Blood & Treasure: Observations From “The Throne of the Khan”

The 9th episode of the long-awaited second season of Blood & Treasure aired on Paramount+ on Sunday night, moving forward with the story of Danny McNamara and Lexi Vaziri as they are on the hunt for the latest antiquity that is also desired by a dangerous terrorist and his vicious team of killers.

Episode nine found Danny and Lexi on the hunt for the monk who took the Spirit Banner to China, working with Shaw, Vince and Kate where they ended up in a battle at a temple.

The synopsis for the 9th episode, entitled “The Throne of the Khan,” is “Danny, Lexi, Aidan and Kate’s search for the Spirit Banner leads them to a Shaolin Buddhist Temple. Still reeling from the white hat affair, Simon is forced by the Great Khan to complete another task, where he is shocked to meet a ghost. Danny is forced to pick sides between Lexi and Kate.”

The Good:

Violet is alive!

That seemed like a good thing when she was first shown at the beginning of the episode when the Great Khan revealed to Simon that she was also pulled from the explosion at Orloff’s testing facility. It also seemed like, as the episode progressed, that she was willing to “partner” with Simon to get them out of the Great Khan’s clutches via the promise made to Simon by Danny vis a vis an assist from Kate and the CIA.

But then that swiftly changed with that surprising twist at the end when the Great Khan was cut down by Zedillo, the new guy who arrived, who was in turn cut down – by of all people – Violet, who proclaimed herself to be the Great Khan. What was that all about?!

Truth be told, I sat there quite dumbfounded by it all, wondering if my suspicions about Violet in the beginning were in fact correct and she really was up to no good; or is this some crazy scheme of hers. I just don’t know what to believe at this point.

Despite his questionable ways, Vince proved to be on the team’s side, although for those few moments in the middle of the episode it felt like he was actually working with the Great Khan’s horde. Given how wrong I’ve been about Violet, though, I’ll reserve the right to judge him later should he prove to be anything other than a dirty cop trying to make amends in his own way.

Any conversations with Shaw also turn out funny. His exchange with Lexi about them not watching the videos he sent them, and Lexi yelling “when do we have the time.” Shaw telling Danny about the Chinese New Year, convergence and the fact he better not wait to propose to Lexi. And even his interaction with Kate, well, I wasn’t expecting that to be touching at all – when she was dressing the wound he sustained from the battle with the Great Khan’s horde. There was a second of a little romance brewing there I think; although I really hope they don’t go that route with Kate and Shaw.

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The Bad:

Violet is alive.

Yeah, this was part of the good news from the episode, but as I said above, it’s become quite complicated, and now I worry about everyone because of what Violet has done, and the power that is going to have over the Great Khan’s horde.

I actually have to admit that I feel a little sorry for Simon, as he thought he had an unlikely ally in Violet; and not that is clearly not the case.

Additional Thoughts:

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again I miss Chuck when he isn’t in an episode and I miss Shaw when he isn’t in an episode. I just wish they’d get the core team (Danny, Lexi, Shaw and Chuck) all back together. Hopefully that is coming as the season comes to an end.

Make sure to tune in to Paramount+ next Sunday, September 11 for the next new episode.

A new episode of Blood & Treasure will air each Sunday on the streaming service.

You can also rewatch season 1 of Blood & Treasure on Paramount+.