Fabula
S13E2 · Terror of the Zygons Part 2

Sarah kills Zygon replica in barn fall

Sarah investigates the commotion in the barn, climbing to the hayloft to find Harry only to discover the Zygon replica. The duplicate attacks with a pitchfork, desperate to eliminate her witness. In the struggle the creature overreaches, loses balance and plummets from the loft. Its death exposes the Zygons’ infiltration, eliminating the immediate replica threat and confirming the pattern of substitution that has endangered UNIT’s operations. The confrontation forces Sarah to act as judge and executioner, reinforcing the cost of survival against an enemy that wears human faces. key_dialogue: [ SARAH: Harry? SARAH: Harry? ]

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

2

Sarah investigates a noise in the barn and confronts Zygon Harry, who attacks her with a pitchfork.

calm to fear ['hayloft', 'barn']

Zygon Harry lunges with the pitchfork, loses balance, and falls out of the loft, dying on the floor.

fear to shock ['hayloft', 'floor']

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

3

Heightened tension with a rush of adrenaline, shifting from confusion to hyper-awareness as the attack unfolds

Sarah climbs the ladder into the hayloft, her voice calling out for Harry in rising concern. She immediately recognizes something is wrong as the figure attacks her with a pitchfork, forcing her to react quickly. After dodging the strikes and witnessing the creature's fall, she peers down to confirm the Zygon's demise.

Goals in this moment
  • Locate and confirm Harry's safety
  • Defend herself against the attacking entity
  • Uncover the truth behind the imposter
Active beliefs
  • Trust in Harry's safety is immediately challenged by the hostile figure before her
  • That the Zygon infiltration is more pervasive than initially believed
Character traits
Alert Quick-thinking Direct Survival-focused
Follow Sarah Jane …'s journey

Acting out of compulsion and fear, driven by the need to complete its mission before exposure

The Zygon replica of Harry assumes his position in the hayloft, wielding a pitchfork and launching desperate attacks on Sarah. Its aggression reveals a desperate need to eliminate her as a witness. The creature's movements grow increasingly frantic until it lunges too far, loses balance, and plummets to the barn floor below, fatally wounded.

Goals in this moment
  • Eliminate Sarah to prevent her from exposing the replica
  • Enforce the Zygon infiltration protocol by removing interference
Active beliefs
  • That the mission takes priority over self-preservation
  • That deception must be maintained at all costs
Character traits
Desperate Aggressive Brash Panicked
Follow Harry Sullivan's journey

Driven by mission parameters with a disregard for self-preservation, creating an erratic attack pattern

The Zygon operates as the Harry replica, executing the attack sequence in the hayloft. It leverages the pitchfork as a weapon, aiming to neutralize Sarah before she can expose the substitution. Its physical collapse from the loft serves as its final failure in this confrontation.

Goals in this moment
  • Assault Sarah to prevent her witnessing the replica's true nature
  • Maintain the infiltration by ensuring no interference
Active beliefs
  • That its camouflage and weapon will ensure mission success
  • That survival is secondary to completing the infiltration directive
Character traits
Tactical but undisciplined Driven to excess Impulsive
Follow Broton's Zygon …'s journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

3
Pitchfork

The pitchfork becomes the weapon of attack as the Zygon replica swings it violently at Sarah, aiming to incapacitate her. Its frantic movements cause the tines to whistle through the air, narrowly missing as Sarah dodges. In the final struggle, the replica lunges too hard, losing its footing and pitching the weapon aside as it falls.

Before: Leaning against the wall of the hayloft within …
After: Knocked aside during the struggle, discarded on the …
Before: Leaning against the wall of the hayloft within reach of the Zygon replica
After: Knocked aside during the struggle, discarded on the loft floor after the fall
Rusty Barrels

The rusted barrels shift during the struggle when the Zygon replica knocks into them, causing one to teeter and roll toward Sarah's boots. Their hollow clang breaks the silence following the creature's fall. These barrels serve as physical evidence of the disturbance that initially drew Sarah into the confrontation.

Before: Positioned half-buried in hay near the edge of …
After: One barrel rolled toward the barn floor, the …
Before: Positioned half-buried in hay near the edge of the loft
After: One barrel rolled toward the barn floor, the other remains in place but disturbed
Wooden Barn Ladder

The wooden barn ladder becomes the path Sarah uses to ascend into the loft, its creaking presence under her weight a momentary concern. The ladder's worn rungs offer the only stable access to the loft, and its steep angle demands careful footing when climbing to investigate the noise. The ladder remains unmoved after the fall.

Before: Leaning against the barn wall, secured and ready …
After: Still in place, providing the route for Sarah's …
Before: Leaning against the barn wall, secured and ready for use
After: Still in place, providing the route for Sarah's ascent and later descent

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

2
Barn

The barn's interior becomes the arena for the confrontation. Its cluttered ground floor hides tools and oil smells beneath the ladder's ascent to a dimly lit loft, where the attack unfolds in shadows. The barn's upper loft casts sharp moonlight shafts across bales, creating a maze of shifting light and dark. Its vertical space turns lethal when the fall occurs from the loft's height.

Atmosphere Tense with sudden violence, the silence broken by frantic movement and metallic clangs of the …
Function Functional battleground where the confrontation between Sarah and the Zygon replica reaches its climax
Symbolism Represents a hidden threat lurking within familiar spaces, where trust is shattered by deception
Access Limited to the ladder access, creating isolation and vulnerability for those in the loft
Seasoned ladder with worn rungs Dust swirling from disturbed hay Narrow moonlit beams slicing the loft's shadows
Hayloft

The hayloft serves as the isolated setting for the confrontation between Sarah and the Zygon replica. Only accessible by the ladder, this space becomes the stage for the attack as the replica wields the pitchfork. The loft's confined area intensifies the struggle, with the Zygon's desperate lunges leaving it vulnerable to a fatal misstep.

Atmosphere Cluttered with hay and dimly lit, filled with palpable tension as Sarah faces an attacker …
Function Isolated conflict zone where deception is stripped away and the Zygon's true nature is revealed
Symbolism Embodies the precariousness of trust and the danger of hidden threats in seemingly safe spaces
Access Only accessible via the ladder, allowing no escape routes or reinforcements during the confrontation
Stacked hay bales forming a maze of shadows Pungent smell of dry straw and old wood Wooden beams casting sharp shadows across the floor

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What led here 2

"Sarah's concern for Harry's well-being after seeing him (who is later revealed to be a Zygon replica) leads her to confront him in the barn, where the replica attacks her with a pitchfork—connecting emotional human concern to the deadly infiltration threat."

Zygon Harry seizes the signalling device
S13E2 · Terror of the Zygons Part …

"Sarah's concern for Harry's well-being after seeing him (who is later revealed to be a Zygon replica) leads her to confront him in the barn, where the replica attacks her with a pitchfork—connecting emotional human concern to the deadly infiltration threat."

Harry tears the device from Sarah by force
S13E2 · Terror of the Zygons Part …
What this causes 1

"The death of Murdlar (the Zygon replica of Harry) triggers Broton's detection of autonomic failure in the monitoring system, leading him to order molecular dispersal to prevent capture—connecting the failure of infiltration to a sanitization protocol."

Broton orders Murdlar destroyed
S13E2 · Terror of the Zygons Part …

Themes This Exemplifies

Thematic resonance and meaning

Part of Larger Arcs