Summary
“My Stronger Guilt Defeats My Strong Intent” closed the season well, but couldn’t resist teasing another with a last-minute cliffhanger.
This recap of Bard of Blood Season 1, Episode 7, “My Stronger Guilt Defeats My Strong Intent”, contains spoilers. You can check out our spoiler-free season review by clicking these words and our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these ones.
We rejoin Nusrat (Abhishekh Khan) and Veer (Viineet Kumar Singh) being held at gunpoint by Qasim (Shamaun Ahmed) in Bard of Blood Episode 7, but the situation is quickly defused. As it turns out, pointing anything at Veer isn’t a good plan. He disarms Qasim and allows Nusrat to decide his fate, but the young man rises above murder — that, Veer tells Qasim, is a real leader. Then he asks him where Kabir (Emraan Hashmi) is.
Unsurprisingly, Kabir is still after Mullah Khalid (Danish Husain). At the compound, he’s able to rescue Isha (Sobhita Dhulipala), but they get into a gunfight with the Taliban forces. Luckily, Veer and the BAF arrive in the nick of time to provide assistance. There is plenty more fighting, including a one-on-one between Kabir and the Mullah, who is surprisingly sprightly for such a big man, which results in Aftab (Asheish Nijhawan) accidentally shooting his own father dead.
Isha and Veer are able to meet Jessica (Kallirroi Tziafeta) at the exfiltration point, but Kabir has gone in search of the hostages, who are still being held by Shehzad (Jaideep Ahlawat). He has now been abandoned by his agency and by Adiba, who smugly told him so. And it doesn’t take long for him to lose a fight with Kabir, either, though it’s competitive for a while. Just when it looks like things can’t any worse for Shehzad, Qasim and Nusrat arrive. The latter allows his brother-in-law to do the honor of executing him.
The gang return home as conquering heroes — especially Veer, having been undercover for seven years. He’s given a healthy payout and told to be with his sickly father and to return as a soldier when he has his affairs in order. Things aren’t that easy for Kabir, though. He receives a call from a man who claims to have killed Sadiq Sheikh (Rajit Kapur). Tracking him with Isha and Nihar (Amit Bimrot), the man reveals himself to be an easily-exploitable triggerman being manipulated by someone else — and the obvious suspect is Aftab. Just as the man is about to reveal a plan to assassinate the Chinese Premier, he’s shot dead by a hooded assailant. Giving chase, Kabir is able to briefly catch up to him, and when the hood comes down he reveals himself as… Vikram. Surprise!
As for how I feel about this twist… I don’t. It’s a last-minute ass-pull designed to whet appetites for a second season, and it should be treated at such. But I’ll say this for Bard of Blood Episode 7: At least it had the decency to wrap up the majority of its storylines and basically function as an ending. Yes, it leaves the door open for a follow-up, but in many ways, it’s supposed to. This, to me at least, didn’t feel as cynical as other Netflix shows which confuse setting up a second season with leaving things completely unresolved. I was okay with it. And it finished off a solid season of Indian espionage that’ll probably prove to be a moderate hit — though Sacred Games hasn’t been dethroned as the subcontinent’s streaming king just yet.
