SKEVIKOR IS COMING: REVIEW FROM THE OUTPOST EP. 407

 

Season 4 (3b) of The Outpost reaches its perigee with the release of ep. 407, The Power of The Masters, an episode that, if it seemed too short to many of us, was undoubtedly due to its energetic narrative spirit. The plots advance rapidly without us hardly noticing and, when it seems that the series is going to reveal some momentous event, it stops to show us the credits, hooking us more and more, taking over our souls and claiming them in the same way as so called Gods do it with the kinjs they once possessed. The virtue of The Outpost is precisely that, to offer what is just and necessary for the viewer to come thirsty for action, romance and adventure next week. On this occasion, the chapter is galloping between several different scenarios.

We already knew Gallwood and The Capital very well, and we had even had the opportunity to visit Aegysfort a little, but to those three sites there is now a fourth, the town of Relman, to which Talon and Luna are forced to go in their search for the key Skevikor, while their friends Garret, Zed and Janzo try to preserve order in Gallwood in the absence of Tobin and Falista. Fateful is the innocent queen's fate, whose political career seems to culminate here, paradoxically, in the same way that circumstances claimed Gwynn's life. Falista had always called her weak, but deep down she was nothing but envy. She envied that Gwynn had been as respected and loved by her people as she was hated by all of her subjects. Falista wanted to open a new stage of peace through treaty and diplomacy, amending the mistake of her ancestors in expelling the Blackbloods from the kingdom ... in short, to be a better queen than Gwynn. However, sometimes fate has very cruel ways of teaching a lesson: be careful what you wish for. Falista has not only left this orbit as a legitimate usurper, but she has done so without hardly achieving any of her purposes, except for the will to return the kinjs to the gods. We have barely been given a moment to regret the farewell of Georgia May Foote's character, which many of us didn't even dislike. Perhaps it was because of the sweetness in her voice, because of her naivety, because of her innocence, or because of both at the same time. To me, personally, Falista always seemed like a girl who enjoyed playing with a scepter and a crown. I thought the series, in one way or another, would try to save this antagonist to give her a second chance as a protagonist. It doesn'tseem that she is going to be like that, at least for the moment, so, no matter how much it weighs us, goodbye, Falista; may we meet again...

Fortunately, Tobin used his only escape from certain death, his own kinj. However, the life of the 'new' and 'risen' Tobin was entirely linked to Falista. Both of them were up to ride into the sunset together once they had disposed of their kinjs. Tobin now finds himself alone on the throne for the first time and doubts hang over him after this unpredictable setback. There is always a rip for a ripped and every sheep has her match in The Outpost, so it's no small wonder who the writers would match Tobin with. We must admit that, although there are more understanding characters with this new humanoid and mortal race, who usually sleep in pupae like butterfly larvae awaiting the end of the metamorphosis, Tobin has all the ballots to become a staunch enemy of these beings, whom we get to know a little better every day thanks to Janzo's inquiries. Unfortunately, the death of the queen has also confirmed a doubt that had been floating in the air for weeks, the degree of influence and the power of mental subjugation of the gods. When Garret pressured Tobin to turn him against Falista, the knight always argued that his loyal wife was no longer a free spirit, which is somewhat true. Non-gods - what type of god is a god who can die - can establish collective telepathic communication with all those who possess kinjs and make them susceptible to their whims, something that is both an advantage and a disadvantage for Talon and Zed, since as long as they carry them, they will always be traceable, which will make it very difficult for them to hide their thoughts and hatch a plan to defeat them, when the time comes.

Yes, when time has come, because now the top priority is to find the key to the Skevikor before they do. And Talon and Luna have devoted themselves to that mission, who, in their journey through the woods, don't speak again about personal or sentimental matters. However, there is someone who is concerned - angry, rather - and who has shown us many times throughout the episode: Garret. With a ring and a promise to keep, nothing seems to stand in the way of the young captain, who the soldiers of Gallwood's guard don't trust when he explains that Tobin has appointed him provisional regent of the outpost. As it is, Garret chokes on speeches and draws his sword, because the edge of a weapon is worth more than the words of a man ... things are clear and chocolate is thick. His arrival doesn't contribute to maintaining the little order in the weaponyard. It's hard to see Garret in this state of unrestrained rage because, let's face it, it's not reason that rules him right now. Talon is the epicenter of his thoughts and any problem to be solved is an uncomfortable distraction.

The tavern scene is funny and very illustrative. Zed and Garret are not at their best as men: they are not quite up to scratch in love, because even Zed's flirting with Nedra ends up in a black bottomless pit as a result of what could have and was not avoided. Wren, Nedra and Talon are the last living blackbloods, but Wren is expecting a son from Janzo who is not going to be purebred and Talon has a crush on Garret, so Zed hopes to play a bigger role in the blackblood lineage so, unless Talon changes his mind, the warrior hopes to solve the ethnic problem of his people in this way. However, he will have to distill more intelligence to woo tough Nedra, which amuses Garret, who sarcastically reminds him of that question Zed asked him in the woods regarding Talon: "Is she your breathe?" 

The captain takes advantage of that conversation to elicit more details from Zed about Talon's strange and distant behavior in recent days, to which his friend responds bluntly. Talon has spent a lot of time serving others and now she's focused on her people, who need her more than ever to re-root themselves in a world that doesn't welcome them with open arms. Garret suspects, not without reason, that Zed has remarkably influenced her, trying to force her into blackblood affairs, causing her to hesitate between her heart and what is right, and perhaps he smile as they have a few drinks in the tavern, but in the outskirts of that casual atmosphere, Garret is a very different person.

Maybe we shouldn't take his fits of rage into account, because Spears is undoubtedly angry, not at anyone in particular, but at the world itself for conspiring to keep him away from Talon. On the other hand, it's true that Garret used to obey orders from him as a soldier, and that should have taught him to control his feelings when they come between him and his goals. Spears may not go down in history as the best of the regents, but at least he doesn't prove to be much more incompetent and inept than Tobin and Falista. He lacks the applied psychology and the patience of Janzo, who finally manages to add new notes to his book of discoveries: 3-1-3 communicated through his chrysalis, his naviaspore, with the Masters, the name with which his species designates the dominant hierarchy, that is, Vorta, Tera, Janya, Kultor ... those who were known as The Seven by other earthly cultures.

He and his sleeping friends are servants who simply obey their telepathic orders and, perhaps, both these and humans or blackbloods were used as vessels to store their souls. It's even possible that the souls stored by the Masters had been stolen from them and that these are the fifth essence of the kinjs, which in the blackblood language is translated as “soul”. Our question here is whether the kinjs, which are containers of the souls, power and wisdom of all who have possessed them, could be used to revive those former possessors in the same way  when Gwynn and Yavalla died their kinjs returned to their former owners. If there is such a possibility, the only way to check it would be by killing the gods. If there is magic, we can still hope to meet again with those beloved characters who left us.

And, as a river of discord floods Gallwood, amidst the creature's menacing presence and increasing disputes between Garret, Zed, Janzo, and Wren, Talon and Luna rush to find out the key's whereabouts, a quest that leads them to recruit a former character missing since Season 2. Naya (Amita Suman), who was then revealed to be Janzo's long-lost sister, whose farewell at the end of Season 2 added a touch of bitterness to the final victory against the Prime Order and the Plaguelings, reappears to support the two adventurers and lead them to the secret hiding place where Dred stored all kinds of mysterious artifacts of power and priceless value. It's worth highlighting here the expertise and thoroughness of The Outpost twriters, who have managed to weave together such an isolated and irrelevant plot seamlessly in previous seasons of the series. The Prime Order, the order of the dragman girls and the Masters, those creatures that could finally be nothing but aliens, seem to converge around the key of the Skevikor, as if the Prime Order, despite everything, has struggled to protect the secret of its location. So much interest in protecting such a contraption invites us to think that it can be a reservoir of energy powerful enough to unleash a great cataclysm, so what is the point of hiding something that is harmless or useless? That vortex of intrinsically related storylines could mean that the end of the series is coming...

LOVE AND RESPONSABILITY: REVIEW FROM EP. 4X06 OF THE OUTPOST

In this episode, directed by Imogen Waterhouse -our once great queen Gwynn-, our friends try to prevent the tough and mature Tobin and Falista from fulfilling the will of the so-called divine beings who flood their minds with visions with precise instructions to obtain the only thing that matters to them, their precious kinjs, while along the way they discover and learn more about these pale, horned creatures with black blood. All We Do is To Say Goodbye is a brilliant and eloquent episode, a chapter with a frenetic rhythm that leaves the viewer with honey on the lips and that, above all, is an episode of characters, fully focused on their concerns and in their decisions, which will mark them psychologically.

Some of them, as it often happens in the theme of this season, face constant dilemmas that force them to decide between what they themselves consider correct, and what their peers think should be the ideal according to their traditions or their culture, as is the case with Wren. Her last Blackblood companions pressure her to act as the High Priestess she should become as the sole heir of Yavalla, since the knowledge and history of her people are passed down from priestess to priestess and. If she refuses, not only her survivors life will be in danger, but also  their memory, which provides lessons for the future.

To be Yavalla's first-born, Wren received neither great affection nor great support from her mother, perhaps precisely due to the fact that blackblood priestesses must avoid being mothers and the transfer of knowledge is carried out by other means than the blood. Nedra, a childhood friend of the brothers Zed and Corven, is against blackblood children receiving mixed education, which motivates Wren to carry out even more eagerly that position for which she doesn't feel at all prepared, because she doesn't believe in magic as much in the human science. But above all, Wren trusts Janzo, and knows that the mistakes made by the ancestors of the people who forced their people into exile in the Plain of Ashes cannot be blamed, because that implies misjudging innocent people who had nothing to do with those dark events. Basing the education of the later Blackblood children on the customs and traditions of the Blackbloods is meaningless in a shared world where they have to coexist with other races and which often severely punishes tribalism. Therefore, Wren is determined to find a balance between her spiritual responsibility and her duty as a mother, because she is not only the mother of Janzo's son, but also the alma mater of her people, in the most transcendental sense of the word. Education, dialogue and interculturality are the pillars on which Wren wants to support the future of Blackblood society.

We ignore most of the secrets of the Blackbloods, but with the help of Janzo, Wren and Luna, we have learned a little more, because if there is one thing that distinguishes this chapter from the previous ones, it is because of its high content of mysteries and findings. Janzo, determined to unravel the enigma of the Skevikor key, finds next to Luna a cavity that houses a colossal hive of dormant chrysalis that contain strange creatures very similar in appearance to the gods. Somehow, the jambs of the portal illustrate as vignettes what appears to be the story of the exile and origin of the Blackbloods, curiously linked to Luna's training in the Dragman Sanctuary. All this, together with the telepathic instructions issued by Tera, Janya and Vorta to bring Tobin and Falista to their presence in the capital, suggest that the Skevikor could be an artifact destined to awaken the beings that doze in the Gallwood crypt, whose souls seem to reside in the bodies of Tera and Vorta. The dragmans would have been in charge of hiding it or keeping the secret of its location, which invites us to think of a time of wisdom and cultural exchange between humans and blackbloods hundreds of years ago, long before the banishment of the pointed ears people.

All We Do is To Say Goodbye involves personal resignations and changes in the thinking of each character, even taking other directions that could separate them. A goodbye without going back. Until now, Zed had been silent and tolerated with more or less jealousy and reluctance the love affair between Talon and Garret. However, now the warrior questions many things, and one of them is Talon's responsibility towards his people. Zed has always been a loyal and obedient soldier who needs to put his finger on the wound to believe something foreign to his conscience. Not that of his is exactly a declaration of love in captivity, but in some way or another, he justifies the need to join Talon in perpetuating the blackblood bloodline. However, Talon is very clear about who he really loves and will not put the customs of his people before her own desires, but neither will the whim of a man over the well-being of those around her, which translates into a strong blow for both Zed and for Garret, the latter eager to finally rejoin her after once more outwitting the guards and the bars of Gallwood. Talon and Wren try to be understanding and understand other people's point of view. The difference is that Talon wants to find happiness and build a new future for herself regardless of her own past.

Each dawn implies a new dusk, and this in turn is the prelude to a new day. Shadows and lights dance in Tobin's heart. The light of his destiny as king of Gallwood and the shadow of his love for the indomitable Falista have prompted him to rebel against anyone who violates both wishes. Blinded by such sins, he has abandoned his most loyal friends and learned to believe what he would never have dreamed of as a child. The evolution of his character is noticeably palpable in this episode, especially in that face-to-face duel with Talon and Garret on the outskirts of the camp, a scene as dramatic as intense. Tobin has just made a critical decision: he leaves Gallwood's fate in the hands of Garret Spears by giving him the ring as a symbol of his commitment. Deep down, what Tobin wants most is to be by Falista's side and he is willing to take any risk in order to enjoy her company, even if that may mean his own death.

Even if he doesn't officially state himself, Tobin's gesture actually constitutes a personal resignation. It's an act of compassion and loyalty towards Garret as a good friend of him, and a goodbye, as his ways separate. But even that doesn't assure Garret a triumphant kiss from Talon, and it's hard to discern what their feelings are. The relationship between the two protagonists has turned cold, perhaps because Talon grudgingly acknowledges that Zed is right and her duty should be to take care of her people, or because accepting responsibility means choosing a different path than someone else wouldn't have choosen ... Who knows! The romantic swings between Talon and Garret are increasingly oscillating and there is no doubt that some behaviors of the Sir Knight have been reprehensible. It's as if Talon doesn't trust him anymore or prefers to distance him from her because she thinks that her obligations entail carrying banners of a different sign and color. 

When Luna asks for an explanation for her refusal to have Garret accompany them to the sanctuary, Talon paradoxically uses the excuse that both of them have more in common and that Luna seemed uncomfortable having to relive bitter memories in that place. Talon insists that she is her friend, but what friendship can be formed if there is no mutual trust? Talon is not even able to being honest to herself and despite everything she demands trust from others. 

Talon's reaction in the woods, much to Zed's amusement, perplexes Garret, who will rightly wonder what fly has bitten his girlfriend. We don't know how it will affect him from now on, but one thing is for sure: if Garret had put right before duty, and even love before right, perhaps now, love evaporated, he will focus more on his duties  regarding the kingdom Tobin has given him in his absence. Maybe Garret should say goodbye to Talon...

GOODBYE TO THE ALLIANCE: CHANGE OF COURSE IN THE OUTPOST. REVIEW FROM EPISODE 4X05

The mystery surrounding the kinjs and the gods who claim them grows and the unstoppable snowball rushes rapidly down the narrative line of The Outpost. Talon failed to return with the blackblood troops promised to consolidate Falista's reign, Luna has been discovered by Tobin himself, and partly Garret's fault Janzo has seen the Prime Order soldiers shut down their underground business again. For his part, Tobin is suspicious of his partner's unusual religiosity and urges Garret to free Luna before she is executed, behind the queen's back, a moment that the teenager takes the opportunity to join Talon and Zed in their search for Two and the Lu Qiri.

Talon and Zed's adventure of discovery allows us to better understand the figure of the gods, those beings with pointed ears that vaguely resemble the blackblood and that, coincidentally, like them, bleed black blood when seriously injured. Zed reserves a moment of personal glory as he tries to save Talon and Luna from the clutches of monsters, something that must have weighed on his will, since Corven's death and the genocide that occurred on the Plain of Ashes have hurt his pride and his sense of belonging to the world. In just a few hours, the warrior has lost almost his entire family, a feeling that he can only share with Talon and Wren. The future of the blackblood race now rests with the surviving children and, in a way, also with the hybrid baby of Janzo and Wren. If Zed has always been drawn to Talon's exotic beauty and his fighting prowess, at no time have the two been so close. However, Zed is reserved and a man of few words, someone who tends not to speak his mind or to speak lightly. Time will tell if, finally, something more than a simple friendship is forged between them, but the truth is that the current circumstances have reconciled Talon with his own people and that they have opened a small gap between her and her bond with Gallwood, aka Garret Spears. The disagreements between the two protagonists of the show have even caused Garret to become fond of the fugitive Luna.

Janzo's academic slumber is over and we finally get to see him investigating the mystery of the Skevikor, doomsday according to the blackblood tradition, which has a lot to do with the divine voices Falista has heard lately. The chapter reveals the existence of seven deities that possessed kinjs, who strangely disappeared without a trace. There's some reason to believe that the creators of the show were inspired by the myth of Prometheus and the fire of the gods, since the supposed goddess Vorta refers to the Asterkinj that Talon carries as the traitor. Aster would be the possessor of the blue kinj that opens portals to other worlds, and if he betrayed the Seven perhaps it was to steal their kinjs, their powers, and grant them to the blackbloods. However, there is also the possibility that she refers to Talon as a traitor to her own people. What if obtaining all the kinjs and their proper placement on the symbol ring unlocked the Skevikor? Impossible to confirm, but no less plausible, perhaps the blackblood are hybrids between the race of gods and humans, an answer that we will only get, unfortunately, when Wren gives birth to Janzo's son. 

Mythology and religion are aspects that the universe of The Outpost has only just begun to explore this season. We are barely talking about the origin of the blackbloods, actually, the tip of the iceberg of this medieval fantasy, because the secrets of the dragman women and the grayskins are still hidden, which would provide enough fuel for two more seasons.

Crossing the Gallwood gate again, we observe how the trust, or what is the same, the tug of war between Garret Spears, Tobin and Falista, is hopelessly frayed. Tobin only acts as sovereign because Falista and others praise him as such, but nothing could be further from the truth: the king feels like a foreigner in a foreign country. His loyalty swings more than a pendulum. He may give Munt courtship lessons to enchant Warlita, but no one in all of Gallwood hates luxury, formal praise, and gastronomic refinements more than he does, which he would gladly trade for simplicity and mundane. He loves Falista but differs greatly from her in opinions of her, so much so that Garret Spears clings to him like a burning nail. The gate marshall insists that he bend her to his will, because it's not her, but the red kinj, who decides instead of her and who perpetrates the most heinous crimes, but Tobin, trying to follow his advice, realizes that it's actually his wife who orders and commands. He is only a mere king consort to hers, which is why he is ultimately inclined to obey her, as her hand wouldn't shake in decreeing his execution. Spears ends at the end of the episode again behind bars, although yeah, with the possibility that Luna helps him  in a clear exchange of favors since she is the only one of the group who has been banned from going to the outpost.

The newly resurrected gods head to the capital to reclaim the remaining kinjs, with Falista leading the retinue carrying Talon and Zed, now reduced to hostages, and with Janzo and Wren condemned to solve the mystery of the Skevikor and the crypt key from the underground city if they want to meet their son alive one day. Neither Janzo nor Wren have managed to unravel the cache of the key, but the series has opened the door to more questions, such as what the capital that The Three dominated has to do with the ruins of Gallwood. For the first time in The Outpost, the enemy we most feared has perished. We are talking about Two, whose blind faith plunged her forever into the darkness of death. With the fall of Two and Three, the main threat to which the kingdom had been subjected since the first season disappears from the chessboard, and that makes us fear for the lives of Falista and Tobin. Episode 4 × 05, which has put the spotlight on the action and mystery surrounding supernatural creatures, suddenly turns the tide of the series.

THE INTRIGUES GATES: REVIEW OF 'THE GODS THANK YOU' (THE OUTPOST, EP. 4X03)

The third episode of The Outpost S4, which owes its title to the final sequence with which it concludes, becomes an essential chapter within the whole of this new season: the characters acquire greater depth, their intrigues that will set the narrative course to follow and timidly appear the new problems and threats that Talon, Garret, Janzo and their friends will have to face. The issue of religion is pervasive, although it's hard to believe at some points that Tobin or Falista, who seemed to have lived their lives outside the whims of the ancient deities, suddenly seem so abducted by the visions that all possessors of the Kinjs suffer with the awakening of those beings who claim these supernatural parasites for themselves.

There's convenient to underline the prominent role of Two as an antagonist, since from being a merely anecdotal character in S2, he has become the instigator of discord, the female reincarnation of Lord Varys from Game of Thrones in The Outpost. Two is submissive and obedient in the face of the new monarchs. Her words only whisper the story they enjoy hearing. She never contradicts her decisions and refrains from pressuring or revealing her true intentions. Lesson learned from her partner Three, who was murdered because he didn't know how to bite his tongue when circumstances required it. You know, barking dog, little biter, but biting dog ... 

Two is patient, and she waits. She just waits. She waits for favorable winds to blow her boat in the desired direction. Her macabre intentions are not only ignored by the innocent Falista and her husband, but by the rest of the characters, who rather prefer to delight in contemplating the head of the queen nailed on a pike. Undoubtedly, Two is a key element for The Outpost that could allow answering certain questions that are still in the air, regarding the origin of the kinjs and their creators. After all, how did the Prime Order come about? How did The Three get their kinjs? What role did these creatures play in Gallwood's political regime? Patience is a virtue…

Of course, if it's necessary to talk about antagonisms, it must be made clear that Two is not the only one who plays that role, because the series, if it has shown something, is that it has no qualms about making a character question his own ideals and ally with the enemy when he lacks alternatives, as is the case with Garret. However, Two stands out for the fact that she is a secondary character who, like Falista, the S4 has given her the opportunity to build himself, to give himself an identity, a purpose and a storyline of her own. The same is true for Tobin, a character whose narrative history has become more independent since Gwynn's death. Tobin has been reborn, and not just in a literal sense.

The third episode introduces changes to the chessboard based on intrigue and new plottwists that put pressure on the protagonists and confront them with their own demons. Garret Spears finally gives in and is tempted by her manumission and by obtaining an unexpected new charge in exchange for investigating the murdering attempt carried out by Luna, who remains hidden in the Blacksmith's House, recovering from her injuries. Euphoric in the first instance, as it seems that fate will allow him to honor his dead father, Wythers, for the first time, Garret accidentally discovers through Talon that the little rogue is the murderer whose arrest he is requested in the palace. However, Talon is absorbed in her own affairs and that conversation with Garret urges her to distrust him more, since the captain, or better to say, the newly appointed Gate Marshall, is on a tightrope and with the sword to the neck.

During Luna's chase into the dungeons, they both realize that the place has been used as a mass grave. Garret ties up the dots and deduces that Tobin's resurrection was the work of Two, which he blatantly throws at Tobin in his next interview, berating him for his means of obtaining the crown and the appreciation of the people. As much as he and Falista try to buy the support of the outposts through public donations, respect is a virtue that can never be bought, especially when monarchs put themselves before their own people. However, no matter how much Spears raises his tone of voice or intimidates Tobin, his freedom depends on her fulfilling the mission that they have entrusted to him, so he must find a compromise solution so as not to betray Luna and protect her while Talon, Zed and Wren venture into the Plane of Ashes to rescue the last of the Blackbloods, whom Falista will bribe with land, shelter, and legal protection in Gallwood in exchange for support and loyalty.

It doesn't take much smart to realize that the position Wythers held was repudiated by Garret and Garret has signed a delicate and risky compromise. The Gate Marshall is responsible not only for guarding and keeping in eye the entrances to the citadel, but for investigating, trying, and executing criminals, tasks that Spears has always hated the most. Garret entrusted his life to the protection of the vulnerable and for that reason Talon doesn't understand  he has bowed his head and is willing to unceremoniously imprison an orphan girl who, in any case, would help them dethrone Falista. Countless times Garret has tried to do the right thing by choosing the wrong path, so there is reason to be concerned, as his obligation to help Talon and Tobin at the same time will make him a two-card player whose life will hang in the balance, as narrow as the line between loyalty and treason. Without any doubt, he will have to resort to his little ingenuity to, probably, find a fictitious culprit that allows him to achieve his goal of finding people loyal to his cause because, of course, the brain of the outpost, the inestimable Janzo, is too busy organizing his own underground business together with Munt after the closure of the Nightshade.

For their part, Talon, Zed and Wren's second trip into the Plane of Ashes raises new questions, as our friends come face to face with hostility from the Blackblood people. During their absence, a conflict has broken out between the faithful to the High Priestess and the rebellious Blackfists, something that deeply hurts Zed, as he, at one point, was a supporter of the Blackfists. The last survivors of his race consider him a traitor. 

Until now Zed had been an auxiliary character and a sort of counterpart to Garret, even the enemy to beat in Season 3, when he became Yavalla's soldier, but the events that happened in the Plane of Ashes suggest that he will acquire greater weight within the narrative of the series, since if he had acted with haste, he could perhaps have brought back his compatriots and prevented that civil war, even that his brother Corven would have sacrificed himself to save him at the last instance. Without any doubt, this is something that is going to affect him emotionally.

Anyways, the reaction of Falista and the people of Gallwood to the arrival of their new pointy-eared hosts is not predictable either. Who dares to affirm that Falista's intentions are transparent and that she didn't actually send Talon there to remove her from the throne and discourage the rebellious spirits of her followers? Talon didn't promise to return with a Blackblood army and if Falista doesn't see her expectations met, she won't hesitate to reject the initial deal, perhaps claiming that it never existed because there is no royal signature to attest to it.