"History is the nightmare
from which I am trying to awake."
Map of the Seven Knights begins with Andrea Stroh, an estate worker finding several antique books. All that she knows is that they are old and might possibly be worth some money. To find out the value of the books, she calls in Felix an antique book dealer, who just happens to be Monroe's uncle. Felix immediately recognizes that these books must have belonged to a Grimm and takes them back to his shop. Shortly after Andrea is killed by two Anubi, Felix wisely leaves town and heads to see Monroe with the hope of selling the books to Nick. Unfortunately, Felix wants 100,000 dollars for the books and that's way more money than Nick can put together. We do however get the pleasure of seeing that Monroe's ability to get lost in geeky esoteric things is really quite a family trait. Felix goes on about his love of the written word while everyone else in the room makes faces at each other.
One of the things I did actually enjoy was Felix's reaction to Truble entering the room. Felix was prepared for Nick, but not for another Grimm. Monroe had to step between them and hold his uncle back and similarly, Nick had to hold back Truble. Felix was a quiet man, interested only in his books and to see him turn violent at the sight of a Grimm, is a real reminder that Grimms historically have played judge, jury and executioner. They have slaughtered families without cause, often leaving Wesen with no recourse. There's a reason that upon encountering a Grimm, many Wesen end up woging and revealing themselves. I think that we can agree that the Abubi were obviously not good men because they slaughtered two people in cold blood but is it any less than what Grimm have historically done? Grimm still needs to work harder to convince me as why I shouldn't be team Black Claw and incidents like this aren't swaying me to the side of Hadrian's Wall in the least.
Nick attempts to make a deal with the ever so shadowy Hadrian's Wall to get Felix's money but before he can accomplish this, Felix is murdered. When Monroe's sees his dead uncle's body, his emotional devastation is clear. I don't think that I've ever seen Silas Weir Mitchell, sell a scene as deftly as he did this one. Shortly after choking up at the sight of his uncle's damaged and dead body, Monroe has to pretend to be Felix when a call comes in on Felix's phone.
The Scooby team quickly realises that given the weight of the book collection, Felix could not have been travelling around with them and therefore must have shipped them to Portland. With the help of Hadrian's Wall, the scoobies learn where the books are being stored and head off to intercept the two Anubi. Mornoe ends up woging and taking out an Anubi with his teeth. When Monroe stands, his mouth is full of blood after seeking justice for Felix's death. It's clear that Nick is disturbed to see his best friend covered in blood but he doesn't say anything. Monroe simply says that Felix was a good man. For much of the time, Monroe, with his vegetarian diet, and fascination with clocks, has been the nerds nerd. This scene reminds Nick that behind the facade, there's someone who can kill and someone who isn't human.
The crate containing the books is taken back to Nick's new place and the scoobies are thrilled to have a new Grimopedia, especially after finding a cache of weapons in the false bottom of the shipping crate. Am I the only one thinking that they had better digitize it this time? It's something that Wu could do and it might bring him further into the Scooby gang. One of the books turns out to be a genealogy which explains why this collection was of particular interest to Black Claw. With the genealogy book, they would be able to know who the Grimms are. Truble is really interested in finding out her background but before she can search for herself in the book, Monroe discovers that the lock on the crate is actually masking keys.
Am I the only one who went huh? I had to pause and try to remember what the hell these keys are all about. The keys are something Grimm has been dangling in front of the audience for some time now and the storyline has never gone anywhere. When the scoobies make a print of the marking on the keys, they realise that they are looking at a map. It's Monroe who makes a comparison of the key stamps to an actual modern map and declares that what they are looking for is buried somewhere in the Black Forest. Knowing that there's some sort of treasure there, Nick decides to plan a trip. He's left himself a pretty large search area. Since this buried treasure dates back to the sacking of Constantinople and the fourth crusade, it really could be anything. The royals did after all go to great measures to get Nick's keys previously. I wonder if this will be the weapon which will turn the tide in the battle against Black Claw?
As much as I am enjoying this years story line when it comes to Hadrian's Wall and Black Claw, I cannot stand what Grimm is doing with Adalind, Nick and Eve/Juliet. This episode Nick and Adalind decide to throw a house warming. Yes, please roll your eyes. Monroe and Nick head up to the roof where they have a little talk about what's going on between Nick and Adalind. Nick says that things are just so normal and that it feels strange because he spent so long hating Adalind. The fact of the matter is that Nick should still hate Adalind because she raped him. Grimm however seems to be unwilling to admit that this is what happened because Monroe refers to Nick having sex with both Juliet and Adalind. If that were not enough, Grimm has both men talk about how much Adalind has changed and Nick's surprise that Adalind is a good mother. This makes it official, Grimm is trying to rehabilitate Adalind's character, in order to make her a viable love interest to Nick. All of this however is predicated on Nick developing romantic feelings for his rapist which is absurd to say the least.
Later, Nick notices that Adalind is not herself and when she is questioned, Adalind reveals that this is the anniversary of her mother's death. While Nick doesn't actually offer his condolences, it's clear that he empathises a little with Adalind's loss. Adalind then points out that they don't even know each other's birthdays but Nick surprises her by stating hers. Adalind rights it off to Nick having arrested her once. Nick then reveals when his birthday is. Great, now they are getting to know each other as people. Next, they will be talking about their favourite movies and hobbies when they are not dealing with Wesen business. I predict that before the end of the season, Grimm will have these two in bed together and I will be gagging.
On the other side of this ridiculous love triangle is Eve/Juliet. Monroe gets a chance to interact with Eve for the first time and sees that though she remembers everything, she has just become a complete blank. Truble goes to see Eve to assure her that she didn't intend to kill Juliet but would have if she had had to. Truble questions Eve's intent when it comes to Nick, Adalind and Kelly and is assured by Eve that whatever happened was Juliet's business and none of her concern. The two women draw a shaky truce. This serves as yet a reminder that Juliet, who spent years as a victim had to become a disconnect robot like creature in order to be strong. It says a lot about Grimm's treatment of women.
The story lines are are all starting to come together, even if the discovery of the keys feels somewhat like a red herring. What I have the biggest problem is what Grimm is doing with Renard. Why should we be interested that Renard has involved himself in dirty politics? Are they later going to claim that he became a dupe of Black Claw? Grimm really needs to do something to bring Renard back into the story, particularly because he is the only one in a position of authority that the scooby gang can trust. Gimm needs to either drop the story line with the election of the mayor, or tie it all in. They certainly are not giving Renard and the election much attention as it is because they are balancing too many balls. Grimm has always had a problem with pacing and what is going on with Renard is further proof of that.
