S02E06 - Unconditional

"Unconditional" is the sixth episode of Season 2 of We Can Fix Pawbert. It is one of the most emotionally significant episodes of the series, centering on a long-delayed forgiveness session that redefines the pack's relationship with Pawbert.

Synopsis

A panic attack strikes when Pawbert accidentally brushes Judy's neck -- the same spot where he injected her with venom during the events of Zootopia 2. Dr. Fuzzby arrives at the safehouse and facilitates a forgiveness session, noting that Nick and Judy deliberately withheld forgiveness a year earlier because Pawbert was not ready to receive it. One by one, each member of the pack says the words Pawbert never believed he would hear.

Plot

At 3:14 AM, Pawbert cannot sleep. His mind keeps circling back to shell companies and weather wall schematics and the uncle who might not be dead. He slips out of bed and finds Judy in the kitchen, similarly unable to rest. When they both stand to move around the small space, Pawbert's paw accidentally brushes Judy's neck—the exact spot where he once injected her with venom during the events of Zootopia 2.

Judy has healed. She does not flinch. But Pawbert freezes. His paw trembles against her fur as the kitchen disappears and he is back at the weather wall, the syringe in his grip, watching her body seize and crumple. He staggers backward, shatters a glass on the floor, and slides down the cabinet into a sobbing heap. Luther appears in the doorway, takes in the scene, and moves. He sits beside Pawbert, waits for permission, then pulls him close and holds him while he cries. Nick arrives moments later. The pack gathers in the kitchen at 3 AM while their lynx breaks.

By morning, the broken glass has been cleaned up but nothing feels normal. Pawbert is wrapped in his green sweater on the couch, exhausted and red-eyed. Judy suggests calling Dr. Fuzzby. Pawbert resists—he already said everything a year ago, he did the work, he does not want to put everyone through another session. Luther reframes the request: the last session was about what Pawbert owed them. Maybe this one is about what they want to give him.

Fuzzby arrives and settles into the prepared circle of chairs. She recalls the exact words from the accountability session a year prior: Judy said she could not forgive him but could choose to see who he was becoming; Nick said he was not Pawbert's absolution but was willing to be in the room while he learned to carry it. Both deliberately withheld forgiveness. That was appropriate and healthy—they were not ready. The question Fuzzby wants to explore: has anything changed?

She names the year of evidence. Weekly letters from prison. Weekly visits through glass and bars. Luther going undercover, living in that prison, fighting beside Pawbert, taking wounds protecting him. The siege—forty attackers, a warden who died covering the extraction. And after all of that, Pawbert choosing to help ZSI not because he was forced but because it was right. A year of choices. A year of showing up for each other in ways that matter.

Judy moves first. She crosses the room, sits on the coffee table directly in front of Pawbert, and takes his paw—the paw that once held the syringe against her neck. She tells him she does not hate him now. She does not want him punished forever. She wants him accountable and alive. There are mammals who are alive because he changed his mind, including him. Then she says the words: she forgives him. Pawbert collapses forward off the couch, brought low by three words, and Judy holds him while he sobs against her shoulder.

Nick follows. He moves to the coffee table and faces Pawbert directly. He still believes what he said before—that Pawbert does not get to feel clean, that he carries it. But he also said he was not giving up on Pawbert, and Pawbert has not made him regret it. A year of letters. A year of showing up. Choosing to fight for the city that locked him up. He did the work. That matters. Nick takes Pawbert's other paw and forgives him. Then, because he is Nick, he adds that Pawbert is also a friend—a real one—and instructs him not to make Nick say it twice.

Luther's forgiveness is different. He was not Pawbert's victim in the way Nick and Judy were. He has nothing to forgive in that sense. But he forgives Pawbert for what he did to himself—for treating himself like he was beyond repair, for believing loving him was a mistake someone would eventually regret. Luther cups Pawbert's face in his paws and tells him he is not beyond repair. Loving him is not a mistake. And Luther forgives him for ever believing otherwise. Pawbert falls into him and the last of the tears shake loose.

When the crying finally stops, Fuzzby offers her closing framework: forgiveness does not remove guilt. It changes what guilt is for. Before, guilt was a wall between Pawbert and the people who care about him. Now it can be a bridge—a reminder of who he was and proof of who he has chosen to become. She gathers her bag and leaves the pack to their afternoon.

Nick declares he is making pancakes—celebratory pancakes, a completely different category from the practice pancakes he burned that morning. The pancakes are misshapen but recognizably hearts. Luther suggests they look like kidneys, possibly spleens. Nick protests. And Pawbert starts laughing—really laughing, the sound coming from somewhere deep, unexpected and overwhelming. Nick goes soft: that laugh. The real one. They have been waiting for that.

That evening, the pack settles into quiet domesticity—a movie, dinner, Nick complaining about vegetables. In their bedroom, Pawbert tells Luther he feels different. Lighter. Clearer. More here. The intimacy that follows is slow and deliberate, and for the first time Pawbert successfully takes Luther's knot. Afterward, still tied together, Pawbert admits he did not think he would ever feel like this—like he is allowed to be happy. Luther tells him he is allowed. He has always been allowed.

In the morning, Pawbert wakes before Luther and watches him sleep. He thinks about who he used to be—the mammal with the syringe, the desperate need to be loved by mammals who would never love him back. And now he is here, watching Luther sleep, in a safehouse that feels like home, with a pack that looked at everything he had done and said: we forgive you. He does not understand it. Maybe he is not supposed to. The point is this: he is alive. He is loved. And for the first time in his life, he might actually believe he is allowed to be.

Key Moments

• Pawbert's paw accidentally brushes Judy's neck at 3:14 AM, triggering a severe panic attack
• The pack gathers in the kitchen while Pawbert breaks down, reliving the moment he injected Judy with venom
• Luther reframes the upcoming therapy session as being about what the pack wants to give Pawbert, not what he owes them
• Dr. Fuzzby recalls the exact words from the accountability session a year prior and asks if anything has changed
• Judy crosses the room, takes the paw that once held the syringe, and forgives Pawbert
• Pawbert collapses off the couch, brought low by three words, as Judy holds him
• Nick follows with his own forgiveness, acknowledging that Pawbert did the work
• Luther's forgiveness addresses Pawbert's self-hatred rather than what he did to others
• Fuzzby reframes guilt as a bridge rather than a wall before departing
• Nick makes lopsided heart-shaped pancakes that Luther insists look like kidneys
• Pawbert's real laugh returns for the first time since his arrest
• Luther and Pawbert achieve successful knotting for the first time
• Pawbert admits he finally feels allowed to be happy
• The morning tag closes with Pawbert watching Luther sleep and processing what forgiveness feels like

Key Lines

Line	Speaker	Context
"The last session was about what you owed them. Maybe this one is about what they want to give you."	Luther	Reframing the upcoming therapy session
"I don't hate you now. I don't want you punished forever. I want you to be accountable and alive."	Judy	Before her forgiveness
"There are mammals who are alive because you changed your mind. Including you."	Judy	Key forgiveness line
"I forgive you."	Judy	First explicit forgiveness
"You did the work. That matters."	Nick	Before his forgiveness
"I forgive you."	Nick	Second explicit forgiveness
"Also—you're a friend. A real one. Don't make me say it twice."	Nick	After his forgiveness
"I forgive you. Not for what you did to them. For what you did to yourself."	Luther	Third forgiveness, reframing the concept
"You treated yourself like you were beyond repair. Loving you is not a mistake."	Luther	Core of Luther's statement
"Forgiveness doesn't remove guilt. It changes what guilt is for."	Fuzzby	Thematic closing
"That laugh. The real one. We've been waiting for that."	Nick	After the heart-shaped pancakes
"I didn't think I'd ever feel like this." / "Like what?" / "Like I'm allowed to be happy."	Pawbert / Luther	Post-intimacy
"You're allowed. You've always been allowed."	Luther	Permission to be happy

Locations

• Site Two safehouse (kitchen, living room, bedrooms)

Items

• Green sweater -- Pawbert wraps himself in it on the couch after the panic attack; worn as comfort throughout the episode
• Shattered glass -- Dropped during Pawbert's panic attack in the cold open kitchen scene
• Dr. Fuzzby's notebook -- Contains notes from the previous accountability session a year prior
• Heart-shaped pancakes -- Nick's lopsided celebratory pancakes; declared to resemble kidneys and spleens

End Credit Song

"I'll Cover You" (From 'RENT'), Original Broadway Cast

"I'll Cover You" from RENT is a love duet about devotion and protection, with the repeated promise "I'll cover you" capturing the unconditional commitment between partners. The song resonates deeply with this episode's emotional climax, where Nick, Judy, and Luther each deliver forgiveness to Pawbert in turn. Just as the song speaks of covering someone with love despite life's difficulties, the pack demonstrates that they will stand between Pawbert and his guilt, his past, and his self-loathing. Luther's forgiveness is particularly aligned with the song's themes: "I forgive you for what you did to yourself," he says, forgiving Pawbert for believing he was beyond repair. The episode ends with Pawbert finally allowing himself to be happy, and the song's warmth captures that release.

Notes

• This episode serves as a direct callback to S01E16 "The Words," which contained the original accountability session where Nick and Judy deliberately withheld forgiveness.
• Luther's forgiveness reframes the entire concept -- rather than forgiving Pawbert for what he did to others, Luther forgives him for his self-hatred, his belief that he was beyond repair. This distinguishes Luther's emotional role in the pack.
• The panic attack is triggered by incidental physical contact, illustrating that trauma does not follow a linear healing timeline -- a year of therapy and growth can be undone by a single accidental touch.