, brothers (and sisters) who find themselves on opposite sides of an issue. Where have we heard that before?

How about at the Library, ever since Darrington Dare proclaimed that Library protocol demanded there be only one Librarian on The Librarians Season 4 Episode 5?

This pronouncement by Flynn's hero led to him leaving once again. That left the remaining three Librarians squabbling over who should be THE Librarian.

So two teams took different paths to explore the idea of brother fighting brother.

Ever since Flynn left, Jacob and Ezekiel have been campaigning for the job, and it hasn't been pretty. I'm Team Jacob, by the way, should it come to that.

So naturally, the Clipping Book sent them, as well as Eve to serve as referee, to investigate a ghost sighting during a Civil War re-enactment in a town called Feud.

Feud was renamed to commemorate two brothers, Uriah and Carlton Loveday, with Uriah fighting for the Union and Carlton fighting for the Confederacy.

The town itself was divided right down the middle to represent the North and the South.

The separated town was the brainchild of Janet Hedge, who was the director of the Loveday Museum and who was part of the team that found the brothers' remains on the Feud battlefield.

It was pretty obvious that Janet was the one who stirred up the brothers' ghosts, even if it was accidental. She was just mining the legend to give the town a badly needed tourist attraction. Battlefields continue to be a draw to Civil War enthusiasts, even obscure ones such as Feud.

Janet stumbled onto a magic artifact, the locket of the Lovedays' mother, half of which was given to Uriah and Carlton. But to fit her narrative, she held back one half of it to "discover" at a time when tourism was lagging.

All this publicity stunt did was stir up the restless spirits of the brothers and their families.

A well-constructed parallel to the Lovedays was the Librarian "brothers" bickering over which of them deserve to be the last Librarian standing.

But ultimately, after being possessed by the Lovedays, Jacob and Ezekiel couldn't shoot each other. Like the Lovedays themselves, love overcame all else. And when the Librarians made up, the crisis passed.

It was heartwarming to see Uriah reunited with his son and Carlton reunited with his wife in the end. Janet even found out that the truth made for a much better story than the fiction she created.

Jacob and Ezekiel came home contrite for their behavior and in favor of keeping multiple Librarians.

Meanwhile, Cassandra and Jenkins were trying to understand why the behavior of the Westfalian brothers led to the one-Librarian policy.

It was amusing watching them sent all over the Library trying to solve the puzzles left by Zelpha the Forgetful. Of course, the letters ended up being in the desk of Jenkins the Forgetful.

And what did the letters prove? That those brothers were acting selfish, just like Jacob, Ezekiel and more recently Cassandra. The correspondence caused Cassandra and Jenkins to switch to the one-Librarian position.

I feel bad for Jenkins, who seems to be feeling all his centuries now. He's still getting adjusted to being human.

Even worse, now that he's mortal, Jenkins is actually planning for a future that doesn't include the Library. Can you see Galahad thriving at a retirement village? I don't think he'll find shuffleboard or Bingo to be sufficiently mentally stimulating.

There are a couple of simple solutions. Flynn could come back. Better yet, make Jenkins the Librarian. He's had centuries monitoring Librarians good and bad, so he knows what works. Also, he could become immortal again.

But instead, the three Librarians will undoubtedly have to undergo some kind of trial, to see who is most qualified -- if it doesn't kill them first.

So, as has been mentioned several times over the past five episodes, the tethering ceremony is looming in a few weeks. Eve knows she's going to be there, but the question yet to be answered is who else? I'm betting we'll have to wait three more episodes for that to be straightened out.

To figure out who would be the best candidate, watch The Librarians online.

Who should be Librarian? So what happens to the others? Did you enjoy the brothers' storyline? Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.