Laura and Wednesday are reunited for only the briefest time on American Gods Season 3 Episode 6.

They're no longer the couple in love they once were, and her fixation on killing kind of turns Shadow's stomach.

Even if Wednesday has done enough harm in his life to warrant an execution, he's also trying to turn that ship around before it's too late.

Given how the episode progressed, I wonder if there is a parallel between Wednesday and Demeter with regard to Shadow and Laura.

The only parallel that comes to mind is that Shadow has had the good fortune to say goodbye to his wife while they were still on good terms, not once, but twice now.

Wednesday's story with Demeter took a far more tragic journey.

From the moment they set eyes on each other, Wednesday and Demeter were smitten. But while Tyr had spent a good amount of time planning for a relationship that never occurred, Wednesday had no such crash course.

That might have been his downfall. Sure, their love was shining bright, but it happened so fast that when reality set in -- as much as reality can set in for a pair of old gods -- Wednesday took the cowardly way out and allowed his beloved wife to mourn alone.

Except Demeter wasn't mourning only the loss of her child, but of the man that she loved, too. So it's easy to understand why she accepted Tyr into her life when she needed him the most.

We have no idea how many children Wednesday has fathered over the years or why he picked Shadow as the heir apparent, giving him at least something paternal.

There's no doubt that how he handled things in his, uh, youth had a profound effect on reconnecting with Shadow. If not, then he wouldn't have been able to try the same with Demeter.

Proof of how little he has learned through so much time and tragedy was bound to rear its ugly head again, and he slammed the door shut on Demeter as quickly as she had cracked it open.

Maybe that is enough to earn an execution. By engaging with Demeter again under the guise of love and penance for his past misdeeds, he gave her hope that she might join the world again.

It doesn't matter how long she had been in hiding. She considered getting back out there with Wednesday, and she got fooled again. Well, it won't happen a third time.

If anything, how differently the situations with Wednesday and Shadow played out indicates that Shadow was lucky not to be raised with his father's interference, and his mother's love gave him everything he needed to play a much different hand with the women in his life than his father did with the women in his.

Wednesday sent Shadow to Lakeside for reasons still unknown, but it's a safe place for him and put him into contact with someone who made quite an impact on him.

Did Wednesday know that Shadow would run into Sam Black Crow again? It wouldn't surprise me.

Sam is the best of all worlds. She believes in everything enough to disbelieve in it, too. She's the middle of the road, open to all things, and likely the kindest person Shadow has met during his travels.

Perhaps Shadow's attraction to Marguerite reflects a similarity between the half-sisters. That all three of them are in each other's orbit cannot be happenstance.

It also brings to light that thought that I can't imagine Shadow will leave Lakeside without giving Marguerite some closure about Sandy. There are mystical forces at play in Lakeside; we've seen them with our own eyes.

But what it all means is still a mystery to those who aren't familiar with the novel.

We had no news of Bilquis, but her gift to Technical Boy is still overtaking his life. Whatever it is that he's suffering or why, it's giving him emotions, and if there is anything that will make something glitch, it's the tidal onslaught of feelings.

Tech Boy doesn't recognize them, even when his analysis returns a surprising result. All he knows is that he needs to insert Artifact 1 into the machine to return to his factory programming.

Mr. World knows what that is, but he's not willing to share. You could tell without his phone call when he told Tech Boy how much he cares about him. Mr. World giving that speech sends the wrong message. He was trying to steer Tech Boy in another direction.

What the heck is Artifact 1, and why doesn't Mr. World want to insert it into the machine to help Technical Boy?

Mr. World and his changing personas are getting confusing, too.

I don't know if they're one and the same or if they're emissaries sent on his behalf so he can be elsewhere. That only came to mind when he called someone that it seemed like he reported to.

Mr. World leads the new gods, so who would he be calling about Artififact 1?

If you watch American Gods online and have any idea what's going on with the artifact, please drop below into the comments and share your thoughts.

I'd love to hear from you!

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.