Penny's future trapped in The Library has  been sealed, but what he makes of it is not so set in stone. Penny's sour attitude fuels his desire to get out and away from Howard's book club, and after talking with Silvia, he finds his answer. The Library has a metro of sorts (through the mouth of a pig) that can transport you out of there and though Penny isn't sure where it goes, he assumes it has to be better than where he's at. But not long after Penny tricks a metrocard holder into giving up their ride, Hades appears and presents Penny with a compelling argument: Go back to the life you had or stay at The Library and create something better. 

Back in the world of the living, Quentin and Alice bump heads over her secrets. Despite their distrust of one another, they along with Josh agree to go on the next key mission together. The task sees them return to Fillory where they sneak into the castle and attempt to locate the next step to returning magic in the throne room. Despite having Josh as a buffer, Alice and Quentin still struggle to get along. As they look for the key, Margo and Eliot set up a secret meeting with the other two kingdoms' leaders in an attempt to not only stop the warring, but convince them to join the fight against the Fairies. The endeavor requires the two to use their own expertise in manipulation to get what they need. 

Meanwhile, Fen and Julia set out on a seemingly possible task that quickly becomes a game changer for the entire Fairy race. Desperate to help free the enslaved fairies, Julia and Fen turn to a (rightfully) distrustful Fairy Queen for help. After revealing how the magical creatures ended up enslaved, the result of being hunted nearly out of existence by magicians, the Queen is eventually convinced to return to Earth to help those her mother left behind hundreds of years ago. But the plan requires she put on a magical collar, and when Julia and Fen learn how a machine that removes the collars works, things go south pretty quickly. The Fairy Queen is forced to decide whether to upheave the entire existence by which Fairies live or save those in need. While she chooses the latter,  she warns there are consequences to her actions.