This final episode of The Winter Tree pushes the boundaries of Ayta’s reality and begins to reveal the true scope of the Realms beyond our own in The Fallen Cycle. What began in a bathtub ends at the edge of time—where the bones still speak, and the spirits of the dead are always watching.

The next episode of the Winter Tree captures a transformative moment in Ayta’s life. It opens with Ayta engaged in a decisive martial arts match. The intense interaction and unexpected kiss that follows serves as a catalyst for Ayta’s deeper exploration of her growing identity and desires, in the absence of Gran’s influence. 

In Ayta’s prologue for The Winter Tree, she paints a portrait of her transformation following her grandmother's death. Gran’s passing on the night of the solstice symbolizes a personal winter for Ayta, mirroring Gran’s teachings about life’s cyclical nature.

This prologue explores the transformative power of storytelling and memory, Ayta’s journey through grief, and her struggle to construct her identity from her grandmother’s legacy, now that she has gone.