Inej is dragged back into the prison by Fjerdan guards, who hurry her through the corridor beside the Ice Court’s glass display hall. Knowing that leaving the corridor would likely mean torture and no escape, Inej stalls, weighs her chances, and attacks when the moment comes, tripping one guard and breaking his nose.

Before the second guard can shoot Inej, Jesper kills him with a thrown pair of shears, and Wylan reveals himself as well. Inej gives Jesper the diamond choker she stole from Tante Heleen during the earlier chaos, fulfilling Kaz’s instruction to obtain a diamond large enough for Jesper’s work. For Inej, stealing Heleen’s prized necklace is also a symbolic first victory over the woman who owned and abused her.

Jesper uses his Fabrikator ability to shape the diamonds into a drill bit while Wylan assembles a makeshift drill. As guards batter at the locked doors and others gather on the opposite walkway, Jesper and Wylan cut a circular opening through the Grisha-made glass. When the hole is ready, Inej runs barefoot and leaps through it, using her acrobatic skill to catch a hanging lantern, swing across the enclosure, and climb down to one of the tanks on display.

Inej finds the tank’s controls and fires first a small gun as a warning, then the main mortar. The blast shatters the glass wall, allowing Jesper and Wylan to swing down on ropes and join her. Jesper takes the driver’s position, delighted by the machine, while Wylan and Inej use the guns to cover their escape from the guards pouring into the enclosure.

Jesper fires the mortar at the ringwall, cracking but not piercing it, then drives the tank at full speed into the damaged section. The tank crashes through the legendary wall and escapes onto the road beyond the Ice Court. As rifle fire fades behind them, Wylan laughs at the sight of the banner for Fjerdan might caught in the tank’s treads, turning the Ice Court’s own symbol of power into their trophy.