2. The Eye

Complete story — includes the ending

When Tom and Weaver are released from solitary confinement, an Espheni overlord, speaking through a harnessed child, informs the residents that the food supply will cease until the vigilante is handed over. Anne and the 2nd Mass capture a skitter and learn that the Espheni plan to use the captured children as hybrids. In Chinatown, Ben learns from Dr Kadar that Lexi may be dying, and that Lourdes has prevented him from helping her. Concerned about Lexi's well-being, Ben voices his concerns and convinces her to meet him. Back in the ghetto, Tom and Hal meet with Dingaan Bootha, who tells them that he had escaped from an Espheni ghetto before. Dingaan, who has a working radio, describes his creation, the Faraday suit, which makes scaling the fence safe but only within thirty seconds. Tom decides to use the radio to contact Cochise and learns that the Espheni power source is offensive, not defensive as their past power sources, and that they know Matt's location. Dressed as the vigilante, Tom surrenders himself to the overlord and is taken aboard the ship. While there, the overlord tells him of a "great enemy" race approaching Earth, and that the Espheni have come so far from their own home to gather resources to fight them. They reveal their new plan for humanity – turning human adults into an elite front line army of skitters – and what they did to the rebel skitters. Faced with an ultimatum from the overlord to save his family, Tom takes advantage of the ensuing chaos, when the ghetto's residents launch projectiles against the ship, to examine the ghetto layout and power source. Meanwhile Ben and Maggie bond over Lexi, and Tom informs Weaver that he made a deal with the overlord. Later that night, Ben discovers a distraught Lexi talking with an overlord.