Kira (Arden Cho) made her comeback in “Teen Wolf” Season 5, episode 13, but she wasn’t exactly at the top of her game. The kitsune left Scott’s (Tyler Posey) pack to learn how to control her powers. That meant risking her life, but luckily, Scott chose the right time to search for his love.

This episode picks up right where episode 12 left off. Kira faces the skinwalkers and starts a pretty intense battle with them. She gets impaled through the shoulder with one of the skinwalkers’ staffs. They sense that she is frightened of her powers and agree to help her. However, if she can’t learn from them, they’ll force her to become a skinwalker.

Back in Beacon Hills, Liam (Dylan Sprayberry) goes to Scott’s house to warn him about Theo’s (Cody Christian) pack. Scott already knows most of this information, and he doesn’t have time to chat with Liam. He’s headed to New Mexico to track down Kira, so Liam wants to help. Scott tells him not to do anything.

While Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) is fixing his beloved Jeep, he asks Scott if he is sure he wants to leave Liam behind. Scott isn’t ready to forgive the beta yet, but Stiles says he’ll have to soon. “If you wanna get the band back together, Scott, you don’t leave out the drummer,” Stiles says. He manages to get the Jeep in working condition (although it’s still leaking gasoline), and they head off to the desert.

Kira’s mother (Tamlyn Tomita) tells her that they’ll be in New Mexico for months or years learning to control her powers. “If this part of you becomes too powerful, it will consume you,” Noshiko says. Kira says all myths about skinwalkers say that they’re evil. Noshiko points out that the kitsune legends are the same.

Within a few hours, Kira’s injury from being stabbed heals. She asks her mother about failing the skinwalkers’ tests, and Noshiko simply tells her not to fail.

Scott and Stiles have a long drive ahead, so they do research on their way to New Mexico. They believe it’s possible that the Beast is a killer who boiled the flesh off children’s bones to eat them. His crimes were so awful that the courts destroyed the records (a process referred to as “damnatio memoriae”).

Still, they have a lot of time to pass, so the two manage to talk about everything that has happened recently. Stiles reveals that Malia (Shelley Hennig) isn’t speaking to anyone. Scott thinks she might have found the Desert Wolf. Scott believes she wants to kill her mother. However, they have to worry about getting out of the desert. Stiles’ gas gauge is broken and the car has suddenly stopped.

Scott and Stiles find a gas station that’s closed. They leave a $20 bill for when the gas station attendant returns. Stiles finally takes the time to explain to Scott how he accidentally killed Donovan (Ashton Moio). Scott says Stiles should’ve told him. He understands self-defense.

Once they’re moving again, they see a storm ahead that’s just over a particular part of the desert, and they head toward it. Kira is there, wandering through the dark while waiting for her test. The Oni, the demon warriors from “Teen Wolf” Season 3, come out of the shadows to fight her.

Scott and Stiles don’t seem to realize that they should rush to get to Kira. They get out of their car to look at the storm. Scott laments that he and Stiles should’ve talked for five minutes longer the night of the supermoon. It could’ve stopped everything. The alpha adds that he knew that one of them “would get too much blood on our hands” eventually. He just wanted it to be him rather than his best friend. Scott is distracted when he sees the sparks from Kira’s sword and realizes that’s where his love must be.

Kira has difficulty in her fight. Every time she strikes the Oni, she receives the injury. Still, she gets up and fights. Eventually, her fiery kitsune comes out and attacks the demonic fighter. Kira walks back to her mother with the Oni’s mask. She thinks she has won, but the skinwalkers tell her that the fox has control over her. That means she has actually failed and must become a skinwalker.

Kira’s mother tells her to get in the car. She’s a 900-year-old kitsune and believes she can defend her daughter. Kira decides to fight alongside her mother, but Scott and Stiles arrive to save the day before a real fight ensues. They get into the Jeep and ride away. Apparently, the skinwalkers don’t feel the need to chase after them.

Scott and Kira waste no time in greeting each other. They’re making out in the backseat as soon as they’re out of harm’s way. “You came back for me. I love you,” Kira says. “I love you so much.”

Kira wasn’t the only one trying to control her powers. In Eichen House, Lydia (Holland Roden) revisits Dr. Valack’s (Steven Brand) cell. Meredith (Maya Eshet) explains that the doctor used her scream as a tool by focusing it with a recorder. Lydia has to learn to do the same thing on her own.

Lydia has a vision of being in the library. The seniors’ names are gone from the bookshelf they defaced on the night before senior year. She asks how to save her friends and sees Theo slash Meredith’s throat. In reality, Lydia does scream and the staffers at the mental hospital hear an explosion.

Meanwhile, Theo doesn’t run into Scott in this episode, but he still manages to cause plenty of trouble. He takes Tracy (Kelsey Chow) to the school to follow the Beast’s trail. The Dread Doctors are leaving the phrase “damnatio memoriae” in hopes of triggering the Beast’s memories. Theo reveals that the creature turns into a human during the day but probably doesn’t even realize that.

The Dread Doctors suddenly show up and tell Theo to go home. Theo complains he needs more than a pack. He needs to be an alpha. However, the Beast walks up carrying a severed head and growls at them. Then, the creature and the Dread Doctors suddenly disappear.

At school, Liam sees Theo with Hayden (Victoria Moroles) and is clearly jealous. Mason (Khylin Rhambo) has to remind him not to get involved. However, it’s hard to avoid Hayden. In class, Liam has to face her when they get paired up, but their teacher prevents them from talking about their personal lives.

Later, Hayden asks him what he’s up to, and Liam says he is trying not to get involved. She tells him that Theo can protect them better than Scott can. She can’t die again and leave her sister alone. Liam says he wouldn’t be able to handle her death again either. They share a kiss.

Liam isn’t the only one hooking up with a chimera. Corey (Michael Johnston) asks out Mason. Liam’s best friend says no and points out that Corey is with the bad guys. Corey claims there won’t be sides anymore. There’s just going to be dead or alive soon. Corey tells Mason to stay alive with him and kisses him.

For a guy who is supposedly not evil, Theo sure does like pushing people’s buttons. At the animal clinic, he finds Malia and tells her that Deaton (Seth Gilliam) is probably already dead. He wonders what will happen when Scott realizes it’s her fault, and Malia attacks Theo. She breaks his arm, but the chimera easily snaps it back to its correct position. Theo claims he can help track down the Desert Wolf and Deaton. He knows how the Dread Doctors found people.

At the end of the episode, Liam and Mason interrupt Scott and Kira’s reunion. It seems their romantic encounters may have allowed them to get some new info. They say Theo is looking for a blind alpha. Scott knows it’s Deucalion (Gideon Emery) that Theo is after. It seem the Oni aren’t the only Season 3 villains that are making a comeback.

“Teen Wolf” Season 5B airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on MTV.

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