Object

Battletree Lake Natural Dam

A natural dam at Battletree Lake collapses under pressure, releasing a destructive rush of ice, water, and rock downstream. Staffers in Leo's office absorb the briefing on this Alaska disaster; Josh, Leo, Will, C.J., and Marion Cotesworth-Haye grapple with its sudden urgency as the room reels before Will shifts focus to a distraction.

3 appearances

Purpose

Impounded water, ice, and debris until bursting to unleash floodwaters

Significance

Triggers the Alaska emergency that grips the senior staff, amplifying crisis tension and prompting immediate priority shifts in Leo's office

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments

S4E18 · Privateers

Kachadee Outburst — Leo Briefed on a Melting Glacier

The Battletree Lake natural dam is the central causal object: Josh reads that it 'burst' in a glacial lake outburst, creating the 300-foot-wide flow that drives the rescue and political response. It functions narratively as the physical hinge between climate science and human disaster.

Before: Intact (holding water as part of a glacier-formed natural dam, though under long-term stress).

After: Breached/collapsed — the failure released a destructive surge of ice, water and rock into downstream Kachadee.

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S4E18 · Privateers

From Melting Glacier to Media Triage

The Battletree Lake natural dam is the physical object whose catastrophic failure (a glacial lake outburst) is the inciting incident. Josh cites the dam's breach as the literal cause of the 300-foot-wide surge sweeping Kachadee, converting an abstract environmental fact into an immediate operational emergency.

Before: Intact as part of a glacier system that impounded Battletree Lake, albeit weakened by melting.

After: Breached/failed—its collapse released a rushing river of ice, water, and rock downstream, producing a disaster scenario.

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S4E18 · Privateers

Pirates, Privateers, and the DAR Distraction

The Battletree Lake Natural Dam is invoked as the immediate physical trigger for the catastrophe. Josh's description of the dam's failure supplies the dramatic image (a 300-foot-wide surge) that sets the room's urgent tone, creating the pressure valve that Will's levity later relieves.

Before: Functioned as a glacially formed barrier holding back Battletree Lake's waters.

After: Collapsed in a glacial lake outburst; now the locus of debris, flooding, and rescue operations as reported to the White House.

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