S05E20 - Without Options

"Without Options" is the twentieth episode of Season 5 of We Can Fix Pawbert.

Synopsis

The pack confronts Milton at ZCF, where he reveals the root access code—BUILT_BY_LYNXLEY—in exchange for extraction. Icener's forces ambush the convoy and execute Milton, whose dying act of spite reveals that Pawbert has the codes memorized. At Pawthorne Mansion, Shaw is killed during a perimeter check but fires warning shots that give Luther seconds to arm up. Luther fights a desperate defense but is overwhelmed, and Pawbert surrenders to save his life. Both are captured.

Plot

The pack arrives at ZCF's maximum security wing in the early hours after the Tundratown battle. Luther's throat still shows bruising from Roskova's grip, Pawbert moves stiffly from tunnel bruises, and Nick's eyes are hollow from carrying Mr. Big's body. Milton is already seated behind the visitation glass—worn by years in maximum security but unbroken, his posture perfect and his eyes sharp. He scans the group and settles on Pawbert, dismissing the others. Milton reveals he has been feeding Icener partial information for over a year—secondary systems, old protocols, even The Root's location—to stay useful while withholding the actual access codes as leverage. His composure shatters when he admits he misjudged who he was dealing with: he thought he could manipulate Icener the way he manipulated Clawrence and Lionheart, but Vladifrostok's grievance against the Lynxley family runs too deep. He demands ZSI extraction to a non-extradition country in exchange for the codes.

Luther calls Costa, who patches through to Mayor Winddancer. The deal is authorized. Milton delivers the code: BUILT_BY_LYNXLEY—his grandfather Ebenezer's arrogant signature branded onto the control system he stole from Agnes. Pawbert is shaken to learn that his family's name is literally the root access code, the claim of ownership over someone else's invention preserved for over a century. Milton explains that the code is the claim itself, and that some legacies are better left buried. He refuses to reveal The Root's location until he is safely out of the city. At the prison entrance, Milton pauses and turns back to call Pawbert's name, but his son gives him nothing—no anger, no fear, no forgiveness. Milton's expression flickers and he gets in the vehicle.

The convoy departs through empty lockdown streets toward Zootopia Harbor. In the Marshlands along Mangrove Avenue, an RPG destroys the lead vehicle and Icener's operatives emerge from the treeline. The ZSI escort is overwhelmed in under two minutes. Inside the armored transport, the two escort agents are killed through the door panels. Milton, alone among the dead, grabs a fallen agent's weapon and fights—killing three attackers before being fatally shot. Dragged from the wreckage and bleeding out, Milton commits his final act: he tells the lead operative that his son has the codes memorized, ensuring Icener cannot win without Pawbert while simultaneously making Pawbert the target. His dying words are delivered through a bloody grin—a Lynxley will stop Icener, just not the one he expected. He is executed. Even dying, Milton was still playing both sides.

Costa orders Luther and Pawbert to Pawthorne Mansion to rest while Shaw takes protective detail. Nick and Judy head to Mr. Big's compound for coordination. At the mansion, Shaw begins a perimeter check and discovers Icener's operatives already in position. Silenced shots hit her three times—chest, gut, shoulder. Dying against the side of the house, she raises her weapon and fires every remaining round into the air as warning shots. The unsuppressed gunfire reaches Luther and Pawbert at the front door, giving them seconds to get inside and reach the gun room. Shaw's final act buys them time she does not have left.

Luther arms up from the gun room and passes Pawbert a pistol. He fights a desperate rearguard through the mansion hallways, dropping attackers with controlled shots—two polar bears in the entryway, a wolf from the kitchen in close quarters, two more in the hallway. He takes a grazing round to the shoulder and at least one cracked rib. Pawbert, watching through the cracked gun room door, kills an arctic fox approaching the room—his first kill, his paws shaking but the weapon staying up. Luther is eventually overwhelmed by a polar bear who hits him like a freight train, and the surviving attackers beat him badly. They drag his bloodied body to the gun room door and threaten to execute him. Luther, barely conscious, tells Pawbert not to open the door. Pawbert opens it anyway, raises his paws, and surrenders to save Luther's life. A needle slides into his neck and the last thing he sees is Luther's bloodied face looking at him with despair.

Nick and Judy tear up the mansion drive and find the wreckage—bullet holes, shattered glass, the smell of cordite and blood. Judy finds Shaw's body against the side of the house, her weapon empty and slide locked back. Nick walks through the interior, reading the fight from the shell casings and blood trails, recognizing that Luther made them pay for every step. Two sets of drag marks lead away from the gun room. Costa confirms over radio that the convoy escorts are dead and Milton is dead. Judy's transmission—that Icener has both Luther and Pawbert—is the series' darkest cliffhanger. Nick and Judy stand in the wreckage and commit to getting them back.

Key Moments

• Milton reveals he has been feeding Icener partial information for over a year while withholding the real codes
• Milton's composure shatters as he admits he misjudged Icener's vendetta against the Lynxley name
• Costa and Winddancer authorize Milton's extraction deal
• Milton reveals the root access code: BUILT_BY_LYNXLEY—Ebenezer's stolen claim branded onto Agnes's system
• Pawbert gives Milton nothing at the prison entrance—no anger, no forgiveness, stone silence
• Convoy ambushed in the Marshlands; ZSI escort killed in under two minutes
• Milton fights back with a fallen agent's weapon, killing three attackers before being fatally shot
• Milton's final spite: tells Icener's forces that Pawbert has the codes memorized
• Milton's dying words reference a Lynxley stopping Icener—just not the one he expected
• Shaw discovers operatives at the mansion and is fatally shot three times
• Shaw's final act: fires every remaining round into the air as warning shots
• Luther and Pawbert reach the gun room; Luther arms up and fights a desperate defense
• Pawbert kills an arctic fox approaching the gun room—his first kill
• Luther is overwhelmed and beaten; dragged to the gun room door as leverage
• Luther tells Pawbert not to open the door; Pawbert opens it anyway and surrenders
• Pawbert is sedated; Luther watches helplessly as both are captured
• Nick and Judy find Shaw's body and piece together Luther's last stand from the wreckage
• Costa confirms Milton's death and the convoy massacre
• Nick and Judy commit to getting Luther and Pawbert back

Key Lines

Locations

• ZCF — Maximum security visitation room; prison entrance
• Marshlands — Mangrove Avenue; convoy ambush site
• Pawthorne Mansion — Foyer, hallways, gun room (code: 1126), exterior/side
• Mr. Big's Compound — Nick and Judy's destination; Costa's coordination point

Items

• Root access code: BUILT_BY_LYNXLEY — Ebenezer Lynxley's arrogant signature branded onto Agnes De'Snake's stolen system; memorized by Pawbert
• Gun room code: 1126 — Pawbert's birthday; grants access to the mansion's weapons room
• Shaw's service weapon — Emptied into the air as her final act; slide locked back, magazine empty
• Pawbert's pistol — Given by Luther in the gun room; used to kill an arctic fox operative (Pawbert's first kill)
• Luther's weapons — Rifle and sidearm from the gun room; used to kill multiple operatives before being overwhelmed

Notes

• Milton's death completes one of the series' most complex character arcs. Even dying, he cannot help being destructive—his final spite simultaneously helps and endangers Pawbert by making him the only path to the codes while painting a target on his back.
• Shaw's death is devastating because her warning shots serve no tactical purpose except giving her colleagues time. She dies buying seconds, and those seconds save Luther and Pawbert from being taken without a fight.
• Pawbert's surrender to save Luther inverts the dynamic from the early seasons, where Luther was always the protector. Now Pawbert chooses to sacrifice his safety for Luther's life.
• Pawbert's first kill—the arctic fox near the gun room—marks a threshold the series has carefully avoided crossing until this moment.
• This is the series' darkest cliffhanger: both Luther and Pawbert are in enemy hands, Milton is dead, Shaw is dead, and Nick and Judy stand in the wreckage of their home.